Song Yi

Chapter 403 Poison Not Poison

"Why not be strange!" Wei Zhan moved his body and touched the wound of torture, feeling that his muscles and bones were about to be broken. I slept so deeply, and when I woke up, it was already the evening of the second day, and I heard from my torturer that I didn’t wake up no matter how I shook or even hit me, isn’t that strange?”

Du Wenhao's heart skipped a beat: "Did you only drink that cup of tea before going to bed?"

"Yes."

"What kind of tea? Who served you?"

"A cup of strong tea, I have a habit. I drink a cup of strong tea when I am on duty, so that I can sleep more lightly, or even stay awake, for fear of delaying things. The tea is brought by the maids who serve, and they all know that I have this habit. , it has been like this for many years, and there is no need to order it."

"Have you finished your tea that night?"

"Naturally drink up, lie down after drinking up, and soon fall asleep."

"Does the tea have any strange taste?"

Wei Zhan froze for a moment, frowned and thought for a moment: "It's a bit weird and bitter. At that time, I asked the maid who brought the tea if the tea was broken, and she said it was the new tribute Kuding tea. , that’s the taste. I didn’t suspect him, so I drank it.”

"It tastes bitter?" Du Wenhao pondered for a moment, then asked again: "Do you have any impression of the maid who brought you the tea?"

"It's Dai Tao. It's the maid in the concubine's room, the one with the mole on the corner of her mouth."

Du Wenhao often went to Concubine De's bedroom. This Dai Tao was one of Concubine De's personal maids. As soon as Wei Zhan said it, he remembered it.He asked some more about the situation that day, but Wei Zhan didn't know, because he fell asleep at that time, and he didn't even know when the emperor died.

Du Wenhao said: "Master Wei, drink slowly, I'll go first!"

Wei Zhan stood up with difficulty and cupped his hands, and the iron chain rattled and said, "Thank you, my lord, alas! Before dying, I was able to meet my lord and drink the wine that my lord gave me. I am very satisfied!"

Du Wenhao chuckled, and said, "Lord Wei, the Empress Dowager ordered you not to be buried tomorrow. After the case is clarified, we will deal with it according to the facts."

"Huh?" Wei Zhan was pleasantly surprised, "Your Excellency is serious?"

"Hey, even if I have the guts, I don't dare to fake Chuanyi's decree. Eunuch Jiao, the eunuch who passed the decree, is outside. I'll call for it. Just wait a moment.

"Thank you! I believe it! I will naturally believe what your lord says! Thank you for saving my life!"

"It's the empress dowager's grace, I didn't do anything." Du Wenhao smiled and helped him up.

Wei Zhan got up with difficulty, and was so excited that he burst into tears: "The empress dowager has ordered me to be buried. I know that if the lord has not spoken well in front of the empress dowager, the empress dowager will not take it back. I will never forget the grace of my lord. !"

"It's hard to say whether you will survive or not, it depends on the results of the investigation. But don't worry, if it is true as you said, it means that someone framed you, and I will investigate the matter. If it is true, I will definitely protect your life!"

Wei Zhan whimpered and bowed again and again, but was stopped by Du Wenhao.After a few words of comfort, Du Wenhao said goodbye.Outside, Eunuch Jiao had already declared to the head of the prison that the empress dowager would be exempted from the funeral of Wei Zhan. When he saw Du Wenhao coming out, he brought people in and declared the decree to Wei Zhan.Wei Zhan was naturally grateful.

Du Wenhao told Eunuch Jiao about this matter, and Eunuch Jiao decided to take the thugs team and Du Wenhao to the dormitory of Concubine De to investigate the matter.

A group of people came to the Shengrui Palace of the Concubine De, the gate of the palace was already closed, and a eunuch came up to knock on the door, and soon.The gate of the palace opened.Seeing that Eunuch Jiao was leading the team of thugs, the maid trembled in fright, and hurriedly bowed her body and said: "Eunuch, our mother is not here, and we are guarding the spirit in the empress dowager's bedroom."

"Our family is not here to look for your empress!" Eunuch Jiao pushed the maid away with a palm, stepped in, and glanced at the dark courtyard, "Is that maid named Dai Tao here?"

"Yes! Already asleep."

Eunuch Jiao turned his head and said to the maid of the thug team behind him: "Go two of you, and follow her to bring that Dai Tao to the lobby! Hurry up!"

The two maid thugs agreed and dragged the maid away.Eunuch Jiao and Du Wenhao went straight to the lobby, and the eunuchs who were serving them lit up the palace lanterns.

Soon, a sleepy-eyed court lady was brought in and knelt on the ground in a daze.

