Namgung’s wife, upon seeing the letter, became furious, frothing at the mouth.

“So, are you telling me the culprit left such a letter now? Does that make sense?”

Afraid the letter might be torn apart, her daughter quickly moved the letter to a safe place, avoiding any contact. Her husband, Namgung Shin, embraced her.

“It’s unlikely the culprit did that. However, someone who helped the culprit might have left it.”

It hinted at the possibility of more than one culprit. Namgung’s wife once again questioned her stepdaughter.

“So, what about the poison? If there was a letter, the poison should have been there too!”

“I-I don’t know. Maybe it blew away in the wind. There was only the letter at that spot.”

“Does it make sense that the letter didn’t fly away in the wind strong enough to make the poison disappear?”

It was a sharp retort compared to her bewildered expression. Everyone listened in silence, and she stomped her foot in frustration.

“This is a trap! It’s all a trap! From the beginning, it was never about poisoning!”

Namgung Shin grabbed her shoulders as she looked flustered.

“Stop trying to shift blame elsewhere and admit it now! There’s also testimony that you gave Father different medicinal herbs than usual!”

Contrary to what I thought, there seemed to be witnesses other than Namgung’s wife.

Feeling cornered, Namgung’s wife closed her eyes tightly and shouted loudly.

“What I gave him wasn’t poison… I-it was a potency enhancer!”

Her words caused a stir in the room.

“A potency enhancer?”

“Y-yes. Aren’t there some popular ones lately among the tonics…”

But something seemed off about this commotion. Blinking my eyes, I saw Namgung Ryeo covering my ears with her hands.

“Come on, the good lady is covering her ears.”

“What’s going on? Why shouldn’t a good lady hear it?”

“Coke!”

“Coke.”

I asked Namgung Ryeo, and when I turned to the surrounding men, they all coughed while turning their heads. When I rolled my eyes in curiosity, Jegalmun whispered to me in a low voice.

“It’s a suspicious drug.”

Suspicious? He really speaks so elegantly. Intrigued by the interesting story, I sparkled my eyes.

“Is there really such a drug? What is it made of? Eels? Ginseng?”

I mentioned some stamina foods I could think of, and Jegalmun looked at me in shock.

“How do you know this so well, little sister?”

“Isn’t this common knowledge?”

Thinking it was something I knew naturally. Smiling brightly, I looked at Jegalmun, who, with a low tongue, turned to Danmokbi.

“Impossible…”

“I guess I have to stab your eyeballs.”

“But to my sister, there’s only Danmok Soga as a man. Isn’t it a reasonable suspicion?”

“Shut your mouth.”

Seems like Danmokbi was really annoyed. He reached out towards Jegalmun. Realizing he might end up in a headlock, Jegalmun closed his mouth.
It was when I alternately looked at Jegalmun and Danmokbi. Namgung Ryeo asked me again.

“Are eels really good for stamina? What other foods are good?”

“If you ask about good foods, oysters, dried figs, chives…”

As I earnestly answered, everyone held their breath and listened to our conversation. I flashed an embarrassed smile and waved my hand.

“Sh-share these stories.”

Why were they eavesdropping on this conversation?

Everyone coughed awkwardly, turning their heads as if they were pretending to be sophisticated again. My face turned as red as the stamina food expert’s face.

After the atmosphere calmed down for a moment, Namgung Shin addressed the people of Jangnae in a heavy voice.

“The medical examiner who examined Father’s body said it seems Father passed away from chronic arsenic poisoning.”

“If they could recognize arsenic poisoning at a glance, it means it was gradually administered over a long period.”

“Arsenic leaves traces on hands, so they say.”

They all seemed familiar with the infamous poison, and each added their thoughts while stroking their beards. One person raised his hand, confronted Namgung Shin, and questioned.

“If you administered arsenic gradually, there would have been even more traces left. Why suspect Namgung’s wife?”

Namgung Shin’s answer was clear.

“Father met Mother after a long time that day and passed away on the same day.”

“So, it’s not me!”

Namgung’s wife pounded her chest as if she were frustrated. In the end, they were just repeating their own positions. The shamanistic master stood up, looking at the situation where they were just going back and forth, and said,

“It seems like no story will be resolved like this. Let’s each go back to our places for now.”

If this was the case, why did they suggest having a meal? Walking back to the inn with a heavy expression, I asked seriously.

“Is Namgung’s wife really the culprit?”

In response to my question, Jegalmun asked me softly,

“What do you think?”

“To be honest, she didn’t seem bold enough to commit such a deed, but… I don’t know. You can’t judge a person’s character from the outside.”