Chapter 591

Love Shenjing, Investigation Court Office, Main Hall.

Eunuch Yuan Jing entered the Investigation Court office for the second time to convey the second imperial edict of the Jia Zhao Emperor; Zhou Zhou Junxing heard the content clearly, his heart was full of surprise, and his thoughts surged.

He did not expect that the news of Huang Huang Hongcang's accident would reach the palace, and less than two hours had passed before the Jia Zhao Emperor re-determined the substitute chief examiner.

The reaction in the palace had to be said to be swift, but today was the 16th, which was the day for the chief examiner and co-examiners to enter for seclusion; such rapid remedial measures were also reasonable.

However, the candidate for this re-determined chief examiner was very unexpected to Zhou Zhou Junxing; he quickly recalled the information he knew in his mind, hoping to find useful highlights.

Yuan Jing said: "Minister Huang of the Ministry of Rites suddenly had an accident before entering for seclusion; the Emperor is worried that there are evil people intending to act against the spring examinations.

The Emperor has already issued an edict for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrange manpower to strengthen the protection of the chief examiner of the spring examinations.

Now that Minister Huang has a strange acute illness, there is no conclusion yet; the Emperor has explicitly ordered that the identity of the new chief examiner must not be publicized before entering, so as to avoid further accidents.

The Emperor considers Minister Huang to be an important minister of the imperial court, with profound talent and virtue, respected by the court and the public, and originally appointed as the chief examiner of the spring examinations to select talents for the country.

Yet he encountered such a strange disaster; the Emperor feels regret in his heart and specially sent the new chief examiner, together with Li Mingcheng, the head of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, to visit and treat Minister Huang in the Huang residence, to express the Emperor's concern.

There are Embroidered Uniform Guards in plain clothes accompanying him, but for the sake of caution, the Emperor ordered Minister Zhou to accompany him throughout the journey; after the new chief examiner leaves the Huang residence, Minister Zhou will escort him into the examination hall for seclusion."

As soon as Zhou Zhou Junxing heard this, his spirit was slightly lifted, his heart was as clear as a mirror, and he quickly understood the Emperor's thoughts.

The chief examiner of the spring examinations suddenly had an accident at home the night before entering the examination hall, which had already made this deep and suspicious monarch feel great suspicion and doubt.

However, in a hurry, he could not break through the truth of the matter, so after determining the candidate for the substitute chief examiner, he specially kept his identity secret to prevent him from being taken advantage of and further changes.

This matter had already been intervened by the Embroidered Uniform Guard for protection, and the Investigation Court was asked to accompany him throughout the journey.

It was just the juncture of the spring examinations; to prevent trouble before it happened, the Emperor would not trust anyone completely, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Investigation Court were just participating together to check and supervise each other.

After Yuan Jing left, Zhou Zhou Junxing asked his subordinates to prepare carriages and horses, ready to go to the Huang residence to wait, waiting for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to escort the new chief examiner to arrive.

He himself hurried back to his office; because Yuan Jing announced the Jia Zhao Emperor's oral edict, letting him know the identity of the new chief examiner, he felt a sudden impulse, and with his spirit excited, he needed to verify it urgently.

The long corridor in the office seemed to suddenly become long and troublesome; Zhou Zhou Junxing almost trotted into the office, took a thick stack of documents from the wooden shelf behind the desk,

Ever since the blue-covered booklet appeared on the market some time ago, triggering a trend of candidates visiting officials for the spring examinations.

Zhou Zhou Junxing smelled something unusual from it, so he arranged for the main official of the Investigation Court to arrange spies to collect various news about candidates visiting officials.

These documents also contained 57 private drafts of examination questions from officials collected by Zheng Zheng Yingquan, each marked with the name and official position of the questioner.

The news on these documents were all from spies of the Investigation Court, or hearsay from the streets, or secret news collected by spending money; the sources were different.

Therefore, the matters recorded on these documents were mostly incomplete and appeared very complicated and fragmented; it would take some effort to organize a complete clue from them.

