Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 153 Picking Lotus
At this moment, the white cloth and vinegar that Old Zheng had asked for arrived. Old Zheng poured the vinegar onto the white cloth and wiped the deceased's mouth. The white cloth immediately turned pale yellow. Old Zheng showed the mark on the white cloth to Jia Chuan and said, "If the vinegar cloth turns yellow when used to wipe the lips, it indicates poisoning."

Jia Chuan thought about this principle: vinegar's weak acidity and pH value of approximately 3 can dissolve some of the residual metal toxins.

Jia Chuan thought to himself: If it's arsenic, it should smell like garlic. What is arsenic? Arsenic trioxide, unlike cyanide. Regardless of what kind of poison it is, the question remains: how do you extract a sufficient concentration? Even if the concentration is sufficient, how much would it have to be to be colorless and odorless without being detected?
Jia Chuan put aside his doubts, instructed them not to touch the vomit, and then conducted a post-mortem examination with Old Zheng.

The deceased's pupils were the same as the servant's, pinpoint-sized. His lips were cherry red, with a bitter almond smell. His nail beds were bluish-purple, and there were burn-like marks on his fingertips. His lividity was bright red. The body showed signs of limb spasms, and his abdomen was bloated, with putrefactive gases already being produced inside. On the skin near his heart, there were fine, electric shock-like marks. Jia Chuan knew that these were external signs of ventricular fibrillation, a symptom of cyanide poisoning.

Assessing the time of death, Jia Chuan checked the temperature inside the room. It wasn't cold, indicating that charcoal had been burned as usual the previous night. Based on the spread of rigor mortis and the condition of the lividity, Jia Chuan deduced that the time of death was between 1-3 AM and 11 PM last night, less than 24 hours ago. Moreover, it wasn't under high temperatures, yet putrefactive gases were already starting to appear inside the corpse. Jia Chuan pursed his lips, realizing just how potent the poison was.

The servant died in the side room, which was very cold and damp. Rigor mortis had not yet spread to his whole body, but lividity had already formed. However, the lividity faded when pressed and returned when the pressure was released. He must have died about three or four hours ago, which means he was poisoned to death about two hours ago, when it was just dawn.

Zhou Cheng's body had no external injuries, nor any soft tissue contusions like bruises or bumps. The two returned to the side room and carefully examined the servant's body. There were quite a few soft tissue contusions on the man's body, especially on both sides of his face where fingerprints could be seen upon close inspection, indicating that someone had choked him...

The two returned to the main room and examined Zhou Cheng's body again. Old Zheng hurriedly recorded the findings in the notebook in his toolbox.

Jia Chuan then walked out of the room, looked at Zhao Dewen, and said, "Have someone put the vomit into a brown paper bag and give it to him." Jia Chuan pointed to Old Zheng.

Zhao Dewen quickly made arrangements, then asked, "The body..."

Jia Chuan looked at Chen Mo, who had just entered the courtyard, and said, "Seal off this courtyard. No one is allowed to enter. The entire herb-gathering bureau is open to all but no one is allowed to leave! Leave the body here for now. I have too many questions to answer. Let me sort them out before I talk about them."

After saying that, Jia Chuan looked at Zhao Dewen and asked, "After Zhou Cheng was found dead, did anyone enter this courtyard?"

Zhao Dewen hurriedly replied, "There was a period of chaos. No one has ever experienced anything like this before. After the servants shouted, we had no way of knowing who came afterward. But after we received the news, besides sending people to report to the government office and the Prince's residence, we also ordered people to guard this courtyard. Since then, no one has come in."

Just as Jia Chuan was about to ask when he had ordered someone to guard the courtyard, he heard a commotion outside.

Gao Yuntian strode to the courtyard gate, and after a moment turned around and shouted to Jia Chuan, "Would it be alright if more people cleaned up the vomit inside?"

Jia Chuan was thinking about the time of the servant's death when he suddenly heard Gao Yuntian ask this question and didn't react at first.

"what?"

"Oh well, they're all dead anyway, one more little girl won't make a difference. It'll just speed things up. Let's go in."

Jia Chuan looked towards the doorway and saw a servant bowing and carrying a copper basin containing a brown paper bag and a handkerchief. Behind him, a young woman in a plain dress walked briskly toward the main room.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Dewen complained, "It's not like I asked you to wipe or collect things, do you understand? This isn't about gathering herbs, what are you doing here?"

The woman looked up at Jia Chuan, then lowered her head again, without stopping, and said, "They say there are poisonous things, but I can recognize them, so that no one gets in trouble."

Zhao Dewen seemed a little annoyed after hearing this, and waved his hand, saying, "Go away! This is the herb gathering bureau. Do you think you know anything about pharmacology and can identify poisons?"

The woman stopped and said, "No one wants to clean up this kind of filth anyway, but since I'm here..."

