The kneeling medicine clerk immediately stood up, rushed behind the counter, took out a stack of yesterday's medical records, and quickly searched for one. He then came over and carefully handed it to the Empress. Hai Ling carefully examined it and then handed it to Wu Shang, the Minister of Justice, who glanced at it, shook his head, and spoke.
"Your Majesty, there's nothing wrong with this medical record."
"Yes, the medicine prescribed by Baojitang is fine. So where exactly did the problem lie?" Moreover, as the old lady said, the patient's illness was just a fever caused by a minor cold, which was not enough to be fatal. Therefore, it is very likely that the deceased was murdered and the blame was placed on Baojitang.
Thinking this through, Hai Ling's face darkened, and she directly ordered Wu Shang, the Minister of Justice.
"Lord Wu, open a case and investigate. If I find out who it is, they will be severely punished. No matter who it is, I will not let them off."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Wu Shang immediately accepted the order, then walked to the old woman's side and asked if she had any medicine left at home. The old woman nodded.
Wu Shang ordered his soldiers to go to the old woman's house to retrieve the unused medicine, and also to bring back the decocted medicine.
The clerk from the Ministry of Justice also arrived. Wu Shang ordered the clerk to examine the body. Everything proceeded smoothly. Hai Ling was getting tired of standing, so Shi Mei immediately moved a stool for her to sit on. Then she gestured for the doctors and staff in Baoji Hall to stand up and move away.
Everyone stood up and went inside. The Ministry of Justice sent soldiers to help the old lady up, then they drew back the curtain and began the autopsy.
Hailing gestured for Shimei to go and take a look. Shimei was very skilled in medicine and might make some unexpected discoveries.
Shi Mei responded and went over to examine Wu Zuo's body. There were no external wounds, and the acupuncture points were not poisoned. Then, after the final abdominal dissection, the remaining residue and fluid in the stomach were removed. Finally, Wu Zuo examined the residue and fluid and wrote down the names of the herbs that had been ingested.
At this time, the soldiers sent by the Ministry of Justice had already brought over the old woman's medicine, as well as the dregs from the decoction, and stored them up together.
Hailing gestured for Shimei to check, and then compared the dregs of the medicine with the liquid in the deceased's stomach to see if they matched.
Shi Mei examined the prescription and found that the medicine prescribed by Baojitang was exactly the same as the prescription, with no surprises. She also examined the dregs of the medicine the deceased had taken and compared them with the prescription written by the culprit. She quickly discovered that there were two extra ingredients: gastrodia elata and aconite. Aconite is also known as wolf nemesis, a highly poisonous herb. However, because there was very little aconite and gastrodia elata was added, it was not noticeable. But it would be fatal to someone with a fever.
Shi Mei reported the situation to Hai Ling, who nodded and then looked at the stunned old woman to the side.
The old woman had previously thought that her son had been prescribed the wrong medicine by the doctor at Baojitang, but the results of the investigation now clearly show that someone had harmed her son.
She simply couldn't understand why anyone would want to harm them, given their poverty and lack of possessions.
"Old woman, did anyone come to your house yesterday evening?"
Minister of Justice Wu Shang questioned the old woman, who thought for a moment and then said blankly, "Someone did come yesterday, but she is a relative of ours, my cousin's daughter, named Xiaoxia. She would never harm my son, absolutely not."
Wu Shang ignored the old lady and immediately ordered his soldiers to arrest this Xiaoxia. At this moment, someone volunteered to lead the Ministry of Justice's soldiers to Xiaoxia's house to arrest her. Xiaoxia's house was not far from the old lady's house, and she occasionally visited, so the old lady didn't think much of it. Now that such a thing had happened, the old lady was completely bewildered.
"No, Your Majesty, it's impossible. Xiaoxia wouldn't harm anyone. It couldn't be her who harmed my son."
Her son and Xiaoxia grew up together, why would she want to harm her son?
"Don't worry, madam. We'll find out if it's her or not once we arrest her. We won't wrong an innocent person, but we won't let any bad person go unpunished either."
It was already quite late, and Hailing was getting hungry. She hadn't eaten anything since the afternoon, and her stomach ached when she was hungry. But given the current situation, she couldn't walk, so she tried her best to endure it. Shimei had been with Hailing for quite some time and naturally knew about her mistress's condition, and she felt very sorry for her.
