Daming: Brother, there is no future for monks, let's rebel

Upon hearing this, the physician's face turned even paler, and he knelt down on the ground: "Your Highness is right to reprimand me, and I know my fault. But this matter was indeed beyond my control alone, and the people from the government pharmacy must also bear responsibility."

Zhu Han nodded: "This matter must naturally be thoroughly investigated to give the people an explanation. But right now, we should focus more on how to prevent similar incidents from happening again."

He turned to the boy and said, "Boy, go to the government immediately, report this matter, and request that more skilled and responsible medical officers be sent here to oversee the situation. At the same time, ask the government to conduct a comprehensive review of the procurement, storage, and preparation of medicinal materials to ensure that every medicine is safe and effective."

The boy accepted the order and left, while Zhu Han stayed at Old Zhang's house to guide the villagers in caring for the patients until all the patients' symptoms were significantly relieved, at which point he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Highness, you haven't slept all night and have been busy for so long. Why don't you go back and rest first?"

"I heard this from a villager with concern," a villager said.

Zhu Han shook his head: "The people's illnesses are not yet cured, how can I rest in peace? However, I do need to rest for a while now in preparation for what's to come."

He instructed the physicians and villagers to continue caring for the patients, while he himself returned to his temporary residence with the boy.

He remained silent throughout the journey, but in his mind he was thinking about how to fundamentally solve the problem of medicinal herb safety and prevent similar incidents from happening again.

Back at his residence, Zhu Han quickly washed up and then fell into a deep sleep on the bed.

He slept very soundly, as if trying to sleep away all his fatigue and worries.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Han was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.

He opened his eyes and saw the boy standing anxiously in front of his bed: "Your Highness, something terrible has happened! Several more cases have appeared in the east of the village, and their symptoms are similar to those of the Zhang family!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Han sat up abruptly, all sleepiness gone: "What happened? Is the prescription ineffective?"

The boy shook his head: "The prescription should be effective, but the patients' symptoms are slightly different this time. In addition to being unconscious, they also have high fever and convulsions."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Han's heart sank.

He quickly put on his outer robe, picked up his needle pouch and medicine bag, and hurriedly went out.

Zhu Han's face was ashen, and his fingers trembled slightly as he brushed aside a wisp of grass from the patient's mouth. The strange bitterness almost immediately filled the air.

“Heartbreak grass…” he murmured softly, his voice filled with barely concealed shock and anger.

The boy's heart tightened: "Your Highness, isn't the Heartbreak Grass a deadly poison? How could this thing be in the medicine?"

Zhu Han glanced at the medicine packets piled in the corner of the room, a cold glint in his eyes. He strode over, tore open one of the packets, and saw withered, curled grass leaves, their color a slightly dark green.

"It looks like Bupleurum chinense, but it is actually a poisonous herb. Some people try to pass off inferior products as superior ones."

He said in a deep voice, his tone revealing an extreme level of suppressed anger.

Several patients inside the room had begun to have high fever and convulsions, and their lips had turned black.

Without hesitation, Zhu Han took out his needle pouch and quickly pricked several acupoints with his fingers to stabilize his heart pulse.

He instructed the boy, "Go and fetch a cool towel, quickly!"

The boy hurriedly ran out and soon returned carrying a bucket of well water.

Zhu Han personally wiped the foreheads of the patients and ordered the villagers to move several seriously ill patients to the ground to prevent them from falling off the bed due to convulsions.

"Your Highness, is this poison... curable?"

The woman who asked the question had eyes full of pleading and fear, but Zhu Han calmly looked back and said, "The poisonous herb is extremely deadly. If you induce vomiting early, there is still a chance of recovery. If you delay, the poison will penetrate into your internal organs, and it will be too late to save you."

After saying that, he immediately took out silver needles and inserted several needles into the patient's throat and chest.

A moment later, the patient vomited a pool of thick, black liquid with a pungent, bitter odor.

"Okay, quickly prepare a bowl of warm soup—mix it with egg white, and feed it to him slowly."

Zhu Han spoke very quickly, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

In their panic, the villagers did as instructed, and the air inside the house was filled with a mixture of medicinal scents and the smell of blood.

