I have traveled through time, who am I afraid of?

Chapter 1008 The Emperor sighed at the coincidence.

When the civil and military officials in the hall saw Tan Wen from the Northern Garrison Command step forward to report the sudden death of the former Vice Minister Zhang Jinyan, whether out of curiosity or ulterior motives, they all immediately pricked up their ears and stared at Tan Wen's back, waiting for him to explain how the former Vice Minister Zhang Jinyan had suddenly died in the prison in the middle of the night.

Tan Wen was merely the chief officer in the imperial prison; according to his official rank, he was not qualified to appear before the emperor in the palace.

Now, because of the sudden death of the former Grand Secretary Zhang Jinyan, he has finally found himself standing opposite the current emperor.

Now, not only do they have to face the emperor's face, but they also have to be watched by dozens of eyes from all the officials. It would be a lie to say they aren't nervous at all.

Tan calmed himself down, bowed and cupped his hands: "Your Majesty, last night at the third watch, former Vice Minister Zhang Jinyan suddenly had a nightmare in his cell, which led to him losing his mind and going insane. He even unconsciously harmed himself!"

Upon hearing the news, the prison guards rushed over to try to stop him, but soon, the former Grand Secretary Zhang Jinyan died!

Upon receiving the report from the jailer, I immediately led the coroner to the prison cell to investigate…

After examining the body, the coroner's preliminary conclusion was that, judging from the manner of Zhang Jinyan's death, it was clear that he had gone mad under the influence of some kind of toxin, which led to his sudden death.

However... all parts of Zhang Jinyan's body showed... no poison...

In light of this situation, I have ordered a coroner to conduct a thorough autopsy in order to determine the true cause of death of the previous Assistant Minister Zhang Jinyan!

After Tan Wen finished his report, the hall fell silent.

Upon seeing this, Zheng Tong, the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, the wives, concubines, and children of the former Vice Minister Zhang Jinyan, who were imprisoned in the Shuntian Prefecture prison, also died suddenly in their cells last night at midnight."

Among them, the deaths of Wang, the wife of the former Vice Minister Zhang Jinyan, and Zhang Miaotong, the second daughter of the former Vice Minister Zhang Jinyan, are extremely similar to the deaths of the former Vice Minister Zhang Jinyan that Lord Tan just described!

Zhang Miaoying, the eldest daughter of former Grand Secretary Zhang Jinyan, is suspected to have committed suicide by hitting her head against a pillar after realizing that she was showing signs of madness.

The two concubines and two sons of the former Grand Secretary Zhang Jinyan suddenly burst into tears after midnight and died from crying.

The coroner's conclusion regarding the cause of death of Zhang Jinyan's wife and daughter was the same as that of Zhang Jinyan's death.

Even the cause of death of Zhang Jinyan's concubine's son... the coroner believed it was the same as that of Zhang Jinyan's legal wife and daughter.

If we assume... they all died from poisoning...

The only explanation is that... Zhang Jinyan's concubine's son received a smaller dose of medicine, hence his symptoms were relatively milder, but the outcome was the same: death!

After reporting back, Tan Wen, the Commander of the Northern Garrison, and Zheng Tong, the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, stepped back and stood there quietly.

Leaving aside Emperor Hongde, who knew this would happen, all the civil and military officials in the hall had the same thought at this moment: Just as expected!

But at the same time, everyone was also a little curious...

How did the people in both cells get poisoned at the same time?

How did the poisoning occur at the same time?

At this moment, everyone's gaze shifted from Tan Wen and Zheng Tong to Emperor Hongde's face.

Next, all the officials wanted to hear what the current emperor had to say about the matter.

The hall remained quiet for a while before the officials heard Emperor Hongde on the dragon throne speak.

"My two ministers, I just heard what you said... The sudden death of Zhang Jinyan's family was most likely due to poisoning, but you have not yet found any toxins in the deceased... and of course, you don't know what kind of poison they were poisoned with."

is that so? "

Emperor Hongde's tone was very calm, making it almost impossible to discern his emotions.

Prefect Zheng Tong of Shuntian Prefecture and Tan Wen of the Northern Garrison Command exchanged a glance. This time, Prefect Zheng Tong of Shuntian Prefecture stepped forward to reply: "Your Majesty, we are ashamed!"

That's absolutely true!

I share the same opinion as the coroner who performed the autopsy: that the former Vice Minister Zhang Jinyan and his family died from poisoning.

However, the difficulty lies in determining the nature of the poison they have been afflicted with.

Emperor Hongde frowned slightly, his fingers unconsciously twirling the jade thumb ring on his thumb. He looked at Zheng Tong and Tan Wen opposite him, and said as if he was thinking, "You think that the former Grand Secretary Zhang Jinyan and his family died of poisoning. I also think it is true."

However, for someone to be poisoned, someone must have poisoned them first.

To poison someone, there always has to be some method, such as putting the poison in food;

Or perhaps the poison was dispersed into the air of the enclosed space where the deceased was located...

In other words, the person who poisons the other must use these methods to achieve their goal, right?

A person can't just get poisoned out of nowhere... and then die...

No?

Could it be... that there's something wrong with the food in your prison?

No, it's not just the Imperial Prison; it should be said that... there's a problem with the food in both the Imperial Prison and the Shuntian Prefecture Prison?

Moreover... the food in both cells had the same problem!

The same family members died!

Emperor Hongde paused, and asked a question that was quite meaningful, "Could it be... that the family in the two prisons ate the same thing at the same time?"

Then he died suddenly at the same time.

If it wasn't man-made... would anyone believe that such a coincidence could happen in this world?