Chapter 39 Medicated Wine
The seal on the gate of Suhetang was carefully removed by the yamen runners. As Xiao Yunzhan stepped across the threshold, he smelled an extremely strong medicinal odor, even more intense than when he had arrived the day before.
“Your Highness, Madam Pei,” Zhou Wenbin followed closely behind.
“After Shen Chengzhang’s accident yesterday, I was afraid that the people in the pharmacy might leak the news, or that someone might take the opportunity to destroy things.”
They detained the shop assistant, the doctor, and the accountant in the inner room, assigning two constables to guard them. They weren't allowed to move around freely, nor were they allowed to touch anything in the hall.
Pei Zhiwei nodded, her gaze sweeping across the hall, and everything was indeed the same as when she arrived yesterday.
“Let’s call the people from the inner room out first,” Pei Zhiwei said to Zhou Wenbin, turning to him. “Start by asking the old doctor; he should know the most about the medicinal wine.”
Zhou Wenbin responded and told the yamen runner to fetch the person.
A short while later, the old doctor came out, lifting the curtain. He looked unwell, with dark circles under his eyes, clearly having not slept well all night.
"Doctor, we'd like to ask if Suhetang only sells one type of medicinal wine? Did you prepare it yourself?"
The old doctor paused, then glanced at the medicinal wine on the shelf.
"You mean 'Strengthening Wine', right, my lady?"
This prescription was obtained by the shopkeeper from another place last autumn; he said it could cure men's sexual problems.
It's like... it's about lacking energy and not sleeping well at night.
After all, Pei Zhiwei was still an unmarried young woman, so it was a bit awkward for him to talk about it and he just glossed over it.
"At first, the shopkeeper didn't dare to sell it. He tried it himself for half a month and said it worked. Only then did he dare to put it on the shelves for sale."
All told, it's only been about four months.
"How are sales? Have any customers said anything is wrong?" Pei Zhiwei pressed.
"It's selling very well," the old doctor said confidently.
"Most of the customers who come to buy are regulars. Some buy it for themselves, while others buy it for their husbands."
The other day a grain merchant from the south of the city came and said he had been drinking it for a month, and his wife specifically asked him to come and buy two more bottles.
There has never been a mishap.
Pei Zhiwei: "Does Manager Shen's second wife, Madam Li, and his son, Shen Yizhi, usually manage the pharmacy's affairs? Such as purchasing goods, dispensing medicine, or selling medicinal wine?"
The old doctor seemed quite disgusted when Li Shi and Shen Yizhi were mentioned.
"Li Shi? She never comes over. I heard she stays home chanting Buddhist scriptures all day, and rarely even sets foot in Suhetang. As for Shen Yizhi..."
That kid is a spendthrift.
They spend all their time either gambling or frequenting brothels.
The shopkeeper dreaded even mentioning him, so how could he dare let him get involved in the pharmacy's affairs?
I came to the shop a while ago, wanting to take some ginseng to pay off a debt, but the shopkeeper chased me out with a broom.
Who in all the pharmacies in Suzhou doesn't know about this?
This aligns with what Zhou Wenbin said earlier.
Just as Pei Zhiwei was about to ask for more details, she heard the coroner, Chen, calling them somewhat urgently.
"Your Highness, Lady Pei, come quickly!"
There was a coroner, Chen, squatting at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor, with a shelf of medicinal wine in front of him, about thirty bottles.
The bottles are made of coarse pottery and have a red paper label that reads "Gubenjiu" on them.
He held a silver needle in his hand, the tip of which was shiny black.
“I’ve tried all the wines on this shelf,” the coroner said, showing the silver needles in his hand to everyone.
"Only this one bottle contains Hanshisan (a traditional Chinese medicine), the others are fine."
Pei Zhiwei carefully examined the bottle of wine.
The coarse pottery and red paper were no different from the other traditional liquors on the shelf, and there was nothing special about them.
She leaned closer and smelled it; apart from the medicinal smell of the wine itself, she didn't detect any other unusual odors.
It must have been the strong flavor of the medicinal wine that completely masked the bitterness, which explains why Shen Chengzhang didn't notice it when he drank it.
"Sir! We found the account books!" Two constables ran in from the backyard, carrying several account books in their hands.
"We searched Shen Chengzhang's home and the pharmacy's accounting office, but found nothing related to Hanshisan (Cold Food Powder)."
These ledgers appear to be records of purchases and sales from recent years.
Xiao Yunzhan took the ledgers, casually flipping through one of them. The handwriting inside was neat, clearly recording the daily inflow and outflow of medicinal herbs, as well as the sales volume of medicinal wine.
He flipped through a few pages, looked up at Zhou Wenbin and said, "Have someone check the ledger, focusing on two things: first, the medicinal herb purchase records for Gubenjiu, and second, whether there are any transactions involving 'Charming Grass'."
Zhou Wenbin quickly agreed, called over the accountant, and asked him to take the yamen runners to the counter to reconcile the accounts.
He remained where he was, staring at the bottle of poisoned wine, his brows furrowed.
Pei Zhiwei didn't look at the account book, but instead circled the shelf where the medicinal wine was placed twice.
The shelf is right by the staircase, with a counter on the left and a door to the backyard on the right.
The shop assistants usually pass through here when they need to get medicine or when customers go upstairs to talk to Shen Chengzhang.
The shelf isn't high, only reaching an adult's waist, so you can easily reach the top bottle with your hand.
When things are busy, if someone comes to get medicine and the clerk turns to get the medicine from the cabinet, someone might take the opportunity to add something to the cabinet without anyone noticing.
Xiao Yunzhan also came over, stared at the shelf for a while, and suddenly asked, "Could this be the bottle of wine that Shen Chengzhang took out yesterday?"
