To investigate a case, one has to start from the time, place, and people. Three years ago, Emperor Yuan ordered all the people in Fengyi Palace except the Queen to be buried with Concubine Mei, and the maids and eunuchs in Changxia Palace were dispersed to other palaces after Concubine Mei's death. Wei Zhenfeng also investigated these people in detail that year, but did not find any useful clues.
If they were to investigate again in the same way as three years ago, Zhao Mian thought it was unlikely that they would find any suspicious points. They should expand the location of the investigation from Fengyi Palace and Changxia Palace to the entire Beiyuan Palace, and expand the people to be investigated to everyone in the palace, from Emperor Yuan's Consort De to the palace maids and eunuchs who did the lowest jobs, and no one should be spared.
In the Beiyuan Palace, there are tens of thousands of palace maids and eunuchs alone, plus the imperial guards, concubines and imperial concubines in the harem... It is not easy to check all the people who have had the opportunity to get close to Concubine Mei.
Although Wei Zhenfeng has been traveling around for the past three years and rarely appears in Shengjing, his power has quietly infiltrated Shengjing. The sixteen-year-old prince may not be able to handle some things, but the nineteen-year-old Wei Zhenfeng may not be able to do so.
They did not check them one by one without a purpose. Zhao Mian first focused his attention on the Imperial Medical Bureau. The tonic that Concubine Mei drank all year round and the poison that the Queen used all came from the Imperial Medical Bureau. This was a place that could not be ignored.
Three years ago, Wei Zhenfeng brought out his mother's twenty years of medical records from the palace. Bai Yu read them again and came to the same conclusion as before.
Since giving birth to Wei Zhenfeng, the imperial concubine has been weak, often suffering from insufficient qi and blood, fear of cold and cold limbs. The tonics she used were all precious ingredients that were suitable for her condition, personally gifted by Emperor Yuan, and she drank them for twenty years without any problems.
According to the records in the palace, whenever Emperor Yuan got any precious tonic, he would definitely give it to Concubine Mei first. It is an indisputable fact that Concubine Mei has been favored for many years.
Zhao Mian was not surprised by this result. He found Wei Zhenfeng and said, "Bai Yu did not find anything unusual in your mother's medical records. Can you bring me the medical records of Emperor Yuan and his many beauties in the harem?"
"What a coincidence! I was just about to get it." Wei Zhenfeng had already changed into the clothes he wore when entering the palace. He lowered his head and tied his wristband and said, "Whoever else needs it, I'll bring them back as well."
Zhao Mian said: "Everyone in the palace."
Wei Zhenfeng raised his eyes to look at Zhao Mian, and seeing that he was not joking, he said, "Well, Your Highness, I have a better idea."
"you say."
"I'll just move the entire Imperial Medical Bureau back to the palace."
Zhao Mian was full of doubts: "Can you do it?"
Wei Zhenfeng spread his hands and said, "I will be able to do it when I sit on the dragon throne of Beiyuan."
Zhao Mian chuckled and said, "I can still do it even if I don't sit on Nan Jing's throne."
Wei Zhenfeng then sighed: "It's different to have two babies loved by their fathers."
Zhao Mian was not as proud of his fathers' love as usual when he heard this. Instead, he felt touched and said sadly, "Anyway, the baby is not the fruit of their love, there is nothing to show off - don't mention this matter again."
Wei Zhenfeng suppressed his laughter: "Okay."
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who is always fussing about "small things", is lovable in a different way. If it weren't for the important business, he would really want to hug him.
There are countless medical records stored in the Imperial Medical Bureau. The fastest way is not to get the records out, but to get people in.
So, Zhao Mian once again borrowed Ji Chong's face, disguised himself and followed Wei Zhenfeng to visit the Beiyuan Palace again.
On the way there, Wei Zhenfeng reminded Zhao Mian: "You should know that you don't have to do these little things yourself, right?"
Zhao Mian said, "Of course." He and Wei Zhenfeng had many capable and loyal people at their disposal. "Thanks to you, I have experienced the joy of doing things myself."
It should have started from the time when Wei Zhenfeng invited him to visit Xu Garden at night. He found that the investigation process was much more interesting and exciting than waiting for others to finish the investigation and give him the results directly.
