Chapter 186: Argument, overreaching oneself (2/2)
“Certain! The report was very explicit on the details. Kuigen mixed into medicine will poison its victim. Tests performed from remnants of the medicine left in the victim’s oral cavity also revealed traces of Kuigen.” Old Xia was full of confidence as he added, “Esteemed wangfei knows the poison arts as well. If you don’t believe me, you can examine the body yourself!”
Han Yunxi nodded and asked, “What was the victim’s time of death?”
“The night before yesterday at Xu hour (between 7 to 9PM). After taking the medicine, death was instantaneous,” Old Xia remembered it very clearly.
Again, Han Yunxi nodded her head. She didn’t ask any more questions, but looked towards Imperial Physician Lin. “Imperial Physician Lin, you’ve inspected all three of the medicine packs that Madam Chen brought in?”
Imperial Physician Lin was also very confident. “All of them. There were a total of 11 ingredients, all identical to Doctor Li’s prescription, including the addition of Kuigen.”
“Are those three packs of medicine still around?” Han Yunxi asked again.
Official Ouyang immediately ordered someone to bring them over. All of them were neatly wrapped in their packages and presented on a plate. Han Yunxi examined them, very satisfied, and continued to ask, “Imperial Physician Lin, Doctor Li’s prescription detailed exact quantities of medicine to be used. Why didn’t your appraisal of the medicine detail this point? Have you weighed out the contents? Were the quantities identical?”
Quantities?
No one had considered this question before. The prescription contained poison and the ingredients included poison. This was already adequate proof, so what did the quantity have to do with anything?
Moreover, measurements in Chinese medicine were approximations to begin with, such as a liang1 or two here and a qian2 or two there. When filling up a prescription, amounts were approximated, so there was no need for exact measurements. Imperial Physician Lin found it unexpected and unbelievable. A so-called member of the medical field like Han Yunxi had actually thought up such a pointless question.
“Esteemed wangfei, because the ingredients in the medicine were identical to the ones in Doctor Li’s prescription, this official didn’t weigh the amounts. Both contained the poison,” Imperial Physician Lin explained.
“Identical?” Han Yunxi laughed coldly. “Imperial Physician Lin, what do you mean by the ‘ingredients were identical?’ Would both the prescription and the medicine contain the same quantities just because they have the same ingredients? Examination work must be done carefully, meticulously, and professionally. You don’t need wangfei’s reminder for this, correct?”
At this, Imperial Physician Lin’s complexion abruptly shifted. Han Yunxi was putting his professionalism and work ethic under suspect! His temper flared up, though he didn’t dare show it. Suppressing his anger, he sought to explain earnestly. “Esteemed wangfei, this official has practiced medicine and prescribed prescriptions for 20 odd years without ever making a mistake. Madam Chen’s mother-in-law died from poisoning, but that has nothing to do with the quantity of medicine. As long as one can prove the medicine contained poison, then that’s the evidence! Kuigen can be used as poison or as medicine. If placed in other medicines, it might not contain poisonous properties, but it’d definitely be toxic when paired with Doctor Li’s prescription! This has nothing to do with quantities!”
This Imperial Physician Lin knew quite a bit about Kuigen!
But to discuss matters of poison in her face was an overestimation of ability!
After she heard this much, Han Yunxi gave Imperial Physician Lin a significant look, shaking his conviction and resolve into something less confident. But it was temporary feeling at best. Imperial Physician Lin firmly believed that there was no need to investigate the quantity of medicine. He thought that Han Yunxi was trying to refute the results of the case by looking for a flaw in an egg–nitpicking for faults where there was none–and make trouble!
Thus, Imperial Physician Lin continued to speak. “So this official believes there’s no need to check for specific quantities in the medicine!”
Han Yunxi nodded her head and asked with a smile, “Imperial Physician Lin, you know as well that Kuigen isn’t merely medicine, but poison as well. But do you know that the quantity of poison will affect its reaction time and symptoms in the victim?”
These words immediately made Imperial Physician Lin grow still. By his side, Coroner Xia was startled as well. Perhaps the rest of the people hadn’t realized it yet, but these two professionals suddenly had a bad premonition.
Quantity of poison…poison reaction time…
Imperial Physician Lin…truly hadn’t considered the possibility. He only knew that the victim had been poisoned by Kuigen and died. The corpse had shown evidence of the same poison, so everything matched up.
Seeing Imperial Physician Lin and Old Xia fall silent, Official Ouyang was uneasy as well. “Esteemed wangfei, there’s always differences when it comes to filling prescription quantities. How can things be calculated so precisely?”
Han Yunxi smiled coldly. “Kuigen may be an acute poison, but different quantities will result in different reaction times! Just then, Coroner Xia said Madam Chen’s mother-in-law died the night before yesterday as soon as she drank the medicine. But the quantity written in the prescription, when mixed with the other 10 ingredients, won’t cause a toxic reaction even if she finishes all three packs of medicine at once. That amount of Kuigen would take three days before the poison showed signs of reacting! Either the Kuigen present in the medicine far exceeded twice the amount outlined in the prescription, or else Madam Chen’s mother-in-law…was poisoned by someone else!”
Official Ouyang stood stunned at Han Yunxi’s words as the courtroom fell into silence…
-o-
1. liang (两) – Chinese unit of measurement around 50 grams.
2. qian (钱) – Chinese unit of measurement around 3-9 (or 4-11) grams.