The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#628 - Beneficiaries

Watching his daughter eat with such gusto, Chief Tongtu let out a long sigh, looking as if he had aged ten years.

Just then, someone came to report that the groom had been found. After escaping last night, he had been hiding in a wine cellar and was found completely drunk.

He was lying motionless on the ground, and the people who found him almost thought he was dead.

Chief Tongtu had been gnashing his teeth with hatred for Bu Bule. The boy's elopement in front of so many people had humiliated him greatly, both personally and for his daughter.

When he first received the news, Chief Tongtu even had the urge to chop him into pieces.

But after seeing Tong Qianxi stuff four steamed buns into her mouth at once, Chief Tongtu now only felt utterly exhausted.

The person below waited for a while, and seeing that Chief Tongtu didn't speak, he had to take the initiative and say, "Um... do you want to send him to the prison, or..."

The man made a chopping motion.

Chief Tongtu thought for a moment and said, "Bring him here."

"Are you going to do it yourself?"

"Do what?" Chief Tongtu shook his head. "Bu Bule is my son-in-law. How could I possibly harm him? Bring him here, change him into clean clothes, and once Qianxi's condition stabilizes, they can consummate the marriage."

"..."

Bu Bule's matter left Chief Tongtu feeling somewhat dejected.

He ordered his men to satisfy any requests from Lu Jing and Qi Wenren as much as possible, and then left his daughter's palace to inspect the army.

After eating, Tong Qianxi's mood also stabilized a lot, and she was finally able to start answering Qi Wenren's questions.

Her appetite had suddenly increased a month ago. At first, she didn't pay attention, but after finishing an entire leg of lamb and still feeling ravenous, she couldn't stop eating.

In the past month, she had tried all sorts of ways to stop eating, but none of them worked. She could only watch helplessly as she turned into a ball of flesh.

Now, she couldn't even do simple actions like getting out of bed.

She needed people to take care of her every need, and the bed she used to sleep on had been crushed. This one was specially built for her by skilled craftsmen, not only large but also very sturdy.

As Tong Qianxi spoke, she grabbed a handful of stir-fried lamb kidneys with scallions and threw them into her mouth without hesitation.

"I can't stand being idle. I used to like running around, so if you ask me which places I've been to in the past month, it's hard for me to say them all."

"Are there any places you haven't been to before?" Qi Wenren asked.

Tong Qianxi thought for a moment and shook her head. "There's no place within thirty miles of Ganding County that I haven't been to."

"What about people? Especially strangers."

"Since I go out, most of the people I see on the road are strangers," Tong Qianxi said.

"Uh... I mean strangers you've interacted with."

"None."

Tong Qianxi quickly finished a plate of stir-fried lamb kidneys with scallions, licked her lips, and reached for another plate of boiled pork. But after trying several times, she was just a little short and couldn't grab it.

Seeing that she was about to enter berserk mode again, Lu Jing reached out and gently pushed the plate in front of her.

Tong Qianxi didn't have time to thank him and buried her head in eating again. As she continued to eat, her spirit also stabilized again.

Qi Wenren first thought of food. After all, food can be considered a foreign object, and it's different every day. Moreover, Tong Qianxi's current condition is also very related to eating, which easily makes people associate it with food.

But soon Qi Wenren himself ruled out this possibility.

If it was related to eating, there was no reason why only Tong Qianxi in the huge palace was affected, and there were no other reports of anyone else's appetite increasing.

But if it wasn't eating, what could it be?

Qi Wenren felt stuck. He didn't expect investigating a case to be so difficult. He thought that as long as he followed the steps, there wouldn't be too many problems, but after only asking two questions, he couldn't continue.

Fortunately, Lu Jing helped him out and suddenly interjected, "What do you think of Bu Bule?"

Tong Qianxi was stunned when she heard this. "Bu Bule? His father is the top general under my father."

"And then?"

"I've met him a few times before, but I don't have much of an impression. He's different from his father. He prefers reading and doesn't like practicing martial arts, so we don't have much in common."

Tong Qianxi paused, then continued, "In order to win over Anda Bini, my father had been wanting me to marry Bu Bule. He agreed with Anda Bini to have us marry in a year."

"But I didn't expect to become like this. My father was worried that this marriage would change, so he decided to let us get married early. As a result, I heard that Bu Bule ran away halfway."

Tong Qianxi didn't show much emotion when she talked about this. She wasn't sad or embarrassed.

It could be seen that she really didn't have any feelings for Bu Bule. For her, this was just a normal political marriage.

Qi Wenren didn't know why Lu Jing suddenly cared about Tong Qianxi's marriage. In his opinion, it didn't seem to have anything to do with that strange object.

So Qi Wenren took the initiative to bring the topic back on track and said to Tong Qianxi, "Can I check the place where you live?"

"Please do."

Most of Tong Qianxi's attention was now on the roast chicken in front of her. As long as it didn't delay her eating, she didn't mind what Qi Wenren wanted to do.

So Qi Wenren searched her residence thoroughly, and also called a few maids to ask questions. After asking, he pulled Lu Jing aside.

Although Qi Wenren's level of investigation is questionable, he has one good point, that is, he will not pretend to be knowledgeable. If he doesn't understand, he will ask in time.

For example, he is now asking Lu Jing why Lu Jing mentioned Bu Bule before.

Lu Jing explained, "I started from the perspective of the beneficiary. Who can benefit from Tong Qianxi's weight gain?"

"Bu Bule can benefit?" Qi Wenren's eyes widened.

In his opinion, as long as a person is mentally normal, no one should want his wife to become a ball of flesh.

"Yes, that A Ku Man said that Tongtu Chief only has two children, one son and one daughter. His younger son has a problem with his head, so he can't take over his class. The remaining Tong Qianxi is the next master of Shizhou."

"And if this master also dies, then who is qualified to take over Shizhou?"