Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 485 - 484: Strange Illness

The eunuch beside him had already panicked, and when he heard Zhu Yu’s command, he was momentarily at a loss. Instinctively, he crawled over and brought over an oil lamp from the side.

She held the oil lamp up to King Fan’s face, and as the bright yellow flame approached his eyes, his originally dilated pupils slightly contracted.

Zhu Yu let out a small sigh of relief.

It seemed that although King Fan’s condition looked frightening, he might still be salvageable. At least he wasn’t completely dead yet. Whether he could be pulled back from Yama Hall wasn’t her specialty; it all depended on how deep Yan Daoxin’s skills were.

So she carried the oil lamp to one side and crouched beside the two women lying motionless on the ground.

Seeing this, the eunuch wanted to stop her, but his companion pulled him back, shaking his head as if to say, "At this point, why bother if the Divine Doctor’s companion looks at the women or not!"

The eunuchs were all too aware of the fate awaiting these two women. There was really nothing to see, and further obstruction might offend the only hope they had—the Divine Doctor.

Zhu Yu crouched before the two women, prying open their eyelids and bringing the oil lamp closer. Without exception, the pupils of both women were dilated and unresponsive to the light outside.

She then felt their wrists for a pulse. There was no pulse to be found, and even their body temperature had dropped significantly. They were utterly devoid of life, clearly dead long ago.

Zhu Yu was not surprised by this result; it was as expected.

What caught her attention more were the strange bruises on the arms of the two women.

The two women’s bodies were barely covered, only draped with a silk blanket by the eunuchs over their torsos, leaving their limbs exposed. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Zhu Yu could clearly see dark purple-brown bruises irregularly distributed on their limbs, shaped like clouds, exuding an eerie aura.

This made Zhu Yu’s brow furrow deeply.

These two women were ones she had just seen being brought in lively by the eunuchs. It hadn’t been long since, even if they died the moment they entered the chamber, it seemed impossible for their bodies to be so quickly covered in livor mortis.

Moreover, how could livor mortis appear above the bodies? It defied logic.

She wanted to examine further but realized that, given her current status and the critical moment, showing too much interest in the women’s corpses might be inappropriate. Reluctantly, she suppressed her curiosity and returned to Yan Daoxin.

Yan Daoxin’s expression was akin to "A storm is brewing." Since knowing him, Zhu Yu had never seen his face so somber, more like an anger desperately suppressed rather than a difficulty.

He released King Fan’s wrist, reached into his robe, and pulled out a porcelain bottle, letting a pill fall into his palm.

Yan Daoxin seemed to be a walking treasury, carrying all sorts of small porcelain flasks with pills of various effects—from Great Nourishing Pills to refreshing brain-stimulating pills, and even some toxic concoctions he made himself to induce itch and pain like ants biting all over.

This time, the bottle he took out was recognized by Zhu Yu; it contained detoxification pills. While they couldn’t cure all poisons, they could alleviate the harm of most toxins temporarily, giving time to concoct a more effective antidote.

Clearly, this was not an ordinary poison that afflicted King Fan, making Yan Daoxin hesitant to delay, thus using the pill to provide temporary relief.

Yan Daoxin pried open King Fan’s jaw. Fortunately, it wasn’t stiff, making the process easy. After smoothly placing the pill into his mouth, he turned his gaze to the eunuch beside him: "What exactly is ailing your king? What medicines has he been taking? Be it for illness or health, tell me everything!"

The eunuch was flustered, stammering, unsure whether to speak or not, at a loss, visibly troubled.

"Enough with the stammering!" Yan Daoxin impatiently poked the servant twice, "Your king is deeply poisoned, his life hangs by a thread. How can I concoct an antidote without knowing the ailment, the source of the poison, or the treatment?

If you delay any longer, the pill I just gave won’t hold, and your king will die!

I hear your land of Bhutan still practices human sacrifice. You might as well find yourselves accompanying him in the afterlife!"

With that, the eunuch shivered violently. He had no desire to die; he still cherished his life dearly and wished to live many more decades.

Thus, he tremulously began to speak: "Actually... our king does not really have a strange illness. He... he... he..."

The young eunuch swallowed hard. Facing King Fan, even on the brink of death, he was afraid to speak, fearing the king might still be conscious and hold a grudge against him for being loose-tongued, risking his neck.

"Speak your mind! If he could still hear, I wouldn’t be in such a hurry." Yan Daoxin guessed the reason for his stammering and urged impatiently.

The eunuch, seeing his certainty, relaxed a little and quickly said: "The king isn’t suffering from any unusual condition. It’s just that over the past few years, he has become increasingly indulgent in... bedchamber matters...

Initially, it wasn’t much of a problem. It was just that the concubines who served the king frequently became weaker over time. In about half a year or so... they... would die."

"Oh?" Yan Daoxin glanced at the two women beside him, "And this doesn’t affect your king’s health?"

"Not at all." The eunuch answered straightforwardly and confidently when asked, "Not only is the king’s health unaffected, but he also becomes increasingly robust, his face glowing, as if he has been nourished with some great tonic."