Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 106 Clearing Suspicion Directly (Part )
Princess Yongchun's Mansion.

This place is located in Shihu Hutong, Xiaoshiyongfang, Xicheng District, Beijing, covering an area of ​​about 30 acres, with three roads and five courtyards, which is very magnificent.

After parting with the three people, Haiyue borrowed a horse and hurried to Shihu Hutong, but when she saw the princess's mansion from afar, her pace slowed down.

The maid Huixiang dismounted, not caring about the discomfort caused by the bumpy ride, and hurried inside. However, she found that the person behind her had not caught up, so she turned around and asked, "Young Master Hai?"

Hai Yue said, "I was a little anxious when I came here just now. There are many things I don't understand yet. Can you explain the whole story in detail?"

"The princess is still waiting for us!"

The maid Huixiang said anxiously, "Master, let's go into the mansion and talk!"

Haiyue said calmly: "Let's talk about it right here."

He didn't sound harsh, but there was an unquestionable majesty in his voice.

The maidservant Huixiang hesitated for a moment and had to return to Haiyue. She lowered her head and said submissively, "Sir, if you have any doubts, I will tell you the truth. I only hope that you will come to the mansion as soon as possible and clear the princess of suspicion."

Hai Yue asked, "You said before that Her Royal Highness Princess Yongchun's birthday is coming up and she was planning to hold a birthday banquet at the mansion. She had recently invited many of her noble ladies and friends, and Princess Li was among them. But then, an accident happened last night, and Princess Li was implicated in the incident?"

The maid Huixiang nodded repeatedly: "Yes! Yes! The princess is clearly just a guest, and she is so pleased that she has been invited to the banquet, but the imperial physician is talking nonsense..."

"One sentence at a time!"

Hai Yue raised her hand to interrupt: "What happened to Princess Yongchun?"

The maid Huixiang said, "Her Royal Highness the Princess suddenly fainted and has been unconscious ever since!"

"Have you summoned the imperial physician?"

"Yes! The imperial physician has already taken Her Highness's pulse and said it's deep, thready, and knotty, indicating a contaminated stomach and intestines, and a conflict between yin and yang!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's poisoning!"

Haiyue frowned.

Imperial physicians in ancient times could indeed identify typical signs of poisoning through pulse examinations, but due to limitations in detection methods, they could not completely distinguish between poisoning and acute illnesses. Secondly, whenever a noble was poisoned, it was often closely related to politics. If the imperial physician did not want to lose his head, the diagnosis would usually be obscure and roundabout.

To put it bluntly, if they could detect poisoning, it would not necessarily show their ability. Instead, they would be asked to treat the poison. If they failed to cure it, it would become the fault of the imperial physician.

Therefore, when it comes to cases involving the royal family, many "stable" imperial doctors often use terms such as "anger attacking the heart", "phlegm syncope", "deficiency of primordial yang", "inability to distinguish between clear and turbid", etc. instead of diagnosing poisoning, not seeking to make any contribution, but to avoid making any mistakes.

So why was the diagnosis of poisoning determined so quickly for Princess Yongchun this time?
Haiyue asked, "How many imperial doctors are there to diagnose Her Royal Highness?"

The maid Huixiang said, "There are three people I saw!"

"They all say that Her Royal Highness the Princess has been poisoned?"

"After examining the patient's pulse, Imperial Physician Chen and Imperial Physician Liu both shook their heads and remained silent. Only Imperial Physician Li concluded that the patient had been poisoned."

"Li Shizhen?"

Hai Yue raised her eyebrows, but then realized that it was impossible. Li Shizhen was only a teenager and was still learning medicine from his elders in his hometown. They just had the same surname. "What do you think of the medical ethics of this Imperial Physician Li?"

The maid Huixiang snorted, "I don't think it's good. He's talking nonsense. He's saying that the poison in the princess is related to the princess!"

"how to say?"

The maid Huixiang said, "Imperial Physician Li first said that the princess was poisoned by the Datura flower. He said it's collected in August, dried, ground into powder, and then mixed with hot wine to be taken. I didn't understand it at first, but then I heard from other servants that the knockout drug used in the storytelling "Water Margin" to steal the birthday gift was made in this way..."

Hai Yue asked, "If it's a toxin similar to the knockout drug, why hasn't the princess woken up yet?"

The maid Huixiang said, "That's right! Imperial Physician Li said this poison isn't very strong, so the princess's pulse is weak now, so she's not seriously injured. But if she continues to sleep for too long, it will definitely damage her body! She should have woken up after taking the antidote, but she hasn't. Imperial Physician Li said she must have been poisoned by another, more severe poison!"

"What poison?"

"Hemp flower! It's a poison from Annam, very similar to the datura flower, but with a much stronger medicinal property. Without a suitable antidote, the victim will fall into a long sleep, and even if awakened, their body will be severely damaged!"

Hai Yue asked, "Let's not talk about whether the imperial physician's diagnosis is correct or not. Just because the poison Her Royal Highness was poisoned with was suspected to have come from Annan, Princess Li is under suspicion?"

The maid Huixiang's eyes suddenly turned red. "Yes! This doesn't make sense at all! The princess was right next to the princess last night, and the guards in the palace said that the princess is under suspicion, and now she is not allowed to return to Huitong Hall."

After Li Yuying entered the capital as an envoy from a foreign vassal state, she lived in the women's courtyard of Huitongguan. Recently, she has been summoned to the palace several times and has been a guest at the princess's residence. She has apparently become part of the circle of noble ladies in the capital.

