The poison was simply too terrifyingly potent; within a few breaths, it had corroded most of the victim’s internal organs.
The middle-aged man was also aware of his condition. He looked at him for a long moment before suddenly sighing, "Thank you."
Chen Yi shook his head slightly. "How about a more substantial show of gratitude?"
"Answer a few of my questions, and I’ll let you leave your last words."
After a pause, he stared at the middle-aged man and said, "I’m sure you don’t want the family business you worked so hard to build to just disappear, do you?"
Although Chen Yi wasn’t certain if the man’s wife was responsible for the poison, he knew that an audacious and reckless man like this one would never be content to die in such a manner.
After a moment of silence, the middle-aged man slowly nodded, his voice low as he said, "Fine."
Chen Yi was not surprised by his choice and asked directly, "Tell me about tonight."
"What were you, Liu Hong’s son, and Mr. Lingchuan discussing?"
The middle-aged man seemed surprised that he knew about this. He hesitated for a moment before answering, "Business."
"Young Master Liu’s family owns a great deal of fertile land and has hundreds of thousands of *shi* of grain in storage. He wanted me to help him sell it."
"So that’s why you manipulated the grain prices?"
The middle-aged man was stunned. "You... How could you know?"
’As I thought,’ Chen Yi said, "I wouldn’t have come looking for you if I weren’t fully prepared."
The middle-aged man figured that made sense and continued, "Young Master Liu needed too many silver coins. The usual grain prices wouldn’t be enough for him, so I came up with this Method."
"What Method?"
"Burning the summer grain of the Three Towns to create a famine? Or using the Xiao Family’s large-scale grain purchase as an opportunity to drastically raise prices?"
"You... you..."
Seeing the middle-aged man’s reaction, Chen Yi knew he had guessed correctly.
’These people really did it all for silver coins.’
Their plot was simple.
Once the summer grain in the Three Towns was burned, regardless of whether the Xiao Family had staged an inside job, the Dingyuan Army would need a large supply of grain.
This would inevitably cause grain prices in Shu State to soar.
Then, Liu Taofang could seize the opportunity to sell off his stored grain.
It was the same this time—Elder Master Xiao had been punished by the Holy Emperor and needed to replenish the grain for Iron Wall Town.
These people were seizing the chance to raise prices, most likely intending to force the Elder Master to buy grain at an exorbitant price.
Even more unscrupulously, once it drew the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, they could shift the blame onto the Xiao Family.
A scheme like this was nothing short of venomous.
Having figured it all out, Chen Yi asked in a cold tone, "Did you also burn down the granary in the East Market yourselves?"
The middle-aged man was even more astonished. "The granary was burned down?"
"You didn’t do it?"
"No, it wasn’t! The East Market stored as much as a hundred thousand *shi* of grain. I... How could I possibly do something like that?"
’It seems the incident at the East Market has a different cause.’
Chen Yi mentally noted this and continued his questioning, "Did Mr. Lingchuan come here to sell grain as well?"
The middle-aged man shook his head. "No, he didn’t."
"Mr. Lingchuan’s older brother, Lord Zhu Hao, has a shipment of ironware. He came here to entrust me with completing a transaction with King Landu, the Bandit King of Poshisu Country."
’Bandit King, King Landu... Horse bandits?’
Chen Yi’s brow furrowed slightly. This was the second time he had heard that name.
The first time, he had heard it from Lou Yuxue. Back then, the White Tiger Guard’s Golden Banner Officer, Jiang Xing, had mentioned contacting this person.
He just hadn’t expected that this King Landu wasn’t a Prince or Marquis from Poshisu Country, but the leader of a band of horse bandits.
’What would the White Tiger Guard want with him?’
However, now was not the time to investigate this matter, so Chen Yi simply said:
"Privately selling ironware to another country is high treason."
The middle-aged man nodded with a bitter expression. "I am just a merchant. If there is profit to be made, I don’t think about other things."
Chen Yi was well aware of that. He snorted. "Last question. You’ve targeted the Xiao Family several times now. Is there any other reason for it?"
"N-no, there isn’t. We just found it opportune. Both times, our actions happened to make the grain prices rise faster."
"Is that all?"
The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly, coughing weakly. "We... we only did it for silver coins. We never wanted to harm the Xiao Family..."
’Harm them? How could Chen Yi not know the truth?’
The reason these people targeted the Xiao Family was simple—the Xiao Family’s power was declining, and they refused to associate with them.