jdhmnovel Chapter 723 The Defeat of the You Family
Chapter 723 The Defeat of the You Family
Out of caution, the imperial physicians took blood from everyone who had been hit by the steel needles.
However, experienced imperial physicians have already discerned that even if the steel needles are poisonous, they would not be a deadly poison that would kill instantly upon drawing blood.
After all, apart from Eunuch Wang, everyone here is conscious and receiving treatment.
Even though Eunuch Wang had a lot of steel needles in him, he's still breathing normally.
However, out of caution, the imperial physicians still followed the usual procedure of drawing blood to test for toxins.
In ancient times, the only way to detect toxins was by using silver needles.
However, silver needles can only detect highly corrosive poisons, such as arsenic, poison, and arsenic trioxide.
If it is a slow-acting poison, or poisoning that utilizes the principle of mutual generation and restraint among all things, then it will be very difficult to detect with silver needles.
As the imperial physicians carefully examined the blood with silver needles, they discovered that none of the needles had turned black.
So that means it's not poisonous? At least it's not highly poisonous, and people who are hit by the steel needles will not die.
The fourth prince was finally relieved to see that the silver needles hadn't turned black.
“Grandfather, once the imperial physicians have removed all the silver needles, everything will be fine. The silver needles are non-toxic.”
"Alright, alright, Fourth Prince, don't worry. My health is still quite good, I can handle it."
Minister Tong was actually a little scared, but he couldn't show it in front of his grandson, so he pretended to be calm.
"You are getting on in years, so you can't take this lightly. After the needles are removed, just rest at home and don't worry about anything else."
The Fourth Prince's words surprised Tong Qingyun, since only the two of them knew what the "other matters" the Fourth Prince was referring to.
Sighing inwardly, Minister Tong thought, "Is the Fourth Prince going to give up?"
If I insist on doing this, my grandson will probably not have a good ending either.
Think about the First Prince, the Third Prince, and today's Tenth Prince.
The struggle for succession has always been fierce, and there is never a bloodless one.
As the head of the family, he hoped the family could go further, but as a grandfather, he could also understand his grandson's thoughts.
For someone who has no ambition to forcefully fight for or snatch things they don't like is not only painful but also a sacrifice.
Why should the Tong family allow the Zhao family's prince to sacrifice himself for their own sake? Their own family is being far too arrogant.
"Okay, let's not think about anything else. Let's just take good care of ourselves. We're doing very well now."
The Tong family was neither the best nor the worst; although they couldn't compare to the Ouyang family, they were among the few families in the capital that ranked ahead of the Tong family.
"I'm relieved to hear that my grandfather said so."
The year-end sacrificial ceremony was left unfinished, and the tenth prince was temporarily detained at Dali Temple.
It wasn't that they didn't trust the Ministry of Justice, but the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was a member of the Ouyang family, so General You's household would be more cautious about doing anything they wanted.
After all, the Ouyang family has the Empress Dowager behind them, and this tenth prince is the Empress Dowager's own grandson.
The You family has already reached out to the Ouyang family through some connections, at least guaranteeing that the Tenth Prince will not suffer at the Dali Temple.
However, just when everyone thought the matter would be investigated carefully, news came from the Dali Temple that the Tenth Prince had hanged himself with his belt in prison.
The news shocked the entire court.
The You family, the maternal relatives of the Tenth Prince, were completely bewildered. Who had hanged themselves?!
The Tenth Prince? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
General You suddenly became unwell; his mouth and eyes were crooked, clearly indicating a stroke!
"master!"
"Old Master!"
"grandfather!"
"father!"
The You family was thrown into chaos.
After General You suffered a stroke, Madam You also fell ill and never recovered. Now the You family has lost its backbone, and none of the next generation can handle things.
Upon hearing this news, the Empress Dowager was overcome with grief and immediately ordered Minister Ouyang to thoroughly investigate the matter.
After all, the incident occurred at the Dali Temple, so the Dali Temple Minister also bears some responsibility.
Therefore, after receiving the order, he dared not slack off and immediately began the investigation.
