"Sneak out of the palace and send the body to the estate. Have Commander Yue investigate. Remember to restore the courtyard to its original state and don't let anyone notice."

After the Crown Prince gave him some instructions, the guard immediately obeyed and left.

When the Crown Prince returned, he saw Song Xibai sitting in a chair, lost in thought.

"Qingqing?"

He thought Song Xibai was frightened by what he had just heard, so he quickly stepped forward and hugged her.

"It's okay, I'm here."

Song Xibai snapped out of her daze, blinked in his arms, and suddenly blurted out a sentence.

"Your Highness, do you think it's possible that those corpses are those of the gardener who went missing earlier?"

The prince abruptly released his grip, a solemn expression on his face.

"If that's the case... it's a pity that the faces of those corpses were destroyed, making it impossible to identify their appearances. We'll need to find a coroner to further verify their identities."

After the prince finished speaking, he got up and paced back and forth in the room.

Song Xibai, however, thought of the potted flower in Renshou Palace.

The gardener... the sleeping potion on the flowers...

I feel like there's some connection between these two things.

What she couldn't understand was that there was only a little bit of Thousand Days' Intoxication left on the petal, so who was this Thousand Days' Intoxication originally meant for?

The Empress Dowager?

However, the Empress Dowager suffered a stroke, which did not match the symptoms of the "Thousand-Day Intoxication."

There are more and more mysteries in this palace, and I have no clue what to do!

Unconsciously, Song Xibai voiced her doubts.

"You said the symptoms of that poison include unconsciousness? Are there any other symptoms?"

The crown prince suddenly spoke, his tone noticeably hurried and unusual.

"If the dosage of this 'thousand-day intoxication' is small each time, it will not be life-threatening. However, if it is done repeatedly, the toxins will accumulate in the body, causing loss of appetite and gradual weight loss, as well as headaches, dizziness, memory decline, slow reaction, and so on."

"You're also losing hair, aren't you?"

The prince murmured.

Song Xibai looked surprised: "How did Your Highness know?"

The crown prince closed his eyes, his voice unusually low.

"My mother had similar symptoms before she passed away."

Song Xibai was startled, and her heart suddenly started beating so fast that she could hear the pounding of her heart.

"How could this be?! Could it be that Her Majesty the Empress died from the Thousand-Day Intoxication? But didn't she die from a serious illness?"

Song Xibai exclaimed in disbelief.

The crown prince took a deep breath, his face showing unprecedented solemnity and coldness.

"From the time my mother fell ill to her death, it was only a little over ten days. At that time, all the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital could not find the cause of her illness. They tried many methods, but none of them worked. In the end, she passed away in her sleep..."

Thinking back to what had happened, the crown prince was overcome with grief.

"But before that, my mother was not feeling well. She always had headaches, was forgetful, and was losing hair. I was very worried at the time, but my mother said that she was just too tired."

Song Xibai held the Crown Prince's hand tightly.

How long has she been feeling unwell?

"About one or two months? I had already moved to the East Palace by then, and I could only see the Empress Dowager when I went to pay my respects in the morning and evening. But the Empress Dowager didn't want me to worry, so she always pretended that nothing was wrong."

At this point, the crown prince's eyes reddened.

"If I had discovered it sooner, my mother might not have died."

Song Xibai pursed her lips and pulled his head to rest on her shoulder.

"Your Highness, please don't blame yourself. You were still young then! Besides, the person who poisoned you was too cunning; even Her Majesty the Empress herself didn't notice."

The crown prince reached out and hugged her tightly, remaining silent for a long time.

Song Xibai felt a dampness on his neck and shoulders and gently stroked his back.