Although Zhou Zhou Junxing was vicious and only sought results in his handling of affairs, and had always been unscrupulous, he was also a person who was extremely meticulous and patient in doing things.

He had studied and pondered every piece of paper in these complicated and numerous document materials and had made detailed annotations on them.

Therefore, he did not spend much time finding two of them from these documents, which were exactly what he wanted.

He carefully read his harvest, a strange and crazy light appearing in his eyes; after Huang Huang Hongcang's accident, the full frustration he felt was instantly swept away!

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, revealing a gloomy and unclear smile, and he muttered proudly: "The net of heaven is vast, and nothing escapes!"

He pondered for a moment, then picked up a pen and wrote a letter, put it in an envelope, and sealed it with wax, saying to himself: "There is still a day and a half left, everything is still in time……"

He called his trusted subordinate and said: "Send this letter to my residence and give it to my wife or my son; go quickly and return quickly, and do not make any mistakes.

Also, select two capable and reliable people to come here immediately to listen to my orders; go to the west of the city to do one thing……"

……

Love Shenjing, Qingliu Fang, Huang Residence.

Zhou Zhou Junxing's carriage arrived at the Huang residence, and not long after, two other carriages arrived at the Huang residence one after another.

One of the carriages had a large entourage, accompanied by four sturdy servants.

The Huang residence had received the news in advance and opened the gate that had been closed for most of the day, waiting for the new chief examiner to visit and express condolences.

But what Huang's wife and Miss Huang cared about most was not this new chief examiner, but Li Mingcheng, the head of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, who came with him.

Since Huang Huang Hongcang fell into a strange coma last night, the Huang family had invited two famous doctors in Love Shenjing to help, but neither could determine the cause of Huang Huang Hongcang's illness.

But since they were called famous doctors, even if some were not as good as their reputation, their medical skills were still somewhat effective, and they managed to keep Huang Huang Hongcang's heart pulse from breaking; although he was unconscious, his life was not in danger for the time being.

When the two carriages entered the Huang residence, one of the carriages, in addition to the imperial physician Li Mingcheng, also had several other physicians from the Imperial Academy of Medicine; the lineup looked quite large.

Although the Huang family was not a noble family like the Jia family, according to the family etiquette, unmarried young ladies usually should not show their faces.

But Huang Huang Hongcang had no sons and only one beloved daughter; the Huang family had no relatives in Love Shenjing to help, and Huang's wife was over forty. Because her husband's life and death were uncertain, she had long been in a panic.

Now that the Emperor had personally sent officials to visit and treat him, this was also a great imperial favor; the Huang family naturally had to have someone come forward, so Miss Huang had to put aside her shyness and receive them on behalf of her father.

A middle-aged man in his forties got off the other carriage, wearing a green robe and long gown, with a dignified appearance, a short beard under his forehead, and a clear and lofty spirit.

It was just that the expression on his face was somewhat solemn and strange, as if excitement and nervousness were intertwined, showing a trace of strangeness……

Seeing Zhou Zhou Junxing, the man's expression became expressionless, but he still took care of official etiquette, cupped his hands and greeted: "Minister Zhou, greetings."

Zhou Zhou Junxing knew that these aloof civil officials in the imperial court all had deep grudges against him and had never given him a good look, so he didn't take it to heart at all.

He replied with a fake smile: "Minister, you are too polite; let's go in and visit Minister Huang now."

Because the Jia Zhao Emperor had passed down an oral edict through Yuan Jing, in order to prevent accidents from happening again, the new chief examiner must not publicize his identity before entering the examination hall for seclusion.

Therefore, Zhou Zhou Junxing did not call out the name or official position of the new chief examiner to Huang Huang Hongcang's family.

……

The two entered Huang Huang Hongcang's bedroom and saw him lying on the bed with a pale face and a stiff body, as if he were dead, with only a weak rise and fall of his chest, showing that he had not yet died.

