Chapter 2803 Angel Arrives
Manbao returned to the courtyard where she lived. All the courtyards had already lit the lights. Manbao put the medicine box aside, ordered some midnight snacks, and asked Xibing to light two more lamps. She took out a lot of white paper and ground ink while thinking about the weight loss plan for Prince Gong and the young master.
The father and son have different situations, so naturally they cannot share the same plan, and the young master still has to go to school, but they have some things in common, which allows them to supervise each other.
Manbao made plans until late at night. After getting up the next day, she exercised, had breakfast, and began to refine the plan. She also checked the daily routines and food intake of Prince Gong and the young master. After watching them finish breakfast and lunch, she had a rough idea.
Manbao decided to reduce the amount of food they eat, but increase the frequency of their meals, so that they would not become fat pigs.
While Manbao was working hard in Prince Gong's Mansion, Imperial Physician Lu and Imperial Physician Xiao Tan followed officials from the Censorate and the Dali Temple into the city. They went straight to the county government office without stopping.
Magistrate Luo was already prepared, but he didn't expect them to arrive so soon. However, he reacted quickly and immediately greeted everyone with a look of surprise.
They were different from Zhou Man. They came here specifically for this case, so after eating and washing their faces, they started working and immediately met Zheng Gu in the lobby.
Zheng Gu's clothes were relatively clean, and apart from his pale face, there seemed to be nothing wrong with him.
But whether it was the experienced officials from the Dali Temple and the Censorate, or the imperial physicians Lu and Tan who came from the Imperial Medical Bureau, they could tell at a glance that something was wrong.
The two men didn't hesitate and went straight up to tear open Zheng Gu's clothes, revealing whip wounds that were still bleeding.
Doctor Lu sneered, "Looking at the marks, was it yesterday? I wonder what evidence County Magistrate Luo has obtained?"
Magistrate Luo immediately turned to look at the captain of the police, who dropped to his knees and said, "Yes, I was eager to make a contribution, and seeing that the suspect was reluctant to confess, I couldn't help but torture him."
Magistrate Luo tried to smooth things over and said with a smile, "It's torture, and if the suspect isn't obedient, it's normal to use some means. What do you think, Lord Yu?"
Lord Yu was an official of the Dali Temple. When it came to torture, the Dali Temple was the leading authority in the capital, apart from the Ministry of Justice and Jingzhao Prefecture.
Lord Yu's face was expressionless as he said coldly, "Lord Luo said that Lord Zheng is a suspect. What's the evidence?"
Magistrate Luo immediately held out several petitions and said, "These are from five impoverished families. They are all suing the Luozhou Medical Bureau for prescribing counterfeit medicine."
He took a few more pieces of paper from his master's hand and said, "These are the prescriptions confiscated from the Luozhou Medical Bureau, as well as the medicine residues found in five homes. They are all sealed. After being identified by several doctors, two of the herbs were found to be fake. The patient died because of these fake medicines."
Lord Yu looked at them one by one, then handed them to Lord Xia from the Censorate. Lord Xia flipped through them, and since there wasn't much, he finished reading it in no time. He took a look at the time on the petition, then handed it to Doctor Lu and Doctor Xiao Tan from the Imperial Medical Bureau.
Lord Yu asked, "Where is the confession?"
Magistrate Luo sighed, "Zheng Gu has refused to speak or cooperate since he was brought to justice. That's why the captain couldn't help but torture him."
Zheng Gu looked up and gritted his teeth, "You're lying!"
Lord Yu ignored him and continued to ask Magistrate Luo, "Where are the confessions of the five plaintiffs?"
Magistrate Luo was stunned for a moment and immediately looked at the legal advisor. The legal advisor immediately flipped through the documents on the table and handed him a booklet.
Lord Yu took it and began to read it slowly.
Lord Xia, standing by, began to question Magistrate Luo, "Why didn't you report the crime after it happened? The Luozhou Medical Bureau is also a department of the imperial court, and the local county government has no right to directly convict."
Magistrate Luo immediately gave the reason they had discussed yesterday. "I reported this immediately upon learning of it. However, the official I sent out has been slow to return, and no official documents have come back. I was panicked, thinking that the roads were blocked by heavy snow, preventing officials from the capital from reaching me. Furthermore, public resentment was boiling over, so I took it upon myself to detain Zheng Gu."
Lord Xia asked, "When did the crime happen?"
County Magistrate Luo had already reviewed the situation and said, "December 13th..."
Seeing that Lord Xia and Lord Yu had no expression on their faces, County Magistrate Luo could only take the initiative to say, "But I heard about this incident on the eighth day of the eleventh month."
He said, "After careful investigation, although there is no conclusive evidence, there are some problems with the Luozhou Medical Bureau's purchase of medicinal materials. Therefore, I wrote an official document on the tenth day of the eleventh month and handed it to the official to report. However, the official did not return until December, and no official documents came from the capital. When I was about to send another team, this case came up. Because someone died, it was involved in a murder lawsuit. There were also rumors outside that the Luozhou Medical Bureau used fake medicine. The public resentment was hard to dispel. I had no choice but to arrest Zheng Gu. This was to find out the truth as soon as possible to calm the public anger and to protect Zheng Gu."
Doctor Lu sneered, "Do you want to protect him to the point of torture?"
County Magistrate Luo just smiled bitterly and did not answer.
Doctor Lu snorted coldly. He had seen this kind of trick many times in the palace, and it was certainly not uncommon for Lord Yu and Lord Xia to do so in the capital.
So no one paid attention to his wry smile.
Lord Yu flipped through the confession, then handed it to Lord Xia and asked, "Since there have been rumors for a long time, who else before the Five Families had problems with the medicine from the Medical Bureau?"
Magistrate Luo lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before saying, "Well... I don't have any specifics. It's just that everyone says that the medicine from the medical office is slow to heal. It's clearly a common ailment, but it takes more than ten days of medication to heal. And some people simply can't take it at all."
Zheng Gu had been holding back. After all, the adults were questioning him, and it would be inappropriate for him to interrupt. But now he couldn't help himself and said with a sigh, "Only a wealthy family can come to the hospital for free treatment and medicine. Some fathers-in-law come here from overwork and are on their last breath. They have to take medicine for a long time to maintain their health. They have to take it as long as they live."
"Others suffer from physical pain. Medicine can't cure them, it just alleviates the pain, allowing them to die with dignity and live a less painful life," Zheng Gu said. "If you ignore the patient's condition and simply attribute it to ineffective medication, and then convict me based on that, then I have nothing to say."
Lord Yu raised an eyebrow, finally looking at Zheng Gu, and asked, "The only people who come to the Luozhou Medical Bureau seeking medicine are the poor? How can the Luozhou Medical Bureau survive?"
"No, there are also wealthy families," Zheng Gu said, "and these people are paid."
He said, "Our Imperial Medical Bureau has long had regulations. Those seeking medical treatment must bring their household registration and tax payment certificates. Lower-income households can receive free consultations and prescriptions. Middle- and upper-income households receive consultations and prescriptions at normal prices. Consultation fees are also fixed and we won't charge any extra."
Of course, according to their old tradition, when they go out to see patients, some wealthy people will give them a red envelope covering the excess medical fees. These belong to them personally, and they will not refuse.
Doctor Lu: We are envoys sent by God, hahahaha
See you at 10pm
(End of this chapter)
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