Chapter 155: Death by Poisoning

Listening to Zhu Hao’s words, Li Shoujun took a deep breath and then spoke, "Your Highness, living in the capital for so long, perhaps you are not well-acquainted with local officials. If Xiao Jinggao could see a glimmer of survival by pleading guilty, he would readily and cheerfully confess. However, if both pleading guilty and refusing to plead lead to certain death, he will stubbornly refuse to admit any wrongdoing. In doing so, he can saddle Your Highness with the charge of using torture to extort a confession that resulted in the death of a high-ranking local official. Of course, it is also possible that Prefect Xiao is truly innocent, which is why he has not confessed. That is something Your Highness must judge for yourself. This official believes that Your Highness's judgment will not be in error!"

After listening to Li Shoujun, Zhu Hao took a deep breath and asked, "According to Magistrate Li's meaning, did Xiao Jinggao do this on purpose?"

Hearing this, Li Shoujun gave a slight nod, then shook his head and said, "This official cannot say for certain; Your Highness must make your own judgment. This official merely voiced a conjecture of my own!"

Hearing this, Zhu Hao assumed that Li Shoujun was simply unwilling to offend anyone and spoke with such ambiguity. Therefore, Zhu Hao did not press further, but instead said, "This Prince understands. Very well, Magistrate Li, you may return to your official duties first! This Prince will summon you again if anything arises."

Upon hearing this, Li Shoujun rose, bowed, and took his leave. Watching Li Shoujun's retreating figure, Zhu Hao thought to himself, "Li Shoujun, Oh Li Shoujun, why is it that this Prince cannot fathom whether you are loyal or treacherous? If you are not a loyal official, you must surely be a grand villain!"

Just as Zhu Hao was pondering this, Qin Hui walked in from outside and asked, "Your Highness, do you believe this man's words?"

Seeing that the visitor was Qin Hui and knowing that Qin Hui was acting out of concern for him, Zhu Hao did not reprimand him for intruding into the room. Listening to Qin Hui's question, Zhu Hao shook his head slightly and said, "This Prince finds it difficult to judge right now. But one thing this Prince knows: if the mastermind behind the Zhejiang imperial examination scandal is not Xiao Jinggao, it must definitely be this man!"

Hearing this, Qin Hui nodded slightly and said, "Your Highness speaks wisely. From this student's perspective, this Magistrate Li is even more suspicious than Prefect Xiao. This student believes he is likely the mastermind behind the examination scandal!"

Hearing Qin Hui say this, Zhu Hao looked at him in puzzlement and asked, "Qin Shun, although it is somewhat difficult to distinguish whether Li Shoujun is loyal or treacherous, there is no evidence pointing to any connection between him and the series of recent events! On what basis do you make such an assertion?"

After Zhu Hao finished speaking, Qin Hui pondered for a moment before slowly replying, "Reporting to Your Highness, this student has no evidence to prove that Magistrate Li is problematic. However, this student believes that the situation in Zhejiang is intricate and complex, yet somehow everything seems to have nothing to do with Magistrate Li. Such an anomaly is the most glaring suspicious point. Therefore, this student deems Magistrate Li deeply suspicious!"

After listening to Qin Hui, Zhu Hao realized that there was some merit to his words. As the saying goes, when things are abnormal, demons are afoot. However, since Zhu Hao currently lacked any evidence linking Li Shoujun to the examination scandal, he could not abandon the pursuit of the suspicious Xiao Jinggao to investigate Li Shoujun instead.

Thinking along these lines, Zhu Hao said, "Qin Shun, what you say makes some sense. But based on the current evidence, Xiao Jinggao is far more suspicious than Li Shoujun. Therefore, this Prince will first break Xiao Jinggao's defenses before turning our attention to Li Shoujun."

Hearing Zhu Hao's decision, Qin Hui bowed slightly, said no more, offered an apology, and slowly backed out of the room.

***

After Qin Hui withdrew from the room, Zhu Hao's mind continuously weighed Li Shoujun and Xiao Jinggao against each other. Yet, in the end, Zhu Hao still could not figure out who truly was the mastermind behind the Zhejiang examination scandal. Ultimately, he decided to start with Xiao Jinggao while ordering his men to closely monitor Li Shoujun to see if the latter showed any abnormal behavior in the near future.

Because his mind was preoccupied, Zhu Hao tossed and turns all night and failed to get a good rest. Early the next morning, after washing up and bearing two heavy dark circles under his eyes, Zhu Hao led a squad of guards toward the Office of the Provincial Administration and Surveillance, preparing to interrogate Xiao Jinggao once more.

When Zhu Hao arrived at the surveillance office, Wang Dazhi, the Commander of the Zhejiang Rear Guard, was already waiting outside the gates. Seeing Wang Dazhi, Zhu Hao smiled and asked, "Commander Wang, how is Xiao Jinggao? Are his injuries severe? Can we conduct the interrogation today?"

Hearing this and noticing the dark circles under Zhu Hao's eyes, Wang Dazhi hurriedly replied, "Your Highness can rest assured. He was treated by a physician yesterday, and the physician stated that Prefect Xiao only sustained superficial flesh wounds with no vital damage. It will not interfere with Your Highness's inquiry today! However, this subordinate notices that Your Highness did not rest well yesterday. In this subordinate's humble opinion, Your Highness would be wise to rest for another day to preserve your noble health, and interrogate Prefect Xiao tomorrow instead!"

