Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 746 – The Bloody Incident Caused by the Medicine

In An Hua’s view, determining the severity of an injury was a very important phase, and it was only right that such a duty fall on the able and moral Li Palace clerics, who were worthy of this trust. Yet, in the face of her questioning gaze, the cleric shook his head, hesitating to speak. His expression was rather complex.

“At the moment, the judgment on the severity of injuries is handled by the stewards of the Tang clan and the military doctors.”

The senior doctor added, “That person also laid down rules for determining the severity of injuries. The specific conditions are all written very clearly, and at the moment, every Sacred Hospital has a copy. Both we and the stewards of the Tang clan have to follow these conditions, and nobody dares to act recklessly.”

After saying this, he took out a book about half a finger thick from his sleeve and handed it to An Hua.

An Hua took the book and began to flip through it. The more she saw, the deeper the respect in her eyes became. The cleric had naturally seen this book as well and sighed, “Even without the Cinnabar Pill, one can see just from this book on judging the severity of injuries that the writer would be the most famous doctor of the generation.”

After reading through the book, she returned it to the doctor and then mentioned her last and most important question.

“How can this person ensure that his rules are effectively carried out?”

In the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green, she had devoted her entire mind to study, never once inquiring into the outside world, but she knew that the minds of people were sinister, the ways of the world complex. In addition, loopholes could be found in even the most perfect system of rules, and taken together with the fact that these were life-or-death matters, with so many powerful cultivators and important figures in the forts on the frontlines, it was truly difficult to keep control, and nobody would care about these rules. For instance, if some grandson of a powerful minister of the court were to be severely injured but did not have the right to receive a Cinnabar Pill based on these rules, who would dare deny him the pill and watch him die?

“Such a situation truly did occur at Blue Pass. Divine General Fei Dian’s nephew stole a Cinnabar Pill.”

The cleric glanced at the general and continued, “Afterwards, Blue Pass did not receive a single Cinnabar Pill for two whole months, and the hearts of the soldiers became unsteady. Seething with discontent, the troops rebelled, and one squad that had suffered particularly grievous losses on the battlefield charged into the Divine General’s estate, took out that nephew who was recovering from his wounds, and hacked him into meat paste.”

An Hua somewhat uneasily asked, “But this was open robbery…but what if some truly important figure pulled some strings before the medicine was even distributed?”

The cleric looked into her eyes and said, “You probably don’t know that the Wenshui Tangs were not the first to be in charge of distribution. It was actually the Hall of Illustrious Persons.”

An Hua was somewhat shocked. “Is Sir saying that it was the Orthodoxy that was responsible for distribution at the very beginning? Then why did it later pass on to the Tang clan?”

“Just like you said, someone attempted to pull some strings before the medicine was distributed.”

The cleric ruefully sighed, “There was a student from the Temple Seminary sent to the frontlines. This student had astonishing talent and was even regarded as surpassing Tianhai Ya’er. Moreover, he was virtuous, outstanding, and gallant on the battlefield. In a sudden encounter with the wolf cavalry, he suffered severe injuries in order to cover the retreat of his schoolmates.”

An Hua was confused. “And this person didn’t have the right to receive a Cinnabar Pill?”

“It was at a very remote fort which only received one Cinnabar Pill every three months, and his luck was very poor.”

“What do you mean?”

“An unaffiliated array master that had similarly heavy injuries was ranked in front of him.”

“So it was like that.”

“When the Bishop of the Temple Seminary came to know of this matter, he asked a cardinal of the Hall of Illustrious Persons to pull some strings and place this student’s name in front of the array master’s.”

To the Li Palace, a young student with astonishing talent and prospects was far more important than some cultivator who had no sect.

An Hua would not have done such a thing, but she could understand why the Bishop of the Temple Seminary had done so.

“When the Temple Seminary student took the Cinnabar Pill, he truly did recover, and he suffered no residual effects.”

“And the unaffiliated array master?”

“He died.”

This was the expected end for that array master, but these ordinary words seemed to stir such sorrow and helplessness.

An Hua fell silent, then asked, “What happened after that?”

Since it was the Bishop of the Temple Seminary and a cardinal of the Hall of Illustrious Persons that had acted, then whether they had adjusted the places in the line or done something else in the background, they had probably left no evidence. She had even thought of an even more terrifying possibility. For the sake of obtaining a Cinnabar Pill, perhaps some important figure was even willing to assassinate the wounded that were ahead of them in line!

“The fort was not affected in any way. Just as before, it received one Cinnabar Pill every three months.”

The cleric’s expression suddenly turned grave. “But from that moment, the Hall of Illustrious Persons was no longer able to receive a single Cinnabar Pill. No one knew how that person was able to learn of this matter, nor did that person give any proof. He simply withdrew the power of distributing the Cinnabar Pill from the Hall of Illustrious Persons and gave it to the Wenshui Tangs.”

The room was utterly silent. Everyone still remembered the major incident from last year.

The cleric sighed. “Upon learning of this matter, Archbishop Mao Qiuyu’s anger was like a thunderstorm. He ordered Linghai Zhiwang to begin a purge of the Hall of Illustrious Persons. The cardinal was executed, the Bishop of the Temple Seminary was exiled from the Orthodoxy, and many other important figures suffered a great misfortune from this matter.”

An Hua knew that an extremely senior and powerful cardinal of the Hall of Illustrious Persons had died, but she had thought that he had died from an illness. She was shocked to learned that this was the actual reason for his death.

The relationship between the Imperial Court and the Orthodoxy was no longer as tense as it was two years ago, but the two sides remained in opposition to each other. On the frontlines of the war against the demons, it was naturally the Imperial Court whose words carried the most weight. In this sort of situation, the Orthodoxy had to treasure every chance it had to display its strength, let alone something as important as the power to distribute the Cinnabar Pill.

That cardinal and the Bishop of the Temple Seminary had offended the master of the Cinnabar Pill and caused the Orthodoxy to lose an extremely precious resource. Even if they died ten thousand times, they would not be able to make up for this loss. Mao Qiuyu was known for his benevolence, but since it was his own subordinates that had caused so much trouble, his fury and the harsh measures he had taken were completely understandable.

“After that incident, no one dared to go against the system arranged for the Cinnabar Pill, and no one dared to cheat the wounded and secretly store up pills. Incidents in which pills were stolen also gradually came to a stop.”

The cleric continued, “This was all because of the rules laid down by that person. Yes, no one knows who that person is. Perhaps they’re just some ordinary countryside doctor with no means of ensuring their rules are kept, but they have the Cinnabar Pill, so their words have strength. The bloody incident of the Hall of Illustrious Persons is proof of this. In order to keep this power of distributing the medicine, the Wenshui Tangs are even willing to kill people to preserve these rules. No matter where you hide, if the Tang clan wants to kill you, how can you survive?”