C81 Part3

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"Where did Lord Gan buy it?

Do you know?"

Shen Zhiyan asked.

"The master ordered me to buy it, but at first I didn't know that it was a smoking paste for a smoking pipe, but only recently I found out."

Wang Bo replied.

Shen Zhiyan and Murong Ci looked at each other, and asked in surprise,

"Where did you buy it?"

Wang Bo didn't know why they asked, and he replied:

"The Master told me to go to an alley and to give the money to a certain man, and he'd give me a box of smoking paste."

Murong Ci hurriedly asked,

"Which alley? Who is that person, do you remember it?"

Wang Bo said:

"In Qingyang Alley, the man wears a gray and white robe and a drapery hat every time.

The black veil covers his appearance so I've never seen his face, but I remember that he wasn't too tall.

A little taller than me."

Wang Bo wasn't tall, about five feet two inches(158cm) tall, and the height of the person selling Opium Poppy was about five feet four inches(164cm) tall.

After asking him a few more questions, Shen Zhiyan let him go.

After inspecting the Gan's house, they decided to go back, as they had decided the previous day, to Lord Zhuang's house.

Meanwhile the Officials from the Jingzhao Palace and the Dali Temple will naturally bring the corpse and related clues back to the Dali Temple.

On the carriage, Murong Ci's bright eyes burst into cold light,

"Now it is certain that someone in the Imperial Capital is secretly selling Opium Poppy to poison the citizens of our Northern Yan Kingdom, and those people are very cautious and don't show their true colors."

Shen Zhiyan also felt that the situation was getting worse, frowning,

"This Official can't say exactly how many other are smoking Opium Poppy."

Qin Ruo said suddenly:

"Why don't we ask the Ministry of Military Defense Department to find an excuse to investigate door-to-door?

Anyone who's found smoking Opium Poppy will be taken into custody and forced to quit."

"No. Not only this will alert the ones behind the scenes, but it will also alert the people in the Capital."

He waved his hand, with an heavy expression on his handsome face.

"But without checking, we can't be sure of how many people in the Capital are smoking Opium Poppy."

Murong Ci was anxious.

"I think that if the matter is not so serious, Your Highness will be safe and restless."

Shen Zhiyan soothed,

"We can first check among the merchants if there's anyone illegally selling Opium Poppy, stop it from spreading widely, and pass the order down at the same time.

Strictly search the gates and checkpoints to prevent it from flowing into the City."

She calmed down, and realized that what Shen Zhiyan was saying was right, and this matter shouldn't be exposed to the public and it should be done in secret.

She can't mess around, otherwise it will only get worse.

Qin Ruo suggested:

"An order can be passed to the Jingzhao Palace.

Anyone who comes to report a poisoned death must be carefully investigated and reported to the Dali Temple."

He nodded,

"Qin Ruo is right, so that we can control how many people are smoking."

Murong Ci was thinking,

'Should I inform Murong Yu about this matter?'

When they got to Lord Zhuang's house, they took the butler to the Side Hall for questioning.

Sure enough, Lord Zhuang also ordered the butler to take silvers to get Opium Poppy, but the butler didn't know what it was, nor did he know that Lord Zhuang had been smoking it.

The butler also said that he was told to go to the Qingyang Alley every five or six days.

Every time he went, a short and thin man wearing a drapery hat gave him a box, and then he would bring it back to Lord Zhuang.

He had repeatedly instructed him, over and over again, to go there personally, and never have someone else go instead, and whatever happened he must never tell others.

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END of CHAPTER 81 PART 3

.....................to be continued