Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 117: All the puzzles solved (Part )

"Yan Ling of the Yunyin Society is lying!"

After meeting Haiyue, Li Yuying immediately revealed the key point: "Yan Ling told me before that it was she who had the ability to lighten her body that night. She took Princess Yongchun to the East Courtyard and met the scholar Gao Zhongyuan. To protect the princess's reputation, they kept their interaction secret, just the two of them!"

"That's the flaw. The princess loves to perfume her clothes with sandalwood and sleeps on a sandalwood bed. The scent on her body is extremely strong. Anyone who comes into close contact with her will inevitably be infected with this scent. It will definitely not dissipate in less than a day."

"But yesterday in the woodshed, I didn't smell any trace of sandalwood on Yan Ling!"

"She's lying. She wasn't with Princess Yongchun the night before last!"

After hearing this, Haiyue couldn't help but sigh.

Having such a sharp nose is a real advantage in investigating cases.

If it were him, there would be no way he could use this line as a breakthrough point.

"There's something seriously wrong with the Yunyin Society!"

Li Yuying completely locked onto the suspects, and her thoughts became clear: "From their confessions, they are just minor characters who were accidentally involved in this case. They performed the 'Magpie Bridge Meeting' the day before yesterday, and took the princess to see Gao Zhongyuan that night. The princess was still fine when she returned to the palace. What happened afterwards naturally has nothing to do with this illusion troupe. But now it seems that this nighttime meeting is very suspicious!"

"Not bad!"

Hai Yue nodded. "During the Princess's Mansion incident, the Yunyin Society was far too greedy! Six hundred taels of silver is certainly a lot, but for the Yunyin Society, who already occupied the Tianqiao Bridge in the capital and made a name for themselves, it was just a temporary show at the mansions of the rich and powerful! On the contrary, if they were involved in the affairs of the royal family, especially helping the princess secretly meet her lover, what would be their fate if it was exposed? Can't they see this?"

The gap between the rich and the poor in ancient times was much greater than in later generations. Yan Shifan once commented that although Tianqiao was very popular and could be packed with people, it was unrealistic to expect ordinary people to give a lot of money to street performances. On the contrary, if one gained the favor of the wealthy families in the capital, it would not be an exaggeration to make a fortune by performing a few shows at their homes.

First make a name for themselves among the common people, then defraud the upper class, the Yunyin Society took this very steady route, giving full play to their own advantages. However, once they arrived at the princess's mansion, they changed their previous slow and steady approach and even dared to take the princess to meet her lover in secret!

Li Yuying sighed, "But the excuse Hongniang made up was also flawless. The 'Magpie Bridge Meeting' was not originally part of the plan. It was added by the princess. The Yunyin Society did not expect the princess to do such a thing, so they couldn't back down."

"I was frightened."

"We can actually retreat! The ones holding the upper hand in the Princess's Mansion are precisely the evil servants within the palace. If the Yunyin Society really wants to go back on their word, the Princess will be helpless!"

Hai Yue said, "It's undeniable that the common people were intimidated by the princess's majesty, worried about gains and losses, and dared not regret it. Or perhaps they were possessed by evil spirits and didn't consider the consequences of failure. But then their confessions in the woodshed were so clear, and in the process of discovering the poisoning method, there were some casual hints that cleared up your doubts..."

Li Yuying gritted her teeth and said, "The 'mud money' Yan Ling flipped in her hand was first counterfeit, then replaced with real money. This was the key to my seeing through Li Shaoting's poisoning method! And I already hated Li Shaoting, so I was willing to believe that he was the one who poisoned us. I have long suspected that he was instructed by Empress Dowager Zhang in the palace to plot against us!"

Hai Yue said, "It's inevitable to have preconceived notions. Looking back now, the imperial physician Li Shaoting may not have done anything wrong. In this case, he is an outsider..."

Li Yuying thought of how Li Shaoting had been writing furiously at his desk before his death last night, only to have his last words taken away by the murderer. She sighed, "I never thought this guy was innocent!"

Hai Yue said seriously, "He's definitely not innocent. Li Shaoting disguised the secret Nanyang medicine 'Worry-Free Grass' as 'Gastrodia Powder' to treat the rich and powerful. This earned him widespread fame in the capital, making him a lauded miracle doctor. However, in order to maintain a steady supply of 'Worry-Free Grass', he had to seek help from people in the underworld. Naturally, the 'Gastrodia Powder' he had leaked out!"

"And when he entered the princess's residence to treat her, he suddenly discovered that the princess's coma was caused by his own 'Gastrodia Powder'. You can imagine his panic!"

"At this time, he discovered that you, who were from Annan, were also at the table, so he deliberately brought up the 'fire hemp seed flower'. Annan is also part of Southeast Asia, so 'fire hemp seed flower' might just be another name for 'worry-free grass'!"

"Li Shaoting's goal is to use his authority as an imperial physician to muddy the waters and exonerate himself. To this end, he's even willing to throw this dirty water on you. How can such a person be innocent?"

Li Yuying liked hearing this. She tilted her head back and smiled, "This guy has brought this upon himself. He must have discovered the murderer's flaw, and was killed to silence him! But there's just one thing I can't understand..."

"what?"

Li Yuying said, "There were five thick chains outside the woodshed where the Yunyin Society was imprisoned. It took the two guards a full quarter of an hour to remove the chains. Could it be that they really had the ability to perform illusions and pass through walls, making a desperate escape?"

