Everything came back to the starting point - the five secret pills made by King Luhuang.
Ruth selected two pills, ground them up to remove impurities, absorb iron filings, magnets and other miscellaneous minerals, and then roasted, steamed and boiled them, as if a skilled chef was cooking a complicated dish.
When it was almost dawn, Ru Siyao roasted the last remaining powder on an iron plate. Puffs of ghostly white smoke rose into the sky, emitting a strong smell of garlic. An iron plate was suspended above the white smoke, colliding with the iron ceiling. The white smoke condensed when it got cold, and when it finished evaporating, tiny particles like coarse salt and with the shape of nipples condensed on the iron plate.
Ru Si used a medicinal bamboo knife to scrape off the "coarse salt" as carefully as if he were serving his ancestors, and only one grain condensed out. This was the arsenic/frost that had been repeatedly purified.
Ru Siyao put the arsenic/frost into a small porcelain bottle and shook it. The coarse salt rolled in the bottle, making a rustling sound, which sounded very much like a poisonous snake spitting out its venom.
Just listening to the sound gives me a chill.
After a sleepless night, Ru Siyao's eyes turned red. He said, "Some of the medicine was consumed during the purification process, but this pill is enough to make a person half dead. This is only the amount of two pills. King Lu Huang swallowed five pills in one breath. In addition, most of the other medicines were heat-dispersing, which caused the most vulnerable eyes to be damaged first. After he became blind, Princess Lu asked the doctor to take detoxifying medicine, but how can a dead tree be revived? He died before dawn the next day. King Lu Huang's death process was as long as a winter with a north wind. He suffered from pain before his death."
Hu Shanwei and Shen Qionglian took turns taking a nap nearby, helping Ru Siyao. When they felt a little better, Hu Shanwei took a hot towel to wipe his face and said, "So, King Lu Huang died from taking the elixir?"
"Yeah." Ru Siyao nodded, but her expression was still puzzled. She took out the pale yellow alum from the tin box and turned to the last page of the Alchemy Notes, which recorded: "The amount of alum in his pot of elixir is only two coins. And these are medium to low-grade alum. Although they have not been smelted and purified, from my many years of experience as a doctor, two coins of alum of this quality is very limited in toxicity and is not enough to cause a death. But judging from King Luhuang's corpse, he definitely died of arsenic poisoning."
Shen Qionglian had just woken up and stretched herself. She heard this and said, "According to the recipe, the only source of arsenic is alum. However, based on experience, Ru Siyao has determined that two coins of low-quality alum cannot kill people. Moreover, there are ten pills in this pot, and King Luhuang died after taking only half of them. The results of the medicinal materials and pills are contradictory. There is only one possibility, that is, the arsenic in the pills is not in the alum, but in other medicinal materials."
Ru Siyao said coldly, "Teacher Shen, I am not as good as you in writing palace poems, but you are definitely not as good as me in understanding medicine. The recipe is here. There are five kinds of stones and seventeen kinds of medicinal materials. Except for the alum, the others cannot contain arsenic."
Shen Qionglian said coldly: "Then how do you explain the contradiction between medicinal materials and pills?"
Hu Shanwei stood in the middle. "Okay, okay, it's spicy to eat ginger early in the morning. Both of you are right. In fact, there is another possibility. Someone wants to harm King Luhuang and wants him to die legitimately. How can we kill him without arousing suspicion?"
Hu Shanwei had experienced several major events after all, and was familiar with the palace struggles and disputes between the government and the public. He unknowingly put himself in the shoes of the murderer. "If it were me, I would definitely first understand my opponent, but the Lu Wangfu is so big, and the Lu Wangfei is a ruthless character who controls the palace tightly. I have no chance to take action in the palace, and it would be easy to be exposed. So I followed Lu Huang Wang out, watched him disguise himself, and repeatedly went in and out of the medicine shop. After a long time, I wrote down the medicine he bought, and showed it to an expert, and he knew it was for alchemy."