Hearing Wang Dazhi's words, Zhu Hao first nodded with satisfaction, then waved his hand and said, "It is good that Xiao Jinggao is fine; this Prince is quite alright. If we do not get to the bottom of this matter immediately, it would be useless for this Prince to rest for ten more days!"

Seeing that Wang Dazhi wanted to say more, Zhu Hao waved his hand again and commanded, "Very well, Commander Wang, this Prince appreciates your kind intentions, but you need not persuade me further. Let us convene the court! No matter what, this Prince will crack Xiao Jinggao's mouth open today. The case in Zhejiang cannot be dragged out any longer!"

Having said that, without giving Wang Dazhi a chance to dissuade him further, Zhu Hao walked straight into the surveillance office. After taking his seat in the main hall, he slammed the gavel down and shouted, "Convene the court! Bring in the criminal Xiao Jinggao!"

Following the resounding chants of majesty echoing through the hall, Xiao Jinggao, whom Zhu Hao expected to be led into the courtroom, did not appear. Instead, a soldier hurriedly stepped forward and whispered a few words into Wang Dazhi's ear. Wang Dazhi's expression instantly darkened with anger as he blurted out, "What? How could this happen?"

Seeing this scene, Zhu Hao knew something had gone wrong. Yet, for a moment, he could not fathom what kind of trouble Xiao Jinggao could possibly run into under the tight guard of a military garrison. Zhu Hao thought to himself, "Could it be that Xiao Jinggao's injuries were not properly treated yesterday?"

Pondering thus, Zhu Hao questioned Wang Dazhi, "Commander Wang, what has happened? Where is Xiao Jinggao?"

Hearing the query, Wang Dazhi hurriedly dropped to his knees and pleaded, "This subordinate deserves death! Xiao Jinggao died inside his tent last night. This subordinate has failed Your Highness's trust and committed a capital offense. Please punish me, Your Highness!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Hao sprang to his feet with a start. He had never expected such worst-case news. However, Zhu Hao did not believe Wang Dazhi had murdered Xiao Jinggao; had Wang Dazhi been in league with the opposing party, he would not have rushed to the surveillance office to rescue Zhu Hao the other day.

Since the matter was unrelated to Wang Dazhi, and moreover because Zhu Hao currently depended on the military power in Wang Dazhi's hands, he did not reprimand him. Instead, taking a deep breath, Zhu Hao asked, "How could this happen? What on earth occurred? How did Xiao Jinggao die?"

***

Hearing Zhu Hao's inquiry, Wang Dazhi did not dare to delay and hurriedly answered, "Reporting to Your Highness, the soldiers have already had the coroner examine the body! The coroner stated that Prefect Xiao... died of... poisoning!"

Hearing this, Zhu Hao gasped in astonishment once again, "What? How can this be?"

It was no surprise that Zhu Hao was so shocked. After all, the Surveillance Commissioner and the Administration Commissioner of a single province had successively died of poisoning. Without even investigating, one knew this was the work of human hands. But what shocked Zhu Hao was not merely that the two men had been poisoned to death, but rather: who possessed such immense power that, under his own tight security, they could still cause Gao Yuan and Xiao Jinggao to die so mysteriously and without a trace?

After the shock subsided, Zhu Hao took a deep breath to force himself to calm down. He slowly sat back down, his face filled with a sense of helplessness, and said with a dejected air, "Has the coroner ascertained what kind of poison Xiao Jinggao ingested? Who had contact with Xiao Jinggao yesterday?"

Prompted by Zhu Hao's questions, Wang Dazhi hastily replied, "The coroner said that the poison Prefect Xiao ingested is the exact same poison that killed Prefect Gao. It is a rare chronic poison that takes six full hours to take effect after entering the body. As for who had contact with Prefect Xiao, this subordinate can guarantee to Your Highness that yesterday, aside from the physician, absolutely no one had any contact with Prefect Xiao!"

Hearing Wang Dazhi's words, Zhu Hao thought to himself, "A poison that takes six full hours to manifest? Then Gao Yuan must have been poisoned before he was placed under control. That means the poisoner could not possibly be Xiao Jinggao, who only exchanged a few words with Gao Yuan at the time—because if it were Xiao Jinggao, he certainly would not have appeared at the surveillance office at that exact hour, so as to avoid suspicion! It seems the person who poisoned Gao Yuan is someone else, and that person should be the very same one who poisoned Xiao Jinggao to death!"

Musing thus, Zhu Hao ruled out the possibility that Xiao Jinggao had poisoned Gao Yuan. Turning his thoughts back to Xiao Jinggao's death and calculating briefly, he realized that six hours prior, Xiao Jinggao had already been placed under his detention, and the only person capable of poisoning Xiao Jinggao during that timeframe would likely be the physician who treated him.

With this thought, Zhu Hao asked Wang Dazhi, "Commander Wang, who was the physician that treated Xiao Jinggao yesterday?"

Knowing that Zhu Hao suspected the physician, Wang Dazhi dared not conceal anything and answered, "Ah, this physician is a distant relative of this subordinate, and currently serves as a military doctor in this subordinate's army!"

Hearing this, Zhu Hao frowned slightly and asked, "Commander Wang, this Prince trusts you completely. Do you believe this distant relative of yours could have been bought off to betray you?"

Listening to Zhu Hao, Wang Dazhi thought carefully for a moment, then shook his head forcefully and replied, "Most likely not. This physician has followed this subordinate for many years and would never do such a thing!"