Ch. 558 - The Emperor, The Empress

Although Chen Banxia didn't dare to agree with Sun Shaozong's persistence, he was a person who strictly followed the rules and responsibilities. Upon Sun Shaozong's orders, he set off directly to the Imperial Hospital without any complaints.

Of course, this could also be because he didn't want to face Sun Shaozong's stubborn face again, so he quickly left.

Hmm~

Let's treat him as the former first.

After Chen Banxia left, Sun Shaozong did not let Eunuch Zhou be idle. He divided him and the twelve eunuchs into several groups to collect recipes from the Imperial Kitchen, specimens of various plants in the palace, as well as rouge, water powder, spices, and other materials used by the concubines.

As for Sun Shaozong himself…

Was there anyone in this palace who could wander around casually?

It was better to be honest and settle for lunch and dinner together first.

Due to Qin Ming, the head of the Imperial Hospital, Chen Banxia was not on duty in the palace today, so he had to go to the Imperial Hospital to find him.

The Imperial Hospital was located near the Zhengyang Gate in the south of the Imperial Palace, about five or six miles away from the Yongning Palace in a straight line.

However, Chen Banxia was not ordered to enter or exit. According to the rules, he could only go through Xuanwu Gate in a north-south direction, at least seven or eight miles more, which would make the difference even further.

Therefore, by the time Chen Banxia led Qin Ming back, the sky had already begun to darken.

Sun Shaozong was reading the recipe while digesting the four roasted ducks in his stomach. He saw the two of them hurriedly coming in from outside and quickly stood up to greet each other, saying, "Brother Qin, I'm afraid we'll have to take care of you again this time."

At the time of the "Dragon Root Case," both of them stayed in the Crown Prince's Residence for a long time, with similar official positions and belonging to the same camp, naturally establishing a certain degree of private friendship.

Therefore, Qin Ming did not hide anything from him and complained directly, "I understand your intention, I also heard Banxia say on the way, but I have tried that prescription many times and it is indeed a good medicine for nourishing the body."

Sun Shaozong chuckled and ignored the complaints in his words, only asking, "I wondered how you tried it back then?"

"Well..."

Qin Ming looked around and saw no one else, then he suppressed his voice and said, "Since that thing is masculine, how else can I try it? I found a few death row inmates in the Ministry of Justice, and also a few official prostitutes, serving them delicious food and drink every day. Let them fight in bed!"

This method…

That was really straightforward!

However, it was indeed an effective drug. This kind of medicine also needs to go through clinical trials first, right?

"Someone, come on!"

Sun Shaozong immediately called out to the outside and ordered the inner guards of the Dragon Guard to bring their handwritten books to the Central Judicial Office to select some death row inmates and private prostitutes for punishment.

As the Governor of the Central Judicial Office, other matters might not be very convenient, but it was easy to allocate a few prisoners.

Coincidentally, the group of private prostitutes collected in the mansion a few days ago has not yet had a chance to serve in front of the army.

After thinking for a moment, Sun Shaozong added, "For the death row inmates, you should try to find those over fifty years old."

Although treating half a hundred elderly people as guinea pigs might seem somewhat out of line with the political correctness of this era, at this critical moment, who could still care about respecting the elderly and loving the young?

Besides, both of them were going to die. It was better to die under the peony than to die at the entrance of the market.

As for those private prostitutes…

Since there was a problem with the medication taken internally by men, it was unlikely to affect them.

These white mice would take some time to arrive, so Sun Shaozong first asked Qin Ming to take a seat and then asked about this nourishing yin and kidney medicine. If it contained toxicity, what reaction would it cause?

"That's enough."

Qin Ming, on the other hand, was quite knowledgeable about this. He opened his mouth and said, "Common examples include drugs that are too potent, leading to premature ejaculation and death; those that cause excessive excitement and immediate wind; those that are difficult to absorb and accumulate in the body as toxic ulcers..."

"As for the method of death caused by mixing with other toxins, it is even more varied."

"By the way..."

At this point, Qin Ming looked out a few more times before chuckling and saying, "I heard that in the sixth year of Jianping, there was a eunuch who misunderstood this thing and couldn't vent it out and cause death in desire."

In the sixth year of Jianping?

That should be more than 40 years ago, when the Emperor seemed to be only in his thirties, right?

It seemed that dealing with so many women in the palace was not an easy task.

"Brother."

Sun Shaozong asked again, "What are the other taboos when taking this medicine?"

"Taboos..."

Qin Ming twisted his beard and pointed out, "Don't drink too much alcohol. Try not to eat spicy, greasy, and other foods that are difficult to digest. There's nothing else to worry about, and these taboos generally won't harm your life."

Although the word "average" represented a chance of harming life, this way of betting on probability might not be worthy of the title "Recovering One’s Youth Pill."

"What..."

Sun Shaozong was still waiting to inquire about some other details, but suddenly heard a mixed salute outside.

