Chapter 187: Wrath, investigate to the end (1/2)

Chapter 187: Wrath, investigate to the end

In the silence, everyone exchanged glances in disbelief. Nobody expected this outcome.

Being poisoned right after taking the medicine versus being poisoned three days after taking the medicine really was a big difference. And though there were inconsistencies when filling prescription quantities, making a mistake like taking double the amount of a required ingredient was too much of an exaggeration.

Even if Doctor Li had written the wrong prescription, he wouldn’t make such a big mistake when filling the prescription itself. What kind of manslaughter would that be? It’d be willful murder instead!

If the three packs of medicine contained the same quantity of ingredients as outlined in the prescription, then Doctor Li didn’t fill it up with the wrong quantities. In that case, Madam Li’s mother-in-law’s death wouldn’t have come from taking the medicine, but something taking advantage of the prescription to kill her on purpose!

What was the truth?

Had Doctor Li killed someone intentionally, or was someone else the culprit? A simple, straightforward case had suddenly turned complicated thanks to Han Yunxi’s analysis of poisons. Abruptly, Seventh Madame turned towards Madam Chen. In a flash, the crowd followed to focus their gazes in the same direction. Madam Chen’s head hung very, very low, her body quivering. She didn’t dare to say a word.

Official Ouyang’s eyes flickered with a complicated expression as he hesitated for a long time. Finally, he spoke. “Imperial Physician Lin, do the quantity of Kuigen and poison reaction times…really work like that?”

Han Yunxi laughed coldly in her heart. Official Ouyang really knew how to ask questions. It was clear from his words that he didn’t believe her.

Imperial Physician Lin was very tactful. “This official isn’t talented enough. Truly, I don’t know.”

“If Official Ouyang doesn’t believe it, why don’t we put on a demonstration right here?” Han Yunxi said coldly. Today, she was going to have everyone sincerely convinced. No matter whether they were from the courts, or the palace!

“As far as regulations go, a trial demonstration truly is necessary,” Official Ouyang braced himself to speak. He had to give an explanation to the empress dowager, after all.

Han Yunxi immediately had someone gather some medicine while having Imperial Physician Lin make sure the medicinal ingredients didn’t differ from the prescription. Soon after that, the medicine was brought to boil right in the courtroom.

“Official Ouyang, for the sake of being impartial, you should find someone to test the medicine,” Han Yunxi said icily.

Official Ouyang’s heart was half-frozen at Han Yunxi’s frigid attitude. He had someone bring over a death row inmate and had him finish drinking the entire bowl of medicine. As it turned out, he was perfectly fine even after the time it took to burn a stick a incense had passed.

“Official Ouyang, do you have any other questions?” Han Yunxi asked.

Immediately, Official Ouyang shook his head. How could he dare speak? This wangfei could simply be called a poison fei. Anyone who argued with her about poisons was seeking their own deaths! As Official Ouyang fell silent, so did everyone else present in the courtroom. Since Han Yunxi’s words had borne out, the truth of the matter all lay in determining the “quantity” of medicine prescribed!

Han Yunxi walked to one side and personally opened up the three packs of medicine. From each she took out and separated the 11 different ingredients and made ten separate piles.

“Imperial Physician Lin, I’ll have to inconvenience you to measure the quantities on-site. Is that all right?” Han Yunxi was still very polite.

Although Imperial Physician Lin was familiar with Kuigen, his understanding was far inferior to Han Yunxi’s. He really had overlooked the matter of poison reaction times! In addition, he could look any other medicinal ingredients and tell their weights just by a glance, but Kuigen was different. It was extremely lightweight and an ingredient he rarely encountered, so it was very difficult to measure its quantity with the naked eye. Add that to the fact that he hadn’t considered measuring it at all, and Imperial Physician Lin felt very insecure.

In the midst of his terror, he heard Han Yunxi’s polite words and nodded his head in a fright. Afraid to delay any further, he had someone bring him some scales. Time trickled by quietly as Imperial Physician Lin begin, his hands shaking at first before he quickly settled into his work. On one side, he measured the ingredients. On the other side, he took meticulous notes on a piece of white paper.

But when he finished measuring the first batch of Kuigen, his hand suddenly trembled as the scale weight fell with a loud thump. The weight not only fell onto the ground, but into the hearts of everyone present. Everyone was quaking with fear as they guessed there was a problem with the Kuigen’s weight.

Meanwhile, the truth crept closer and closer…

Imperial Physician Lin’s face was ashen white. He looked at Han Yunxi before quickly retrieving the weight and measuring the quantity anew. The figures were quickly recorded on the paper, which Han Yunxi saw in a glance without a change in expression. She motioned for Imperial Physician Lin to continue.

Very quickly, Imperial Physician Lin went through all three packs of medicine, recording the quantity of each ingredient contained therein. When he finally set down the scale weight, his hands had turned limp and listless.

Han Yunxi spread open the quantities recorded on the white paper and turned towards Official Ouyang. “Official Ouyang, the prescription is on your desk. I’ll have to inconvenience you to make a comparison. Is that all right?”

The more polite Han Yunxi acted, the more uncertain Official Ouyang felt in his heart. His face was pale as he hastily opened up the prescription to check. The results had him tumbling back into his judge’s seat.

“Official Ouyang, how are the results?” Han Yunxi asked loudly.

Official Ouyang didn’t dare to answer, but had to in the end. He trembled fearfully as he stood up. “Identical. The quantity of ingredients are all identical.”

If the quantities were all identical, then the amount of Kuigen was identical as well!

That much Kuigen wasn’t enough to immediately take someone’s life with its poison. So someone else must be the poisoner!

This was the truth!