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Although Dong Enbo was shouting vehemently, he felt a pang of fear in his heart. He had only heard that this family was heading north and that the guards accompanying them were hired escorts.
Seeing that the family consisted mostly of women, children, and servants, and their attire was modest, Dong Enbo had assumed they were ordinary wealthy people or the family members of a minor local official. Regardless, in an unfamiliar place, even if they were poisoned, it would be impossible to trace the source, and even if they did, it wouldn’t lead back to him.
He hadn’t expected this family to be so perceptive, nor their escorts to be so capable!
This wasn’t an ordinary wealthy family and their escorts.
Even the imperial city wouldn’t have been able to investigate a case this quickly, would they?
If he had known, he wouldn’t have dared to attack this family, but it was too late to regret it now.
However, as long as he insisted he knew nothing, this family wouldn’t be able to do anything to him. After all, the powder he had put in the food wasn’t poison, as they thought!
“You’re really stubborn,” Feng Ping sneered.
Qi Xu said calmly, “Take him away for interrogation.”
Feng Ping and another Tianshu Pavilion guard took Dong Enbo and his servant out of the room.
Dong Enbo continued to shout, “You’re abusing your power and disregarding the law!”
A cloth gag was quickly stuffed into his mouth.
They were professionals at interrogations, fully capable of ensuring that he wouldn’t utter a single word afterward.
As Dong Enbo was being dragged away, Manager Dong rushed over, passing them by. He glanced at Dong Enbo, who had his mouth gagged, but didn’t say a word, only glaring at him before proceeding into the room.
“Benefactors, I am truly sorry!”
He had just heard about Dong Enbo poisoning the Wei family’s dinner and was so frightened that he didn’t dare to continue eating his own meal. He had vomited out everything he had already swallowed.
After wiping his mouth, he hurried to the Wei family’s room.
Dong Enbo had no connection to the Wei family whatsoever. It was obvious that the poisoning must have been related to him.
If the Wei family was harmed because of him, wouldn’t that be like repaying kindness with cruelty?
With a “thud,” Manager Dong knelt before the Wei family.
“Manager Dong, there’s no need for this, the matter hasn’t been fully investigated yet,” Wei Maolin gestured, and Steward Wang stepped forward to help him up.
Manager Dong looked ashamed, not at all…
Manager Dong did not want to air his family grievances at this moment, but he couldn’t help it. “That Dong Enbo is my brother’s child. Recently, my father mentioned privately that he intended to hand over the family business to me. I suspect my nephew heard about this and wants to take this opportunity to eliminate me, making way for my brother to take over the family business.”
It turned out that while Manager Dong and his brother were both legitimate sons, they were not born of the same mother.
Manager Dong’s mother passed away three years after marrying Dong Laoye, and he remarried a stepmother. In most families, the family business would be passed on to the eldest legitimate son, but the Dong family was different. The business had mostly been established after the stepmother came into the family, relying heavily on her family’s support, along with two medicinal mountains that had been part of her dowry.
In this situation, for his brother to inherit the family business, it was unlikely that Manager Dong’s maternal family would agree unless Manager Dong died. Since Manager Dong had no sons and only a daughter, the business would naturally fall to his brother’s family.
“My nephew, whom I treated so well, is trying to take my life!”
Manager Dong sighed repeatedly.
The Wei family felt a mix of sympathy and surprise.
It’s said that every family has its own difficulties, and while the noble families in the capital are filled with intrigue, it’s surprising to see the same complexities in merchant families.
Just then, Feng Ping returned after finishing the interrogation of Dong Enbo, pushing the door open to enter the room.
“He confessed everything.”
“He said the powder was what he instructed the servant to sprinkle in the dishes. However, it’s not poison; it’s a powder that can cause drowsiness and hallucinations, which won’t take effect under normal circumstances unless the person who consumes it has spent a significant amount of time in that cursed land within three days.”
“That cursed land?” Wei Mingxuan asked.
“It’s the desolate area we passed through on our way here, the land that suffered from the wrath of heaven twenty years ago.”
Feng Ping continued, “Although the drug he put in the Wei family’s food isn’t lethal, the one he prepared for Manager Dong is deadly poison. While it won’t cause immediate death, it will lead to organ failure within three days.”
“What?” Manager Dong’s eyes widened in shock.
Fear gripped him as he realized how close he had come to death! Thankfully, the commotion caused by the Wei family had interrupted his dinner. He had been so frightened that he had vomited out everything he had eaten. Had he not done that, would he have truly met his end?
“Benefactors, you’ve saved my life once again!” Manager Dong was overwhelmed with gratitude, wishing he could sell his life to the Wei family to repay their kindness.
“Manager Dong, please wait a moment,” Feng Ping said, his expression growing more serious. “There’s one more thing: this powder was all obtained by Dong Enbo from a group called the Sacred Moon Sect.”
“The Sacred Moon Sect?” Qi Xu raised an eyebrow.
This was a completely unfamiliar name, one that even Tianshu Pavilion’s intelligence network had not heard of. The journey to Beiguan had indeed been filled with unexpected surprises and abundant discoveries.
Wei Yunlan also murmured the name “Sacred Moon Sect” to herself. In her previous life, several cults had emerged in various regions, especially in areas deeply affected by the witchcraft of the southern frontier. However, she had never heard of the Sacred Moon Sect before.
Perhaps it was a newly formed sect that never developed further. After all, following natural disasters, all sorts of malevolent entities seemed to emerge.
“This Sacred Moon Sect is truly harmful.”
“Fortunately, you benefactors discovered it in time and didn’t eat those dishes. Otherwise, even if it wouldn’t have been life-threatening, it would certainly have had some adverse effects on your health.”
Manager Dong said, “My dinner is still on the table; the poison should be traceable. I will go report this to the authorities, have them arrest Dong Enbo, and investigate this Sacred Moon Sect!”
He didn’t take the Sacred Moon Sect too seriously, as there were countless small sects dedicated to harm in the local areas.
However, unexpectedly, just one night later.
The next morning, as the Wei family was preparing to set off, a swift letter from Tianshu Pavilion’s Haidongqing arrived.
Feng Ping scanned the contents of the letter, and his expression changed.
He rode over to Qi Xu’s side. “Master, we have obtained some results from the interrogation!”
“Si Yun has confessed; she was trained as an intelligence agent by a place called the Sacred Moon Sect.”
Once again, the Sacred Moon Sect emerged!