The guards reported that the eunuch Xiao Guizi had committed suicide by hanging himself, suspected of committing suicide in fear of crime, and the news spread, and the people standing in the Shang Pharmacy showed shocked looks, obviously not expecting this situation.

It seems that this poisoning incident of the second prince is really not as simple as it seems, and there are indeed strange things, otherwise, how could a good eunuch commit suicide?

Therefore, some of the imperial doctors of Shang Pharmacy still had prejudices against Su Chen, thinking that he was making a big fuss, and it was simply because there was a problem with his prescription that he harmed the second prince. But now that this incident has happened, I gradually feel that Su Chen may have really been used as a means to deliberately frame him on the decoction.

Su Chen calmed down, thinking in his heart that his strategy had initially worked, and the mastermind behind the poisoning saw that things were developing towards an uncontrollable situation, and he was worried that more behind-the-scenes networks would be uncovered, so he cut off this line in time and let him die without proof.

Is the anti-epilepsy soup toxic, as long as you find someone to drink it, you can prove its safety and efficacy, and when the time comes, Su Chen will also be able to relieve half of the charges, therefore, the mastermind behind the scenes feels that the situation is a little out of control, and is investigated by Su Chen and the imperial court, worried that the harem will involve big fish, it is better to throw away the chess pieces as soon as possible.

"Send someone to protect the scene, under the Majesty and the Princess, Commander Wei Chi will go over and take a look!"

Princess Yongning nodded, she was the most noble here, and said decently: "It is related to the investigation of the case, you can go over and have a look, Commander Wei Chi, what do you think?" ”

Wei Chixin arched his hand and said: "What Her Royal Highness the princess said is very true, let's go over and investigate the scene.!" ”

So, everyone left the Shang Medicine Bureau and went to the area of the palace to serve the province.

Because the imperial palace of the Southern Tang Dynasty was not as grand as the imperial city of Chang'an and Luoyang, the capital of the previous dynasty, the yamen of the six departments and the nine Qing divisions were placed outside the palace. However, the secretaries of the Menxia Province, the Zhongshu Province, the Dianzhong Province, and the Inner Servant Province were all in the palace and were given separate areas, because their daily work was closely related to the emperor's office and life.

There are six bureaus in the palace province, namely the Shang Medicine Bureau, the Shang Food Bureau, the Shang Yi Bureau, the Shang She Bureau, the Shang Tby Bureau, and the Shang Yuan Bureau, all of which are inseparable from the clothing, food, housing and transportation of the palace nobles.

The Ministry of Internal Servants includes five bureaus, namely the Imperial Court Bureau, the Palace Bureau, the Xiguan Bureau, the Inner Servant Bureau, the Inner Government Bureau, etc., which manage some eunuchs, palace maids, finances, warehousing, etc. in the harem, and serve the emperor's family specifically.

Most of the eunuchs in the palace lived in the area of the house where the province was located, and a few would live in the side rooms of the various courtyards where they served the nobles, so that they could serve at any time.

Xiao Guizi is no longer a low-level eunuch, so the room where he lives is a room for two people, and the eunuchs who live in the same bed have gone to change shifts, and he is the only one in the room, and after choosing to commit suicide, he was not discovered in time.

Su Chen and the others came to this simple room, and the body of the eunuch Xiao Guizi had been put down, laid out on the ground, and covered with a layer of white cloth.

Zhou Jiamin and Princess Yongjia were still young and afraid of seeing the dead, so they didn't enter the house, but only stood in the courtyard.

There are also a group of eunuchs of all sizes gathered in the courtyard, whispering, mostly around the remarks of Xiao Guizi "poisoning the second prince" and "committing suicide in fear of crime", and it is estimated that he will soon be crazy in the harem and inside and outside the court.

This is not a trivial matter, it involves the murder of the prince, it is definitely not something that a small eunuch can do, someone behind the scenes must have promised benefits, but who is behind the scenes, it is impossible to investigate at present.

