I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 747: Dr. Zhang Zhongjing solves the mystery

Zhang Zhongjing, whose name was Ji and whose courtesy name was Zhongjing, was about forty years old this year and was from Nieyang County, Nanyang.

He came from a local aristocratic family. Normally, children of such aristocratic families should not choose medicine as their career. After all, the status of doctors at that time was far lower than that of officials. Zhang Zhongjing should have studied Confucian classics and entered the officialdom early on like other children of aristocratic families.

However, Zhang Zhongjing did not choose that path.

Although his father was an official, his family was implicated during the Party and Faction Persecution Incident. After seeing those unfair things, Zhang Zhongjing was quite disapproving of the path of an official career.

At the same time, at the end of the Han Dynasty, due to the rampant plague, Zhang Zhongjing had witnessed many tragedies of people suffering from the pain of separation from their families when he was a child, so he determined to make it his mission to save the world by practicing medicine.

In this way, the young Zhang Zhongjing, when he was about 10 years old, became a disciple of Zhang Bozu, a doctor from the same county, to learn medical skills and seek ways to cure diseases and save lives.

Since childhood, Zhang Zhongjing studied hard, read a lot of medical books, and widely absorbed the experience of various doctors for clinical diagnosis. In this plague-ridden environment, he quickly became a famous doctor, and "the pupil surpasses the master", surpassing his teacher, and was trusted by local people. People at that time praised him for "his knowledge and application are more sophisticated than his teacher."

If nothing unexpected had happened, Zhang Zhongjing would probably have made a living as a doctor all his life.

However, the wheel of time rolls forward.

Shortly after Zhang's father passed away, since there was still no official in the Zhang family, the disaster of party imprisonment was also lifted along with the crisis of the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

In order to ensure the status of the Zhang family, the elders of the Zhang family, after some operations and persuasion, recommended Zhang Zhongjing as a filial and honest official, and arranged for him to be a county official, thus allowing him to enter the officialdom for the first time.

If Su Yao had not intervened, Zhang Zhongjing would have spent his time in Nanyang gaining experience, and after experiencing the rule of Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, in the 13th year of Jian'an, after the Battle of Chibi, when the country was suffering from the plague, he was chosen by Liu Bei to help him alleviate the plague. After Liu Bei took the four southern counties, he was appointed as the prefect of Changsha, and then he came to prominence.

But now, Zhang Zhongjing appeared in Luoyang.

That was naturally because his hometown, Nanyang County, had just experienced a series of battles such as the internal strife between the two Yuans, Su Yao's defeat of Sun Jian, and the recovery of Nanyang. The county was in a mess and needed to be rebuilt. Yuan Shao dared not neglect his relationship with Su Yao.

Therefore, although Yuan Shao was pursuing Yuan Shu with Taishi Ci, Gongsun Zan and others at this time, he still sent his second son Yuan Xi to Luoyang with some personal soldiers and county officials.

On the one hand, it was to attend the ceremony of the empress's enthronement in the future, and on the other hand, it was to build relationships in the capital, collect intelligence, etc.

Zhang Zhongjing was the person Su Yao accidentally discovered and paid special attention to after he took over Nanyang. This time, Yuan Xi also brought this person to Beijing on a special trip and settled him in the public vehicle office which was used to receive celebrities and ordinary civil servants who came to Beijing to seek official positions from all over the country.

The next morning, Zhang Zhongjing, who was summoned by Su Yao, did not dare to delay. He immediately put down the medical book in his hand, tidied his clothes, and hurried to the prison.

He knew very well that being summoned by the Marquis of Guanjun himself was no small matter. Especially when he heard about the bizarre incident of a prisoner suddenly dying in the prison of the Sili Commandant, he was filled with doubts and curiosity.

Zhang Zhongjing walked into the prison and saw Su Yao standing next to a corpse with a serious face, surrounded by several nervous jailers and prison bosses. Huang Wan was also standing nearby, looking a little embarrassed.

"I, Zhang Zhongjing, greet Marquis Guanjun." Zhang Zhongjing bowed, his voice steady and powerful.

Su Yao nodded slightly, indicating that Zhang Zhongjing did not need to be polite, and said directly:
"Mr. Zhongjing, this man died suddenly in prison, and the coroner could not find the cause after the autopsy."

"I have heard that you are a highly skilled doctor and have a great reputation, so I specially invite you to come and find out what's going on."

Zhang Zhongjing was startled when he heard this. He knew that Su Yao had high expectations of him, so he hurried forward and looked carefully at the corpse on the ground.

The deceased's face was blue and purple, with white foam hanging from the corners of his mouth, which indeed looked like symptoms of sudden death.

But Zhang Zhongjing did not rush to draw conclusions. Instead, he squatted down and carefully examined the mouth, nose, eyes, nails and other parts of the deceased.

After a moment, Zhang Zhongjing stood up, frowning, and said in a deep voice: "My Lord, this man died of poisoning."

