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墨書 Inktalez
Qi Xiaomian played with the cards in his hand. "You've sent me so many people; I can't just let it go without showing my appreciation. How about I treat you to a drink?"
Gentle waved his hand, "I can't drink during my duty; it would be unwise."
"You're being too cautious. It's just one or two drinks. Cai has refused before, but there's a sense of camaraderie hidden in this wine."
Marquis replied, "I understand your reasoning, but I get drunk easily; my tolerance is low."
"Oh, then let's skip the drinks and just share a meal together, shall we?"
Gentle declined again, "The Emperor is still waiting for a reply. It would be bad if I'm late, and even worse if someone sees us. Besides, I have some leads to discuss with you, Marquis."
Qi Xiaomian straightened up slightly. "Oh? Wen truly excels at both serving and investigating; no wonder you've gained the Emperor's favor in such a short time."
Gentle humbly responded, "I'm not very bright, so I can only make up for it by working harder. Fortunately, the Emperor doesn't hold it against me. I must do better to repay His Majesty's trust in me."
"Previously, the prescription you showed me that concealed pain relief has yielded some clues."
Qilang interjected, "I've looked into this as well. I've asked every pharmacy in Jingjing City; there are no leads on complete prescriptions being sold or signs of bulk purchases."
"I suspect these medicines might have been brought over from Dayu. It's hard to trace, so I'll set this lead aside for now and focus on what we need first."
"You make a valid point; I thought the same initially," Gentle agreed before continuing, "However, one coincidence made me suspicious. I suspect that the ingredients in the prescription all come from the Imperial Medical Institute."
"The procurement methods of the Imperial Medical Institute differ from those of local medical clinics and are easily overlooked," Qi Xiaomian sighed. "The Imperial Medical Institute really needs to be reformed, yet the Emperor has been slow to act."
Gentle defended Xuande Emperor, saying, "The royal family has always been involved; familiar faces are naturally more trustworthy in His Majesty's eyes. Especially in medicine, even a slight error can lead to death in an instant. The issue with the Imperial Physicians mainly lies in their timidity; with a little encouragement, they can still be useful."
"What makes you suspect the Imperial Medical Institute?" Qi Xiaomian asked.
Gentle replied, "After looking at the prescription that day, I had a thought about the inexplicable pain His Majesty has been experiencing. I asked the Imperial Physicians if this prescription could be used."
"Coincidentally, while observing the Foreign Group's consultations and listening to the prescriptions given by the Imperial Physicians, I noticed that part of their medicinal ingredients matched those on the prescription."
"After they left, I ordered the Imperial Physicians to bring all their consultation records for comparison and found that it was people from Ginger who pieced together this prescription."
Qilang let out a soft breath. "Ginger is just a small nation; they have quite a bit of audacity. Are they trying to incite conflict between two great nations for their own gain? We haven't settled accounts with them since the Royal Tomb incident."
"The Court indeed sent an official letter for accountability," he continued. "Ginger's response was that they were unaware of anything—claiming ignorance and asking not to be wronged as they are merely a tiny nation without such courage. If it were truly people from the Southern Ginger Dynasty involved, it would certainly be their personal actions and not representative of their country."
Ginger listed numerous points to distance themselves from any involvement and acted cautiously when taking action; without relevant evidence being found, everything ended without resolution.
"Don't rush; we need to verify this," Qidu Wei said. "Gentle, continue providing clues. Before I came here, I visited the Ministry of Justice's morgue. Xing Wu was calculating the injuries and substances found in the deceased's body, trying to determine when they appeared."
At that moment, he had just reached a preliminary conclusion, stating that it was likely within five days before Dayu entered the capital. Moreover, my people observed that while many sought medical attention from Ginger, not many actually took the medicine.
Therefore, I believe Ginger is more likely to be involved. The clues provided by Wen are quite useful. It is my honor to assist the Marquis. I've said all I needed to; His Majesty is waiting for my response, so I will take my leave for now.
After Gentle departed, Qilang hurriedly said, "Marquis, two young women died at Yichun Courtyard last night. These two were also on the list of those serving at night. Furthermore, during inquiries, I discovered that Ginger's influence was evident in this matter as well."
It was Ginger who suggested finding young women for leisure, and it was Ginger who contacted them one by one. After the examination incident, only Ginger's people had sneaked into Yichun Courtyard.
I boldly speculate that those two young women were killed by Ginger's people, and the pain-masking drug was secretly administered while they were having fun with the deceased. I confirmed with other young women that these two were indeed favored by the deceased.
"Marquis, the clues seem to connect well. Should we capture Ginger's people for questioning?"
"Qilang, do you want me to be urged to death by His Majesty? Just as things have calmed down over there, another issue with Ginger pops up here. If His Majesty finds out, he will demand updates at least three times a day."
Let's conduct a discreet investigation for now; those fine needles still have no leads.
Just this morning, I mentioned there were no leads, and by afternoon Huayang Master confirmed that this matter is related to Tang Tian.
Qi Xiaomian was busy handling other matters and replied without looking up, "Your Highness works efficiently. I see Tang Tian as a tough nut; your questioning time didn't exceed half an hour, yet you already have results?"
I threatened him using the authority of the Tang National Government and told him that since the deceased wasn't royalty and didn't matter much—if they died, they died—he wouldn't lose his life or face punishment. By appealing to his emotions and reasoning with him, his attitude softened.
Qi Xiaomian reminded her, "Your Highness, shouldn't you clarify his identity first? Is he really Tang Tian? Wasn't it you who questioned him before, saying he didn't seem like the same person?"
Once clarified, it turned out that the previous individual wasn't Tang Tian; he had deliberately brought someone else to confuse everyone.
The reason for this deception was twofold: first, to unexpectedly win the Martial Arts Examination competition so that upon returning to Dayu, he could leverage this ranking for a position in Court; second, Tang Tian had enmity with Fifth Prince—Fifth Prince wanted him dead, so he decided to strike first.
I agreed to cover for him in exchange for his help once he returned home.
Tsk, what a flawed response.
Qi Xiaomian shot Huayang a sidelong glance with a half-smile and did not question her words; whatever the master said must be true.
Huayang is now the Chief Judge. Even if problems arise later, they won't concern him much. Moreover, the Xuande Emperor's requirements are straightforward: solve the case quickly and avoid deepening the conflict between the two countries. As long as these two points can be achieved, Qi Xiaomian doesn't care about the truth. However, indifference doesn't mean he will turn a blind eye. He instructed Qilang to continue investigating discreetly, especially regarding the whereabouts of the Fifth Prince—alive or dead, he wants to see proof.
A day later, Xing Wu came to him, looking anxious.
"You just told me last night that there was nothing more to investigate regarding the corpse, and it was returned to the Minister of Justice today during his shift. Why are you here again?"
"Marquis, there’s an issue with the identity of that corpse."
"What's the problem now?" Qi Xiaomian teased. "Could it be that he has become the Fifth Prince again?"
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