At this time, Li Mingcheng, the head of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, was already diagnosing his illness, and several imperial physicians accompanying him were assisting on the side.

Seeing the imperial physician diagnosing, the middle-aged man couldn't get a result for a while, so he said to Miss Huang on the side: "Minister Huang has profound learning, is upright as an official, and has a good reputation in the court and the public.

Originally appointed as the chief examiner of the spring examinations, he would surely be able to select high-quality materials for the country with his extraordinary talent, but he did not expect to encounter this disaster, which is truly heartbreaking.

I am here to visit Minister Huang under the imperial edict and to take over the honor of the spring examinations from Minister Huang. I heard that Minister Huang has been on leave at home for the past few days; I think he has been behind closed doors studying hard and compiling the spring examination questions.

I would like to see the manuscript of the examination questions left by Minister Huang, to observe the literary thoughts and main themes, so as to use them for reference in re-compiling the spring examination questions, and also to fulfill Minister Huang's desire to select talents."

In such an extremely unexpected situation, he took over as the chief examiner of the spring examinations; wanting to compile new spring examination policy questions within a day, the time was also quite urgent.

But he was also a proud talent in the examination field in his early years, with rich talent and learning, not inferior to Huang Huang Hongcang; for things that others found difficult, he could still barely cope.

His words to Miss Huang were just a formal courtesy in officialdom, as he was here to visit under the imperial edict.

Moreover, taking over the position of chief examiner in such a situation was not a decent thing for him, and the time for compiling questions was too urgent.

If Huang Huang Hongcang had left a manuscript of the examination questions, it would be a good thing; if not, it didn't matter, he would just have to rack his brains.

It was just that Zhou Zhou Junxing, hearing this, was overjoyed in his heart; if the new examination questions still followed Huang Huang Hongcang's literary thoughts, it would give him a lot of convenience……

Miss Huang heard these words, her expression was slightly startled, and she said: "Yesterday, when I sent ginseng tea to the study, Father had been studying the classics for many days and finally got literary thoughts, and had already drafted the spring examination questions."

Zhou Zhou Junxing heard this, overjoyed in his heart. The middle-aged man's eyes also lit up.

Miss Huang continued: "However, Father said at the time that the spring examinations are a matter of great concern to the world, and people always have many private and ghostly acts for the sake of fame and wealth.

He said that he already had the final version of the examination questions in his heart, and after entering the examination hall for seclusion today, he would just write them down and send them to the palace for the Emperor's inspection; there was no need to leave drafts at home, so as not to cause unexpected worries.

Therefore, in front of me, he burned the final version of the examination questions, as well as all drafts and notes, in the fire basin."

The middle-aged man sighed long and said: "Minister Huang is strict and flawless, meticulous in his thinking, and so solemn about selecting talents for the spring examinations; it is truly admirable."

Zhou Zhou Junxing heard what Miss Huang said, but his face sank, feeling disappointed, and he asked coldly: "Is what Miss Huang said true? Did Minister Huang really burn all the manuscripts of the examination questions!"

……

Zhou Zhou Junxing's cold and sharp tone seemed to make Miss Huang a little afraid, and she said: "What does the Minister mean by this? This is what I saw with my own eyes; Father has always been cautious in doing things."

Zhou Zhou Junxing said in a deep voice: "Miss Huang, I am the head of the Investigation Court; Minister Huang suddenly encountered a disaster, and there must be something strange about it, which is very likely related to Minister Huang's spring examination questions.

Therefore, I have to investigate this matter in detail; please ask Miss Huang to take us to the study to have a look, so that I can look around and see if I can find any clues about Minister Huang's disaster."

Hearing Zhou Zhou Junxing's arrogant and gloomy words, which were all in the style of a cruel official, the middle-aged man's face showed dissatisfaction.

But he had just come out of the palace and knew that the Emperor had already issued an oral edict, asking the Investigation Court to investigate the cause of Huang Huang Hongcang's accident; Zhou Zhou Junxing used this as an excuse to control Miss Huang, so he could not stop it too much.