"The scandal that King Lu Huang caused in the Forbidden City in Nanjing was caused by elixirs, so it is speculated that King Lu Huang's elixir addiction relapsed and he tried to make elixirs himself. In this case, he tampered with his medicinal materials and asked him to poison himself. It was originally perfect, but the murderer never expected that King Lu Huang was serious about making elixirs and wrote down the weight of alum in the 'Alchemy Notes'. The elixir formula and the pills were contradictory, which confirmed that King Lu Huang died of poisoning. So our night was not in vain. After excluding the only possibility of alum, other possibilities became possible."
After hearing this, Ru Siyao slammed the table and stood up, "Yes! This makes sense! If someone tampered with the medicinal materials and mixed the purified arsenic/frost with other medicinal materials, a half-baked person like King Luhuang would not be able to find out the strangeness during the alchemy process."
"I was wrong. I only knew that alum contained arsenic, but I neglected to check whether other medicinal materials were mixed in... Let's go back to the alchemy room now!"
Ru Siyao's eyes were shining, and she didn't show any sign of fatigue. The two of them returned from the back door wearing the clothes of servants in Prince Lu's mansion and the waist badges provided by Princess Lu. At the funeral in the palace, everyone wore heavy mourning clothes of coarse linen, and they all dressed the same, which made it easy to get away with it.
In order to prevent someone from interfering with the evidence, Haitang personally stayed in the study room all night. The two went to the basement again. Ru Siyao found out all the medicinal stones and herbs used in the last pill recipe according to the records. According to King Luhuang's attitude towards Yan Jin, the alchemist, the arsenic must be hidden in these herbs. It is absolutely impossible for him to add other ingredients in it on a whim.
Ru Siyao was worried. "There are more than 20 kinds of medicine. Which one should I start with? I have to distribute them to the pharmacy guys for help. I can't finish it in three days and three nights."
"Let's try our luck first. Look at this alum particle. It looks very similar to the arsenic/coarse salt you purified. Why don't we start with this?" Hu Shanwei raised an iron hammer and smashed the alum powder in front of him!
This was the method that Ru Siyao taught her yesterday. When arsenic is struck or hit by iron tools, it will emit a garlic smell.
With a swing of the sledgehammer, the smell of garlic rose into the air. It was smelly enough, just like the breath you would have the next day after eating garlic and not brushing your teeth.
What a big tone!
Ru Siyao said, "That should be it. Alum is a detoxifying herb. If there is an epidemic in a place, adding alum to drinking water before boiling can control the epidemic. Queen Lu added alum to her elixirs for several years because she thought it could detoxify. But someone mixed pure arsenic/frost with alum, which looked similar to it, and it killed her."
It's really a case of being too clever.
It is impossible to distinguish alum from arsenic/frost from the appearance. Rus Pharmaceutical used the old method of fumigation and condensation to condense translucent arsenic/frost like stalactites on the iron plate.
Ru Siyao scraped off the arsenic/frost after the second purification and weighed it on a western scale. "It weighs about one coin, enough to poison fifty Luhuang kings to death. This does not include the loss during the refining process."
After finding the source of the poison, Hu Shanwei put the arsenic into a paper bag. "Now that we have the evidence, we can finally give an explanation to the Imperial Concubine. It is true that mother and son are connected by heart. King Luhuang was indeed murdered."
Ru Siyao rubbed his face, which was stiff from lack of sleep, and asked, "Aren't you going to find out who the murderer is?"
Hu Shanwei said helplessly: "Prince Luhuang is a prince of the royal family. The royal family is under the jurisdiction of the Zongrenfu, not the Ministry of Justice. Even the Jinyiwei has no right to ask about the Zongrenfu. I am only a sixth-rank official in the Shanggong Bureau. I have no power, no people, and no influence. How can I investigate? This is related to the death of the prince. I will report this matter to the emperor and the imperial concubine. I can't even tell the prince."
Ru Siyao left the harem in the first place because she insisted on the duty of a doctor to cure diseases and save lives and refused to take part in the harem struggles, so she was expelled by Emperor Hongwu. Now that she encountered such an incident again, she immediately decided to leave the Prince of Lu's Mansion and stay away from right and wrong.