Wei Zhenfeng bowed and nodded: "I am honored."
"But I can't do this so often in the future." Zhao Mian warned himself, "I am of noble status. If I do everything myself, it will inevitably damage my dignity and put myself in danger, creating opportunities for the enemy."
"Don't be afraid to follow me," Wei Zhenfeng said, "I won't put you in danger."
The young prince thought he had said something very manly that might move His Royal Highness the Crown Prince a little, but he did not expect to receive a disdainful look from the other party.
"Come on," Zhao Mian was in the North, so his way of speaking was more or less affected. "Just count how many times we have escaped death together. Nangong Mountain, sandstorms, the underground palace in the desert... How dare you say something like 'I won't let you get into danger'?"
Wei Zhenfeng thought about it and realized that it was true. He changed his words and said, "Even if we are in danger, I will do my best to protect you - is that okay?"
Every time he was in danger, Wei Zhenfeng was indeed protecting him.
Zhao Mian said: "I don't need your protection, just take care of yourself. After all, you can't even beat Shen Buci."
Wei Zhenfeng: “.”
The palace was heavily guarded, and the difficulty of breaking in at night was ten or a hundred times higher than when they sneaked into Nangong Mountain that day. But they didn't need to "break in at night" or "sneak in" at all, Wei Zhenfeng could enter and leave the palace freely, and there were many of Wei Zhenfeng's people in the palace. They entered the palace blatantly, sent someone to use a trick to transfer the imperial physician on duty, and smoothly came to the place where the medical records were stored.
There are estimated to be tens of thousands of medical records stored here, and it is unrealistic for the two of them to read them all. Fortunately, the medical records of the emperor, empress, and empress dowager are all in separate volumes and sealed separately. Wei Zhenfeng found the medical records of Emperor Yuan and Empress Yuan with ease, and took out the key he had obtained in advance: "Let's start with these two people first."
Zhao Mian took over Emperor Yuan's medical records and roughly flipped through them. Emperor Yuan had been on the throne for more than 20 years and had always been in good health. Even common headaches and fevers rarely occurred to him, no more than five times in the past 20 years. His medicine record was only a thin volume, and the pulse records were almost all about daily pulse checks. It seemed that he could live to be 99 years old.
Zhao Mian carefully checked from the beginning, comparing the pulse records with the medicine records one by one.
The first few times Emperor Yuan felt unwell, he summoned the imperial physician to take his pulse, and the physician wrote down the pulse history and prescribed the right medicine. When Emperor Yuan took what medicine and how much he took were all recorded in the medicine record.
Soon, Zhao Mian discovered something strange. There was a page in the medicine book that did not have a corresponding pulse record. In other words, Emperor Yuan drank the medicine without asking the imperial physician to diagnose his pulse. Judging from the time when the medicine was taken, it should have been early in the morning.
Zhao Mian thought for a while, then turned to Emperor Yuan's pulse record to the days when Imperial Concubine Mei passed away. After comparing the handwritings of the two, he was sure that the imperial physician who prescribed this medicine for Emperor Yuan was the same imperial physician who took Emperor Yuan's pulse the day before Imperial Concubine Mei passed away.
Could it be a coincidence
If not, why did the imperial physician take Emperor Yuan's pulse, write down the four words "Dragon body is healthy", but also prescribed another prescription - why
The answer is not difficult to guess. Emperor Yuan must have orally told him some symptoms that could not be detected by pulse diagnosis, so the imperial physician had the courage to do so.
Although Zhao Mian didn't know medicine, he knew the difference between good medicine and poison. He could see that the herbs on this prescription were good medicines that were beneficial to the body and mind, but he didn't know what specific illness they were for.
Zhao Mian told Wei Zhenfeng about this matter, and Wei Zhenfeng also felt that there might be something fishy about it, so he said, "Write it down and ask someone when you get back."
They stayed in the Imperial Medical Bureau for two hours. In addition to the suspicious medicine record, they also found a lot of strange things. For example, there was something wrong with the pregnancy-preserving medicine of a certain concubine, and several concubines were using the same secret medicine... Zhao Mian unexpectedly saw how much the normal harem struggles depended on the hard work of the imperial doctors. As for whether these doubts were related to the death of Concubine Mei, further investigation was needed.