"Poisoned?" A cold light flashed in Su Yao's eyes. "Why can't the coroner find out?"

Zhang Zhongjing sighed and explained:
"The poison this person was poisoned with was arsenic."

"Arsenic? What is this? Where does it come from?" Huang Wan asked in surprise.

Zhang Zhongjing bowed and replied:

"Arsenic is produced in copper mountain ore. It is used to treat asthma and malaria. It dissolves in water and is colorless and tasteless."

"But all medicines are three-quarters toxic, and arsenic is very strong. Once used in excess, it will become a powerful poison."

"The symptoms of poisoning vary from person to person. Some people will vomit violently, while others will suddenly die. After death, there are often no obvious external injuries or odors on the bodies, so it is difficult to detect."

Su Yao snorted coldly, and glanced at the jailers and prison bosses around him with a sharp gaze:

"Since there was no contact with outsiders and the patient was poisoned, it is obvious that the culprit is among you."

The jailers and prison bosses were so frightened upon hearing this that they fell to their knees, shaking their heads and claiming that they would never dare to do such illegal things. Then they all turned to Huang Wan for help.

Huang Wan also frowned upon seeing this.

This person died in the prison of Sili Xiaowei. If it was murdered by the jailers, Huang Wan would certainly not be able to escape the responsibility. He could only say that the truth was unclear and more verification was needed. Once the evidence and the real murderer were found, he would definitely punish them severely.

In response, Su Yao snorted coldly, turned to look at Zhang Zhongjing, and asked: "Mr. Zhongjing, is there any way to find out when this poison was administered?"

Zhang Zhongjing pondered for a moment and said:

"After arsenic poisoning, the toxin will remain in the body of the deceased. If we can find out what the deceased ate before he died, we may be able to find out when the poisoning took place."

Su Yao immediately ordered the soldiers and jailers to search the deceased's cell for any remaining food or water.

Soon after, the jailers brought some leftovers and a water bowl.

Zhang Zhongjing carefully examined the food and water sources and eventually found a barely noticeable trace of white powder in the leftover leaves.

"This is arsenic," Zhang Zhongjing said affirmatively.

Su Yao's face was gloomy. He looked at Huang Wan and asked coldly:

"Captain Huang, what else do you have to say?"

Huang Wan's face turned extremely ugly. He knew very well that this matter was of great importance. If it was not handled properly, not only would his official position be in jeopardy, he might even end up in jail.

Huang Wan took a deep breath, tried to calm herself down, and said in a deep voice:
"Marquis Guanjun, I really didn't know about this matter, but since it happened in the prison of the Sili Xiaowei, I have no choice but to take responsibility."

"I will do my best to investigate this matter and get to the bottom of it to prove my innocence."

Su Yao looked at Huang Wan coldly.

There was a lot of discussion among the people about his support for Wannian to ascend the throne, and there was even more criticism in the court.

Most of the court officials did not support his plan. The reason why he was able to move forward was largely due to his own arbitrary power. These people were intimidated by his military power and the fact that the court was under his control, so they had to cooperate and accept it.

Su Yao is naturally self-aware of this.

However, just as Dong Zhuo insisted on deposing and enthroning the emperor to demonstrate his own prestige.

Su Yao supports Wannian to rule the country as an empress. Once successful, he will establish his absolute authority in the court, which will far exceed the effect of him and the ministers jointly establishing a new monarch.

But obviously, quite a number of people have also stood in opposition for this reason.

Since they cannot resist through military means, they want to cause trouble through these despicable slanderous methods. Naturally, Su Yao will not sit idly by.

Su Yao was not sure what role Huang Wan played in this, but it was obvious that this was not someone he could trust enough.

So, after thinking for a moment, Su Yao did not believe Huang Wan's statement of taking on everything, and directly supervised Huang Wan's handling of the case in this prison.

"Now that the cause of death and the source of poisoning have been determined, the murderer is obviously in this prison."

"Please ask Captain Huang to investigate immediately and bring up all suspects who had contact with the food and the deceased."

Huang Wan felt somewhat unhappy when she heard this, but she did not dare to disobey Su Yao's order.

He was well aware of the power and means of the Champion Marquis. If he angered him, the consequences would be disastrous.

"As you command, Champion Marquis."

Huang Wan bowed his hands in response, then turned around and ordered the jailer:
"Did you hear that? Bring those people up here immediately!"

"I want to see who has the guts to harm someone in my Sili Xiaowei's prison!"

Huang Wan was furious at the jailers.

The jailer was so frightened that he remained silent, and immediately ordered the man to be brought up for questioning.

However, it turned out to be too late.

"Oh no, prison boss!"

"Xiao Li, Xiao Li hanged himself!"

"what?!"

When the jailer heard the hurried reply from his subordinate, he felt dizzy.

Huang Wan, on the other hand, took a deep breath after being stunned for a moment.

(End of this chapter)