The small room on the attic where I used to live has been sealed off, according to the little monk who guards the temple.

  He lowered his head and said with some sadness: "After all, this is where Brother Huiyuan met his demise."

  Recite more scriptures, perform greater superdegrees, but the land of the living soul still cannot rest.

  Jing Wan'er is now like Pei Tan's shadow, wherever Pei Tan goes, she follows, and even if you put her alone somewhere, the monks of Qinglong Temple wouldn't dare to let their guard down.

  When he found out that the carriage house was sealed off, Pei Tan at least didn't think it was a bad thing. This way... others naturally also couldn't get close to the carriage house.

  At Tai Li Temple, he can dispatch people to guard the scene of the case, but at Qing Long Temple, he is just a believer named Pei Tan.

  The little monk in front of the gate of Chang Le Wang's mansion looked at Pei Tan with some caution: "His Highness is inside, let us go and inform him first."

  Jing Wan'er looked up and saw that the door to the inner room was slightly ajar, and the entire courtyard was open and bright. This meant that she and Pei Tan were standing here talking, and it should be possible for people inside to hear them. So she really didn't understand what this little monk was saying about "Tong Gong", and what the necessity was.

  Pei Tan originally saw the inner chamber as well, but he acted cautiously, "Thanks for your trouble, little master."

  The little monk nodded and turned around, just about to go in.

  At this time, the inner room door was pulled open, and Prince Chang Le walked out from inside. The little monk saw him and stood still at the door in a daze.

  Only to see the Prince of Chang Le wearing a loose white long gown walking out, the belt on his chest was only tied loosely, and his arms were exposed from the sleeves. Jing Yu'er took one glance and lowered her head.

  On a sunny day, dressing up like this, still in the temple, perhaps it can be understood why this king has such a reputation.

  "Your Highness."

  Li Xiuzhi stood at the door, with his hands rolled up in his sleeves: "You all go outside the courtyard first."

  His words were addressed to the monks, and even a monk who was sweeping the yard stopped his movements, and after a moment, put down his broom and left the yard with several other monks.

  Pei Tan's eyes moved slightly, looking at Li Xiuzhi.

  Li Xiuzhi looked at him without speaking. This Prince Wang seemed to have always been taciturn. Jing Wanyu smelled a cold fragrance coming from his sleeve.

  Pei Tan could only raise his hand again and make a bow, "...thank you, Your Highness."

  Li Xiuzhi asked: "Does Pei Siqing have anything to ask of this king?"

  One is the king, and the other is the chief of the Dalai Temple. Neither of them stayed in this temple because they wanted to stay. Since the situation forced them, sending away those monks would also make it possible for both parties to speak openly.

  "Your Highness, I, Pei, have come for the tribute flower in the Great Hero Treasure Hall."

  Li Xiuzi's eyes flickered slightly: "You're talking about the sea buckthorn flower?"

  Jing Wan'er had her head lowered, but her ears were perked up, listening carefully to every sentence.

  Pei Tan paused for a moment and said: "Is Hai Yu Hua the offering that Wang Ye presented to Buddha?"

  Li Xiuxi's gaze fell on Pei Tan: "It was brought by this king, what does Temple Master Pei want to ask?"

  Li Xiuzhi doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives, and his expression now also doesn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary.

  Pei Tan said: "The sea taro flower is a tribute to the Great Tang by Meng Jia, and will the king bring this flower to the Qinglong Temple also be under your majesty's instructions?"

  Li Xiuzhi didn't speak for a moment, his hands clasped behind his back, lost in thought.

  Pei Tan's eyes were deep and subtle, also wanting to wait for Li Xiuzhi to speak.

  Li Xiuyi said: "The flower of this king was obtained from the empress dowager and has nothing to do with your majesty."

  This remark was beyond reason and within expectation. Pei Tan's eyes dimmed for a moment: "That is what the Empress Dowager wanted to give..."

  This time Li Xiuzhi looked at Pei Tan and said directly: "Offering flowers was something I did on my own initiative."

  Pei Tan could only remain silent then.

  "After a moment, he said: 'In the temple, I saw the tribute from the palace and had doubts in my heart. Since it is now known that this flower was indeed offered by Your Highness... please do not blame me.'"

  Li Xiuzhi looked at him and said: "This king's actions indeed did not think much, the origin of this flower, this king also does not care."

  Even if it were bestowed by Her Majesty the Empress, one could still dispose of it as one pleases.

  I'm afraid in the Tang Dynasty, from top to bottom, there isn't a second person who dares to handle matters so rashly.

  Pei Tan's gaze met Li Xiuzhi's unintentionally: "I've disturbed the king's rest, I won't bother him again."

  At this point, Pei Tan turned around and walked away, with Wei Er's guards closely following behind. The Prince of Chang Le stood with his sleeves rolled up behind him:

  "The queen handed this flower to me and reminded me that it is called 'wolf poison' in the Western Regions, telling me not to get too close to it. So, if Lord Pei wants to understand this flower in the future, it's best to keep a distance."

  Pei Tan almost went back to the yard for this sentence, but in fact he had already walked out of the gate, and these surprised emotions stayed on his face.

  ——

  "Thirty years ago, there was a historical record that mentioned a strange flower from a foreign land. Its appearance was clean and white like snow, but some people died instantly after touching it. Therefore, the survivors who returned to the Tang Dynasty called this flower 'Wolf Poison Flower'." Pei Shuaiwei read on, most of the time such folk tales were not credible, for example, the explanation of the name "Wolf Poison Flower".

