I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 204: Open coffin and autopsy

"Forced confession?" Lin Ping vehemently denied it. "Your Highness is joking. The laws of the Great Yu are strict. How could I dare to force a confession?"

"Whether they dare or not, why don't we just ask the person involved?"

Tang Zhao turned his head to the side, and Wu Yi waved his hand. Two personal guards helped the man who had been beaten into a bloody mess to come up.

"Zhong Kang, tell me, did you confess willingly, or were you forced to confess under torture?"

Zhong Kang struggled to raise his head, his words slurred but each one filled with anguish, "Princess, I... I'm innocent!"

The advisor stepped forward. “Princess, merchants are the most cunning. They say one thing to your face and another behind your back. Zhong Kang confessed his crimes and accepted punishment in front of everyone in the courtroom that day, but he changed his story today. Such a villain cannot be trusted!”

Tang Zhao raised her chin and said disdainfully, "What are you? How dare you speak to me, a princess?"

"Your Highness, this humble official is Zhao, the clerk of Jingyuan County."

Before the advisor could finish speaking, Wu Yi'er punched him in the abdomen, causing him to bend over and gasp in pain.

Lin Ping was startled and took a step back.

"Send the prisoner back to jail and have him guarded. Immediately summon doctors from Renxin Hall to treat him with all their might. Before the case is thoroughly investigated, I, the princess, will not allow him to die!"

"Yes!" The guards helped Zhong Kang down.

Tang Zhao stood up and dusted off his clothes, which were not actually dust. "Let's go see the other party involved."

Lin Ping stammered, "Princess, Zhao's son has already been buried."

"Oh," Tang Zhao turned and walked out, "So what?"

What does "So what?" mean? Lin Ping couldn't understand.

Having finally recovered, the clerk tugged at Lin Ping's sleeve, "My lord, hurry, hurry and inform the Zhao family that Princess Zhaoshan wants to dig up the grave."

Digging up graves? Lin Ping plopped down on the ground, taking a while to react. "Quick! Go and send a message to the Zhao family!"

The yamen runners took off running, but were knocked unconscious and taken away by the guards as soon as they left the county government office.

"Zhao Xing, tell me, your cousin was indeed poisoned to death by the Zhong family, right?"

Lin Ping grabbed the clerk's sleeve and kept asking for confirmation, "You patted your chest and assured me that this matter would be foolproof before I would help you, but why don't you mention that the Zhong family has Princess Zhaoshan backing them up?"

Zhao Xing was annoyed by the noise. He was just a member of a collateral branch of the Zhao family and had only managed to get the position of advisor after much difficulty. He usually did trivial things for the Zhao family. Why would they tell him important news?
Moreover, even the Zhao family patriarch probably doesn't know that the Zhong family winery is backed by Princess Zhaoshan.

If they had known, how could they have dared to do it so carelessly?

Judging from Princess Zhaoshan's expression, the Zhao family has probably really bitten off more than they can chew this time.

Lin Ping was about to speak again when he was lifted up by several strong and powerful guards, and led away along with his clerk and coroner.

"What are you doing? I am an official appointed by the imperial court. How dare you treat me like this? Believe me or not, I will report you to the court and have you all executed!"

The guards remained silent, but tightened their grip on Lin Ping's clothes.

Lin Ping nearly suffocated from being strangled by the clothes.

After leaving the county government office, Tang Zhao asked the personal guards who had gone to gather information about the location of the Zhao family's ancestral graves, and immediately led his men there.

The Zhao family ancestral tombs were built in a beautiful, green place in Jingyuan County, and were guarded year-round. The guards beat them up and successfully found out the burial place of the poisoned Master Zhao the Thirteen.

As Tang Zhao rode his horse up the mountain, he asked, "Have you informed the Zhao family yet?"

"I've reported it; the Zhao family has arrived."

Tang Zhao nodded, walked around the grave for a long time, and got to know three generations of Zhao's ancestors before the Zhao family members finally arrived.

