He remembered this case because some of its details touched on his own field, and because it wasn’t a murder case. The case was very simple: an eccentric poison expert had poisoned and knocked out everyone in a wealthy merchant’s household, then stolen a little money to buy wine. It was also the case in which the heroine of the book first met Su Jun and fell in love with him at first sight.
As soon as Su Jun heard the man shouting, his brow furrowed again. He strode into the main hall, his tone not particularly friendly. “What are you in such a hurry for? Keep shouting, and the poison may attack your heart. What did I tell you before I left? Stay calm. Don’t get agitated, or the poison may penetrate even deeper.”
The man who had been shouting just now was the wealthy merchant surnamed Qian from this case. Several women and a group of servants were also in the room. Their eyes were open, but they could not move, and every one of them looked panicked.
Besides them, a young woman dressed in white stood in the room. She was the “little brat” Master Qian had mentioned: Zhou Caiyao, the heroine of this book and a coroner in the Criminal Interrogation Division. At the beginning of the story, she was about seventeen or eighteen. She looked pure and delicate, a pitiable little white flower.
She had only taken office today, but Su Jun was something of a prominent figure in the Surveillance Court. As soon as she arrived, she heard her colleagues privately discussing Su Jun, and she was quite curious about Lord Su. She heard he was still investigating a case, so she sneaked over. She had a token from the Criminal Interrogation Division, and as it happened, Su Jun was not there. The other subordinates saw that she was also from the Criminal Interrogation Division and did not ask much, so they let her in.
But faced with a room full of living people, she had no idea what to do as a coroner, and ended up being scolded by Master Qian. Fortunately, Su Jun returned not long after she had arrived.
Master Qian pointed at Zhou Caiyao and complained. “My lord, we’ve been waiting for you all day! This little brat says she’s a coroner and wants to feel our pulses and check us over. Isn’t that ridiculous? We’re not dead yet. What gives her the right to get involved?”
Su Jun glanced at Zhou Caiyao. “A coroner?”
Zhou Caiyao stole a glance at Su Jun. A flush rose on her cheeks, and she put on a shy expression. “Hello, Lord Su. My name is Zhou Caiyao, and I’m the new coroner in the Criminal Interrogation Division.”
“How did the Surveillance Court end up hiring someone like you…” Su Jun furrowed his brow and considered his wording. “Someone who likes to run around.”
Zhou Caiyao knew she really had acted impulsively today, and Su Jun was justified in calling her out, but she still wanted to defend herself a little. “M-my lord, I was actually selected after passing the assessment. I wasn’t just someone who walked in off the street.”
“Oh,” Su Jun replied indifferently. “Don’t run around without an order from your superior in the future. No one here has died, so you’re not needed. Since you only took office today, I won’t hold you accountable, but don’t let it happen again.”
“Yes, my lord, I understand.” Zhou Caiyao answered respectfully, cupped her hands in salute, and withdrew without another word.
Su Jun patted He Yunqing on the shoulder. “Go see what poison they were given.”
In the original book, He Yunqing had no part in this storyline, because he was useless and could not tell what poison they had been given. In the end, it was the genius detective male lead, who happened to pass by, who solved the case.
Knowing the plot, He Yunqing saw that he had no choice but to steal the male lead’s spotlight this time, and silently apologized to him. He went up to each person in turn, felt their pulse, pretended to ponder for a moment, and then said, “My lord, the poison they were given is called Beauty Fragrance. It releases a wave of fragrance that poisons people, but their lives won’t be in danger, because the poisoner didn’t use a strong dose. It will only leave them unconscious for a few hours, make their memories somewhat muddled, and rob them of their ability to move.”
Su Jun said, “Then do you know how to cure this poison?”
Before He Yunqing could answer, the subordinate Su Jun had sent to investigate the scene came in and announced, “My lord, we found an important clue. There are four numbers written on the wall of this residence.”
