pjbooks Chapter 415
Chapter 415
Yu Huaixian and his men carried the person back all the way, passing by examination rooms A and B. If the poison truly spread through the air, then those examinees were also in danger!Seeing that even after the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince, he could still worry about the examinees, Yue Fuguang felt some relief. It was good that those in power were finally looking downward instead of only thinking about how to report upward.
"We were lucky today. His poison was discovered in time, and as it happened, I had burned Qingming incense. This incense has an inhibitory effect on early-stage toxins—or rather, poisonous vapors."
If she hadn't been unable to bear the smell of the examination hall today and decided to light the incense, then suddenly taken a whim to go downstairs for a look, the poisonous bloom on this man's body would have grown further, and even Qingming incense wouldn't have been able to suppress it.
It was simply destiny at work!
No, for the sake of points, this matter had to be resolved quickly. Yue Fuguang glanced at the procedure steps displayed on her system while simultaneously inserting needles into Zhou Bo.
Her clumsy technique made the Crown Prince, standing a step behind her, watch with a pounding heart.
Was Yue Fuguang herself not nervous?
She wanted to say she was terrified!
But this was part of the system's mission, and she had no choice.
Who could argue with a point-giving system? You couldn't afford to offend it!
"System, if a single pill could solve this poison, why does the mission require me to use silver needles? If I accidentally stab him to death, who takes the blame?"
[Host, our pills are exclusive to us. After we leave this world, how would the people here cure themselves if similar cases arise?
Host, give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.]
Hearing the system start preaching again, Yue Fuguang quickly changed the subject. "Little Zhu, tell me what's up with this Zhou Bo.
This 'White Blossom Blight' on him is refined from corpse poison. It's no accident—how could an examinee preparing for the exams get infected?
The toxin has an incubation period of three to five days, which aligns perfectly with the exam period. This is too coincidental!"
Whenever the White Blossom Blight emerged, it claimed tens of thousands of lives. In this ancient era, it was often mistaken for an epidemic plague, and few knew it was originally a poison. Its antidote was hard to prepare, but it was most afraid of fire.
This led some rulers, upon detecting an epidemic, to burn affected people alive without regard for their lives—a cruel yet expedient solution in an age of backward medicine. By accident, this also eliminated the White Blossom Blight. Ironic, wasn't it?
[Master, among the candidates in this examination hall, one is Zhou Bo's friend. His surname is Chen, given name Mingyu. Zhou Bo married a woman from the Chen family, who is Mingyu's fifth cousin once removed.
Zhou Bo came to the capital to prepare for the exams and was staying in a small residence owned by the Chen family. Both were examinees and often discussed their studies together, so they were close.
But neither Chen Mingyu nor Zhou Bo knew that they were both merely sacrificial pawns in this conspiracy.]
"So the poisoner is connected to these two. Are they enemies, relatives, or friends? Why didn't Chen Mingyu get poisoned?"
When Zhou Bo's poison activated, Yue Fuguang had already used the system to scan the entire examination hall and confirmed that only he had been poisoned.
[It was a relative of Chen Mingyu, but practically an enemy.]
The Crown Prince had returned to his desk and began silently reviewing the files of the two men, focusing closely on Chen Mingyu's information, reading it line by line.
Chen Mingyu was from the capital, the fifth son in his family, born to a concubine. His legitimate elder brother, Chen Mingren, was a same-year jinshi of the sixth year of Emperor Mingxi's reign. Their father, Chen Fengzu, had been a low-ranking seventh-rank official before being implicated in the corruption case of Fu Hong and was dismissed in the winter of the fourth year of Emperor Mingxi's reign. He was currently idle at home.
If they were merely dismissed, it meant he was not heavily involved—perhaps merely implicated. Was this resentment toward the court the reason for today's revenge?
The Crown Prince shook his head. Chen Fengzu was just a minor seventh-rank official. Although his family had some wealth, carrying out such a bold scheme required not only courage but also capability and connections.
"Was this familial intrigue?"
[Chen Mingyu was a concubine-born son, but he surpassed the legitimate eldest son, on whom his father had placed all hopes, in scholarly pursuits.
The future head of the Chen family was being outshone by a son born to a merchant's daughter. This bred jealousy not only in the principal wife and the eldest son but also in Chen Fengzu himself, who feared the eldest son wouldn't be able to control the younger one, leading to family discord.
So when implementing this poison plot, Chen Fengzu followed some of his wife's and eldest son's suggestions.
Originally, according to Chen Mingren's plan, the one lying here should have been Chen Mingyu. But later, Chen Fengzu felt some reluctance and, after listening to his advisor, swapped the victim for the visiting relative Zhou Bo, who was staying with the Chen family. Meanwhile, Chen Mingyu had to be present in the examination hall as a link to make the Chen family appear uninvolved.
Thus, when the court launched a strict investigation, the Chen family would appear as the aggrieved party, not the suspects.]
"What a clever scheme! There must be someone behind the Chen family. Who is it?"
Earlier this year, Emperor Mingxi had already executed and imprisoned the main branches of the aristocratic families involved in the hunting grounds assassination, but some collateral branches and in-laws were still under investigation.
She looked out the window. Based on the trials conducted by the Secret Intelligence Bureau and the Grand Court, the clean-up of the remaining figures should have begun outside by now. She wondered if, at the brink of life and death, they had enough strength left to stir up more trouble.
Only after coming here and delving deeper did Yue Fuguang understand the saying: a lean camel is heavier than a horse. Even an aristocratic family fallen into the mud still possessed resources far beyond what ordinary commoner families could match.
[Master guessed right. On the surface, the Chen family seems to be making the dying struggle of the aristocratic families, attacking you and the Crown Prince as revenge against the Emperor.
But secretly, behind them, someone from Panshan Mountain is supporting them, perfecting the plan and covering up their tracks.
That person is now hiding in the Chen household. Ostensibly, he is an advisor Chen Fengzu hired. In truth, he used the aristocratic families as a cover to embed himself in the Chen family, overseeing and assisting in the execution of their plan.]
Yue Fuguang sneered inwardly. Dragging her along as a scapegoat? They'd better not choke on it!
The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow. At least those people had planned to trap both him and the Grand Mentor together. If he had faced them alone, it would have been far more dangerous!
His father, the Emperor, was truly farsighted to appoint the Grand Mentor as the deputy examiner for this spring's provincial examinations. Without her, not only the tobacco incident but also the White Blossom Blight would have been a certain death sentence!
As for Panshan Mountain being involved again, neither of them, nor Ji Hongming and the others quietly working nearby, found it surprising.
The six kingdoms: aside from floods in Dongyi, droughts plagued all other regions. If this continued, chaos would soon engulf the world.
An organization like Panshan Mountain, which thrived on turmoil, naturally couldn't resist causing trouble. Their specialty? Overthrowing dynasties!
"It's Panshan Mountain again. Are they targeting only Dayan this time, or do they have plans for the other kingdoms?"
Dayan was hardly a soft target anymore. Attacking it alone seemed unlikely!
[Master, you may not know yet, but Dongyi has already descended into chaos because of Panshan Mountain's intervention.
In the original timeline, with Sima Jing's covert but strong support, Panshan Mountain's schemes would have failed.
But now, without Sima Jing, Dongyi is in complete disarray, consumed by power struggles. No one is dealing with the dead or calming the people.]