"I have a husband and a son now, and I am not as carefree as before. I cannot go back to Beijing with you, but I will write you a detailed record, explaining every detail from beginning to end, and I will sign and seal it, and swear to heaven that I will never falsify it. You take this with you to report. If you need to question me on the spot, I will be waiting for the summons at the Zhou Palace in Kaifeng."
The truth and the real murderer are two different things. In digging out the former, Ru Siyao contributed wisdom, Hu Shanwei contributed luck, and Shen Qionglian demonstrated the family's financial strength.
However, tracking down the murderer was a task that the three female officials could not handle. In the palace struggle, anyone could be the murderer - the last leaker was simply Emperor Hongwu himself. If it were not for the past kindness of Empress Xiaoci, Hu Shanwei would have been beheaded long ago.
Therefore, Hu Shanwei did not try to keep her and sent her away. He also asked Shen Qionglian to find a reliable escort agency and hired more than 40 escorts to escort Ru Siyao back to Kaifeng. He used his salary to pay the escorts to ensure Ru Siyao's safety.
After seeing off Ru Siyao, the two returned to Prince Lu's mansion and went to their respective rooms to catch up on some sleep. Before they parted ways, Shen Qionglian asked Hu Shanwei, "Are you really not going to pursue the murderer? Will you leave everything to the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine to decide?"
Hu Shanwei showed a tired look and asked, "Do you think I have a choice? In the royal family, the truth doesn't matter. Fighting and killing are all the family affairs of the Zhu family. Outsiders cannot interfere. Except for Concubine Guo, who cares about the truth?"
Shen Qionglian also answered the question with a question: "Don't you care about the truth?"
Hu Shanwei paused and said, "I feel tired and want to go to sleep."
Shen Qionglian said: "You have changed. You are no longer the passionate Tibetan eighth-rank lady."
Thinking of the past, Hu Shanwei was also filled with emotion, "Yes, I have changed. At that time, I had just turned 20 years old, in the prime of my life, full of ambition, and I wanted to climb up the ladder and achieve a career like Fan Gongzheng and Cao Shanggong, so as to live up to my years of studying."
"Now, I am thirty-two years old and have worked in the palace for twelve years. Everything is no longer as fresh as it was back then. I used to think that if I did a good job, I would live up to the generous treatment and become a useful person. Guarding the mausoleum of Empress Xiaoci for a year, with animals as my companions every day, did not wear down my fighting spirit."
"But now I realize that no matter what I do, no matter how much I give, no matter how hard I try to guide Concubine Guo to become the second virtuous queen like Empress Xiaoci, the fights that are supposed to happen will always happen, and the things that are supposed to happen will always happen. In the Ming court, innocent people still die, and those who talk about morality still do whatever it takes to gain benefits, and their methods are cruel. I have paid so much, but in the end, the court is still the same, it hasn't changed at all..."
Shen Qionglian and Hu Shanwei entered the palace the same year. They were close friends. Hu Shanwei was in a midlife crisis and felt lost and lost. Shen Qionglian was still a talented girl. Hu Shanwei poured out her grievances. She listened patiently and said:
"Hearing you put it that way, I also feel that it's quite boring, and it's all in vain in the end. Fortunately, I still have poetry, and I want to write more works, so I think it's okay. My mind is confused now, and I can fall asleep while standing. I can't give you any advice. I'm going to rest first."
After saying that, Shen Qionglian actually went back and fell asleep.
Hu Shanwei was also extremely tired, but he couldn't fall asleep as he tossed and turned in bed.
Shen Qionglian still has poetry and distant places, while Hu Shanwei has experienced one compromise and calculation after another.
I am tired physically and mentally, and I am really tired of the endless disputes. Who would kill King Luhuang in such a contrived and deceitful way, creating the illusion that he was autistic due to taking medicine
It was not the Northern Yuan Dynasty, because Yanzhou was located inland and had no border defense. Killing a Taiping vassal king was useless. It would be better to assassinate the Yan King in Beiping and other vassal kings guarding the border.