The guards of the princess's mansion did not allow Li Yuying to return to Huitong Hall, which was a very serious matter. The longer she was trapped in the princess's mansion, the more dangerous her situation would undoubtedly become.

At this point, the maid Huixiang became anxious again: "Master Hai, let's go into the mansion quickly. You are a famous detective from the Imperial College in the capital. Only you can find out the truth and clear the princess of suspicion!"

Hai Yue asked, "Did the princess ever tell you about me?" The maid Huixiang nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "Of course! Of course! What the princess talked about most in private with us was Young Master Hai's brilliant case-solving style! When Young Master Hai became famous in the Imperial College, the princess was also very happy!"

Hai Yue took a step forward and finally continued walking towards the princess's residence in the alley. She asked one last question: "Princess Li is forbidden to leave the residence, so how did you get out?"

The maid Huixiang's eyes lit up with joy, and she hurriedly said, "Before I followed the princess, I worked in the Sibin Department, so I knew the maids in the princess's mansion. They also believed that the princess was wrongly accused, so they released me!"

"Oh?"

Hai Yue paused again. "The Sibinsi is responsible for handling matters such as audiences, banquets, and rewards, ensuring that the etiquette of guest reception is thorough. Since you have worked here before, please tell me, under what name should I enter the Princess's residence?"

The maid Huixiang was suddenly stunned.

After a moment, her pretty face changed: "Sir, are you going to watch the princess die without saving her?"

Haiyue said: "Answer my question."

The maid Huixiang gritted her teeth and said, "I didn't expect that the princess was so deeply in love with the young master, but he was so hesitant. Even though I'm just a servant in the palace, I'm disappointed! Humph, we misjudged her!"

After saying that, he wanted to run towards the princess's mansion.

"You can't leave."

However, Haiyue reached out and lightly pinched her shoulder.

"you dare!!"

The maid Huixiang wanted to scream, but was pinched by the five fingers. Half of her body was paralyzed, and even her voice was mostly mute. She could only croak: "I am a person in the palace! I am a person in the palace! How dare you do this to me..."

"It's indeed inconvenient for me to do anything to the people in the palace, but before I came here, I sent a message to another person, and he is very suitable."

Haiyue took her to a corner and waited silently.

A quarter of an hour later, accompanied by the sound of approaching horse hooves, several familiar figures rode up. The leader dismounted and ran over quickly.

"Wenfu!"

Haiyue then appeared and greeted.

The person who came was Lu Bing. Seeing that Hai Yue did not enter the mansion, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good! You asked Shi Silang to send a message to me. I was really worried that you had entered the princess's mansion. This matter is very serious. You must not rashly get involved!"

"But someone wants me to enter the palace."

Haiyue reached out and grabbed, and the maid Huixiang stumbled out. When she saw the embroidered spring knife on Lu Bing's waist, her face turned pale.

Lu Bing glanced at the other person coldly and immediately judged from his temperament: "From the Sixth Bureau and the First Department of the Imperial Palace?"

Pfft!
The maid Huixiang knelt down and said in a trembling voice, "This servant... This servant... is the maidservant who serves Princess Fanglian... Huixiang... It's a misunderstanding... It's a misunderstanding!"

Lu Bing said coldly, "Whether it's a misunderstanding or not, you'll have a chance to explain it clearly once you're in the Imperial Prison!"

Huixiang collapsed completely to the ground.

Haiyue watched.

The palace maids belong to the inner court and are under the jurisdiction of the Internal Affairs Bureau and the Shanggong Bureau. Logically speaking, it is not the turn of the Jinyiwei to deal with them.

But when have the Jinyiwei ever been reasonable? Once a major incident is involved, they have the power to execute these people first and report later. Once they are sent to the imperial prison, no one can stand it!

Huixiang was dragged aside by the Imperial Guards like a dead dog. Lu Bing looked towards the nearby Princess Mansion and became serious. He lowered his voice and said, "Luckily you didn't enter the mansion. If you had been led in by this palace maid with ulterior motives, it would have been difficult to escape! How did you know she had ulterior motives?"

Hai Yue said, "This woman has been acting overly worried since she showed up. The servants that Princess Li has been with have only been with her for a hundred days at most. I'm afraid that short time isn't enough to make them completely devoted and take such a risk to pass on information. That's why I'm wary."

Lu Bing smiled and said, "As expected of Thirteenth Brother!"

"But her words shouldn't all be lies..."

Hai Yue said seriously, "It's inconvenient for me to go in. I hope Wen Fu can help me and tell Princess Li to calm her down. I'm just outside the mansion."

"Okay! Then how about I be the messenger?"

Knowing the danger, he still came here and did not cross the line. He was brave, resourceful, loyal and righteous. Lu Bing laughed. The reason why he valued the other party was because of his character. If he retreated when he knew the difficulty, he would not be the Thirteenth Son of Qionghai.

Moreover, this increasingly mature confidant of the emperor also had his own judgment on what happened in the princess's mansion. He glanced at Huixiang, who was trembling all over, and said, "Princess Li in the mansion is accused of being involved in the princess's poisoning, and this servant outside the mansion is about to lure you in. How can this be such a coincidence?

"Once we can tell from her that she was instructed to do so and that this was a deliberate plot, it will prove that someone is colluding with her to murder Her Royal Highness and then frame someone else!"

"Princess Li's suspicion can be cleared directly!"

(End of this chapter)