I farmed in military academy and crushed the entire intergalactic world.

Chapter 673 Don't be afraid, reinforcements are coming (4000 words)
Faced with the accusing gazes of the historians, the military region representative hesitated to speak.

They won't take the blame for this.

It's clearly the Ministry of Education's fault! Who told them to separate students into arts and sciences tracks?!

Before Chen Cheng's dungeon had even progressed, the second solo dungeon had already begun.

The command officer tapped a few times on the keyboard and brought up the contestant's personal information: "Wu Qiong, codename Thin Monkey, first place in the 400-meter obstacle course of the group army, champion of the group army military skills competition, and first place in the group army reconnaissance soldier skills competition."

Of all those firsts, none of them mentioned his cultural advantages.

Historians closed their eyes in despair.

The large screen in the center was split in two, with the left side continuing to broadcast Chen Cheng's adventure, and the right side showing Skinny Monkey's.

Coincidentally, it's the same six tooth tags and six seats.

But the identity chosen by the skinny monkey was that of the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

There was no other way; he had watched "Brotherhood of Blades" several times in his spare time. Compared to the troublesome Minister of War and Minister of Personnel, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard felt much more familiar to him.

The skinny monkey examined the ivory plaque several times, turning it over and over. The front of the plaque was engraved with the words "Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Rank 3," and next to it was engraved a flying fish with each scale clearly defined, showing exquisite craftsmanship.

The five colleagues beside him exuded an inhuman aura.

A fox-faced, eerie creature; a disheveled skeleton; a ghost baby playing with its own head; and so on.

The skinny monkey only glanced at it stealthily before looking away, not daring to look again.

Not long after, the case file was thrown onto the stone wall, and the secret memorial in front of him suddenly became hot.

The skinny monkey flipped open the page and saw that the first page was no longer blank; a new line of text had been added:

[The Embroidered Uniform Guard can submit secret reports. The content of these reports directly affects Libra's weighted score. Use with caution.]

He snapped the booklet shut.

Isn't this just being ordered to snitch?

It perfectly matches his stereotype of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Skinny Monkey grinned, feeling incredibly lucky to have chosen a perfect identity that allowed him to both attack and defend. He could easily dominate this solo challenge!

With this confidence, he looked at the contents of the stone wall.

[On the 21st day of the tenth month of the 21st year of the Jiajing reign, at night.]

The Emperor stayed in the palace of Consort Cao.

That night, sixteen palace maids, including Yang Jinying, Su Chuanyao, Yang Yuxiang, and Xing Cuilian, sneaked into the emperor's bedchamber while he was asleep... (This part of the record has been crossed out with red ink and is illegible).
The plot failed. The emperor escaped unharmed.

All sixteen people were captured.

The skinny monkey leaned forward, and the areas smeared with vermilion ink were not completely invisible.

He squinted, and could vaguely make out the outlines of a few words: "...with yellow silk binding the emperor's neck..."

He gasped.

Sixteen palace maids strangled the emperor with silk ribbons.

Could such a thing really have happened in history? In ancient feudal society, shouldn't the emperor be considered supreme? Is this real history, or fiction?

He then read on to read the testimony.

Yang Jinying's confession
Q: Who ordered it?

A: No one instructed us. It was our own choice.

Q: Why?

A: We suffer daily beatings, unable to live or die, hence this desperate measure. The Emperor takes elixirs daily, and his temper is unpredictable. The slightest carelessness from us results in whipping. In Consort Cao's palace, last month a palace maid named Cui'er was flogged twenty times for simply spilling a cup of tea and died that very night.

(Upon reaching this point, Lady Yang broke down in tears. The questioning official remained silent for a long time.)

[Su Chuan Medicine Supply Statement:]

Q: What will you do after you decide to strangle the emperor?

A: I haven't thought about it.

Q: Never thought about it?
A: Don't laugh at us, adults, but we never intended to leave that door alive.

The skinny monkey's smile slowly faded.

He flipped to the back.

