Accidentally dressed as an empress

Chapter 163 Poison Powder

Lin Zichen's face was solemn, with beads of sweat oozing from her forehead. Her heart felt like it was being weighed down by a heavy stone.

Accompanied by a group of experienced military doctors, they hurried to the place where the grain was stored. They came here to check whether the grain had been poisoned.

Just as everyone was checking nervously, Zhou Jing, dressed in green, hurried over with light steps.

As soon as Zhou Jing arrived at the scene, she scanned the grain pile carefully, not missing any details. Soon, she discovered something unusual in the grain pile.

Zhou Jing raised her beautiful willow-shaped eyebrows slightly, and saw some powder sprinkled in the grain pile. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the powder of poisonous mushrooms.

Lin Zichen's face turned pale in an instant. She knew very well how powerful this poisonous mushroom powder was. It was not an ordinary poison. If it was accidentally ingested, it would be very serious.

Xiling produces a poisonous mushroom that is said to cause hallucinations. Under the influence of hallucinations, a person's mind will be completely disturbed and he will become irritable and aggressive.

In the military, this situation is extremely dangerous. Soldiers will lose their minds and become crazy, which can lead to serious incidents such as camp riots, where one person will fight another.

If the army were to fight against its own people, it would be in complete chaos. How could it continue to fight this war?

Zhou Jing's eyes flashed with anger. He clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth, "Who is so vicious as to poison the food? This is to kill us all!"

Zhou Jing quickly turned to look at Lin Zichen, her eyes filled with anxiety and determination, and said, "General Lin, we must seal off this place immediately. We must not allow the poisoned food to spread any further. We must also track down the person who poisoned it as soon as possible."

Zhou Jing pointed out several grain piles stained with poisonous mushroom powder and said, "Please ask the military doctor to examine them."

The military doctor couldn't detect the disease with a silver needle, and everyone looked at Zhou Jing with suspicion.

Lin Zichen didn't say anything, wondering why Zhou Jing was so confident.

Seeing everyone's suspicious eyes, Zhou Jing felt unhappy in her heart, but she remained calm.

She looked around at everyone, then calmly explained, "This poisonous mushroom powder is extremely special. Silver needles are useless. I once read in an ancient book that this poison affects the mind, and unlike ordinary poisons, it doesn't react with silver needles."

Yunxiu approached, dressed in a sharp suit, her hair tied up with a ribbon, looking clean and fresh. Her face was delicate yet heroic, her eyes bright and sharp, like stars twinkling in the night sky. Yunxiu shouted, "If ordinary means can't uncover it, then cook it and let the prisoners in the camp eat it."

Lin Zichen nodded slightly, thinking that what he said made some sense, but after all, letting prisoners test poison was a bit cruel.

Just as she was about to speak, Yunxiu seemed to see through her thoughts and continued, "These captives have already committed serious crimes. If they can find out the truth about the poison in our food supplies now, it will be a small compensation for them. We will also observe them closely. If there are any signs of poisoning, we will immediately provide rescue and will not let them die easily."

Zhou Jing also echoed, "Your Highness is right. Although I know something about this poisonous mushroom powder, it is only theory. If we can give it a try, we can confirm whether this is the poison we suspect." After hearing this, everyone felt that something was wrong, but there was no better way.

So, following Yunxiu's instructions, several soldiers cooked the grains dipped in poisonous mushroom powder and sent them to the prisoner camp. When the prisoners saw the food, they were already extremely hungry and immediately devoured it.

Everyone stared intently from the sidelines, the atmosphere so tense that it seemed to solidify into substance.

After a while, the prisoners' eyes began to stare blankly, and then their faces became ferocious. They attacked each other in the prisoner camp like crazy, and kept shouting some strange words. It was obvious that they were hallucinating.

After seeing this scene, everyone believed Yunxiu and Zhou Jing's judgment.

Lin Zichen frowned and said, "It seems that this is indeed the poison that can make the soldiers scream in the camp. We must deal with these poisoned food and grass as soon as possible, and at the same time strengthen the security of the camp to prevent the poisoner from committing crimes again."

Lin Zichen looked at Zhou Jing, and her admiration for her grew even stronger. She nodded and said, "Doctor Zhou is very knowledgeable and knows so much about these poisons and how to deal with them. Where did you learn this?"

