The military forensic doctor from Xiaotong Guan all came together and quickly submitted the first preliminary examination report. After receiving the report, the forensic doctor Chen Sheng went to see Duan Yelin.
Duan Yelin flipped through a few pages: “Say it.”
Chen Sheng said, “It’s mercury poisoning.”
“Mercury?”
Chen Sheng spoke in the manner of an experienced researcher, stating, “The body shows local redness, swelling, tenderness, and a tendency to bleed. The oral mucosa is brownish-red, with occasional mercury lines visible on the inflamed gums. The swelling and ulcers on the oral and tongue mucosa are notably severe, and initial tests confirm that he ingested a significant amount of mercury before his death.”
“Wasn’t he bleeding to death?”
“The cause of death was indeed excessive blood loss. But poisoning is also a fact.”
After hearing this, Yuan Ye flipped through his notes and asked, “What are the symptoms of this poison?”
“Mercury poisoning can cause kidney necrosis, and neurological symptoms include dizziness, fatigue, drowsiness or excitement, and extreme general weakness. In severe cases, the patient may fall into a coma or die of shock.”
“Coma and shock… That’s right,” Yuan Ye recalled. “Commander, I remember the butler said that the Governor had been a little listless recently. It should be chronic poisoning. If he ingested a large amount before his death, it can explain why the Governor was killed without any chance of fighting back.”
“Chronic poisoning? Didn’t anyone in the mansion feel anything unusual?”
Yuan Ye turned the pen in his hand: “The Governor smoked opium, which damages the kidneys and lungs. Maybe they thought he just smoked too much.”
Or perhaps opium itself is a catalyst that activates the poison.
Duan Yelin knocked on the table and pointed at the door: “Call the butler outside in.”
As soon as the door opened, the butler walked in humbly with his head down and bowed to Duan Yelin.
“Has Ruan Xiaodie been in charge of Wang Ronghuo’s recent food, drinks, and daily necessities?”
The butler thought carefully for a while and said, “The Governor is a cautious person, as you know. Even if he dotes on that woman, he is never too confident either. Although she cooks occasionally, but I always send two maids to watch her the whole time, so there is no possibility of her doing anything wrong.”
Duan Yelin frowned. “Not even one exception?”
“Absolutely not!” The butler swore, “The Governor only asked her to pick up food and pour wine, make tea, and light cigarettes. Anything he couldn’t see would be watched by the servants. There was never anything wrong. Besides, Ruan Xiaodie ate those things herself as well, and there’s nothing wrong.”
This is very interesting.
If there was no chance to poison, how did the poison get in?
Chen Sheng then added, “In fact, pure mercury is very rare, and it is impossible to use it as a poison so easily. It should be that the things used contain a large amount of mercury.”
“What could contain a lot of mercury?”
“There’s not much in food, but in other things… oh, yes, in Chinese medicine, there’s a lot. Some Chinese medicines, such as cinnabar, light powder, white dan, and red powder, all contain heavy metal mercury.”
“Cinnabar?!” The butler suddenly opened his eyes wide, as if he remembered something.
Chen Sheng was very calm and continued to recite the medical book: “The main component of cinnabar is mercuric sulfide. A small amount of cinnabar can calm the mind and relieve nerves, but a little more… can be very harmful.”
Yuan Ye noticed the butler’s strangeness and asked hurriedly, “What did you remember?”
The butler hurriedly bowed and said, “Ruan Xiaodie has been asking the Governor to buy a lot of cinnabar recently, claiming that she couldn’t sleep well. There is still a lot left. If you check her room, you will probably find several more bottles!”
Duan Yelin asked Chen Sheng, “Is it necessary to use so many just to treat insomnia?”
Chen Sheng shook his head but was not sure: “I am not a Chinese medicine practitioner, so I am not sure whether it is for external application or internal use. But if it is for internal use, heh… this amount is enough to kill the Governor several times.”