Consort Ning, née Wang's testimony:
Q: Is this matter related to you?
A: I do not know.

Q: A palace maid testified that she saw you talking privately with Lady Yang.

A: There are many people talking in the palace. My lord, if you need me to answer for your grievances, then take me. There's no need to ask any more questions.

Consort Cao's testimony:
Q: Where was the Empress at that time?
A: I was in the outer room at the time. I only went in after hearing the noise.

Q: Did you witness the attack?

A: I saw... I saw Yang Jinying standing before the bed with a yellow silk ribbon in her hand. The Emperor had already woken up.

Then there is a record from the imperial physician.

[The emperor's neck bears purplish-black marks from the ligature, and his laryngeal cartilage is slightly bruised. Fortunately, it is not broken. He should recover after half a month of recuperation.]

After reading it, Skinny Monkey saw that the others had already started writing something, and he couldn't help but feel a little flustered.

The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is very powerful, but in this situation, what are his duties? What should he do?
What are the conditions for clearing the dungeon?
The skinny monkey gripped the pen tightly, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Damn it, he still oversimplified things.

Since it's role-playing, are there any restrictions that prohibit characters from deviating from their established personas?
The skinny monkey scratched his head, his brain seemingly stirred with a stick, utterly clueless. How do you write a secret memorial? How do you write it in classical Chinese?
The people in the emergency management center saw that the skinny monkey was sitting there restlessly, and their vision went black again and again.

Clearly, the skinny monkey had no idea how to answer this easy question.

The Ming Dynasty historian slumped in his chair, weakly saying, "This was the Renyin Palace Coup. The day after the incident, the Emperor moved to Yongshou Palace in the Western Garden and no longer resided in the Forbidden City. For more than twenty years thereafter, he never returned to Qianqing Palace. Sixteen palace maids were executed outside Xi'an Gate. On the day of the execution, it snowed heavily in the capital. Some people burned incense by the roadside to see them off. Consort Ning, née Wang, and Consort Duan, née Cao, were given death sentences."

The Ming Dynasty was a very distinctive dynasty, with a dramatic beginning and a conclusion imbued with national and ethnic integrity.

The historian sighed deeply: "Young people, you should at least read some history books."

The meeting room was silent. Director Lin had practically turned the exam into an open-book test, yet they still couldn't answer it...

On the screen, the skinny monkey kept flipping through the files, trying to find some clues or hidden information.

Unfortunately, there was no loophole to exploit.

The skinny monkey's eyes were bloodshot, almost overwhelmed by guilt. If he had known this would happen, he would have memorized the history of the Ming Dynasty word for word before entering the instance!

The nation is watching him, the people are watching him, and Director Lin is watching him too.

However, he failed the test because he lacked education.

Waaah, he has let down the country's cultivation and trust, and he has let down Director Lin's leniency.

"Hehehehe." The ghost baby, despite his dejected appearance, laughed so hard he rolled around on the floor.

The fox-faced man patted his chest, still shaken: "Luckily, we don't need to take an exam to go to the City of the Dead. It was terrifying."

The history of the Three Thousand Minor Worlds is so easy to memorize?! Fortunately, they were temporary actors invited by the Second Meng, so they didn't need to answer the questions seriously; they could just scribble something down.

Skinny Monkey was almost driven to despair by their laughter.

Damn it, can't these anomalies shut up? Stop gossiping like humans!
The ghost baby and his companions didn't care about the skinny monkey's feelings and continued chatting arrogantly.

The long-haired skeleton asked menacingly, "Whose connections did you use to get in?"

"There was no connection in the world, it's all thanks to my spending of crystal coins." The fox-faced man played with the crystal coins in his hand and said smugly, "I just heard that the energy acquisition speed of the Ming Tombs dungeon is second only to the Forbidden City dungeon. Hehe, so I thought I'd recruit him."

The ghost baby nodded repeatedly: "This newcomer is incredibly strong. The dungeon setup looks quite impressive; he has a lot of potential! The 300 elites who came in this time will definitely be wiped out. We've struck it rich!"