"No need! He's enough on his own, it's just a piece of cake, you..."

"Now that she's already here, why does Vice Envoy Zhao insist on sending her back?" Jia Chuan asked, looking puzzled.

Zhao Dewen hurriedly explained, "This woman's name is Cailian. She's a herb gatherer. Because she knows herbs well and someone in her family works as a pharmacist at a herb-gathering shop, they recommended her. Cailian is straightforward and speaks without thinking. I was just worried that she might not do her job well and cause trouble..."

Jia Chuan waved his hand and looked Cai Lian up and down.

Cailian looked to be in her mid-twenties, with delicate features, wheat-colored skin, a broad and full forehead, and a sunny and capable appearance, with a hint of determination in her eyes.

Jia Chuan asked, "When you say you can identify poisonous things, do you mean you can recognize which of the flowers and plants growing in the soil are poisonous, or do you mean...?"

"She's just a herb gatherer; she only knows a few poisonous herbs," Zhao Dewen quickly interjected, not forgetting to glare fiercely at Cailian.

"Why did you interrupt when I was asking her a question?" Jia Chuan was getting impatient. He was completely clueless when it came to poisons, and it seemed that Old Zheng couldn't be relied on either. Although he was certain that Zhu Youxun had killed someone to cover up the crime for some purpose, he couldn't possibly come and poison the person himself. To find the real culprit, besides checking the people who came and went, the most convincing thing to do was to find out where the deadly poison came from.

Jia Chuan firmly believed that in this era, it was not easy to make a poison that could kill instantly. After being poisoned, there would always be a struggle process. Moreover, the more potent and faster the poison was, the less likely anyone would know about it or have access to it. Zhu Youxun was no exception. Once the source of the poison was found, the scope would be clear, and the rest would be easier.

Of all the tasks Zhu Zhanji assigned, checking whether the herb-collecting bureau had any secret medicines was the most difficult. Did the sleeping potion used by Zhu Youxun count? Jia Chuan felt that if it had reached Zhu Youxun's hands, it didn't count, or rather, there definitely was more. He also felt that God was like a relative, sending him such a case, and then a woman named Cailian appeared. No matter what the woman's purpose was, Jia Chuan felt that he had to keep her around first.

Seeing that Jia Chuan was a little annoyed, Zhao Dewen wanted to explain, but Jia Chuan gestured for them to enter the house. Zhao Dewen quickly said, "Then hurry up, don't let your family worry."

Jia Chuan turned to Zhao Dewen, puzzled, and asked, "Do you think I'm not very bright, or do you think this is the herb-gathering bureau where you can do whatever you want? Do you need to make it so obvious? Gao Yuntian! Take him to the east wing and keep him under guard. After I finish studying the corpse, I'll have a good talk with him!"

Cailian wanted to turn her head to take a look, but she didn't dare to. She stood in front of the door, her whole body tense.

Old Zheng had finished recording and was staring blankly at the handkerchief. He remembered his father saying how to identify the type of poison in such situations, but he couldn't recall a method for testing it. His mind was already in turmoil, and with all the shouting outside, he looked up at the door and saw two people following Jia Chuan in. There was even a woman with them. Old Zheng frowned and asked:

"What are you doing?"

Old Zheng asked this question because Jia Chuan's gaze towards the woman was too intense, like Dong Yuanyuan looking at a freshly cooked pork knuckle.

"Would you like to take a look at the body first? Can you tell what kind of poison it was from the manner of death?" Jia Chuan asked in a low voice, his expression full of anticipation.

Cailian frowned, first glancing at the corpse, then at the vomit beside it, and said, "If we feed some of this stuff to the chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs, we can confirm whether the deceased died from poisoning. Why do we need to examine the manner of death to know the cause of death?"

Jia Chuan said, "I know he died of poisoning without harming small animals. What I mean is, can you tell what kind of poison it is?"

"If I had that ability... I would have died long ago." Cailian replied calmly, then squatted down with the others to collect the vomit.

Old Zheng struggled to his feet, limped over to Jia Chuan's side, and asked in a low voice, "The women you've met all seem to have a bit of a temper."

Jia Chuan acted as if he hadn't heard anything. He looked at Cai Lian with a probing gaze, not believing that this woman had come in just to do such dirty work.

Sure enough, Cailian spoke again.

"Can you smell a... spicy smell in this stuff?" She said this as if she were talking to someone she worked with, but Jia Chuan felt like she was talking to him.

The servant replied, "Hurry up and get to work, or you'll get scolded again."

Cailian said, "Try pouring mung bean juice into it; perhaps we'll discover something."

Jia Chuan wrinkled his nose and looked back. There was only Chen Mo and Gao Yuntian walking towards Chen Mo in the courtyard. He didn't understand who this woman was trying to impress.