Hai Yue asked, "What do the four illusionists of Yunyin Society look like? Describe them to me!"

Li Yuying recalled the characteristics of the four people and said slowly: "Hong Niangzi is the oldest, with a graceful demeanor, like a wealthy woman, not like a commoner, but she is fat and quite bloated;"

"Jiao Bai has a high nose and deep eyes, so he must be a Huihui. However, he speaks Daming language very well. Apart from his appearance, his behavior is no different from that of the Central Plains people. "

"Lu Zangzhou was the tallest, with a hoarse voice, and was very taciturn. He barely spoke, and only answered me a few words. I didn't see anything unusual."

"Yan Ling was the youngest, with a petite figure. She was very shy at first, but later on she became very talkative. I was deceived by her appearance."

After listening to this, Hai Yue pondered for a moment and then laughed, "There are five of the Four Heavenly Kings. No wonder the four members of the Yunyin Society wore robes and masks on the overpass. It wasn't just for the performance, it was also a prelude to the crime!"

After saying this, he made a gesture. "Five people... five people!"

Li Yuying suddenly realized, "So that's what's going on. No wonder Yan Ling didn't smell of sandalwood! Now, we have a reasonable explanation for Princess Yongchun's insomnia and the motive behind the brutal murder of Imperial Physician Li Shaoting!"

The two smiled at each other, seeing the satisfaction in each other's eyes at having uncovered the truth: "The puzzle is all solved!"

……

"Imperial Physician Wang and Imperial Physician Liu, both of you have been in the Imperial Hospital for decades. Are you really so helpless?"

Outside the main palace bedroom, Lu Bing was furious.

The two imperial physicians were undeterred. They knelt before this Jinyiwei, who was younger than their son. "I am a man of limited talent and learning. Although I have been honored by Your Majesty to be appointed as an imperial physician, this case is like observing flowers in the fog or the moon in the water. If I prescribe decoctions without thinking, it may harm the body. If I mistakenly administer Huasan, it may injure the imperial blood vessels. We must be absolutely careless!"

"You're talking so much about eight-legged essays, are you going to take the imperial examination?"

Lu Bing was so angry that his eyes turned red.

Li Shaoting may be cunning, but at least he dares to use medicine.

This group of imperial doctors was even more exaggerated. They only thought about not taking responsibility for everything. They even dared to prescribe tonics for the unconscious princess. Anyway, as long as there was no direct harm to the princess, it had nothing to do with them.

As for whether the princess is dead or alive, or injured or not, it is not considered at all!
What about medical ethics?
What about the kindness of a doctor?

No matter how Lu Bing scolded them, the two imperial doctors acted like dead pigs that were not afraid of boiling water.

Are you kidding? Li Shaoting was such a famous doctor among the powerful people in the capital, but he was strangled to death because he diagnosed poisoning without knowing his own limitations. And you still want us to treat him?

Even the imperial physician cannot be so harmful!

In the end, Lu Bing couldn't force them too much. After all, they had to prescribe the medicine, so he could only let the two of them leave in annoyance.

When Li Yuying walked in, the two old men were about to leave. Seeing the two men looking as if they had been pardoned, she came up to them and said, "Brother Lu!"

Lu Bing touched his chin and said with a wry smile, "My lord, please forgive me for making you laugh. Every family has its own problems. Is it the same for Annan's imperial physician?"

Li Yuying also smiled bitterly: "We in Annan are still at the stage where witch doctors and shamans are mixed together, and there are many Nôm spells and wild people's folk remedies..."

Lu Bing didn't know whether it was true or not, but he felt better. He asked seriously, "Why are you here, Princess?"

Li Yuying looked around and whispered, "Brother Yue and I have concluded that the prince consort is not the murderer. The Yunyin Society is the main suspect!"

"That folk magic troupe?"

Lu Bing was stunned for a moment, then slowly said, "But I've already sent people to inquire. The Yunyin Society was locked up in the woodshed last night, and the chains on the doors and windows were intact! With those five thick chains, unless they can really pass through the wall like in the illusion, they definitely can't come out to commit crimes..."

Li Yuying asked, "Brother Lu, have you ever seen the Yunyin Society perform? The kind of magic trick where they create a water tank out of thin air with fish swimming inside?"

"I've seen it! I've seen it!"

Lu Bing suddenly felt anticipation: "Is the princess going to break the illusion?"

Just as many people study the principles behind magic in later generations, the ancients were also extremely curious about illusions. Many people even believed them to be true, thinking that these illusionists really had all kinds of incredible methods.

Lu Bing didn't believe it was true, but he also wanted to figure out the principle behind it.

"Illusions may seem magical, but in reality, it all comes down to four words: persistence!"

Li Yuying took out the prepared robe, put it on herself, and stumbled a few steps: "Brother Lu, do you understand?"

"Hiss! So that's how it is... Chains really can't hold them... I'll make arrangements right away to apprehend the suspect!"

Lu Bing took a deep breath, suppressing his shock. He clasped his fists and said with a heartfelt smile, "This time, we've cleared the clouds and found the true culprit, thanks largely to the efforts of the two of you. Princess Li and Shisanlang are truly a match made in heaven. Now is the time to praise them, right? Haha!"

(End of this chapter)