Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 287 - 286: Silencing Witnesses

Bam!

Zhu Cheng’s anger flared suddenly, and he pounded his fist on the desk, the veins on his forehead bulging.

The personal soldier was so scared that the rest of his words got stuck in his throat, and he dared not continue speaking.

Zhu Yu nodded at him, signaling him to continue.

The personal soldier hesitated for a moment, then continued nervously, "Before setting out, the Prince instructed us to resolve the matter peacefully upon arrival, avoiding conflict and any noticeable disturbance. Therefore, we did not immediately take action and tried instead to make the opposing party understand the situation at hand.

As we were negotiating, suddenly a few people came rushing out, urgently saying they needed the coachman to bring the carriage over to transport the mined stones away.

This abruptly exposed the illegal mining of Black Iron, leaving us with no hesitation. We immediately subdued those people, capturing the thieves who were preparing to transport the ores. During interrogation, they claimed it was to secretly transport the Black Iron back for alchemical purposes, as the Pang Family needed to prepare in advance for some kind of cauldron the Holy Emperor might demand next year..."

The personal soldier’s words were lacking confidence because, prior to this event, not only them but even Prince Shuo and Zhu Cheng seemed unaware of any such requirement by the Holy Emperor for next year. Therefore, he was unsure if this was some odd trick by the Pang Family and felt tense, as making an error regarding matters involving the Holy Emperor could have severe consequences.

"What kind of cauldron?" Zhu Cheng asked in confusion, setting aside his anger upon hearing these words.

This matter was best known to Zhu Yu and Lu Qing, who then leaned towards Zhu Cheng and informed him that they had intentionally leaked false information to Zhu Ning, suspecting the Pang Family of acting on their own.

By now, Lu Qing and Zhu Yu’s attitude towards the Pang Family was overtly displayed, so their actions did not surprise Zhu Cheng much. After listening, he was slightly relieved to learn that there was no directive from Emperor Jin regarding this matter.

"How are things over there now? Why did you come back in such haste? Have the people from the Pang Family been escorted back, or has something else happened?" Zhu Cheng asked the personal soldier.

"Prince, the Pang Family members are still over there. After detaining everyone, we inspected the Black Iron mine and found a lot had been illegally extracted. Inside, there were a few people who had no idea what was happening outside, continuing to dig away. After we captured them, they tearfully begged us to let them continue mining, claiming they didn’t want to die.

We felt something was strange about this situation, so we inflicted torture on the Pang Family’s people sent there. Initially, they said nothing, but eventually, they confessed under duress.

They said they were only responsible for guarding the outside and did not interfere with the matters inside the mine.

Previously, another group had secretly abducted a number of strong men to this place. Some mined inside the pits, some smelted the Black Iron, while others knew how to forge weapons from the iron, crafting Black Iron weaponry as required by those people.

However, upon our inspection, the volume of illegally extracted ore was immense, far beyond the capacity of the few mysterious individuals present.

With further interrogation, those people finally confessed fully, revealing that there were initially at least dozens engaged in mining and iron smelting at that location. But the work was excessively exhausting, and those who brought them didn’t allow any rest for the strong men...

These individuals were poorly fed and barely got any sleep, mining around the clock until they literally worked themselves to death.

They would bring similar laborers and replace them with newcomers to continue the work.

The ones we captured were lucky enough to have survived and not succumbed to exhaustion yet."

Zhu Cheng, having priorly followed Lu Qing and Zhu Yu to inspect the excavation progress, under their guidance already knew about the disappearance of laborers. But the distance from Black Stone Mountain to the Black Iron mine was significant, making him genuinely surprised at how these individuals could be made to follow and mine submissively: "Did they say why those people obeyed orders?

Given that you mentioned the Pang Family’s overseer didn’t have many personnel, and numerous laborers were abducted earlier to mine and smelt iron, didn’t those laborers ever think of resisting or escaping? Why did they willingly let themselves be enslaved?

Why did they plead with you to let them return to mining after you captured them?"

"Prince, the Pang Family people said it was another group who conned those individuals, promising to teach them the Alchemy Secret Technique, claiming that after mastering it, they could turn iron into gold, leading to a life of wealth and prosperity.

These individuals, once tempted, would be deceived into consuming a secret medicine. Initially, it would make them feel invigorated, filled with boundless energy. However, if they failed to continue the medication later, they would become weak and suffer as if their bodies were being devoured by worms, ultimately dying a violent death, appearing possessed.

Thus, after being conned into working in the Black Iron mine, they realized their mistake: the Alchemy Secret Technique didn’t exist, but they were powerless to resist and had to work tirelessly, begging those people to regularly provide the medicine."

This personal soldier, having served by Zhu Cheng’s side for many years and accustomed to seeing generous treatment, never imagined someone would use such insidious means to harm civilians. While recounting this, he couldn’t help but show contempt and anger.

Zhu Yu recalled their journey from Black Stone Mountain through Shuo Land towards the capital, where they heard stories of a laborer, forcibly detained by his family who discovered him, died under similar circumstances.

Again, this secret medicine that alternately revitalizes and worsens life than death...

Recently, vicious secret medicines have been making frequent appearances. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Zhu Yu furrowed his brow, glanced at Lu Qing, and remained silent.

"What happened to those brought out? Does the Pang Family have any surplus medicine to temporarily stabilize their condition?" Zhu Cheng asked.

As long as there was any medicine left to preserve their lives temporarily, he wasn’t overly worried thereafter.

Yan Daoxin, the renowned Divine Doctor, was in his residence, and he trusted that finding an antidote shouldn’t be a problem.

Yet, this simple question led to another tense expression on the personal soldier’s face, who glanced at Zhu Cheng and pursed his lips anxiously.

"Either they have it or they don’t; why hesitate?!" Zhu Cheng impatiently urged.

The personal soldier secretly wiped the sweat from his palms on his pant sides and cautiously replied, "Whether they have it or not, it doesn’t matter anymore; those few people... were all killed."