At noon, Mu Xueshi had lunch at the Grand Tutor Manor with the others. His mother, that is, Madam, was suffering badly from morning sickness and barely ate a few bites. She only kept urging Mu Xueshi to eat more.
After Mu Xueshi finished eating, he sent one of the servants beside him to deliver a meal to Wu Cai in the woodshed. In the end, the servant had only just gone in before he was frightened into running back out.
“What happened? You can’t even deliver a meal properly!” Mu Xueshi shouted sternly at the man.
That guard, who had been personally assigned to Mu Xueshi by the Emperor, wiped the sweat from his face and explained to Mu Xueshi, “Judicial Affairs Minister, that madman refuses to eat the food this subordinate brought him. This subordinate had only just placed the meal in his hands when he threw it all over this subordinate’s clothes. Look…”
When Mu Xueshi saw the large patch of oil stain on the guard’s clothes, he actually could not hold back and burst into giggles. Only after realizing he had lost composure did he clear his throat and say to the man, “This matter is not your fault. If your clothes are dirty, give them to the maids to wash. In a few days, I’ll have the embroidery room send you a new set.”
Only then did the guard let out a breath of relief and retreat behind Mu Xueshi.
When Eunuch Shangde heard that Mu Xueshi was going to have new clothes prepared for another guard, he could not help sighing at the side. If the Judicial Affairs Minister kept handing out rewards like this, then in a few days, their Judicial Affairs Manor would probably collapse.
Mu Xueshi pondered for a while, then turned and walked toward the side room.
“Steward Wang, I was just looking for you.”
“My lord, if you need me, you only need to send a servant to inform me. This old servant will hurry over at once.”
“No need to trouble you. I just wanted to discuss something with you.”
The moment Steward Wang heard this, he immediately bowed and said to Mu Xueshi, “My lord, why say discuss? As long as you say it, this old servant will do as instructed.”
Mu Xueshi quickly helped Steward Wang, who was bowing to him, back up. Although he had already been here for so long, he still was not used to elderly people bowing to him. It always made him feel as if he would be struck by heavenly retribution.
“I just want the manor to arrange a room for Wu Cai and let him out of the woodshed. That place is hardly fit for people to live in.”
“He was never a person to begin with. He is no different from a beast.” Steward Wang’s expression suddenly hardened as he said this angrily.
Mu Xueshi was startled. He had not expected such a kindly old man to also lose his temper.
“Why do you say that?”
“Young Master… no… has my lord forgotten? That day, when Wu Cai was summoned into the palace by His Majesty for questioning, he actually forged evidence to frame Young Master. If Master knew from heaven that he was such a heartless, wolf-hearted creature, I believe he would also agree with Madam’s decision.”
“Madam’s decision?” Mu Xueshi did not understand.
Steward Wang slowly said, “Not long after returning from the palace, Wu Cai contracted a serious illness. At that time, there was also a handsome young male courtesan who came to deliver medicine to him. Madam could not tolerate those unclean sorts staying in the manor, so she wanted to drive Wu Cai away. In the end, not only did Wu Cai refuse to leave, he even argued with Madam. Madam then ordered the servants in the manor to teach Wu Cai a harsh lesson. From then on, Wu Cai became mad and deranged. He curses anyone he sees and occasionally even attacks others by clawing and biting them, so Madam had people lock him in the woodshed.”
As Mu Xueshi listened to Steward Wang recount what had happened, he secretly guessed that the young male courtesan must have been Li Qian. Mu Xueshi remembered seeing Li Qian on the street back then, going to buy medicine.
“Steward Wang, he is not a male courtesan. He is a friend of mine, a very pure person.”
Steward Wang’s expression changed after hearing this, and he quickly apologized. “This commoner is guilty. I should not have called my lord’s friend a male courtesan. I hope my lord will show mercy.”
“It’s all right, Steward Wang. Please don’t keep bowing to me. I get tired just watching it,” Mu Xueshi said helplessly.
Steward Wang nodded and stood quietly to the side without speaking again.
Now Mu Xueshi knew who had caused Wu Cai to become like this. Although Madam’s methods were not entirely unjustified, out of sympathy for the weak, Mu Xueshi still felt somewhat unable to bear it.
“You mean Wu Cai cannot be arranged in another room anymore?”
“My lord has misunderstood. It is not that he cannot be arranged in another room. It is that Wu Cai cannot be freed from his iron chains at all. Once he is let out, he will injure people everywhere. The scar on this old servant’s arm was from when he shoved this old servant back then, causing this old servant to fall and hit the ground.”
“Then chaining him in his own room would still be better! At least there is a bed and blankets there. It would be much better than the woodshed.”
“Madam has tried every method my lord mentioned. As soon as Wu Cai was sent back to his own room, he began shouting and screaming, and smashed out all the food sent to him. Now everyone in the manor hates him to the bone. Madam has already been very merciful by not killing him. Does Young Master not hate him? Back then, he framed you in front of His Majesty.”
Hate him? How could he not hate him! Mu Xueshi secretly said in his heart… It was just that after hating him for a while, he had forgotten.
“How about this? I’ll have my subordinates send him to my manor. That way, it will give all of you some peace and quiet as well. He can also be considered one of the important clues in this case. I must do my best to help him return to normal.”
After hearing this, Steward Wang could not help sighing over Mu Xueshi’s broad-mindedness. He had not misjudged him in the past. Although Young Master did not speak much, his heart was still very kind.
Mu Xueshi returned to the main hall and pondered while drinking tea. “Jiuyuan charcoal… I remember that when Wu Cai framed me before, he mentioned something like this.”
After thinking this, Mu Xueshi called Eunuch Shangde to his side.
“Have you heard of the Jiuyuan charcoal in the palace?”
Eunuch Shangde nodded. “This servant has heard of it, but I have never seen it. This sort of thing is usually secretly kept by certain masters and noble ladies. Sometimes, during open and hidden struggles, it is used to kill people and silence them.”
Mu Xueshi shuddered after hearing this. So the palace was actually such a dark place.
“What effect does this thing have?”
“It is a very fine powder. When scattered on clothes, it is almost impossible to see. It only reveals a white color when it comes into contact with water. But once Jiuyuan charcoal meets water, it becomes completely useless. It must be in dry conditions in order to burn. Although the flames are not large, the heat is extremely intense. In about an hour, it can burn a person to ash, and after it finishes burning, it leaves no trace at all.”
“It sounds as if it fits the circumstances of Grand Tutor Mu’s death very well…” Mu Xueshi murmured to himself.
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Futile Devices Scans 
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