It is not the old forces of King Han like Concubine Da Ding, because if they were to avenge the King of Han, they would assassinate him in public, or publicize it after poisoning Queen Luhuang, hoping that everyone in the world would know about it. This is revenge.
The concubines in the harem were also not possible. Because the death of King Luhuang would not affect Concubine Guo's enthronement, but would accelerate it - at least in the Hongwu Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, not having a son was not a disadvantage for being a queen, but an advantage. Because without a son, one would truly treat all nominal sons equally, and would truly align one's position with that of the emperor. To put it bluntly, it was all about interests.
In order to comfort Concubine Guo, a ceremony to crown her as the Queen will definitely be held this year.
Who is the murderer? It depends on who can really benefit from the death of King Luhuang. In fact, the murderer is already very obvious...
Thinking of this, Hu Shanwei felt a piercing cold. He really couldn't judge a person by his true colors. He asked Haitang to put another hot water bottle under the quilt before he could feel better.
Seeing the scary dark circles under her eyes that looked like bruises, Haitang quietly added some sleeping-aid agarwood into the incense burner, and only then did Hu Shanwei fall asleep.
Only in her dreams could she find a moment of peace.
She dreamed of the stone cities described by Muchun in his letter, where immigrants gathered and spoke different dialects, creating new homes. She rode an elephant in the hot weather, barefoot, with a wreath on her head, strolling in the endless sea of flowers. There were no lies, no disputes, only Muchun…
At the same time, thousands of miles away, Mu Chun was dozing off on the table behind a pile of documents. Captain Shi came in and saw the prince's face pressed against the open account book. He didn't know what evil dream he was having, and his saliva flowed down, soaking the ink in the account book.
Looking at the urgent report in his hand, Shi Qianhu had no choice but to rush over and shake Mu Chun, "My Lord? Wake up! There is an urgent military report!"
"Earthquake? Sister Shanwei, run!" Mu Chun woke up suddenly. His vision became clearer and clearer. Sister Shanwei's beautiful face turned into Shi Qianhu's bearded face.
"What's the matter?" Mu Chun used his sleeve to wipe away the spider-like line of saliva connecting the corner of his mouth and the account book.
Seeing that the prince lived like a rough man, the captain sighed in his heart and handed over the military report with both hands: "The Luchuan Silun in Yunnan has started a rebellion! The Duke of Qian ordered the entire Yunnan to be on alert. On the premise of protecting the new immigrants in Shitou City, if there is any spare power, they will come to support Kunming and quell the rebels."
Mu Chun rubbed his eyes, as if he was still asleep. "This Si Lunfa is always rebelling. My father imitated Zhuge Liang's seven captures of Meng Huo, catching and releasing him. How many times has he rebelled?"
Shi Qianhu counted on his fingers, "The fifth time."
Mu Chun bowed towards Kunming and said, "Dad, we only need two more rounds to complete the task. I believe in your ability. Even without my support, you can still succeed and capture Si Lunfa alive. I have 2.5 million new immigrants to take care of here, so I really don't have time. Dad, since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety cannot be achieved at the same time. You can only solve it by yourself."
Captain Shi looked at the prince's excitement. It didn't seem like his father was recruiting soldiers for emergency help, but rather like his father was celebrating his birthday.
The captain pointed at the military report and said, "Prince, please open it and take a look. This time is different from the past. Si Lunfa has assembled a group of 500 elephants. This time, the Duke of Qian is having a hard time. Prince, you'd better go to support Kunming. Otherwise, if the border is lost, the new immigrants will hear the news of the defeat and run away, right?"
The author has something to say: Send 100 red envelopes tonight,
Muchun will soon fall into the standard pattern of male protagonists in various novels: both parents are dead.
Both Mu Chun and Hu Shanwei have to go through the test of their careers, which is also the main reason why they are attracted to each other. They discover from each other that there is another possibility for their future. As long as they work hard, they will have the opportunity to control their lives.