Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne Chapter 1081 - 123: Zhao Yao’s Speculation (Part 2)

"My lord, officials in Annan and Johor have their servants taste the food first before they partake," the spy informed. "Doctors check their pulses after a period, yet no poisoning symptoms have surfaced."

"No poison detection after brief consumption is expected," Zhao Yao remarked pensively. "Numerous slow poisons demand one or two years of intake before diagnosis becomes feasible."

"My lord, could it be a delayed poison?"

"Highly likely." Zhao Yao gazed at the spy and directed, "Keep probing this issue, monitor the Poison Mist Forest closely, and uncover the Divine Pill's composition."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Zhao Yao dismissed the spy with a wave, then ordered Tong Xi to call in the customs officials for his directives.

Upon arrival, the customs officials received Zhao Yao's command to thoroughly scrutinize all drugs from nations like Annan and Johor effective immediately. Seize any so-called Divine Pill discovered at once.

Zhao Yao further directed Wen Daoji and his team to crack down on the Divine Pill across Lingnan. Arrest all caught selling or using it. He decreed a prohibition on Lingnan residents consuming the Divine Pill.

Though this could tip off adversaries, banning the Divine Pill was essential to shield more Southern Wei victims from harm. Unrestrained spread would doom countless souls to poisoning.

Fearing the emperor's ignorance of the Divine Pill, Zhao Yao penned an urgent secret missive dispatched to the capital via fast courier. He also alerted Prince Chu and Prince Wei in letters, urging immediate capture of any Divine Pill peddlers spotted.

Southern Wei operatives peddle the Divine Pill covertly, beyond Song Dachuan and Duan Jiangcheng's knowledge. Regardless of my elder brother's awareness, a warning was imperative.

That evening, Song Dachuan visited Zhao Yao covertly. He revealed that Swamp Prefecture's Southern Wei folk had heard of the Divine Pill but remained oblivious to their own involvement in its creation.

"Duan Jiangcheng remains clueless too?"

"I probed him; he's genuinely unaware."

"And Southern Wei in other prefectures?"

"Queried them as well; ignorance prevails."

"Not a single one knows?" Zhao Yao voiced his astonishment.

"Even those in Southern Wei Prefecture deny knowledge."

"Their own creation—how can they be ignorant?" Zhao Yao pondered inwardly: a secretive Southern Wei clique must be crafting the Divine Pill without allies' notice, harboring grand schemes.

"I even enlisted Southern Wei Prefecture folk to procure the Divine Pill for me; they pledged aid if obtainable," Song Dachuan continued. "I proposed we manufacture it ourselves, given its fame and steep price."

Zhao Yao promptly inquired, "Their response?"

"Most endorsed it and vowed to escalate the notion to superiors alongside me." Song Dachuan puzzled over the Divine Pill's secrecy from so many kin. He yearned to unmask its hidden makers. "Capital feedback should arrive shortly."

"Did you consult your family?"

"Indeed, they're oblivious to the Divine Pill and blind to its trade."

"Is your elder brother aware of the Divine Pill?" Zhao Yao's chief worry.

"Uncertain if my lord knows." Song Dachuan's rank barred insight into Prince Wei's affairs.

"How many factions divide your Southern Wei people?" Zhao Yao queried with intrigue. "Which might be behind the Divine Pill?"

"I point to Kou Nanyu and his crew," Song Dachuan spat with bitterness. "They scorn my lord, shunning our circle. Rumors say they severed ties years back, demanding we stay out of their business as they would ours."

"I'd never heard of this rift; why hold back earlier?" Zhao Yao hadn't anticipated such a schism among Southern Wei ranks.

"Decades without contact made it fade from thought. Your Divine Pill mention jogged my memory," Song Dachuan's faction branded Kou Nanyu's as betrayers, avoiding entanglement. "Their pharmaceutical prowess screams they're the Divine Pill culprits."

"If true, doesn't that endanger my elder brother?"

"Fear not—Kou Nanyu's lot may disdain my lord, but they'd never strike him down, as he's the final Southern Wei Royal bloodline."