The long-haired skeleton clicked his tongue: "As expected, people with powerful connections can enjoy the world sooner. You guys can just coast along here and still manage to amass crystal coins. That's the confidence that comes with having powerful connections."

"Oh dear, didn't you get in through connections?"

The long-haired skeleton said meaningfully, "Which of you here doesn't have a powerful backer? We're all the same."

The skinny monkey paused slightly. "Everyone here? Does that include myself?"

He glanced at the long-haired skeleton as if it were nothing, only to find the other's two empty eyes staring at him: "Commander, why are you looking at me?"

Skinny Monkey's heart skipped a beat. He forced a smile and said awkwardly, "It's nothing. I just find your words insightful and I deeply admire them. May I ask who you are?"

"Minister of War, first in command."

Skinny Monkey hadn't reacted yet, but the others were much more enthusiastic.

"First Meng? So you got in through the connection with the dungeon owner, Second Meng. Tsk tsk, you're really low-key."

"Come on, let's exchange contact information. Remember to call me next time there's a good deal like this. I'm hardworking, affordable, ruthless, and cold-blooded!"

The long-haired skeleton interacted with the others openly and generously, leaving only the skinny monkey standing there brainstorming.

The owner of this copy is called Second Meng?!
Could this be a code name chosen by Director Lin? Is this long-haired skeleton in front of me Director Lin's confidante? Are there hidden meanings in what she said?
The skinny monkey dawdled, and although he had some guesses in his mind, he dared not put pen to paper easily.

The long-haired skeleton said impatiently, "What's there to hesitate about? Don't waste time, just write it down. Write whatever you're thinking."

Others chimed in.

"Yes, hurry up and write it. Don't waste our time. I can earn tens of thousands of crystal coins per minute. Can you afford to waste that much time?"

"What kind of behavior is it for grown men to hesitate like this?"

Skinny Monkey steeled himself, pretended to be provoked by their words, and picked up his pen to write.

What you're thinking, right?

He didn't understand the Ming Dynasty's laws, but he did understand criminal law. According to the laws of the Eastern Kingdom, the 16 palace maids' attempted murder was not punishable by death; a few years' sentence would suffice.

Moreover, these palace maids were already in a vulnerable position, so their resistance was understandable and their sentences could be reduced accordingly.

That's what he thought, so he wrote it down in plain language on the memorial.

After he finished writing, he felt a sudden unease.

The people at the emergency command center turned pale when they saw what he had written.

Oh no, the Skinny Monkey dungeon is doomed.

Just then, Chen Cheng on the other side of the screen also took action.

After reading the case file, Chen Cheng paused his finger on the four words "warm, moist, and comfortable".

In a link to a health-related WeChat public account shared by his mother, it was mentioned that someone with long-term yin deficiency and excessive internal heat might experience a period of comfort after suddenly taking a strong tonic. The reason, she explained, is that the blood vessels dilate, the hands and feet warm up, and the person feels invigorated. However, this is followed by internal bleeding, respiratory failure, and death by dawn.

This is called being unable to tolerate nourishment.

He then flipped through the pages.

Below is a page of interrogation excerpt, with smaller print and denser layout; it is Li Kezhuo's testimony.

Question: What is the red pill you presented made of?
Li Kezhuo confessed: This is a divinely bestowed elixir formula, with three main ingredients. The first is red lead, taken from the first menstrual blood of a virgin and refined with plum water. The second is autumn stone, taken from the precipitate of gypsum obtained from children's urine and calcined until it is as fine as frost. The third is cinnabar, which is the finest cinnabar, water-refined to an extremely fine consistency. I dare not describe all the other auxiliary ingredients.

Question: Since you know the properties of the medicine and the Emperor is weak, how dare you administer such a hot and dry medicine?

Li Kezhuo confessed: "What I presented was a tonic, not a poison. After taking it, the Emperor said he felt 'warm, moist, and comfortable,' which is proof that the medicine was effective. The Emperor's death may have had other causes, which I truly do not know."