Only after the last patient had vomited all the venom did Zhu Han raise his sleeve to wipe away his sweat.

His hands trembled slightly, but he still wouldn't stop. He spread out the medicine packets on the table and carefully examined each one.

"Your Highness, these medicines were all sent by the physician last night," the boy whispered.

"The situation was just stabilizing last night, and now this disaster has struck again tonight."

Zhu Han pondered for a moment, his voice growing increasingly low, "This is no coincidence."

He stood up and put on his outer robe: "Take me to the pharmacy."

The pharmacy in the east of the village was a temporary pharmacy set up by the government.

Upon entering, the faint scent of medicine was mixed with a putrid odor.

When the young apprentices saw him enter, they quickly knelt down and bowed.

Zhu Han's gaze swept across the rows of medicine drawers behind the counter: "Who is in charge of dispensing medicine today?"

A young apprentice, trembling, stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, I checked the herbs with the shopkeeper... All the herbs were sent from the county town."

Where is the person who delivered the medicine?

"They left early this morning, saying it would be transported as usual."

Zhu Han frowned and turned to the boy: "Go and call the manager."

A moment later, a fat middle-aged man rushed in, all smiles: "Your Highness has arrived! Our humble shop is simple and we have not been able to greet you from afar..."

"Enough with the nonsense," Zhu Han interrupted coldly. "Do you know about today's poison?"

The shopkeeper was stunned, his expression changing drastically: "Poison? How could this be—"

Zhu Han pulled a tuft of grass from his sleeve and slammed it heavily on the counter: "Do you recognize this?"

The shopkeeper stared intently, then immediately knelt down: "Heartbreak Grass! How could it be in the medicine—it's impossible!"

"Then investigate," Zhu Han said coldly. "Which batch of medicine came from, who delivered it, and when was it tested?"

The shopkeeper nervously pulled out the ledger, and Zhu Han flipped through it page by page, his gaze stopping at one spot: "Who registered the unsigned medicine packet from last night?"

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, then stammered, "That...that was a temporary tonic sent by the county government. They said it was urgently needed, so we didn't dare delay it."

"No drug inspection certificate, no signature, no batch number."

Zhu Han sneered, "Isn't such an oversight just giving villains an opportunity to commit crimes?"

The shopkeeper knelt on the ground, not daring to argue. The boy beside him angrily said, "Your Highness, this is clearly someone deliberately trying to harm people!"

Zhu Han pondered for a moment, his gaze sharp as a blade: "Whether it was negligence or a conspiracy, the common people must not die. I will investigate this matter myself. You,"

He pointed at the shopkeeper and said, "Seal the warehouse immediately. No one but me is allowed to touch a single blade of grass or tree."

The shopkeeper kowtowed repeatedly.

A night breeze blew into the pharmacy, causing the candlelight to flicker.

Zhu Han stood in front of the medicine cabinet, his hand stroking the medicine container, a hint of worry in his eyes.

"Young man, go and fetch my medicine chest."

The boy hurried away and soon returned carrying the wooden box.

Zhu Han took out several old prescriptions and compared them one by one under the candlelight.

"Your Highness, there have been several incidents of medicinal poisoning these past few days. It's likely that someone has infiltrated the source of the medicinal herbs."

"Hmm." Zhu Han nodded. "But this place is remote, and all the medicinal herbs come from the county's official granary. If someone really causes trouble, it can only be from the top down."

He slowly rose to his feet, his gaze slightly narrowed.

"Before dawn tomorrow, you will come with me to the county town's medicine warehouse." The next day at dawn, fog filled the air. Zhu Han and the boy rode into the town.

Guards had already blocked the way at the city gate, but upon seeing that it was a prince, they hurriedly bowed and let him pass.

The county town's medicine warehouse was located outside the East Market; its doors were heavy and it had a musty smell.

Zhu Han dismounted and ordered the granary official to open the gate.

The granary official, sweating profusely, said, "Your Highness, this place hasn't been touched for several days, and the locks are intact..."