“Unlikely,” Pei Zhiwei immediately shook her head.
"The medicine merchant surnamed Wu said that Shen Chengzhang brought an unopened bottle."
"Look at the empty space on the shelf; that must be the bottle Shen Chengzhang took."
She thought for a moment and slowly sorted out her thoughts: "First of all, we can rule out that Shen Chengzhang poisoned the body himself."
Wu, the medicine seller, said he tasted it and found it bitter, so Shen Chengzhang drank it without hesitation.
If he had known the wine was poisoned, he wouldn't have been so quick to accept it.
Was the murderer targeting him?
But why poison only these two bottles? And these two bottles aren't even next to each other.
Xiao Yunzhan crossed his arms, his right hand gently tapping his left arm as he pondered the reason behind it.
Zhou Wenbin, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but interject: "Could it be the Li family and Shen Yizhi? After all, Shen Chengzhang is dead, and they are the ones who would benefit the most."
Suhetang was destined to be a stranger to Shen Yizhi.
But Shen Yizhi came here yesterday demanding the lockdown be lifted. If he really did it, that's incredibly stupid of him, making us keep an eye on him for no reason.
Pei Zhiwei also couldn't understand, "That's strange too, and how are they so sure that Shen Chengzhang would definitely drink the wine on the shelf?"
Shen Chengzhang brought the wine this time intending to offer it to the medicine merchant, but the merchant refused, so he drank it himself.
Also, why leave a bottle of poisoned liquor on the shelf?
Isn't this just waiting for us to investigate?
Most importantly, how could they guarantee that Shen Chengzhang would take the bottle of poisoned wine?
The pharmacy sells medicinal wine every day, but if Shen Chengzhang were to drink it himself, he wouldn't necessarily choose this particular bottle.
Xiao Yunzhan suddenly stopped what he was doing, as if he had grasped something crucial.
He abruptly turned to look at Pei Zhiwei, "What if... it wasn't to kill Shen Chengzhang?"
Pei Zhiwei was taken aback: "Not to kill him? Then what was it for?"
"To destroy Suhetang." Xiao Yunzhan scanned the entire pharmacy.
"If it's indiscriminate poisoning, no matter who drinks this bottle and dies, Suhetang will be investigated and its reputation will be ruined."
Even if Shen Chengzhang survives, the pharmacy won't be able to stay open.
Upon hearing this, Pei Zhiwei's heart sank.
She looked at the bottle of poisoned wine on the shelf and recalled how Shen Chengzhang had gone on a rampage, hacking people to pieces in the street yesterday.
If this bottle of wine were sold to ordinary people, and they drank it and went mad like Shen Chengzhang, or even lost their lives, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"In that case, the murderer wanted to completely destroy Su Hetang." Pei Zhiwei's voice was somewhat unsteady.
"But we've only found this one bottle that's poisoned so far, we don't know if there are any others..."
What if the adulterated liquor has already been sold?
She quickly asked the old doctor and the assistant next to him, "When you sold the medicinal wine, did you keep detailed records? For example, who did you sell it to, how old are they, and where do they live?"
The shop assistant was even more flustered: "I...I didn't keep such detailed records. I just wrote it down in the ledger, noting how many bottles were sold on which day and how much money was collected."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yunzhan quickly gave instructions to Zhou Wenbin.
"Quickly! Send more people to notify the ward chiefs and village heads of each neighborhood and have them ask each household."
Has anyone recently bought "Gubenjiu" from Suhetang? If so, take it back immediately and don't let them drink it!
Then send people to post notices on the streets, clearly describing the appearance of the medicinal wine and reminding the public not to use it under any circumstances, and to immediately send any stock to the authorities, no matter how much they have left!
Zhou Wenbin panicked too, "I'll go right now!"
I had just run to the door when I realized it had started raining.
The raindrops pattered on the eaves, making a loud "pitter-patter" sound, as if they were going to cover the entire Suhetang.
"With such heavy rain, it will probably take a while to send out notices," Pei Zhiwei said, a sense of unease rising in her heart as she looked at the increasingly heavy rain outside.
Xiao Yunzhan's brows furrowed: "This is the only way for now. Let the yamen runners take more people and send them to different neighborhoods as quickly as possible."
By the way, Zhou Wenbin, have someone investigate other pharmacies in Suzhou, especially those that are going against Suhetang.
"We need to find out who wants to take over Suhetang's shops, or who has been trying to squeeze Suhetang out of the business."
Zhou Wenbin wiped the rain off his face and replied, "I understand! I'll make the arrangements right away and report to Your Highness immediately once I find out!"
He ran off into the rain, and the constables followed him.
Only Pei Zhiwei, Xiao Yunzhan, the coroner Chen, and a few yamen runners guarding the account books remained in the pharmacy.
The coroner carefully put the bottle of poisoned wine into the autopsy kit, and then went to check the other medicinal materials, fearing that they might be adulterated with poison as well.
The yamen runners and the accountant surrounded the ledgers and medicine cabinet, carefully checking the numbers.
Pei Zhiwei was still feeling extremely anxious.
"I don't know if we can make it in time, what if someone really drank the poisoned wine..."
"We'll make it in time," Xiao Yunzhan said in a steady voice, as if he were comforting her, or perhaps comforting himself.
That night, Suzhou was hit by a torrential downpour that lasted all night, with the sounds of thunder and rain making it impossible for people to sleep.
Pei Zhiwei tossed and turned in her guest room at the princess's residence, her anxiety palpable.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the rain had just subsided a bit.
Zhou Wenbin pounded on the gate of the princess's residence and stumbled inside.
"Your Highness! My lord! Another death has been reported!"
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