Yuan Ye felt that there was something fishy going on. “Even a forensic doctor like you knows this common sense, so how could the medicine seller not know it? How is it that you’ve never heard the physician who prescribes the medicine mention it?”
The butler shook his head: “I haven’t heard Physician Xu talk about this. I wonder if he has mentioned it to the Governor alone or not.”
The three words “Physician Xu” instantly caught the attention of both people in the room.
“Who were you talking about?”
“Physician Xu, from Heming Medical Hall. All the medicines in the mansion come from him.”
Duan Yelin’s face darkened for a moment, and the butler realized that he had said something wrong. This Heming Medical Hall was a medical hall designated by the military supply department. If he said that there was something wrong with Physician Xu, wouldn’t it mean that it was Duan Yelin who ordered it?
In the past, he relied on the title of the governor to bully others, but now it is different. Duan Yelin is already the largest in Hezhou City, and he must not offend him. So he quickly changed his words: “Uh… He may have said this, but I can’t, can’t remember.”
At this time, there were two knocks on the door. As soon as the door opened, Qiao Song ran in breathlessly, shouting, “Commander, I found something!”
Duan Yelin leaned back in his chair and ordered, “Speak.”
“Early this morning, a woman bought train tickets for every train throughout the day to travel to different counties and cities. However, our brothers who had been watching her all day long didn’t spot her, despite keeping a close eye. The police officers at all the stations along her route also reported that they hadn’t seen her either!”
She is quite smart in counter-detection and has learned this trick.
“She’s got a pretty good disguise. Keep looking. Send out arrest warrants to every police station in every city. She can’t hide away forever.”
Duan Yelin pondered, this matter was so tightly arranged, was there someone helping her? Or was she really that smart?
At this time, Qiao Song said, “There is another thing. We found someone who is related to Ruan Xiaodie!”
“Who?”
“Ruan Xiaodie’s father!”
Hearing this, the butler was shocked, as if he had seen a ghost, and he stammered, “What?! He… he’s not… isn’t he dead?”
In fact, Duan Yelin had heard about Wang Ronghuo’s abduction of Ruan Xiaodie and killing her father. However, apart from Wang Ronghuo, the butler’s lackey-like behavior was unacceptable. When people in the room thought of this, they couldn’t help but sneer.
Only when you have done something wrong will you be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door.
Qiao Song rolled his eyes at him and then continued, “Initially, the people at the train station claimed that the women who bought tickets had purchased double tickets. After questioning several servants from the Governor’s Mansion and beggars near the City God Temple, I discovered that when the servants followed the butler’s orders to throw Ruan Xiaodie’s father into the woods, he wasn’t fully dead and was later rescued. A beggar saw someone carrying him out of the woods. Oh, by the way, I brought the beggar back as a witness as well!”
The butler slapped his thigh, and like a cat whose tail was stepped on, he jumped up and said with a raised eyebrow, “It must be that old man who worked with that woman to murder the Governor! This is irrefutable evidence! Besides them, who else has a grudge against the Governor?”
Qiao Song didn’t even bother to look at the butler. He thought to himself that there must be at least 8,000 people in Hezhou who wanted the Governor dead. If his words got out, he wondered how many people would laugh at him.
It was Yuan Ye who first calmed the agitated butler: “Don’t be anxious. If what you’re saying is correct, and Ruan Xiaodie is being watched and can’t leave the house, then how could the old man bypass all the checkpoints to get inside and deliver the message to her? This matter is still very complicated.”
After hearing this explanation, the butler felt it made a lot of sense, so he just muttered a few words and shut up.
At this time, the phone rang.
Duan Yelin picked up the phone. It was a call from the security guard in the access room: “Commander, Young Master Xu is here and is waiting outside.”
Under normal circumstances, Xu Hang does not need to report when entering or leaving, but today Xiaotong Guan is special, and Duan Yelin has ordered that no outsiders are allowed to enter.
“What is he doing here?”
“He said he knows something about the Governor’s murder.”