He knew that this matter was far-reaching and that the slightest carelessness could lead to disaster, even implicating his own family.
After reviewing the prison records and the prison guards' statements, he discovered many suspicious points.
The prison guards claimed that there was nothing unusual that night, but such a serious matter as the Tenth Prince's suicide cannot be explained away simply by saying there was nothing unusual.
If someone hangs themselves with a belt, how did that belt end up on the beam?
Given the tenth prince's height, it would be difficult for him to wrap his belt around the beam without the aid of tables and chairs.
The cell where the tenth prince was imprisoned was not equipped with tables and chairs, but only with some dry straw. Even if all the straw were stacked together, it would not be able to support the weight of a person.
Since he couldn't pass the belt through the beam, there must be a second person in the cell.
Therefore, the tenth prince may not have committed suicide by hanging; he was most likely murdered.
Ouyang Zheng wanted to perform an autopsy, but this was a prince, not just anyone, and he needed His Majesty's permission to do so.
Ouyang Zheng didn't delay and immediately submitted a memorial, stating all the points he considered suspicious.
How to proceed depends on Your Majesty's decision.
After reading the memorial, the emperor's face darkened.
The memorial was approved directly, authorizing the Dali Temple to conduct an autopsy.
He knew the end of the year wouldn't be peaceful, but he never expected his son to die.
Who is behind this blatant frame-up?
Was the goal to have the tenth prince kill his father and the emperor, or was it simply to kill the tenth prince and the entire You family?
Upon receiving the order, Ouyang Zheng immediately arranged for a coroner to examine the body. The tenth prince only had one external injury on his neck, and there were no internal injuries or poisoning, so the coroner had to examine him.
Ouyang Zheng personally led three coroners to the morgue. All three were experienced coroners from the Dali Temple, but this was their first time examining a prince's body.
When the coroners carefully examined the tenth prince's body, they found a barely noticeable ligature mark on his neck, which was different from the marks of hanging.
"My lord, please look. Although the overlap is not obvious, you can still see that one is thick and the other is thin, one is dark and the other is light."
This likely involved first strangling the person with a thin rope or thread, then removing the deceased's belt and hanging them from a beam to create the illusion of suicide.
After the oldest coroner finished speaking, the other two coroners nodded in agreement.
"Furthermore, sir, please look at the deceased's hands. These hands are bent, which can only mean one thing—that the deceased struggled before he died."
However, hanging is indeed painful, and some of the deceased who hanged themselves would struggle during the process, though not as exaggerated as the Tenth Prince.
People who commit suicide by hanging are more likely to have their fists clenched. After all, they are taking their own lives and have made a firm decision. Clenching their fists is generally a way to prevent regret and can also slightly reduce their pain.
"So that's how it is. The tenth prince's fatal wound was only in his neck?"
"Yes, judging from the current state of the body, there are no other external injuries or signs of poisoning, so it can be basically determined that the cause of death was suffocation."
"Alright, thank you for your hard work, all three of you. I will put the autopsy results on paper and submit them to His Majesty later."
The group left the morgue, where the sunlight was quite dazzling.
Such glaring sunlight is rare in winter.
After the tenth prince's incident, not a single member of the You family came to the Dali Temple.
Ouyang Zheng couldn't help but shake his head. After General You fell, the You family had no one to lead the family. What exactly were they fighting over?
Even if they succeed by chance, is this really a good thing for the Tenth Prince and the entire You family?
A family without a leader, without many pillars of strength and ambitious young people, no matter how high it stands, will eventually fall and plunge into an abyss of endless battles.
Rather than that, it would be better to stay in your own place and live a peaceful life.
Ouyang Zheng understood his aunt, the Empress Dowager, even more now; the Empress Dowager was simply too wise.
She knew the principle that prosperity must eventually decline, so many years ago she warned her clansmen to be careful with their words and deeds, and stipulated that no woman from the Ouyang family could follow in the footsteps of her aunt, the Empress Dowager, and enter the palace as a concubine.
How could my aunt, who had been in the harem for decades, not know whether the harem was good or bad?
On the surface, they may appear honorable and glamorous, but how many people know the dangers and hardships they endure?