Liu Yun always thought that the process of his being appointed as the Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice back then was quite dramatic.
At that time, the new emperor ascended the throne, and the previous Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice retired to his hometown. Back then, he was just a minor assistant minister in the cabinet, responsible for trivial matters every day, such as the shortage of memorials from the Ministry of War and the procurement of calligraphy treasures from the Ministry of Revenue.
Who would have thought that one day, Dou Yuan, the newly - appointed left prime minister and the head of the cabinet, suddenly came to visit him with a smile.
As a minor assistant minister in the cabinet, how could he possibly deserve a personal visit from Prime Minister Dou Yuan? So he rushed out in a hurry to greet him.
Dou Yuan patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Liu Yun... His Majesty has an important position to entrust to you."
Hearing that it was an appointment from the emperor, Liu Yun immediately sat up straight. He thought that his talent had finally been recognized. However, he later realized that no one was willing to take the position of the Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice, and that's why it fell to him.
As the only criminal justice institution in the Dacheng Dynasty, Liu Yun had been extremely busy since he took office. Whether it was the internal affairs of the royal family or those of the court, as long as they were related to criminal cases, he had to take charge.
For example, at this moment, it was already the first watch of the night, and Liu Yun was still burning the midnight oil, reviewing the documents submitted by his subordinates.
A few days ago, the personal maid of the Noble Consort De suddenly came to him and asked him to investigate the Noble Consort Shu and Chang Lin. This was originally a matter in the harem, and it was extremely difficult to conduct the investigation without letting the emperor know. Moreover, Chang Lin turned out to be a false name. The huge amount of information collected by his subordinates needed to be verified and reviewed by Liu Yun one by one.
There were three stacks of documents on the table.
He had only read one stack.
Liu Yun sighed sorrowfully.
Just as he was about to stand up and stretch to refresh himself, a commotion suddenly came from the entrance of the Supreme Court of Justice. Immediately afterwards, Liu Zhen, dressed in military uniform, rushed in without prior notice. He simply bowed to Liu Yun and said, "Your Majesty has summoned Lord Liu to enter the palace quickly with your men. It's extremely urgent."
"Ah?" Liu Yun quickly straightened his clothes. Since he took office, he had never encountered a situation where he, the Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice, was urgently summoned to see the emperor. He couldn't help but be surprised and asked, "What's going on?"
Liu Zhen nodded slightly and said solemnly, "The Noble Consort De has been poisoned. At present, her life or death is uncertain."
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In order to enter the palace to see the emperor as soon as possible, Liu Zhen directly threw Liu Yun onto his horse and rode with him at full speed towards the palace. His other subordinates could only trot all the way, carrying all kinds of tools in large and small bags, arriving late.
Liu Yun had never ridden a horse before and was jolted so much that he felt like vomiting. He covered his mouth and asked, "General Liu, do you know the specific situation? Please tell me."
Liu Zhen nodded and then told him the general story of what had happened while riding the horse.
"Are you saying that the Noble Consort De suddenly vomited blood?" Liu Yun asked in surprise.
"Yes. The imperial physician checked and said that it should be no more than a cup of tea's time from the moment she was poisoned to the moment she vomited blood." Liu Zhen said seriously. Due to the rapid riding, there were already beads of sweat on his forehead.
Liu Yun was startled and said, "She was already vomiting blood and unconscious within a cup of tea's time? What kind of poison is this?"
"Yindu Powder." Liu Zhen replied.
Liu Yun was taken aback. He had heard of Yindu Powder before. There was a record of it in an old volume in the Supreme Court of Justice.
Yindu Powder was not a poison from the Central Plains. It was colorless and odorless, extremely toxic and sinister. Those who were poisoned would bleed from all seven orifices and die within seven quarters of an hour. So far, there had been no antidote in the Central Plains. At the back of that volume, there were also the investigation records of the people at that time.
They found that the symptoms of being poisoned by Yindu Powder seemed to be similar to those of being stung by a poisonous scorpion in the desert at the border. Thus, they concluded that this poison was not from the Central Plains.
"What about the Noble Consort De..." Liu Yun was about to ask about the current situation of the Noble Consort De, but then he thought that it would take about the time to burn a stick of incense to ride a horse from the palace to the Supreme Court of Justice one - way. If the Noble Consort De had been poisoned by this poison, wouldn't she...
Thinking of this, Liu Yun couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath.
"Don't worry." Liu Zhen naturally knew what he was thinking and said, "The consort is still alive."
Liu Zhen gave a "Whoa -" sound. The horse reared up its front hooves in the air and then stopped at the gate of Jingshan Palace, snorting uneasily.
Liu Zhen dismounted first, then reached out to help Liu Yun down. He patted Liu Yun's shoulder and urged, "Hurry in. His Majesty is waiting for you."
Liu Yun quickly nodded, hugged the tools for solving cases in his arms and rushed in.
As soon as he entered Jingshan Palace, Liu Yun could feel the thick and oppressive atmosphere all around.