Fortunately, the arresting officers brought the person over quickly.
Xiaoxia was caught at home by the soldiers. When they saw her, she was pale and trembling, like a withered leaf in the wind. Looking at the scene, it was clear that they had come to her rescue. She was terrified and confessed everything before the Minister of Justice, Wu Shang, could question her: "It's not my fault, it's not my fault. Xiaohong made me do it. She gave me a silver ingot, so I did it. Besides, she said before that she wouldn't kill him, that she would only make his illness worse. She wanted my aunt to make a scene at Baojitang. I didn't do it on purpose, I didn't do it on purpose."
As soon as she spoke, all the people in front of Baojitang shook their heads and blamed her.
The old woman swayed, unable to bear the blow. Then she realized what had happened and rushed to Xiaoxia's side, crying, "Why? Why did you hurt my son? You grew up with him, and he always loved you. Why did you do this to him?"
Xiaoxia burst into tears. She had only been greedy for some money; she never expected things to turn out this way.
"Who is this Xiao Hong?"
Hai Ling stared coldly at Xiao Xia, who was kneeling down. Xiao Xia was terrified at the sight of her, saying, "She's a maid from the Zhaoyang Prince's Mansion."
"The Prince Zhaoyang's Mansion?"
This time, not only Hai Ling, but also the people outside Baoji Hall shouted. They never expected that this matter would involve the people of Zhaoyang Prince's Mansion. Not only the people, but even Wu Shang, the Minister of Justice, was stunned. Zhaoyang Prince's Mansion was a royal family, unlike ordinary people, and they could not be arrested just like that.
"Your Majesty, what do you see?"
Hai Ling was already suffering from a stomachache from hunger, and at this moment she was not in a good mood. She coldly ordered, "No matter who it is, investigate to the end. Take this Xiao Xia to the Ministry of Justice, protect her, and then go to the Zhaoyang Prince's Mansion to investigate. Investigate to the end. Whoever has broken the law, arrest them all."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Minister of Justice Wu Shang accepted the order, and Hai Ling had already stood up. The surrounding ministers and the doctors and staff in Baoji Hall all respectfully said, "Respectfully seeing off Her Majesty the Empress."
Hailing nodded and walked out. Then, as if remembering something, she looked at Shimei and said, "Do you have any silver on you? Give fifty taels of silver to the old lady."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Shi Mei immediately took the silver and handed it to the old woman. The old woman knelt on the ground, crying and saying repeatedly, "Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress, thank you, Your Majesty the Empress."
Hai Ling had already walked out, and the people around her all made way for her. They watched as the Empress got into her carriage and led the group back to the palace. Ji Cong led a group of ministers in front of Baoji Hall to see Hai Ling off to her carriage. The group bowed again before leading the court officials back to Ji's residence for dinner.
Wu Shang, the Minister of Justice, naturally had to stay behind to investigate the case.
When Hailing returned to the palace, it was already past midnight. She had been hungry all afternoon, and the hunger had carried over into the night. Her stomach ached terribly, and her face was scrunched up in pain. Shimei and Shilan helped her into Liuyue Palace, while ordering the palace maids to quickly prepare a meal.
In the main hall of Liuyue Palace, Ye Lingfeng was waiting for Hai Ling. When he saw that she was being helped in by the two maids, Shi Mei and Shi Lan, his expression changed drastically. He rushed down from his high position and landed next to Hai Ling. He picked her up and walked to the side of the hall, asking her anxiously.
"Ling'er, what's wrong? What happened?"
Seeing Ye Lingfeng's anxiety, Hai Ling quickly shook her head: "I'm fine, I'm just hungry."
"Are you hungry? Didn't you eat at the Ji residence?"
Ye Lingfeng's face showed a hint of anger, clearly very angry. How could Ji Cong do such a thing? Ling'er is not only his daughter, she is the Empress of Bei Lu. He has done a terrible job.
Hai Ling naturally knew that Ye Lingfeng was blaming her father, so she quickly suppressed her hunger and said, "It's not Father's fault, there was just an accident today."