Miss Huang's expression was somewhat unwilling, but it seemed that she was forced by Zhou Zhou Junxing's power, so she had to be accompanied by Huang's wife and take them to Huang Huang Hongcang's study.

As soon as Zhou Zhou Junxing and the middle-aged man entered the study, they saw a copper basin placed next to the desk, inside which was still a pile of black ashes.

Miss Huang said: "Yesterday, Father burned the final version of the examination questions and related drafts in this copper basin."

Zhou Zhou Junxing squatted down in front of the copper basin, raked the ashes with his hands, and could see that the paper Huang Huang Hongcang burned was burned very thoroughly. He stood up again and wandered around the study, even carefully checking the books and documents on the bookshelf, and occasionally pulling out a few to read.

Seeing Zhou Zhou Junxing act like this, Miss Huang was so angry that her face turned pale.

She knew clearly who Zhou Zhou Junxing was—a notorious cruel official of the Investigation Court; her father and such people were clearly separated, and such people could not possibly be guests of the Huang family.

Now that her father had just encountered a disaster and was not a criminal, he was a high-ranking official of the third rank, but Zhou Zhou Junxing searched his study at will, which was truly rude to the extreme.

Although Miss Huang bit her lip and her face sank, she held back and didn't make a sound, because she wasn't afraid of him finding anything……

The middle-aged man and Huang Huang Hongcang were both orthodox civil officials of the imperial court, so they naturally shared a common hatred; seeing Zhou Zhou Junxing's rude behavior, he couldn't help but snort coldly, flicked his sleeves, and left the study alone.

Zhou Zhou Junxing looked around the study and found no unexpected discoveries, saying somewhat gloomily: "Minister Huang is meticulous in his work, which is truly admirable."

He didn't know if he was saying this to himself or to Miss Huang, and then he left Huang Huang Hongcang's study indifferently.

As for Miss Huang's anger toward him and the middle-aged man's contempt for him, he didn't seem to take it to heart at all……

After Zhou Zhou Junxing left the study, Huang's wife on the side had a strange expression.

!

She asked with some concern: "Xiue, those manuscripts of your father were clearly burned by you privately this morning; why did you say they were burned by your father?"

Miss Huang's expression was calm, and the fear and timidity she had shown in front of Zhou Zhou Junxing seemed to have been swept away.

She said in a low voice: "Mother, Father was supposed to enter the examination hall for seclusion tonight, but he had an accident at this time; don't you think it's strange?

As things stand, Father can no longer be the chief examiner of the spring examinations; keeping these manuscripts of the examination questions is a source of disaster, so it's better to burn them clean with a fire.

In fact, before Father had the accident, he was already vigilant and had burned a draft of the examination questions; I was just helping to clean up……"

……

Zhou Zhou Junxing had just walked out of the study when Zheng Zheng Yingquan greeted him and said: "Minister, I have already checked inside and outside the Huang residence and asked everyone in the residence, but I have not found any problems.

Yesterday, Huang Huang Hongcang was as usual, with no outside guests visiting, his three meals had no abnormalities, and he stayed in the study for nearly two hours after dinner before suddenly having a convulsion and falling into a coma after going to bed."

Zhou Zhou Junxing frowned and said: "According to what you said, he doesn't look like he was poisoned by someone; with no outside guests visiting, there are no suspects, so it really looks like it was caused by his own hidden illness?

Hmph, if this is really the reason, this hidden illness broke out at a very convenient time!"

Zheng Zheng Yingquan said: "Because Huang Huang Hongcang is not dead, but unconscious, it is definitely impossible to let the coroner examine him, but Li Li Chengming, the head of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, is a national hand, and perhaps he can find the cause of the illness."

Zhou Zhou Junxing nodded slightly; if Huang Huang Hongcang died in this accident, he could use the method of solving the case to let the coroner dissect the body, and it would be much simpler to find the cause.