  But whether it's an untrustworthy anecdote or the situation they're actually facing, it has already shown that this beautiful tribute from a foreign land is actually a poisonous beauty.

  Pei Tan's eyes were dim and quiet: "The prince's words today, more than half of them already knew that the sea treasure flower was not just a simple tribute."

  He said he learned it from the Queen.

  Jing Wan'er responded: "Why must this impure offering be presented before Buddha?"

  Bai Tan and the girl looked at each other: "In the eyes of Buddha, all things in the world are equal." All living beings are equal. As long as you put down your butcher's knife, you can become a Buddha.

  Jing Wan'er bit her lip, and she had a feeling that the tip of her nose was still surrounded by that cold fragrance, more familiar than when she first smelled it.

  "Was King Chang Le doing this on purpose?" The question lingered in the house.

  Will you offer a pure but poisonous strange flower? Is it intended to hint that all living things in the world are like this, with a false appearance and a true interior.

  "But when the flower was planted in the Queen's palace, it had not yet bloomed or borne fruit. How did Her Majesty know that this flower was impure?" The eunuch, Pei, furrowed his brow.

  Jing Wan'er said: "When offering tribute to a foreign country, it is necessary to clearly state that the tribute has poison."

  Pei Tan glanced at her, "That's right, but every year the tribute to the Great Tang Dynasty is at least several hundred pieces, and Haiyue flower is not conspicuous among them. The Empress may not remember." Zhong Zong couldn't even remember.

  Jing Wan'er couldn't help but say: "But Hui Gen only stuck the flower in his throat, and it hasn't even entered his abdomen..."

  If it's poisonous enough to kill someone, where did Fan Bang get the guts to offer it to the Tang Dynasty, without worrying about any accidents happening along the way?

  Pei Tan thought for a moment and said, "Not necessarily. Among the gifts from foreign countries, there are indeed some that are dangerous. However, there are specialized people in the palace who are responsible for registering these gifts and taking care of them. Even if it's just tending to a poisonous flower or plant, it would be done by a palace maid at most, and not something that the empress herself needs to worry about."

  "Does that empress even remember the name of this flower, let alone its toxicity?"

  She was careless just now. As a member of the Pei family, she is more familiar with the lifestyle of the imperial court's nobles. For example, the empress would never have had the opportunity to personally come into contact with the sea hibiscus flower.

  So the answer is,... The queen probably didn't know about the toxicity of the flower either.

  "What the King of Chang Le said might have been warned by the Empress and may not be credible." Pei Tan said slowly with a deep gaze.

  "Unless the Empress told you, only Prince Chang Le knows."

  But Pei Tan and Jing Wanyu both fell silent again.

  They can only guess and cannot be certain.

  "No ordinary poisoning reaction was detected from the body of Hui Gen." Jing Wanyi stared at Pei Tan, who had first discovered that the skin on Hui Gen's neck was darker than other areas.

  "So we don't know if Hui Gen really died from the toxicity of the fruit."

  It was just like the first scene where Hui Gen's brain was discovered, everyone thought that was how he died.

  But now they can't be sure if Hui Gen was crushed to death by a heavy object, nor can they confirm that the corpse died from the toxicity of the sea buckthorn fruit.

  Wan Er saw Pei Da Ren's line of sight, it was truly the most absurd and unbelievable case.

  Pei Tan continued: "If you want professional forensic experts to come forward, there must be an imperial edict." Without the edict, there would be no investigation.

  The silence in this room is even more intense now.

  It's unlikely that Zhong Zong will approve this case, and probably no one is optimistic about it.

  Previously, Pei Tan said that in three days, it would be possible to investigate the case clearly and bring the real culprit to justice before the imperial edict opposing the investigation arrives, and give a chance for the three people from the Dali Temple to explain themselves.

  But now, it is clear that there are still more difficult roads in the world.

  Jing Wan'er could only say, "Perhaps this statement is too absolute, but Wan'er thinks that even if a professional coroner were to come, it's not necessarily possible to determine the cause of Hui Gen's death."

  Pei Tan's eyes moved slightly as he looked at the girl, this was also something he had thought about before.

  If they can't even determine the cause of Hui's death, then isn't this case one of their most unjustified ones?

  The question is, how should Dalí Temple's Pei Tan be judged as correct?

  "The sea buckthorn fruit kills people, and no one knows about it. In the land of Great Tang, no one has ever seen it before. Even if a grown-up doesn't notice it, they can't find this tiny, insignificant fruit." It's simply a perfect murder.

  So it was really done by Wang Ye?

  Pei Tan quietly opened his mouth: "The coroner will perform an autopsy, unless it is certain that the coroner will not intervene in this case."

  If Zhong Zong found that a royal duke was involved in the case, it is very likely that he would summon Pei Tan back to the capital and no longer pursue the matter.

  "But there is still risk."

  Jing Wan'er understood that although the plan seemed foolproof, it wasn't truly flawless. Would a king really gamble his own future?

  Jing Wan'er knew that since Pei Tan had said it out loud, he must not have thought so in his heart.

  "Actually, Wanyu still had a question." She looked at Pei Tan, "That is, the person who hit Hui Gen and fed him poisonous fruit, must be the same one?"