"Prince."

"Greetings to Your Highness."

"Greetings to Your Highness!"

Tch!

At this time, the only Prince who could still enter the palace was probably Prince Zhongshun.

Therefore, upon hearing this commotion, Sun Shaozong immediately glanced at Chen Banxia and saw that his face was full of surprise. He guessed that it was likely a rumor leaked from Eunuch Zhou.

Of course, this might not be the intention of Eunuch Zhou himself. Perhaps it was the responsibility of some young eunuch who acted on his own but was not strict in his speech, but he could not escape it.

He secretly wrote a note for Eunuch Zhou in his heart, and Sun Shaozong then stood up to greet him.

As expected, as soon as he arrived at the center of the hall, he saw a person rushing in, wearing a bright yellow four-toed python robe. But who else could it be if it weren't Prince Zhongshun?

The three of them quickly approached and saluted, saying, "I, Sun Shaozong [Qin Ming, Chen Banxia], have seen the Prince."

With a flick of his sleeve, Prince Zhongshun replied, “No need to be too polite.” Then, he went to the main position on his own and confidently approached the back of the desk, saying in a deep voice, “I've heard that you suspect there's something wrong with the formula of the ”Recovering One’s Youth Pill?” Alright, it's really good!”

The coldness emanating from his voice, coupled with his reputation for being unpredictable, immediately frightened Qin Ming and Chen Banxia, causing their faces to change drastically.

But Sun Shaozong had already guessed that the person who came was not kind, so how could he be scared by a few words?

Turning calmly and confidently, he arched his hand and said, "Your Highness, don't blame me. There have been several strange incidents recently, and I have been ordered to thoroughly investigate them. I dare not neglect my carelessness, and the ”Recovering One’s Youth Pill” was only recently sent to the Palace. Naturally, it is necessary to investigate it."

"Who dares to be careless?!"

After staring at Sun Shaozong with a sneer for a while, Prince Zhongshun suddenly showed his face and said, "Alright, His Majesty didn't see you wrong. If someone else were to investigate this matter, they might not dare to continue investigating."

Pa Pa~

He slapped the table and said, "If that's the case, I would underestimate you. Now that you dare to investigate, let's investigate to the end and uncover the truth until we find out the problem! I'll be here with you to investigate. When will you figure it out?"

If Prince Zhongshun had just come up and talked about his own experience and clinical tests at the Imperial Hospital, it would have been a good thing.

But saying that he supported Sun Shaozong's thorough investigation of this matter, and has the idea of giving Sun Shaozong a good lesson if he couldn’t find it out. Although it was evident, he did not blurt it out.

Since he didn’t even have a valid argument, even if something was found out afterwards, he could take the opportunity to evade responsibility. If nothing could be found, Sun Shaozong might not be able to pass this storm.

Having seen through the key points, Qin Ming couldn't help but sweat for Sun Shaozong.

But Sun Shaozong had a deep understanding, but how could he have any fear?

Instead, he climbed up the pole and said, "Since the Prince is so considerate of me, I have no choice but to violate. I dare to ask if the Prince has any taboos in your daily life."

"No."

Without hesitation, Prince Zhongshun shook his head and immediately reached out to Qin Ming, saying, "Lord Qin has already asked me about this matter."

"That's right."

Qin Ming nodded and said, "I even specifically asked the chef of the royal family before. Now, the preferences of the Prince seem to differ from those of His Majesty, and there are no taboos."

After a pause, he added, "However, the Prince is not fond of objects like sandalwood, and they are rarely used in the Residence."

Normally, upon hearing this supplement, one should be pleasantly surprised, but Sun Shaozong sighed and said helplessly, "So, Brother Qin must have already tried sandalwood?"

"That's why, after learning that the Prince doesn't like sandalwood, I ordered people to light various types of sandalwood from morning till night every day."

Qin Ming said, unable to resist giving him a self-seeking look.

Tch!

It seemed that it might not be easy to find Qin Ming's loopholes.

Fortunately, all he needed to do was prove that the Recovering One’s Youth Pill could poison people, so he could try various things at the same time. As for what caused the chemical reaction, it was not too late for Qin Ming to study it carefully in the future.

With such thoughts in mind, Sun Shaozong asked Prince Zhongshun for some details but found nothing.

The dry donkey's lips tugged at the horse's mouth for a long time, and when the lights and candles were lit around, the old face of Prince Zhongshun became even more gloomy. Sun Shaozong was speechless for a moment.

The f*ck~

Are those inner guards turtles?

Why haven't they come back after so long?!

While staring wide in the hall, he suddenly heard another commotion outside, and then someone outside shouted rhythmically, "The Empress is here."

The Empress has arrived?!

Shouldn’t be the Empress be locked up in Kunning Palace since she fell out with Emperor Guangde? Why did she suddenly come to Yongning Palace?!

Comments