Du Wenhao asked coldly, "Your name is Dai Tao?"

"Yes."

Du Wenhao went straight to the point: "On the day the emperor passed away, did you serve a cup of tea to the Imperial Physician Cheng Wei Zhan?"

Dai Tao couldn't help but shivered slightly, lowered his head and replied slowly: "Yes. The slave served it."

"Where does this tea come from?"

"It was built by slaves."

"What tea?"

"Hmm..., it seems to be... Kudingcha."

Du Wenhao stretched out his hand and patted the coffee table hard, making Dai Tao tremble with fright: "I tell you the truth, Imperial Doctor Wei just drank this Kuding tea, and fell into a coma, and didn't wake up until the next afternoon, so The rescue of the emperor was delayed. What kind of medicine did you put in the tea?"

Dai Tao was so frightened that he fell to his knees with a thud: "Your servant is wronged!"

"Injustice?" Du Wenhao lacked confidence when he heard her cry for injustice, his eyes flickered, he understood a little bit in his heart, and said with a sneer, "Hey, I don't need a big punishment to forgive you for not recruiting! Father-in-law, give this lowly servant girl a punishment!"

"Okay! Use torture!" Eunuch Jiao waved his hand, and two tall and thick maids came up, and they quickly fingered Dai Tao's hands with quick hands and feet.With two pulls and a hard pull, Dai Tao's screams echoed in the hall, accompanied by Naga's heart-shattering sound of bones breaking, it was very scary.

Dai Tao only insisted on not having a cup of tea, and then screamed: "I'll recruit...! Spare me...I'll recruit...!"

With a wave of Eunuch Jiao's hand, the maid closed her fingers, Dai Tao's ten knuckles were bloody and bloody, and several of her fingers had been pinched to pieces. The pain was excruciating, and she almost passed out. She knelt on the ground and cried: " Yes... it was the tea given by Prince Yong, and he gave five taels of silver to the servant, and let the doctor tell Wei that this is the new tribute Kuding tea, which was also taught by Prince Yong. The servant really did not know that drinking the tea would make him fall asleep. , it really has nothing to do with slaves!"

Du Wenhao was secretly delighted, this incident was indeed related to King Yong, so don't blame yourself for being cruel, you must investigate to the end, and interrogated the relevant details harshly, this Dai Tao explained it in detail, it doesn't seem like it was made up.

The whole process was recorded by the eunuch who was in charge of recording the confession, and Dai Tao was asked to sign it.Then he was put in chains and taken away.

After discussing with Eunuch Jiao, Du Wenhao decided to rush to the Imperial Medicine Institute immediately.

According to the regulations, all medicines given to the emperor are in double doses. One portion is reserved for the emperor and the other portion is for the emperor to take. If something happens, the reserved portion can be used for re-examination to see if there is any problem.

The two of them rushed to the Royal Medicine Academy, which was naturally closed. After they opened the door, they saw that Eunuch Jiao and the Sanya Commander had arrived, so they rushed to inform the Royal Medicine Academy envoy. The envoy's surname was Kang. It was too late to put on the official robe, so he hurried out to greet him.

Du Wenhao said: "Commissioner of the Kangyuan, please send all the samples and prescriptions of the imperial medicine before the emperor passed away. I want to check it."

The envoy of the Kangyuan was very embarrassed, and cupped his hands and said: "General, I'm really sorry, the medicines and prescriptions kept can only be retrieved and inspected by the emperor's decree..."

Eunuch Jiao screamed, "Are you out of your mind? The emperor has passed away and has not appointed a successor to the throne. Where do you want us to go to seek the imperial edict?"

"Then...hehe, the empress dowager's edict is also fine. Otherwise, I can only wait for the new emperor to inherit the throne, and then transfer it. I'm really sorry. This is a deadly rule. Dare to violate it."

Du Wenhao said: "Who told you to violate it? I am following the order of the Empress Dowager to investigate the case of Wei Zhan's dereliction of duty. I need to retrieve this stored medicine for inspection. Isn't that okay?"

The envoy of Kangyuan bowed and saluted: "Naturally, but according to the rules, the general has to invite the empress dowager's written decree as evidence, and the humble official can only order to obtain it after seeing the decree. The two supervisors of Shitai are afraid that they will not agree to Jin Juanyi's decree if they don't see Jin Juanyi, and if they disagree, they will not be able to get the medicines and prescriptions in stock."