*
Someone had neatly written four numbers in a horizontal row on the wall of the back courtyard: 2, 2, 3, 2. He Yunqing followed Su Jun and the others to the back courtyard, and as soon as he saw the numbers, he said, “My lord, I hadn’t had time to tell you how to cure the poison. Actually…” He pointed at the four numbers. “Someone has already written down the way to cure it.”
Su Jun’s long brows lifted slightly, signaling for him to continue. He Yunqing went on, “Beauty Fragrance is named for beauty. It means that the poisoned person is like someone bewitched by a beauty’s fragrance, gradually losing themselves and then consciousness. In severe cases, their vital essence will slowly be depleted. This poison comes from the West and has rarely been used, so medical books don’t record a cure.”
“But they haven’t been poisoned deeply, so there’s another way to counteract it. We can try using four kinds of medicine that clear the mind and calm the spirit, restoring their ability to move. Simply put, these medicines have properties that counteract Beauty Fragrance, and combining them in the doses indicated by these numbers should cure it. If they had been poisoned deeply, it wouldn’t be so simple.”
“You mean these numbers are actually a clue for us?” Su Jun’s subordinate asked, unable to believe it. “Is that reliable? And who could have written them?”
“It’s not impossible that these four numbers indicate the medicine doses. After all, we have no other method now, so we can only do our best and try it. As for who wrote them, I think the most likely person is the one who poisoned them.”
The subordinate didn’t believe a word of it. “How is that possible?!”
Su Jun raised a hand to stop his subordinate from arguing further and instructed He Yunqing, “Do as you said. This matter can’t be delayed. Let’s try it first.”
“All right, I’ll go buy the medicine at a pharmacy in town.”
*
“Did you find anything besides the numbers?” After He Yunqing left, Su Jun did not sit idle either. He watched the four numbers for a little while longer. “I already have some suspicions about the poisoner.”
The subordinate was astonished. “So soon?! My lord, apart from these numbers, we found nothing—no signs of a struggle, not even a single footprint. How did you come up with a theory?”
Su Jun tapped him on the head with his fan. “It’s obvious you don’t read. The book Strange Tales of the Capital records a poison expert known as the Poison Sage. He came from Cloudveil Sect and was my Master’s martial uncle. He was highly skilled in martial arts and had an eccentric temperament, making him unpredictable.”
“If it really was him, with his martial arts skills, entering and leaving this place would have been as easy as walking into an empty house. Yet the poison he deliberately gave this family, though very difficult to cure, was weak in dose, which showed he had no intention of taking their lives.”
“If those numbers were written by him, then he poisoned the family and seemingly left a clue to the cure on the wall. His way of doing things was truly strange. Instinct, combined with what I know of his habits, made me think of him at once, but it’s only a guess.”
The subordinate rubbed his head, aggrieved. “My lord also thinks those numbers were written by the poisoner? And this book you’re reading…” he said quietly. “They’re all folk tales, and they aren’t necessarily true.”
Su Jun was not angry at being contradicted. “Whether or not the poisoner wrote them, we’ll know after they drink the medicine and we see whether it works. If I said some expert passing by had left this secret method for curing the poison, you wouldn’t believe that either, would you? After all, if someone else really knew how to cure it, that person could have saved them. Why would they need to leave clues for someone else?”
“Now that family’s memories haven’t fully returned, and we can’t get any answers by asking them about that night. I only have a suspicion for now. As for the Poison Sage, when Yunqing comes back, I’ll ask him whether he knows anything about him.”
At the mention of He Yunqing, the subordinate asked, “My lord, where did you find that person just now? You said you knew someone who understood medicine, so I thought an old man in his fifties would come. Who would have thought it would be a young lad?”
Su Jun folded his fan and lowered his voice. “Yunqing is actually the junior-most fellow disciple in my sect. But don’t spread this around, understood?”
The subordinate replied at once, “Ah, understood, understood.”