But now that Huang Huang Hongcang was just unconscious, if Zhou Zhou Junxing was arrogant enough to let the coroner examine him, it would be a public humiliation of a high-ranking official of the third rank, and he would immediately become the mortal enemy of the civil officials in the imperial court.

At that time, the public opinion would be surging, and I'm afraid even the Jia Zhao Emperor wouldn't be able to protect him……

……

When Zhou Zhou Junxing and Zheng Zheng Yingquan returned to Huang Huang Hongcang's bedroom, the room was still dead silent.

Not long after, Miss Huang accompanied Huang's wife and entered the bedroom together; now that Huang Huang Hongcang's life and death were chaotic, as family members, they were naturally very concerned about the results of the imperial physician's diagnosis.

Li Li Chengming was unbuttoning Huang Huang Hongcang's clothes, pressing and checking his chest and abdomen, and taking his pulse and listening repeatedly.

Finally, he seemed to have thought of something, pushed open Huang Huang Hongcang's lips with his hand, not knowing what he was checking.

Zhou Zhou Junxing felt strange in his heart and asked: "Minister Li, can you find the cause of Minister Huang's illness?"

Li Li Chengming closed Huang Huang Hongcang's lips again, the expression on his face was somewhat strange, and a trace of fear even appeared in his eyes.

He said: "I can basically conclude that Minister Huang is unconscious because he was poisoned by someone!"

As soon as Li Mingcheng said this, the Huang family mother and daughter and the middle-aged man in the room all changed color in horror.

Zhou Zhou Junxing's eyes showed strange light, and he asked: "Minister Li, what poison did Minister Huang take, and what method was used to poison him?"

Li Mingcheng said: "Minister Huang's pulse is weak and slow, light and heavy are mixed, and his limbs, face, and complexion show no signs of poisoning.

Just now, when I undressed Minister Huang to check, I saw that the skin on his chest and ribs was slightly red, so I felt suspicious.

Later, I found that Minister Huang's lips were slightly cracked, and after checking carefully, I found that his gums were blue-black, so I could conclude that Minister Huang was poisoned by the rat-mang grass.

This kind of rat-mang grass is very rare and only grows in the remote mountains and forests in the south; it has never been seen in the north, and very few doctors know its shape.

Anyone who is poisoned by this will have no abnormalities on the body surface, but the gums will turn black, the poison will enter the five internal organs, and the skin on the chest and ribs will turn slightly red.

It is very difficult to find abnormalities with ordinary inspection methods.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the two famous doctors in Love Shenjing could not find the cause of Minister Huang's illness.

I am also a northerner; the reason I recognize the rat-mang grass poison is because more than twenty years ago, a prince in the palace had gout as soon as he landed, and he couldn't be cured after using all kinds of prescriptions.

Later, a famous doctor from Jiangnan traveled to Love Shenjing and offered a miraculous prescription, using rat-mang grass poison as a medicine guide, combined with other medicinal materials, and finally cured the prince's strange illness.

I was a student at the Imperial Academy of Medicine at the time, and I was lucky enough to witness the matter while serving my master, so I recognize this thing."

……

Miss Huang was excited and asked: "Since the imperial physician recognizes this thing, there must be a way to detoxify it; please ask the imperial physician to use his miraculous skills to save my father's life, and the Huang family will be forever grateful."

Li Mingcheng said: "I am treating Minister Huang under the imperial edict and will naturally do my best, so Miss Huang can rest assured.

The rat-mang grass is fierce in nature; when the medicine was prepared for the prince, both the Imperial Academy of Medicine and the palace stored some rat-mang grass.

A eunuch in the palace accidentally ate the poisonous grass and died in less than two quarters of an hour, which shows its toxicity is extremely strong.

But after Minister Huang was poisoned, it took several hours to break out, and he didn't die, and he could still hang on to a breath.

This shows that the poisoning is not deep, and it must be that other hallucinogenic drugs were mixed into the rat-mang grass, which caused Minister Huang to be controlled by the poison and fall into a coma.