In the palace, there are very strict regulations on giving medicines to the emperor. After the imperial physician prescribed the prescription, it would be reviewed by the Shangyao Bureau to confirm that it was correct, and handed over to the Royal Pharmacy Institute to double the prescribed dose. Under the supervision, a special official divided the medicine into two, sent one to decoction, and sealed the other on the spot, stamped it with a sealing seal of the same day, and signed it separately on the second day, and then sealed it in the safe.The key to the safe is in charge of the court envoy and two supervisory servants. Three people must use it at the same time to open the safe. The strict system is to ensure that the back-up medicine cannot be lost.

However, in order to retrieve the stored medicine for testing, there must be a special imperial decree from the emperor.It is a capital offense to open the seal without an imperial decree.This Kangyuan envoy can't make fun of his own head.

Seeing that Du Wenhao no longer ordered to retrieve the stored medicine, the Kangyuan envoy breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "General, Prince Yong has a strict order for this stored medicine, and no one is allowed to retrieve it without his consent. , Therefore, if you really want to read it for re-examination, you have to agree with Prince Yong."

Du Wenhao squinted at him: "Really?"

"That's right, this is Prince Yong's order to die, I dare not disobey in a lowly position, hehe."

"Forget it, stop bothering me! Farewell!"

Du Wenhao took Eunuch Jiao and the others away from the Royal Medicine Academy, Eunuch Jiao asked Du Wenhao in a low voice: "General, let's leave this matter alone?"

"Of course not!" Du Wenhao sneered, "Why did King Yong issue such an order? Hehe, I'm afraid there is no 300 taels of silver here! Let's go! Let's ask the Queen Mother to discuss Yizhi before coming back!"

Du Wenhao and his party came to the Empress Dowager's bedroom, and the funeral was going to be held the next day. On the last night, the Empress Dowager and her concubines were still here to guard the coffin.After the notification went in, the empress dowager immediately sent it.

The empress dowager stepped back, beckoned Du Wenhao to sit beside her on the soft couch: "Wen Hao, you came just in time, I was about to send someone to pass you on."

Now it was nearly midnight, the empress dowager was in a hurry to send someone to call her, there must be something urgent, Du Wenhao didn't have time to report the progress of the investigation, so he hurriedly asked: "What happened?"

"No! It's just that there is an important matter that I ignored earlier. The deacon who was in charge of the funeral just now reported to me that there will be a farewell ceremony in the early morning, and someone will lead the royal family to offer sacrifices in order. The subsequent funerals must also Someone will lead the royal family to perform the sacrificial ceremony, and then perform the ancestral sacrifice ceremony. When they lead out of the palace, someone will lead the sacrificial ceremony in front of the Meridian Gate. Who will be the leader of the crowd?"

Du Wenhao said without hesitation: "This is naturally you. Among the royal family, is there anyone who is bigger than you?"

"The deacon said, according to the rules of the ancestors, the person who leads the crowd to salute can only be the heir emperor."

The successor emperor is the successor emperor, and the one who passed away is called the Daxing emperor.Du Wenhao still understood this.The problem is that now King Yong and the six princes are fighting for the throne. According to the rules, the leader of the initiation ceremony should be the heir emperor. will be the heir to the throne.

Du Wenhao nodded, feeling that this was indeed a tricky matter, he looked at the empress dowager and said, "Then what do you mean by Tao Tao?"

"Me?" The Empress Dowager smiled bitterly, "I just have no idea, so I want to ask you to discuss it."

Du Wenhao said awkwardly: "This matter is related to Dabao's succession, so I can't give you an idea, can I?"

The empress dowager said angrily: "Are you still being polite to me? You said you would help me. If you have any good ideas, just tell me!"

Du Wenhao gently held her soft hand, and said in a low voice: "Okay, I will help you, but there is something I need to report to you first..."

Empress Dowager Liu Mei frowned slightly: "I'm so impatient and you still talk about other things, let's talk about this first, and then talk about other things."

"I'm talking about things related to this. After you hear about it, maybe it can help you make up your mind and determine who will be the leader of the funeral ceremony!"

"Oh?" The Empress Dowager looked at him in surprise, "Then tell me."

Du Wenhao explained the investigation process just now, and finally said: "Now it is preliminarily found out that Prince Yong once asked the maidservant beside Concubine De to bring a cup of tea to Wei Zhan, the imperial physician, and it was this bowl of tea that he drank. Wei Zhan fell into a coma until the evening of the next day, and when he woke up, he smelled of alcohol, and he hadn't drunk at all! So, I highly suspect that there is something tricky in it!"

The empress dowager's face became a little pale: "You mean that Hao'er played tricks on the emperor's death?"

