Chapter 386: Witchcraft and Frame-up

As the two reached the gates of Dezheng Hall, they heard Emperor Wen slamming cups and bowls, his rage rising to the sky. "What use do I have to you? Now Ah Heng has been poisoned, and you're helpless. I live and eat with her, and when it's my turn next, will you just claim you're incompetent?"

Several other ministers stood aside, with their heads down and no words spoken. All the medical officers knelt trembling in the middle of the hall, until they saw Wen Ziduan and He Zhaojun enter hand in hand. Only then did one of them crawl to He Zhaojun's feet.

"Princess Third Prince, please be merciful and let my family go. Don't practice this heinous witchcraft anymore..." Before he could finish his words, a string of black blood beads suddenly left the corner of his mouth. He fell to the ground twitching as if struck by lightning. He reached out and grabbed He Zhaojun's skirt, revealing a somewhat weird smile.

Before He Zhaojun could react, Wen Ziduan raised his leg and kicked him on the shoulder, sending him flying and hitting a pillar nearby. The medical officer wailed and stopped moving.

Everyone was so shocked by this sudden change that they were speechless. The leading doctor, Doctor Sun, quickly stood up to check, but just shook his head: "He has poison hidden in his teeth. He will definitely die."

Wen Ziduan looked at Emperor Wen and said, "Father, what happened? Why did you summon Zhaojun and me to the palace so urgently? Is it related to us? I haven't seen Zhaojun for a long time. I have been busy in the palace these days and have neglected father and mother. It is my fault."

"Please forgive me, my father and mother." He Zhaojun also knelt beside Wen Ziduan. Wen Ziduan said this to point out that the two of them had met again after a long separation and in public, there was no chance and no need to do anything to harm Emperor Wen's Concubine Yue, and to clear her of any connection. Secondly, he wanted to express to Emperor Wen that if someone really framed He Zhaojun, he would definitely not stay out of it.

Emperor Wen was troubled. It seemed the two children had many enemies, and some wanted to use him to kill He Zhaojun. "Aheng was poisoned, but these people couldn't find the source, let alone the antidote... The man who just committed suicide was a physician who had served in the palace for five years. He shouldn't have been talking nonsense, but what about this witchcraft thing he was talking about?"

"I have already instructed people to search his residence. Your Majesty, please be patient." Cao Cheng lowered his head, glanced at Wen Ziduan, and then returned to his humble demeanor.

Not long after, all the personal belongings of the medical officer who committed suicide were presented to the Dezheng Hall. Medical Officer Sun frowned and rummaged for a long time, and finally found a few words behind the pulse record of Concubine Yue.

"There are some symptoms written at the back of this pulse record, which are the illnesses that Concubine Yue will suffer in the next few days. This shows that Concubine Yue is not poisoned, but has suffered a witchcraft curse." Everyone took turns to read it, and called Bai Lao to compare it. They found that Concubine Yue had been able to get up before, but now she had signs of coughing up blood, which was exactly the same as in the record.

The newly appointed Fengchang Li Lin was promoted to be in charge of national sacrificial ceremonies. He had a calm expression and it was obvious that he did not believe that anyone would use witchcraft to harm others. After all, only people with evil intentions would kill people.

"Your Majesty, if someone wants to use witchcraft to harm others, you only need to search their residence. If you find related tools, figurines, etc., it will not be too late to make a judgment. What do you think?" Li Lin proposed a result that satisfied almost everyone.

He had already received instructions from Emperor Wen to play the long game and catch the big fish. The death of a medical officer was not a big deal, and what Emperor Wen had to do was to find out the person who was hiding behind the scenes and stirring up trouble.