Da Ming: Father, step aside, I'll be the prime minister!

Chapter 128 Code Words (10000)

West of the city, Mingyu Lane.

A carriage traveled down the street, and the streets gradually returned to their former liveliness, with various vendors hawking their wares. The vitality of the capital city had been restored to a great extent.

"Shiyuan, ah~"

"Please have Zhang, the Assistant Commissioner, state this."

"If you say that again, I will sever all ties with you and have no brotherly affection left!"

The brothers Zhang Jianxiu and Zhang Yunxiu changed into the clothes of wealthy young masters and walked to a courtyard, both of them wearing masks.

"The Liu family?" Zhang Yunxiu frowned as he looked at the plaque outside the door, and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

As they traveled, the people all wore masks, but the city had regained its former vitality, and there were far fewer funeral processions on the streets.

It seems that the prevention and control measures over the past month have been quite effective. The spread of the plague is not that strong. After a period of isolation, there are far fewer patients. If there are still some patients, they have basically been placed in isolation areas.

But when they arrived at the Liu family's gate, the scene was completely different. Everyone was dressed in white, inside and out, and the servants were also dressed in mourning clothes.

“Tongzhi, Shiyuan, you are unaware of this, but the Liu family was poisoned by the White Lotus Sect,” Zhang Jianxiu said with a sigh.

"Poison?"

"Come in with me and you'll see."

As they were talking, the two entered the Liu family's residence. As soon as they entered, a steward came to greet them, looking troubled.

"Mr. Zhang, what brings you here again?"

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is acting on imperial orders to investigate the White Lotus Rebellion. How could I not come? Not taking your master back for questioning is already merciful. Don't say anything else." Zhang Jianxiu frowned deeply, his military officer's authority immediately radiating.

The steward trembled slightly and quickly said, "That's not what I meant. It's only right that the Assistant Commissioner comes to investigate the case."

"Enough with the nonsense, where is your master? Take me to him."

The butler looked up and saw a dozen or so men behind the other man. Although they were dressed in plain clothes, they all had knives at their waists.

He could only take a few people to the main hall.

As soon as I entered the main hall, I heard a commotion of weeping. It turned out that a mourning hall had been set up there.

A group of people dressed in mourning clothes knelt in the main hall, weeping uncontrollably.

Upon seeing the group approach, a young man in the hall, looking haggard with swollen eyes, spoke angrily.

"It's you again! My wife has been dead for three days, and you still won't let her go! Now that she's about to be buried, you come to bother us. Do you really think there's no law in this world?"

The steward quickly stepped forward to dissuade him, saying, "Master, Master, you mustn't do this. This is an official from the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Zhang Jianxiu frowned and said, "Liu Dongxun, I told you long ago that there are strange things about your wife's matter. You must not rush to bury her. You have resisted the investigation time and time again. If it weren't for the fact that your father once served in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I would definitely have arrested you and tortured you in the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

“I, Liu Dongxun, am not afraid of death. You keep saying that the White Lotus Sect is behind this, but I think the death of my deceased wife is inextricably linked to your younger brother’s clinic!”

As he spoke, Liu Dongxun suddenly started crying and bent over.

"That so-called Renmin Medical Clinic is notorious for its disregard for human life, taking objects from people's bodies to conduct 'experiments'—it must be you."

Zhang Jianxiu got annoyed and waved his hand, saying...

"Please ask Commander Liu to rest in the back room."

At his command, several Imperial Guards officers immediately grabbed him and dragged him toward the back hall.

The butler was terrified and muttered something.

"Please, gentlemen, we're all on the same side! Oh, please don't do this!"

Other officers drove all the relatives out of the main hall, and after a period of chaos, things gradually calmed down.

Seeing all this happening, Zhang Yunxiu couldn't help but frown deeply.

He looked at his fourth brother, Zhang Jianxiu, and said, "It seems that things haven't been peaceful in the capital lately?"

The Wanli Xinbao newspaper was constantly promoting various epidemic prevention measures and the "modern medicine" of many Renmin Medical Halls, all in an effort to dispel the public's prejudices.

Unexpectedly, these people not only did not change their ways, but the situation even worsened.
"You'll know once you see this corpse."

Zhang Jianxiu sighed. He was strong enough to push the coffin lid open in one go.

Immediately, a strong stench of corpses filled the air, but thankfully both of them were wearing masks, which made it a little easier.

But Zhang Jianxiu explained, "Liu Dongxun's father was a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He inherited his father's position and became a centurion. If it weren't for this identity, this corpse would definitely have been taken to the Northern Garrison Office for a thorough investigation."

As he explained, Zhang Yunxiu focused his gaze on the female corpse in the coffin. Upon seeing the appearance of the female corpse, he frowned deeply.

"This person's lower abdomen has been hollowed out?"

Zhang Jianxiu frowned and said, "Liu Dongxun's wife's surname is Wang. She is nine months pregnant and is about to give birth."

Is she pregnant?
In an instant, Zhang Yunxiu understood why Liu Dongxun was so agitated. Two lives lost—his wife and child were gone; anyone would go crazy in that situation.

Zhang Yunxiu suppressed his nausea and continued to carefully examine the already decomposing corpse, asking questions as he did so.

"Is it related to the White Lotus Sect?"

“Yes,” Zhang Jianxiu nodded. “The White Lotus Cult often uses placenta and unborn children as blood sacrifices, claiming that this can ‘purify sins and obtain Maitreya’s protection.’ Therefore, we judged that this was the work of the White Lotus Cult, and this Wang woman must have also suffered at their hands. It’s a pity that Liu Dongxun is possessed by some kind of demon.”