Q: You mentioned "elixirs of immortality," where do these elixirs come from?

Li Kezhuo confessed: "I received this from a Taoist priest, whose Dharma name was Shouzhen. He wandered the world, and his whereabouts are unknown."

Li Kezhuo's confession is logically very clear.

This person is not crazy. He explained the processing methods of each herb clearly, which either means he really knows them or it was a pre-prepared explanation.

Neither of these scenarios suggests a spur-of-the-moment decision to poison the emperor.

Without considering the hidden rules of the copy, from the perspective of judging the case alone, what Chen Cheng needs to do is determine whether this case was intentional or a coincidence.

If it was done intentionally, who was behind it?
Can this case really be analyzed using ordinary investigative logic? Should we take into account court politics? Should we consider the emperor's inclinations?

I'll bang it!

What dynasty was this from? What was the political situation at that time?
The more Chen Cheng thought about it, the more complicated it became, as if a huge whirlpool was about to pull him in.

The next second, his gaze was fixed on a name.

Imperial Physician Li Bo!
This name sounds so familiar.

Who doesn't know that Director Lin has two capable assistants, who can be considered her right-hand men? One of them is her secretary, Li Bo.

Is the secretary Li Bo, the imperial physician Li Bo, the same Li Bo?

Chen Cheng's fingers trembled slightly as he tried to suppress his astonishment and focused on reading the testimony.

[On the eleventh day of the eighth month, I examined Your Majesty's pulse for the first time. Your Majesty is inherently deficient in Yin and excessive in Yang, and usually takes cooling remedies to counteract the deficiency heat. I have repeatedly instructed you: You must not use ginseng, deer antler, cinnamon, aconite, or other highly heating herbs, as doing so will surely cause bleeding.]

Although I have not personally verified the formula for the Red Pill, I have observed the Emperor's symptoms after taking it. His face became increasingly flushed, his breathing became short, and eventually he bled from all seven orifices and collapsed. This is a typical sign of excessive Yang forcing blood to flow. It is like a lamp whose oil is about to run out; instead of adding oil gradually, it is burned with a raging fire. How can the lamp not go out?
Your subject concludes: The Emperor's death was not caused by poison, but by the tonics he received. The killer was not the poison itself, but the inappropriate use of the tonics.

Yo yo yo!!
Its daybreak!
What imperial physician would dare to make such a firm judgment in the face of a case that could lead to the execution of nine generations of one's family?!
Whose is it? Of course it belongs to Director Lin, it belongs to the state!

With tears welling up in his eyes, Chen Cheng silently bowed three times to Director Lin in his heart.

Director Lin is awesome! Director Lin is understanding and insightful! Director Lin has a perfect plan!
Oh my god, I'm so touched. Director Lin was worried they wouldn't be able to answer the questions, so he wrote the answers in a copy.

The amount of water released is so large that even the Pacific Ocean can't hold it all.

Chen Cheng picked up the vermilion brush. The handle was warm and smooth, made of bamboo, and felt very light in his hand.

He suddenly wanted to laugh. "Too weak to be nourished"—a phrase he'd seen all over health-related social media—had actually appeared in the Ministry of Justice's records from the Ming Dynasty.

Director Lin was afraid the players wouldn't realize it!

He no longer hesitated. He picked up his pen and wrote a line in the comments section: "The patient is too weak to tolerate tonics. It's not the medicine's poison that's the problem, but rather the medicine being used inappropriately. Li Kezhuo, the quack doctor, misdiagnosed the patient and should be sentenced to death with reprieve."

His handwriting wasn't very good, but Chen Cheng was confident that he had it in the bag!

These are the standard answers provided by the exam setter, what problems could there be?!

[Too weak to absorb tonics? Hahaha, that's hilarious. This is a dungeon!! Is his brain only the size of a peanut? How could the answer be so obvious?]

Hehehe, I bet he's given up on himself.

[It's obvious at a glance that he's all brawn and no brains. Slurp, slurp, this delicious treat has been delivered right to my door, so I'll gladly accept it!]