When the two of them left the Imperial Medical Office, the palace gates were almost locked. If they didn't leave, they would be trapped in the palace tonight.
Zhao Mian urged Wei Zhenfeng to leave the palace as soon as possible, but Wei Zhenfeng said, "No hurry, just follow me to a place."
Zhao Mian followed Wei Zhenfeng to a secluded place. He didn't see anything special and asked, "What are you going to do?"
Wei Zhenfeng said: "Wait a moment."
The two of them didn't have to wait long before a young eunuch appeared stealthily. The young eunuch was holding something in his arms, looking around, and when he saw Wei Zhenfeng, his eyes lit up: "Young Prince!"
Wei Zhenfeng nodded: "Thank you for your hard work. Did you bring the things?"
"It's all here." The young eunuch handed the things in his arms to Wei Zhenfeng, showing a smile with tiger teeth, "My young prince, I'm leaving first. There are still many things waiting for me to do in the palace."
"Go ahead." Wei Zhenfeng said, "Be careful."
After the young eunuch left, Wei Zhenfeng took the initiative to explain to Zhao Mian: "He is from the Palace Bureau."
The Palace Bureau is the place in the Beiyuan Palace that manages the affairs of the imperial harem. If the matter of Concubine Mei is related to the competition for favor in the harem, the Palace Bureau is one of the places that can best reveal clues.
Zhao Mian wanted to check the Imperial Medical Bureau first, while Wei Zhenfeng wanted to check the Imperial Palace Bureau first.
The Palace Bureau is in the harem. Although they can find a way to sneak in, it will be a big trouble if they are exposed. It is most convenient to ask someone to bring out what they want.
The two of them left the palace before the palace gates were locked. As soon as they got on the carriage, Wei Zhenfeng shared what he had brought out with Zhao Mian - it was Emperor Yuan's summons file.
Zhao Mian weighed the file in his hand and said with disdain, "Everyone says Wei Zhaoxiu is a romantic emperor, but this is all he has achieved in more than 20 years? Ha, nothing special."
"What are you thinking about, Zhao Mian?" Wei Zhenfeng said with a smile, "This is what he has done in the past two years."
Zhao Mian was stunned for a moment, thinking about the once-a-month sex between him and Wei Zhenfeng, and blurted out: "I don't believe it, open it and see."
There wasn't much to see, so the two of them didn't divide up the work. They sat side by side, their heads together, and together... read the records of Emperor Yuan's summons.
It is true that Concubine Mei was the most favored concubine in the six palaces. One of the three times Emperor Yuan went to the harem was to Changxia Palace. This was only two years before Concubine Mei's death. At that time, Concubine Mei was already over 30 years old. It is conceivable how favored Concubine Mei was when she was in her teens and twenties.
The two of them turned the pages in silence. After turning the last page, Zhao Mian said slowly, "Three years ago, your father could go to the harem so many times a month? If I remember correctly, your father this year..."
"Forty-two." Wei Zhenfeng said coldly, "Yes, you remember correctly, he is twenty-three years older than us."
Zhao Mian: “.”
Wei Zhenfeng couldn't hide his sarcasm: "He is the one who should drink Baiyu herbal tea."
Zhao Mian turned back to the page three years ago and said, "The night before your mother passed away, I went to sleep with her."
How could Concubine Mei not be envied when she was so favored? Did she really die just because of the competition for favor in the harem
Concubine Mei slept with the emperor the night before her death, and Emperor Yuan may have also taken some medicine on that day. Is there any connection between the two
After returning to the palace, Zhao Mian immediately called Bai Yu and recited the prescription in the medicine book to her. After listening, Bai Yu asked, "Your Highness, have you not been sleeping well recently?"
"This is not the recipe I use." Zhao Mian said, "Why do you ask?"
Bai Yu said, "Because this prescription has the effect of calming the mind and nourishing the heart yang, it is often used to treat nightmares and delirium."
Nightmare whispering
Zhao Mian thought of something and his heart sank suddenly.
"Wei Zhenfeng, do you still remember the joke we played the other day?" Zhao Mian said softly, "You asked me why I knew you wanted to rebel."
Wei Zhenfeng looked very bad: "Remember."
(End of this chapter)