Old Zheng was also puzzled, so he asked, "Young lady, just say what you want to say. Right now, everyone except the person next to you is trustworthy. If you don't trust the person next to you, they can shut him up forever."

The servant staggered and fell to the ground, but he didn't faint from fright. He just listened to Old Zheng's words and his legs went weak, preventing him from maintaining his squatting position.

Cailian turned her head and glared at Old Zheng. Just as she was about to say something, Jia Chuan turned around and went out of the house. He whispered a few words to Chen Mo and then called out to the house, "You all come out first."

Old Zheng naturally obeyed, but Cai Lian didn't move, saying, "There's just a little left, we'll finish collecting it soon."

Chen Mo stood at the door and said in a deep voice, "Get out!"

The man who had fallen quickly got up and pulled Cailian out of the house. Cailian wanted to turn back, but Gao Yuntian stopped her. Cailian said urgently, "The brown paper bag is still inside."

"I'm just coming out for a little while, it's not like I'm not going back in." Jia Chuan stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, his head idly looking around.

Gao Yuntian called out to the outside of the courtyard, "Two people, come in."

Two Imperial Guards immediately entered the courtyard and quickly headed towards the main house.

……

Jia Chuan and his group stood in the courtyard, listening to the varying degrees of noise from inside as they smashed against the wall.

Cailian stared in astonishment at everything before her. She had thought that after what he had just done, Jia Chuan should have come up to her and asked what the spicy taste meant and what could be detected in the mung bean juice. Only then could she state her requirements. But why had he started smashing the wall?
Not long after, Gao Yuntian came out and said, "There is a secret passage, but we don't know where it leads. It collapsed halfway down. We don't know if it just collapsed or if it had collapsed a long time ago. Anyway, there is no one in the secret passage now. Brother Chen said that we have to check every room in this courtyard and see if we can find the location of the collapse on the ground."

Jia Chuan grunted and said, "Inform the people at the herb-gathering bureau that I'm keeping this woman."

Upon hearing this, Cailian was shocked and furious, saying, "I wanted to help you, but you've harmed me!"

Jia Chuan squinted at Cai Lian and asked, "Do you know me?"

Cailian was taken aback. She had planned to do everything quietly, show some of her skills, have Jia Chuan ask her questions, make her demands, and have Jia Chuan agree. After that, she would go back to where she was supposed to go, and her identity would not be discovered until the matter was thoroughly investigated.

But if she were left behind, it would be tantamount to telling others that she had a problem. This was the herb-gathering bureau, just like Zhao Dewen said, "You think you know how to identify poisons?" Besides, poison and poisonous drugs are two different things.

At that moment, Cailian could only think of this much before being startled by Jia Chuan's question. After a moment of panic, she forced herself to calm down and was about to defend herself when Jia Chuan said, "At least you've heard of me and know that I'm the one investigating this case, which is why you dared to come."

Cailian closed her mouth again after she had just opened it.

"You're worried about your family, aren't you? As long as they're still in Kaifeng, I can protect them. Do you have any other concerns?"

Cailian's expression was a kaleidoscope of emotions, and the servant beside her urged impatiently, "Why don't you give me a reply!"

Who are you to her?

"Cousin, cousin."

“You know who her family members are in the medicinal herb bureau and Kaifeng or elsewhere, right? Go and explain it to him.” Jia Chuan pointed to Chen Mo, who was entering the courtyard.

The man was so frightened that his legs trembled, but he had no choice but to walk towards Chen Mo.

Jia Chuan ignored Cai Lian and said to Old Zheng, "You rest first, I'll go and have a chat with that deputy envoy."

After saying this, Jia Chuan turned and walked towards the east wing. But after taking only two steps, Cai Lian caught up with him and blocked his way. Gao Yuntian had already drawn his iron ruler. Jia Chuan took a step back and said, "Speak your mind. You're just making a fuss and you'll easily hurt yourself."

Cailian seemed to have mustered up her courage before speaking, "Come with me."

"Where are you going?" Gao Yuntian stepped forward and asked, glaring at him.

"I have something to say to him."

"Let's talk here. I've never kept anything from them. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine too. I'll go first..."

"I... I might be able to help you solve this case."

"Why is it still 'maybe'? Does that mean you're not entirely sure yourself?"

“At least I’m a bit better than you, right?” Cailian said, sticking her neck out.

Jia Chuan snorted and asked, "I've already promised to protect your family, what other conditions do you have?"

"After I help you solve this case, you... you have to marry me!"

While Jia Chuan was still in a daze, Gao Yuntian snapped, "You're dreaming!"

Old Zheng also said, "Your daughter looks quite... how come your eyesight isn't very good?"

Cailian blushed and said urgently, "I will not become a concubine."

Gao Yun snorted and looked at Jia Chuan, wanting to see what Jia Chuan's opinion was.

(End of this chapter)