Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Li Xinglian submitted the memorial very quickly. Cui Bianxu, who was in Chang'an City, had no idea how shocked Li Shimin was when he saw it, but the imperial edict from Luoyang clearly stated that this matter had nothing to do with him.

Li Shimin, the man at the top of the food chain in the Tang Dynasty and the governor of Asia, was completely framed and took the blame.

The Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple jointly investigated the case. The person in charge of this matter in the Ministry of Justice was Guo Huai, the Vice Minister of Justice. Cui Bianxu made an appointment with him to meet at the Ministry of Justice the next day to discuss the case in detail. Unexpectedly, in the early morning of the next day, when Wang Mingqian was patrolling with the Jinwu Guards, they found a woman fainted on the street between Yongyangfang and Hepingfang.

Being woken up in the middle of the night to go to work would not make a normal person look good, and Cui Bianxu was no exception. Fortunately, he did not have much expression, and it was dark, so others could not notice it.

Of course, the main reason for his bad face was that the person behind him was too bold and too well-informed. The imperial edict had only been in Chang'an for a few hours, and most officials were still unaware of it.

"Have you checked all the nearby markets?"

Cui Bianxu and Wang Mingqian were both in the Dali Temple prison. The woman in front of them was placed casually on the ground with sparse dry grass underneath her. Cui Bianxu recognized her at first sight. This should be Zhao who had been missing for more than half a month.

"We checked, but no one knows when she showed up." Wang Mingqian also had a headache. The minor officials didn't know about His Majesty's decree, but people like them knew that someone was so bold as to throw dirty water on His Majesty.

As a result, the decree entered Chang'an during the day, and Zhao appeared in the early morning. Who can say this is a coincidence?

"There are few people living in Yongyang and Heping, and the people in Wuhoupu often slack off..." Wang Mingqian felt a little guilty, rubbing his fingers on the hilt of the knife and looking away. Not to mention Wuhoupu, even the Jinwu Guards rarely went to the south during their patrol. What's more, Yongyangfang and Hepingfang were already located in the southwest corner of Chang'an City, close to the city wall.

This is also the old rule of patrolling in Chang'an. The further south you go, the fewer people go there, because that area is a remote area in Chang'an City, with few people living there, and many people are farming.

"Shaoqing, the medical officer is here." Wang Leisheng, who was also picked up, yawned. Behind him followed the medical officer of Dali Temple. The two of them yawned one after another as if in a yawn relay race.

Cui Bianxu turned his head away in disdain and pointed at Zhao lying on the ground: "No matter what method you use, wake her up immediately."

As soon as he arrived, he ordered someone to fetch a bucket of well water and pour it on Zhao. Pouring cold water was a common method in the Dali Temple Prison. It was common for prisoners to faint during harsh interrogations. Not everyone would call a medical officer. Those who had been in charge of prisons for many years were cold-hearted and cruel to the prisoners.

But after pouring a bucket of cold water, Zhao didn't react at all. She just lay on the ground with her eyes wet and motionless, closed. If it weren't for the breathing in her nose, others would have thought she was dead.

The medical officer squatted down and examined Zhao, then gave her a few more injections, but she still showed no reaction. The medical officer was clearly surprised. His unique skill of waking people up had never failed at the Dali Temple. Over the years, he had always been able to revive even the most battered prisoners, making them speak a few words before dying. Why didn't it work today?

Cui Bianxu asked, "What's the matter? You can't wake him up?"

"Why not ask..." Wang Mingqian was also anxious. He was also involved in this matter, so he suggested asking someone from the Imperial Medical Bureau to come and take a look.

But before he could finish his words, the medical officer raised his hand with an unhappy look on his face, signaling them not to speak. Then he bent down and got very close to Zhao, sniffing every inch of her body carefully, turning Zhao's head back and forth, and finally taking off her shoes and socks, grabbing her feet and looking at them over and over again.

Not only does this look quite weird, it's also extremely rude!

Cui Bianxu and Wang Mingqian looked at each other, but did not stop him. At the same time, they held their breath, not daring to disturb his mind.

After the medical officer's examination, his expression was filled with complete confidence. He stood up, glanced at the inattentive Wang Mingqian, snorted coldly, and then replied to Cui Bianxu, "Master Cui, this woman has been drugged with a very special kind of aphrodisiac. If I hadn't stumbled upon a miscellaneous book during my youth traveling through Lingnan, I'd be completely clueless."

Humph, what's the point of asking the Imperial Medical Bureau to come over? They only know the parts stipulated in the "Medical Disease Order". How can they know as much as he knows after traveling thousands of miles?

The medical officer's name was Ning Yuye, and he looked to be already gray-haired, so he must be at least sixty years old. The things that happened when he was young were during the early Sui Dynasty. Cui Bianxu and Wang Mingqian were still waiting in line to be reincarnated at that time!

Wang Mingqian shrugged his nose and looked away uncomfortably, thinking to himself, why would such a powerful person be in the Dali Temple? Wouldn't it be better to go to the Daming Palace?

"Doctor Ning, can you find an antidote for this drug?" This was the only thing Cui Bianxu cared about.

"No."

Ning Yuye was so proud just now, but now he was weak again. "This drug is called Jiuchongxiao. I think it should not be completely classified as a drug. According to records, those who are drugged by this drug will be unconscious for nine days unless there is an antidote. No matter what method is used, they will die within nine days. Once the ninth day is up, their souls will return to the heavens."

Cui Bianxu also squatted down and carefully examined the place Ning Yuye had just looked at. "I have never heard of this thing before. How did you come to this conclusion?"

"Young Master, please look."

Ning Yuye squatted down again, spreading his palms and gently waving them over Zhao: "People who are struck by the Ninth Heaven will have a strange fragrance on their bodies. The smell is very faint, and you need to get close to smell it."

Cui Bianxu leaned down a little. At first, there was only the scent of Baihexiang. He closed his eyes and moved closer. Until he was less than half an inch away from Zhao, he finally smelled the strange fragrance that Ning Yuye had described.

(Based on the artifacts unearthed from the underground palace of Famen Temple, it is inferred that one inch in the Tang Dynasty was approximately 2.95 centimeters today, and the longest did not exceed 3.15 centimeters.)

There were few local spices in Chang'an City. Most of them were brought in from outside the region by foreign merchants and then combined with local spices to form various aromas.

Given his background, he could tell that this scent was indeed different from any other fragrance in Chang'an City. When he smelled it, he was actually stunned for a moment.

Ning Yuye saw his reaction and realized that the fragrance was the key to his explanation. He then turned Zhao's head over and asked, "Shaoqing, look here."

The light in the cell was too dim. Cui Bianxu stared intently for a long time before he realized that he was talking about a small black dot the size of a grain of sand in the hair. He raised his head and looked at Ning Yuye: "Doctor Ning, what's so special about this black dot?"