After Marrying the Officer Chapter 1259 - 1258: Source of the Poison

"Xia Lianlian escaped?" News from Ling County reached him, prompting Huo Shiqian to crease his forehead slightly as he addressed Chang Luhui over the phone.

Huo Shiqian pondered for a moment before questioning Chang Luhui, "Who aided her escape?"

He posed the question because Xia Lianlian couldn't possibly have fled without outside help.

"This situation..." Chang Luhui sighed via the call and admitted, "It's partially my oversight."

Following childbirth, Xia Lianlian had been shifted to a supervised location away from the mental hospital to allow her to feed the infant.

Fresh mothers often stir pity and cause vigilance to slacken.

"Nobody foresaw Xia Lianlian ditching her baby to flee solo," Chang Luhui explained. "Our men only realized it after she'd already vanished from Ling County."

"What's more, Zhao Chunxiao—Xia Lianlian's adoptive mother—bolted alongside her..."

"Zhao Chunxiao?" The name made Huo Shiqian's brows knit tighter as he demanded, "How did she get dragged into this?"

"Uh..." Chang Luhui sounded sheepish and continued, "Xia Lianlian had just delivered, needing tending, so..."

Pity had swayed Chang Luhui into letting Mother Xia look after Xia Lianlian.

Chang Luhui now rued that choice bitterly.

"Commander, the blame is mine; punish me as you see fit." Chang Luhui expressed profound guilt.

Yet no remedy exists for regrets in this world.

Xia Lianlian likely presented no grave danger to Huo Shiqian.

Still, she had poisoned his spouse once and harbored enigmatic ties to the Capital City.

Huo Shiqian harbored no dread of her, only searing contempt.

Confining the woman who injured his wife and child in an asylum had been Huo Shiqian's act of leniency.

Xia Lianlian's breakout left her future schemes unknown.

Thus, seizing her again demanded top urgency.

"Punishment can wait," Huo Shiqian declared gravely. "Pour every resource into recapturing them both first."

"Understood, Commander!" Chang Luhui affirmed resolutely.

Post-response, a brief pause ensued before Chang Luhui ventured, "Er... Commander, I suspect Xia Lianlian has an accomplice..."

"An accomplice for Xia Lianlian?" Huo Shiqian queried dubiously. "What grounds you to think that?"

"Commander, remember we never pinpointed the supplier of the poison Xia Lianlian used against your wife?" Chang Luhui prompted.

"The poison supplier?" The reference instantly jogged Huo Shiqian's memory.

Xia Lianlian's capture led to swift interrogation on the toxin's origin.

Xia Lianlian invariably professed vagueness on the issue.

She described chancing upon a stranger from whom she acquired the poison.

That said, the substance wasn't especially uncommon.

Besides, the anonymous missive sparked greater alarm, so the toxin trail went underexplored.

"Exactly, the poison supplier," Chang Luhui went on. "This escape involved her deploying poison once more."

"Fortunately, our timely find spared the victim any lasting harm."

"Twice with poison now—I reckon someone's drawing near to Xia Lianlian."

"Her current backer, I suspect, connects to the prior poison source." Chang Luhui laid out his hunches.