The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#460 - What's in the box

Wen Lun retracted his gaze from the water and nodded to Lu Jing, "Greetings, Lu Daxia. We meet again."

"Jiang Furen, the dead cannot be brought back to life. No matter what, the one who remains must live well. Otherwise, wouldn't all the years of hard work that Jiang Tangzhu and you put in to build this foundation be for the benefit of others?"

Lu Jing looked at the somewhat thin figure on the bridge, who seemed as if he could be blown away by the wind at any moment, and advised.

Wen Lun nodded, "Thank you for your concern, Lu Daxia. However, I was merely recalling some past events with… my late husband, and I was momentarily overwhelmed with emotions. I had no intention of taking my own life."

"That's good."

After saying this, Lu Jing awkwardly realized that he seemed to have nothing to say to Wen Lun.

Their relationship was only slightly better than strangers to begin with, and tonight was just a chance encounter. Lu Jing was worried that Wen Lun was too grief-stricken and might do something rash, so he casually offered a word of advice. Now that Wen Lun had no intention of committing suicide, Lu Jing felt he had fulfilled his obligation as a passerby.

Afterward, he had the urge to leave, but considering that they had only exchanged three sentences, turning around and leaving so abruptly seemed a bit too heartless.

So Lu Jing and Wen Lun were stuck there in an awkward silence. Finally, Wen Lun spoke again, "Thank you, Lu Daxia, for upholding justice for me and capturing the murderer who killed my late husband."

"Oh, Jiang Furen, you're welcome. Helping you is also helping myself. After all, before the murderer is found, strictly speaking, none of us in the manor can completely clear our names. Besides, Aunt Wen also promised a generous reward to the first person to solve the murder case, so I'm not working for nothing."

"What? Is Lu Daxia also short of money?"

"I'm not Jin Duoduo. I'm always short of money."

"Lu Daxia is indeed candid," Wen Lun paused and then said, "Then I wish Lu Daxia to catch the murderer as soon as possible, so that my late husband can rest in peace. If there is anything you need my help with, Lu Daxia can feel free to ask."

Hearing Wen Lun say this, Lu Jing's heart stirred slightly, "I do have a few questions I would like to ask Jiang Furen."

As Jiang Lei's wife, Wen Lun was probably the person in this world who understood Jiang Lei the most. Moreover, unlike Wen Qingqing, Wen Lun had been involved in the entire process from Jiang Lei starting Lei Huo Tang to developing it to its current state. She was not only Jiang Lei's wife but also his partner, and she would inevitably know many of Jiang Lei's secrets.

However, after thinking about it, Lu Jing didn't immediately ask about the box. Instead, he asked a different question first, "Jiang Furen… can you be certain that the person who died in the room was indeed Jiang Tangzhu?"

The reason why Lu Jing thought of this question was inspired by Lü Qinghou, who had previously questioned whether the person under the mask was Jin Duoduo.

So when Lu Jing was taking a walk just now, he had a sudden whim. The reason why the killer risked being discovered to take away Jiang Lei's head was because the person who died on the bed was not Jiang Lei at all. In this way, the killer's seemingly redundant action would have a reasonable explanation.

Hearing this, Wen Lun looked at Lu Jing deeply, and then said, "I also hoped that the person who died was not my husband, but unfortunately, that person's figure, clothes, and age were all the same as my husband's, and…"

Wen Lun paused and added, "In his early years, my husband used to perform arts in the Jianghu, and he had a dispute with someone. He was cut by a villager who had never practiced martial arts, and the wound was on the left rib. He has always been ashamed of this matter, and he has never told anyone else except me, his wife who shares the same bed."

"Later, in order to cover up the scar, he also tattooed a fierce tiger there. When I saw that tattoo, I knew that the person on the bed was him."

Lu Jing recalled when he examined the corpse, he did see a fierce tiger tattoo on the left rib of the corpse. In that case, the person who died was indeed Jiang Tangzhu.

So Lu Jing asked the next question, "Jin Duoduo said that Jiang Tangzhu asked him to come to his room for a while before he died. Does Jiang Furen know what it was about?"

Wen Lun shook her head, "I don't know, and to be honest, I don't quite believe it. My late husband… was eccentric and devoted all his attention to gunpowder. He didn't like to interact with people, which is no secret in the martial arts world. As for Boss Jin, he is also famously elusive.

"My late husband had never dealt with Boss Jin before. Although they came together to celebrate my grandmother's birthday this time, there was no communication between them. I don't even know if they had spoken. It's hard to say whether it's true or false that my late husband suddenly called Boss Jin into the room for a secret talk. With Boss Jin's vigilance, I don't think he would casually go alone."

Lu Jing knew that Wen Lun was right.

He had also met Jiang Lei and knew that this Jiang Tangzhu was introverted. As for Jin Duoduo, as one of the top experts on the Heavenly Secrets List, he had never even taken off his mask in front of his wife for so many years in order to save his own life. Of course, he was also a cautious person.

However, Lu Jing still didn't give up completely. After a pause, he said, "Does Jiang Furen think their meeting would have something to do with the contents of that box?"

"What?" Wen Lun seemed to not quite understand what Lu Jing was saying.

"Oh, the box in Jiang Tangzhu's room," Lu Jing said, "the one next to the bed. According to the maid who is responsible for cleaning, Jiang Tangzhu attached great importance to that box and didn't allow others to approach it.

"But in the afternoon, I opened that box, but I only saw some clothes and one thousand two hundred taels of silver inside. With the value of these things, it is obviously not enough for Jiang Tangzhu to value it so much."

"So?" Wen Lun said lightly, "What is Lu Daxia trying to say?"

"I want to say that according to what Jiang Furen said before, there is no enmity between Boss Jin and Jiang Tangzhu. I can't think of any reason why Boss Jin would kill Jiang Tangzhu. He didn't even take away the most valuable Fo Nu on Jiang Tangzhu's body. The only explanation I can barely think of is because of the things in that box."

"Lu Daxia is overthinking it. There are indeed only some silver and daily clothes in that box," Wen Lun said, "The reason why my husband paid more attention to that box was because he would put the Fo Nu in it when he slept at night."

"Is that so?" Lu Jing was stunned.

"I'm sorry to disappoint Lu Daxia. If Lu Daxia wants to find the murderer, you might as well consider it from other aspects."