The palace was very quiet. As soon as he looked around, he saw a floor full of kneeling maids and eunuchs. Jingshan Palace was originally a place for maids and eunuchs to rest. Judging from this situation, it was very likely that all the maids and eunuchs resting in Jingshan Palace had been pulled out to kneel.
Xu Xian was pacing anxiously. He was so worried that tears were about to flow. When he looked up and saw Liu Yun coming, he quickly trotted up and said, "Oh! Lord Liu, you've finally come. Hurry up and follow me in!"
Liu Yun nodded and quickly followed Xu Xian, trotting towards a room.
Xu Xian suddenly pushed open the door and shouted into the inner room, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Lord Liu is here."
Liu Yun ran into the room and saw three people beside the bed.
One was Qin Lan, who was kneeling on the ground, lying on the bed and sobbing softly. One was Yazebu, who was standing beside with a frown. And the other was Sikong Ting, whose face was pale and whose eyes were blood - shot.
The atmosphere in the room was extremely oppressive. Liu Yun felt a little shaky. He could feel that his breathing suddenly became difficult. But he didn't dare to delay. He quickly stepped forward, bowed to Sikong Ting and said, "Your Majesty, I'm late."
Sikong Ting seemed to have just heard his voice. He slowly raised his head and looked at him with a sharp gaze. He opened his mouth and asked in a hoarse voice, "Did Liu Zhen tell you the situation?"
This was the first time Liu Yun had seen Sikong Ting in such a state. He was so scared that he trembled. He quickly nodded like a pounding garlic and said, "Yes, he did."
"Good." Sikong Ting's voice was extremely hoarse. He said, "I've ordered people to collect and sort out the clothes of the Noble Consort De, the bowls, chopsticks and cups she used, as well as all the maids and eunuchs who were in Jingshan Palace tonight. You start investigating now."
Sikong Ting paused and said, "I'll give you one day. If you can't find out, you'll be executed without mercy."
Liu Yun was startled. He quickly knelt on the ground. His whole body was shaking like a sieve. He was so scared that he couldn't even speak.
"Go."
Liu Yun quickly thanked the emperor and rushed out in a hurry.
"Hey." After the door was closed again, Yazebu suddenly laughed and said, "What's the use of telling him that he'll be executed without mercy? Shouldn't it be the person who poisoned the consort that should be executed without mercy?"
"That person, I'll have him Lingchi - executed!!" Sikong Ting said angrily. He looked down at Qin Huaiqiu lying on the bed. Qin Huaiqiu had just been given poison by Yazebu. At this moment, his face was pale and his breathing was weak. Sikong Ting's heart ached. He looked up at Yazebu and asked, "Does your method really work? Why is his face still so pale?"
Yazebu shrugged and said, "Hey, I've already told you that this method of using poison to fight poison is just a speculation of our witch - doctors. After all, although this poison comes from Loulan, it's not so easy to refine it. Moreover, even if someone is poisoned by it, they'll die in a short time. Some people don't even have time to be treated. So this method has never been practiced. Whether he can survive or not depends entirely on his luck."
Sikong Ting pursed his lips and didn't say a word, but he was extremely anxious inside.
Qin Lan had been crying hoarsely on one side. Her lips were chapped from crying, but her tears still kept flowing, making soft sobs.
Doctor Zhang suddenly called out at the door, "Your Majesty, I've brought the medicinal materials."
"Come in quickly!"
Doctor Zhang quickly ran in. He was holding bags of chopped wormwood in his arms and was sweating all over from running. He put those things on the table and looked at Yazebu and asked, "Did you give the consort poison?"
Yazebu nodded and pointed at Qin Huaiqiu on the bed with his chin and said, "It seems to have some effect. This kid has a big life. It seems that he doesn't have a fever anymore."
"That's good, that's good." Doctor Zhang was so relieved that he almost cried. He quickly ran to the bedside, knelt beside Qin Lan and felt Qin Huaiqiu's pulse. He said happily, "It seems that the two poisons have collided. The consort's qi and blood in the body are a bit chaotic now. Presumably, this is the result of the collision of the two poisons."
Sikong Ting frowned and asked, "Then why is his face still so pale?"
Doctor Zhang wiped the sweat off his forehead and said awkwardly, "Although the poisons are colliding, poison is still poison. It still needs to be drawn out of the body."
He bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness. I've just gone to the Imperial Medical Bureau and made all the stored wormwood into plasters. Now I need to apply them all over the Noble Consort De's body. Wormwood can expel evil. In this way, I can force the poisonous blood to the consort's fingertips and then let out the blood."
Sikong Ting pursed his lips. His face was cold and he said, "Hurry up and do it."
He glanced at Qin Lan. Seeing that she looked very weak, he quickly called Xu Xian in and asked him to help Qin Lan out to rest.
Then, he glanced at Yazebu, who was still standing there waiting to watch the show without any sense of propriety, and said sternly, "How long are you going to stand here?"
Yazebu shrugged, "We're all men..."
Sikong Ting's veins popped out, "Get out!!!"