"Open." Zhu Han's tone was calm, yet left no room for argument.

The lock was pried open, and the door hinges made a sharp creaking sound.

The room was piled high with packets of medicinal herbs, stacked one on top of the other.

Zhu Han bent down, picked up a package, opened it, sniffed it, and rubbed it lightly between his fingertips.

“This packet of medicine contains foreign matter,” he said decisively.

The boy stepped forward and exclaimed in surprise, "This 'Scutellaria baicalensis' is actually mixed with pieces of Gelsemium elegans!"

The granary official turned pale and repeatedly denied it: "Impossible! Everything entering the granary has been inspected!"

Zhu Han sneered: "Inspection? What are you inspecting? Eyes or silver?"

The granary official immediately collapsed to his knees.

Zhu Han ordered the boy to light a fire for illumination and continue searching. Before long, they found several loosely sealed medicine packets in the corner.

Although the seal is an official seal, it is crooked and blurry, clearly a forged seal added later.

"If this matter is not thoroughly investigated, it will surely lead to disaster," Zhu Han said in a low voice, his eyes as deep as the night.

He ordered the granary to be sealed immediately and sent someone to the county government to summon the county magistrate and the physician for a joint trial.

In the afternoon, in the main hall of the county government office, Zhu Han sat upright in the main seat, with several packets of poison placed in front of him.

The magistrate's face turned ashen, and cold sweat streamed down his forehead.

"Your Highness is wise; this matter... is likely the work of someone in secret."

"Haunting?" Zhu Han sneered. "As the head of a county, you were unaware that the medicine warehouse was poisoned, and you didn't hear about the people being poisoned. Is this what you call 'haunting'?"

The county magistrate kowtowed repeatedly.

Zhu Han took out the prescription and medicine sample from last night and compared them one by one. He then pointed to the withered leaves of the heart-breaking grass: "If it wasn't someone with ulterior motives, how could it be mixed into the medicine so precisely? This herb is extremely bitter and looks like Bupleurum chinense. Only by careful observation can one recognize it. The pharmacy, warehouse, and physician all failed to notice this. This is a flaw in the system, and someone may have deliberately covered it up."

The people inside the hall fell silent, trembling with fear.

Zhu Han stood up, hands behind his back: "We will not pursue the matter today. First, seal all the medicinal materials in the warehouse and re-inspect them batch by batch; summon physicians from our prefecture to re-examine the medicines. If there is any concealment again, we will prosecute it as murder."

The order was given with absolute authority, and everyone answered in unison.

As dusk fell, Zhu Han stood on the stone steps outside the government office, gazing at the blood-red setting sun on the horizon, and said in a deep voice, "If even the medicine is not pure, what about human lives?"

The boy said softly, "Your Highness, good medicine is hard to find in this world, but evil intentions are easy to come by."

Zhu Han remained silent for a moment, then said, "Medicine can save lives, but it can also kill. The difference between saving and killing is often just a thought. Unfortunately, those who do evil never fear Heaven."

As night fell, he still did not return to the post station, but instead ordered people to prepare lamps and keep watch by the medicine warehouse.

The wind howled, and the firelight reflected on his brow, revealing an unwavering determination that never waned.

In the middle of the night, a faint sound of footsteps was heard outside the warehouse.

Zhu Han suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze as cold as an eagle's.

"who!"

The shadowy figure was startled and paused for a moment before turning and fleeing.

Zhu Han sprang to his feet, his clothes fluttering, and chased after him in a few steps.

The dark figure leaped over the fence, slipped, and fell to the ground, where the boy pounced on him and pinned him down.

"Let me go!" the man hissed angrily, but when the torchlight shone on him, he was revealed to be the deputy clerk of the medicine warehouse.

"Speak! Who instructed you to mix the drugs?" Zhu Han demanded coldly.

The deputy official gritted his teeth and remained silent, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

The boy punched him in the shoulder, and he groaned as blood foamed from his mouth.

"The county government's medicine contract is in my hands! You can't find out—" Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Han coldly said, "Then I'll put you in jail first."

The deputy official's face changed drastically. He tried to struggle again, but was dragged into the night.