Zhou Jing smiled faintly and replied, "General, you're too kind. I've been interested in all sorts of strange stories since I was young. During my travels, I was fortunate to meet some hermits and learned a lot from them. Now I have a little understanding. The most urgent task now is to solve the problem of the poisoned food and fodder. General, we should act as soon as possible."

Lin Zichen immediately gave the order, and the soldiers immediately went about their duties. Some began to deal with the poisoned grain, carefully separating the grain piles contaminated with poisonous mushroom powder from the clean grain. They marked them with special markings and sealed them in a sealed container to prevent any soldiers from accidentally touching them.

Another group of soldiers followed Yunxiu's suggestion and went to interrogate the warehouse guard and the grain transporter.

Lin Zichen and Yunxiu also arrived at the interrogation site. The atmosphere was oppressive and tense. The warehouse keeper and the grain transport officer were brought before them, both of them with terrified faces.

Lin Zichen sat upright in the main seat, his expression stern and serious. He scanned them with his gaze like a torch and said, "You two are responsible for matters related to the grain. Now that the grain has been poisoned, you are undoubtedly responsible. If you want a lighter sentence, tell the truth. Who ordered you to do this?"

The warehouse guard trembled slightly and stammered, "General... General, I really don't know. I guard the warehouse according to the rules every day, without any slacking, and I haven't seen anyone suspicious approaching the grain."

The grain and grass transport envoy also quickly agreed: "General, I am also innocent. I am in charge of the grain and grass transportation, and I check every handover to make sure it is correct. I never thought that someone would poison it."

Yunxiu carefully observed their expressions from the side, then stepped forward and said sharply, "Don't try to hide this. This poisonous mushroom powder is no ordinary substance. To be able to sneak it into the food and fodder without a trace, it must have been done by someone extremely familiar with the food and fodder management process. You two have the best chance of doing it. If you don't tell the truth now, you'll be in trouble when we find out the truth."

Upon hearing this, the warehouse guard tumbled to his knees, crying, "General, Your Highness, I truly wouldn't do anything so heartless. But... but I did see a suspicious figure wandering around the grain warehouse a few days ago, but at the time I thought it was just some lazy soldier, so I didn't pay much attention. Now I think that person might be suspicious."

Lin Zichen frowned and asked, "What does that person look like? Are there any characteristics?"

The warehouse guard tried to recall the situation and said, "The man was wearing ordinary soldier's clothes, but he was rather thin and walked with a slight limp. That's all I saw."

The grain transport envoy seemed to have recalled something and hurriedly said, "General, while transporting grain, I saw a small leader secretly talking with a stranger in a corner. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now I think it's a bit strange. The small leader seems to be in charge of logistics and his name is Wang Er."

Lin Zichen slammed the table, stood up, and said, "Regardless of whether these two people are the masterminds, we must find them as soon as possible. Lin San, pass the order down and search for the whereabouts of this lame man and Wang Er with all your strength."

"Yes." The personal guard Lin San clasped his fists in response and left.

As soon as Lin Sancai left, Su Qing and a group of soldiers walked in.

Su Qing reported that while on patrol, he found some new footprints in the woods surrounding the camp. These footprints were disorganized and numerous, and the direction of the footprints seemed to be in a semi-encircled position around the camp.

Lin Zichen had an ominous premonition in his heart, and hurried to the scene with Yunxiu. Although these footprints looked messy, they were actually traces of an organized march, but they were deliberately disguised as messy.

Moreover, the size and depth of the footprints suggest that these people were carrying heavier weapons and equipment.

"General Lin, this is probably an enemy plot," Yun Xiu said to Lin Zichen with a serious expression. "They want to take advantage of our distraction while we're busy investigating the poisoned food and launch a surprise attack on us."

Yun Xiu pondered for a moment and said, "Since the enemy wants to launch a surprise attack, they will definitely choose to do so at night.

Because night is good for them to hide their whereabouts, and our troops will be relatively less vigilant after a busy day. We can use their tactics to set a trap."

Lin Zichen's eyes lit up, she had the same idea.

Yunxiu continued, "We can deliberately relax our defenses at several seemingly weak points around the camp and create some false impressions, so that the enemy will think they have an opportunity to take advantage.

At the same time, hide our main forces behind and on both sides of these places.

When the enemy enters our predetermined range, we will surround them from three sides and catch them off guard."