After I return to the Imperial Academy of Medicine, I will rush to deduce the pharmacology and prepare the antidote as soon as possible."

……

Huang's wife and Miss Huang heard Li Mingcheng's words, and for the story of the prince's strange illness, they almost turned a deaf ear; knowing that Huang Huang Hongcang had hope of being saved, they were overjoyed.

Zhou Zhou Junxing didn't care whether Huang Huang Hongcang was dead or alive, and asked: "Minister Li, what method was used to poison him?"

Li Mingcheng said firmly: "Naturally, it was poisoning through food."

Huang's wife on the side looked confused and said: "My husband always eats the same food as us; if it was poisoning through food, why is everyone else in the family fine?"

Miss Huang on the side suddenly realized and said: "Mother, although Father always eats at the same table as us, there is one thing that only he eats, and no one else uses."

Zhou Zhou Junxing asked sharply: "What is that!"

Miss Huang said: "Father has had a chronic throat disease for many years; because he needs to be in seclusion for ten days when entering the spring examinations, Father is worried that his old illness will break out and affect the major event of the spring examinations.

During this time, he has been eating turtle meat stew to treat his throat disease; two hours before Father's illness broke out last night, he had eaten a bowl of turtle meat stew."

Zhou Zhou Junxing's eyes were bright, and he asked: "Which shop did you buy the turtle meat from, and is there any left?"

Huang's wife said: "The turtle meat my husband uses is reserved from the Hongxing Southern Goods Store on Yongchun Street; the shop delivered two catties of turtle meat yesterday, and more than half is still left in the kitchen.

It's just that the cook in the family is a distant relative of the family and has followed us for more than ten years; she will definitely not poison my husband, so Minister Zhou must not wrong her."

Zhou Zhou Junxing seemed to turn a deaf ear to Huang's wife's words and said coldly: "Minister Zheng!"

Zheng Zheng Yingquan understood and immediately left the room, but after a while, he returned quickly, holding something wrapped in thick cloth in his hand.

He said: "Minister, the front and back gates have been guarded, and everyone is here!"

Zhou Zhou Junxing said in a deep voice: "Immediately send someone to the Hongxing Southern Goods Store and take the relevant people to the Investigation Court for questioning!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a cold air was born in the room, making people shudder……

The name of the Investigation Court was rumored in the streets; anyone taken to the Investigation Court for questioning, although not necessarily unable to come out alive, would inevitably suffer a lot.

Li Mingcheng took the thick cloth package from Zheng Zheng Yingquan's hand and opened it carefully; inside was a piece of gray-black pickled meat with scales.

He took a light sniff of the pickled meat at the tip of his nose, his brows not only wrinkled slightly, and said: "Rat-mang grass must be dried before it can be used as medicine, and it has a strong spicy fragrance.

If rat-mang grass is used on meat, it will increase the fragrance of the food, which is similar to the Sichuan pepper in western Sichuan, but this piece of turtle meat has no such smell at all, and it doesn't look like it's poisonous."

The murderous spirit on Zhou Zhou Junxing's face appeared, and he said: "Only this thing in the Huang residence can poison Minister Huang; how can it be non-toxic!"

Li Mingcheng didn't care at all about Zhou Zhou Junxing's questioning; he was the head of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, a famous national hand in Da Zhou, and was deeply valued by the Jia Zhao Emperor.

Even if Zhou Zhou Junxing was a mad dog, he would never dare to bite him easily; who didn't have a headache or fever? When it came to life-saving, famous doctors like Li Mingcheng were equivalent to a life.

Li Mingcheng said indifferently: "If you want to know if this piece of turtle meat is poisonous, it's actually not difficult to handle; it won't take long to be clear.

Minister Zhou, find a wild dog and bake the turtle meat with fire to get the oil out; if the turtle meat is poisoned with rat-mang grass, the toxicity will volatilize and intensify.

Feed it to the wild dog; in less than half an hour, the wild dog will be poisoned; if the wild dog is safe and sound, it means the turtle meat is non-toxic." (End of chapter)