As dawn broke, the lights in the backyard of the county government office were already burning brightly.

The deputy clerk, who had been arrested at night, was detained in the woodshed. A thick rope had left a purple mark on his wrist, and the cold wind seeping through the cracks in the wooden window made his teeth chatter.

Zhu Han stood outside the threshold, his sleeves untied, the weariness in his eyes washed away by the cool morning light.

He didn't ask any questions immediately, but instead had someone bring him warm water and coarse salt, and ordered the guards to step back three steps.

The deputy official's throat bobbed as he stared at the bowl of water, his gaze seemingly laced with thorns.

"Rinse your mouth first," Zhu Han said calmly. "You bit the side of your tongue last night, and the blood was bitter. I'm afraid the residual poison from the poisonous herb is still stuck in your teeth. If you don't wash it off, even if you don't say anything, your tongue coating will give you some clues."

The deputy clerk's eyelids twitched suddenly, but he still reached out and took the bowl, wolfed down his food, rinsed his mouth, and lowered his head, not daring to look at him.

Zhu Han paced back and forth, stopping in front of the deputy official's knees: "How many years have you worked in the granary?"

“…Four years,” the deputy official said in a hoarse voice.

"Four years should have taught you the rules. Last night you sneaked into the medicine warehouse; either you were taking something or destroying evidence. Tell me, which one?"

The deputy official swallowed hard, but remained silent, biting his lip.

The boy came from the side of the door and whispered in Zhu Han's ear, "Your Highness, as you instructed, I searched through the chests and cabinets in his residence and found two IOUs, which were stamped with the mark of 'Tongyuan Trading Company'. I didn't see the company's account books, but I found some broken leaves in the seam of his shoe, which looked like Gelsemium elegans."

Upon hearing this, the deputy clerk looked up abruptly, his face turning deathly pale: "Nonsense! That's—that's just grass scraps from the road!"

Zhu Han glanced at him and gestured. "Bring me some warm water, and two more cups of vinegar."

Before long, the innkeeper and the constable brought in a wooden tray with two small celadon cups on it, and a sour aroma wafted up.

Zhu Han took out the shredded leaves that had been sealed away the night before from his sleeve, divided them into two bowls, one with vinegar and the other with water, and then took out a small pinch of genuine Bupleurum from his medicine box for comparison.

A moment later, the edges of the broken leaves in the vinegar cup turned faintly black, while the clear water cup remained unchanged; and neither of the two cups of Bupleurum changed color.

"The herb 'heartbreak grass' turns slightly black when it comes into contact with acid, tastes bitter in the throat, and causes numbness at the root of the tongue."

He looked up, his voice low, yet it struck a chord with everyone in the woodshed: "The strange object in the granary resembles this, and your shoes also have the same bits of debris on them. You still claim it came from the road?"

The deputy clerk's shoulders slumped slightly, and he forced out a dry laugh: "Your Highness, you ask at a convenient time. Someone asked me to switch a few packets of medicine for a small profit. I only took a delivery fee, and besides... I never intended to harm anyone."

"who is it?"

“…Lü Baoxing, the manager of Tongyuan Trading Company.” The deputy clerk closed his eyes, as if gritting his teeth.
"He said the official granary hadn't been inspected in a long time, and to save trouble, he could save a lot of money by using inferior materials purchased to replace them. As for the poisonous herbs—I didn't add them! He had other people handling it in the industry; I was just responsible for getting the entry and exit permits."

"How much did he give you?" Zhu Han asked.

"First it was one hundred taels, then he said there was an urgent matter and allowed me to add another fifty. Yesterday, the accounts were supposed to be sealed, but he changed his mind and told me to go and get a package of 'old goods' last night, saying it was Bupleurum chinense that had been stockpiled before, and that I should put it into the warehouse according to the order tomorrow morning..."

The deputy clerk stammered, his voice growing softer and softer, "I was greedy. I thought it was just for a title... who knew it would lead to someone's death."

Zhu Han stared at him, his eyes calm: "Where are the 'secondhand goods' you mentioned?" (End of Chapter)