Wei Chixin stepped forward and asked, "Did you find any incriminating evidence?" ”

"Commander Hui Weichi, we found a porcelain bottle in the deceased's bag, and the medicine liquid in it was like poison, and it smelled a little bad." After one of the guards replied, Bi respectfully handed over a small cyan porcelain vase.

Wei Chixin took it, opened the stopper and smelled it, sure enough, there was some peculiar smell, the liquid was black and swarthy, not like a good thing.

"Master Su, you know medical skills, can you tell what kind of poison this is?"

"Let me test it." Su Chen stretched out his hand to take it, then took out a small white porcelain wine cup from the medical box, poured a little venom out, and then tested it with a silver needle, but there was no response.

In fact, the effect of silver needle drug detection is limited, but it is exaggerated by martial arts, and even as early as the Song Dynasty Song Ci wrote the "Collection of Grievances" There is a record of silver needle autopsy. However, the poison referred to by the ancients mainly refers to the highly toxic arsenic, that is, the chemical name is arsenic trioxide.

Due to the backward production technology in ancient times, arsenic contains a small amount of sulfur and sulfide. The sulfur contained in it can cause a certain chemical reaction when it comes into contact with silver, causing a black layer of "silver sulfide" to be formed on the surface of the silver needle. Therefore, the silver needle test only detected the sulfur in the arsenic, therefore, the silver needle cannot identify the poison, and cannot be widely used as a tool for drug detection.

Therefore, from a scientific point of view, silver objects such as silver needles turn black immediately after encountering certain things, mainly due to the interaction between silver and sulfides.

Su Chen did this, at least ruled out arsenic-related poisoning, but the toxins on some poisonous insects and poisonous beasts needed to be analyzed specifically.

He sniffed the smell, looked at the color of the liquid, the residue hanging on the inner wall of the cup, and judged that it was a poison from a poisonous insect, not a poisonous weed.

"Is it centipede venom?"

Su Chen frowned, and had such a guess in his heart, because there was a centipede ingredient in his prescription, and the people behind the scenes wanted to kill the second prince and blame him, so that he would not be tasted by the eunuchs, and it could cause the second prince's convulsions and other reactions, so only centipede poison was the most suitable.

It is added to it, so that the centipede poison content in the medicinal soup increases dozens of times, not only can not save people, but also harms people, poisoned people will have fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, rapid pulse, delirium and convulsions, etc., in severe cases, even lead to death, these symptoms and the reaction of the second prince, can also correspond.

The most important thing is that if the imperial doctor is asked to test the medicinal soup and the reaction of the rest of the people who taste the poison, it will gradually be associated with centipede poison, so that they will think that there is a problem with the prescription prescribed by Su Chen, and there are two centipedes in it, which induces the condition of the second prince, and when the time comes, it will be impossible to tell if it is beneficial.

Princess Yongning saw Su Chen's contemplation, so she stepped forward and asked, "Su Chen, can you see what kind of poison this is?" ”

"It is speculated that it may be centipede poison, but it is not completely certain, and it is necessary to let the imperial doctors study it and give the name of the specific poison."

"Centipede poison!" Princess Yongning thought of the appearance of that poisonous insect in her mind, and couldn't help but shudder, a little afraid of that kind of ugly and scary looking insect.

Feng Yu Fu Dongsheng and Zhichang Guo Sheng brought a few people to follow, and at this time they also stepped forward to observe the venom, with their many years of medical experience, after several people judged, it was confirmed that it was centipede poison.

An imperial doctor said: "This little eunuch only has a strangulation wound on his neck all over his body, and his death is also consistent with suffocation, and he died of suicide by hanging, which can be concluded." ”

Wei Chixin nodded and said: "It seems that this little eunuch is the despicable poisoner, after the incident, he knew that he couldn't escape, and in order to cover the instigator behind the scenes, he committed suicide in fear of crime, so that we can't investigate it anymore." ”

Su Chen didn't immediately draw a conclusion, but squatted down and inspected the body of Xiao Guizi, although there were indeed no other injuries on his body, and it was not wrong to die of suffocation, but the degree of stiffness of his limbs made him a little surprised, this was not suicide at all, but he killed!