Zhang Yunxiu thought for a moment and said, "Recently, the clinic has seen many pregnant women, some with difficult labor, and others with various diseases. However, the clinic is newly established, and it will take some time to solve these problems."

"They really use corpses for research in the clinic?" Zhang Jianxiu looked at his younger brother with slight suspicion. In his mind, this was something Zhang Yunxiu was capable of doing. "This..." Zhang Yunxiu shook his head and said, "I mentioned it to Luo Xian and the others. They must have already started their research. However, I made it clear from the beginning that such research can only be conducted with the consent of the person or their family. I would never do such a thing."

In fact, the clinic has no shortage of corpses that can be used for research; some families can agree as long as the money is in place.

There is absolutely no need to conduct such research that disregards human life.

Zhang Jianxiu sighed and said, "I believe you, but many people in the countryside don't. It seems that the White Lotus Sect is deliberately spreading this belief."

A look of worry crossed his face.

"Shiyuan, you're quick-witted. These kinds of incidents have been happening frequently lately. If we can't get to the bottom of this soon, I'm afraid it will affect the court."

The reformists were just waiting to attack Zhang Yunxiu and Zhang Juzheng, and they would definitely not let this good opportunity slip by.

Zhang Yunxiu didn't speak, but stared intently at the female corpse. After a long while, he suddenly looked up at Zhang Jianxiu.

"Fourth Brother, I think I know why Liu Dongxun insisted it was a medical clinic."

"What?" Zhang Jianxiu was somewhat surprised. In just a short while, the other party had already figured it out?

Zhang Yunxiu pointed to the female corpse and explained, "Fourth Brother, take a look at the female corpse's fingers. Is a section of them missing?"

A section is missing?
Zhang Jianxiu was startled and rushed forward to check. Sure enough, he found that the woman's left index finger was missing a small section.

This section wasn't very obvious, and given Liu Dongxun's previous obstruction, he hadn't noticed it at all.

Zhang Yunxiu said solemnly, "I have heard that the White Lotus cult often cuts off fingers or ears to show their resolve and signify that they have become members of the cult."

"You mean...?" Zhang Jianxiu was startled. "That's impossible! Wang is from a respectable family, how could she..."

“It’s only suspicious if she comes from a respectable family,” Zhang Yunxiu continued. “Look at the cut surface of this severed finger. It’s obviously cut off. How could an ordinary, respectable woman, who never lifts a finger, suffer such an injury? Also, look at the corpse’s lips and nails; they’re dry and cyanotic. Any coroner would know that these are symptoms of arsenic poisoning!”

The White Lotus Rebellion once used ingesting arsenic as a ritual!

He squinted at his older brother.

"Fourth Brother, think about it carefully. With such obvious signs, why is Liu Dongxun so insistent that it was the clinic? If his wife really colluded with the White Lotus Sect, his family would definitely be affected as well. It would be better to insist that it was the clinic that did it, which would cover up the truth!"

Doesn't this precisely prove that Lady Wang must have had connections with the White Lotus Sect during her lifetime?

What the hell!

Zhang Jianxiu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

How could Zhang Yunxiu analyze something so thoroughly after just looking at the corpse?

He glanced at the other person with a complicated expression, and surprisingly, he was somewhat convinced. It seemed that the other person was indeed qualified to be the Assistant Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
The thought that Wang might be a White Lotus cult member, and that Liu Dongxun, as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, would deliberately conceal it, made Zhang Jianxiu even more furious.

His eyebrows shot up, and he gripped the knife at his waist, intending to walk towards the back hall.

"I will go and find Liu Dongxun to ask him for an explanation."

But before he could take two steps, Zhang Yunxiu spoke up to stop him.

"and many more."

"What else?" Zhang Jianxiu asked, seeing the other person still lying next to the coffin. He suspected that his younger brother might have taken a fancy to the female corpse.

When Zhang Jianxiu approached, he was startled to find that the other person was actually rummaging through the woman's clothes.

"Shiyuan! You can't do this! Death is the greatest tragedy! If you want women, your fourth brother will take you to the brothel alley."

Zhang Yunxiu was exasperated and didn't bother arguing with him. He pointed to the tattoo on the female corpse's forearm and said...

"Fourth Brother, take a look at this."

Zhang Jianxiu looked closely and saw a row of crooked and twisted characters, which were very strange, crooked and twisted like small snakes.

He widened his eyes and exclaimed, "This must be a code word from the White Lotus Sect!"

Zhang Yunxiu asked with some surprise, "Fourth Brother can read these characters?"

Zhang Jianxiu shook his head and said, "I don't understand, but the White Lotus Cult bandits often have these tattoos on their bodies."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunxiu's expression became even more solemn, and he stared at the words for a long time without saying a word.

"Shiyuan, can you understand it?" Zhang Jianxiu immediately realized something was wrong and scrutinized the other party.

"I can understand some of it." Zhang Yunxiu nodded.

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jianxiu was immediately startled. He jumped back two steps and gripped the hilt of the knife at his waist.

"You...you're also involved with the White Lotus Sect?"

Zhang Yunxiu explained helplessly, "I know some foreigners. These characters belong to a country among the foreigners. Compared to the Portuguese, this country has not had much contact with the Ming Dynasty."

It seems that the White Lotus cult bandits used it as a code.

As he spoke, he turned his gaze back to the tattoo on the woman's wrist.

The older one is – “White Lotus descends people rise.”

The newer one below is "Jade Hill".

This English was incomprehensible to people in the Ming Dynasty, so how could he not understand it?
(End of this chapter)