Du Wenhao nodded slowly: "Besides, according to what Defei Empress said, the emperor got sick shortly after taking the medicine added with cinnabar, and the illness was very urgent, so I suspect that the medicine has been changed. Just now I and Eunuch Jiao went to the Royal Pharmacy Academy to get the medicines stored for inspection for retesting. As a result, the envoy of Kangyuan said that there must be an imperial decree or the Queen Mother’s decree for retesting the medicines stored for inspection. This is of course, but Kang The envoy also said that there was a strict order from Prince Yong before, and his consent must be obtained for retesting the medicines for future inspection."

"Really?" The Empress Dowager bit her lips lightly, thought for a while, stood up, and said, "Let's go! Come with me to adjust the stored medicine for re-examination!"

Du Wenhao was overjoyed, and asked Eunuch Jiao to lead a team of thugs, followed the empress dowager's Luanjia to the Royal Medicine Academy, and opened the courtyard door again. Seeing that it was the empress dowager who came this time, the officials on duty panicked like rabbits He hurried to report to the envoy of Kang Yuan.

The Kangyuan envoy had just undressed and lay down again, before falling asleep, when he got the news, he hurriedly put on his official robes and ran to greet him.The supervisory attendant sent by Yushitai to the Imperial Medicine Academy also got a notification from the Empress Dowager to check the stored medicines, and hurriedly got up and came.

The empress dowager only said coldly to the three of them: "Bring the medicine that was kept for future inspection on the day the emperor passed away, and Ai's family will re-examine it!"

The Kangyuan envoy and the two supervisory servants hurriedly agreed, ran to open the cabinet, carefully took out the reserved medicine, and after checking that the seal was correct, they delivered it to the empress dowager on a tray.

The Empress Dowager said to Du Wenhao: "Du Aiqing, come for a reexamination!"

"Yes!" Du Wenhao stepped forward to take the tray, carefully checked that the wax was sealed and the date was correct, and confirmed that it had not been dropped. Then he took the knife, unsealed it, took out the medicine package inside, put it on the table, and unwrapped it. Open the tether, spread it out for a look, smiled coldly, and said to the Empress Dowager: "Empress Dowager, I still need to unseal the medicine package before re-examination for comparison and inspection. Just take the last ten days."

"Okay! Get the medicine that the emperor took before and keep it for future reference!"

The envoy of Kang Yuan and the two inspectors rushed to fetch the medicine that the emperor had taken ten days ago.After Du Wenhao untied them, he looked at them one by one, then turned to the Empress Dowager and said: "Empress Dowager, please move over and take a look!"

The empress dowager got up and walked slowly to the table.

Du Wenhao pointed to the ten medicine packets lined up on the table: "Queen Mother, the formulas of the medicines taken by the emperor are all prescribed by Weichen, but there is a medicine added to it, which is cinnabar. According to the investigation, this cinnabar is It was increased at the suggestion of Prince Yong. Moreover, the dosage of cinnabar in the first ten batches of medicine is very large, which has exceeded the normal medicinal limit by several times! The dosage of the next three batches has been increased by more than ten times! Especially the last one One batch, please look, Empress Dowager, the content of cinnabar in this batch is dozens of times higher than the previous three batches! Such a dosage is enough to make people die of poison very quickly!"

The envoy of Kangyuan was also an imperial doctor, and he cringed and asked, "General, isn't this cinnabar a fairy product among the top grades? It seems that I have never heard of it. The cinnabar is poisoned..."

The empress dowager also looked at Du Wenhao suspiciously.

Du Wenhao said: "The way to verify what I said is to do a test, use the same dose of cinnabar in the medicine that the emperor died, and give it to a fat pig of adult weight, and then you can know whether it will be poisoned or not!"

The empress dowager was so sure of what he said, she waved her hand and said, "Find a suitable fat pig and feed it with the same dose of cinnabar!"

Eunuch Jiao agreed, and immediately took people to the livestock breeding place of the imperial dining room, found a fat pig, and rushed to the imperial pharmacy.

After the Kangyuan envoy and the two censor servants weighed the dose of cinnabar in the medicine bag, they took the same amount of cinnabar, stirred it in the feed, and forcibly fed it to the fat pig.

After waiting for a meal, the pig neighed for a long time, couldn't stand up, lay on the ground and began to roll, foaming at the mouth, and after another stick of incense, the pig lay on the ground twitching, and then moved. Also did not move.

Eunuch Jiao stepped forward to check the fat pig's breath, bowed and said back: "Queen Mother, this pig... is dead!"

The empress dowager turned pale in shock, stood up, walked forward and squatted down, sniffed the pig's breath, her face turned pale immediately, she stood up slowly, stared at Kangyuan envoy and said, "What's going on?"

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(End of this chapter)