"Finally here," Tang Zhao said calmly as he mounted his horse. "Dig!" Seven or eight guards began digging at the grave with shovels.

"Insolence!" The eldest patriarch of the Zhao family was stopped a short distance away by his personal guards who drew their swords. "Even if you are Princess Zhaoshan, you cannot be so lawless!"

Tang Zhao ignored him completely.

Master Zhao's eyes turned red with anger. "Men, get them!"

Zhao's guards drew their swords and stepped forward, but Wu Yi'er sneered, "Ready to fight!"

After more than a year of professional training, the guards of the Protectorate General's Mansion had made rapid progress in their martial arts. In addition, there were many of them and no obsession with one-on-one combat. Therefore, four or five people ganged up on one of the Zhao family guards, and in no time the Zhao family guard was lying on the ground groaning.

"Master Zhao," Gu Ci said in a calm but authoritative tone, "the princess's actions are also to find out the truth, please forgive her, Master Zhao."

Upon seeing Gu Ci, Master Zhao immediately tried to establish a kinship, saying, "General of the Cavalry, my Zhao family is a distant relative of the Prince's Mansion. I beg you, General, to speak a fair word for my Zhao family."

Gu Ci frowned, "When has the Prince Xuan's Mansion ever had any kinship with the Zhao family?"

The eldest patriarch of the Zhao family blushed and said, "My great-aunt is the wife of the Earl of Zhongyong, and my niece was once engaged to the general."

Tang Zhao: “Ha!”

Gu Ci said coldly, "Miss Bai was already married. Although she is now divorced, it has nothing to do with me. I urge Master Zhao to be careful with his words."

Master Zhao's face turned pale and then red.

The grave was dug up, and the guards worked together to lift the coffin lid, instantly releasing the stench of the rotting corpse.

Tang Zhao said calmly, "Summon the coroner to examine the body."

The coroner from Jingyuan County scrambled into the pit to examine the body.

"Examine thoroughly, and I will forgive everything that happened before," Tang Zhao threatened. "But if you dare to cause trouble, I will make sure you go to your grave with Master Zhao Shisan."

The coroner nodded frantically, picked up his tools, and began examining the body.

Master Zhao stared intently at Tang Zhao.

Gu Ciyu immediately stepped forward and swung his spear, the gleaming tip stopping just in front of his face. "Watch your eyes."

Master Zhao suppressed his anger and looked away.

Half an incense stick later, the coroner crawled out of the burial pit, knelt down and reported, "Your Highness, the deceased's face was ashen and pale, with bluish-gray lines on his gums. His body was mostly rotting. Among his internal organs, his heart was enlarged and thickened, while his kidneys and other organs showed varying degrees of atrophy. In my humble opinion, the deceased must have been taking some kind of drug for a long time, which led to physical exhaustion and failure to receive timely treatment, resulting in a sudden onset of illness and death."

"Oh?" Tang Zhao glanced at Master Zhao's ashen face. "So, the cause of death wasn't poisoning?"

The coroner looked troubled.

Tang Zhao squinted.

The coroner was so frightened that he kowtowed repeatedly. "Your Highness, the deceased died from poisoning. Please forgive my lack of expertise as to what it was, but I can confirm that it was not arsenic."

Master Zhao swayed and nearly fell to the ground.

"Get up," Tang Zhao said, riding his horse up to Master Zhao. "Did you hear the coroner's report? Do you have anything to say?"

Master Zhao was filled with remorse. Had he known that the Zhong family had powerful backers, he would never have made such a series of mistakes.

"I am guilty, my heart is broken by the death of my cousin, and my only thought is to avenge him."

"This princess doesn't want to hear this nonsense!"

Master Zhao abruptly stopped speaking, “This humble citizen will immediately return to the manor to investigate and find out who truly murdered my cousin, thus clearing the Zhong family’s name.”