Deadlock

Overnight, the palace underwent a huge change. The situation was turned upside down, comparable to a landslide or tsunami, and it was in chaos.

The assassin was a Western Rong spy who had infiltrated a group of sword dance performances. The person in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who let these people in had been killed long ago, so no evidence could be found.

In a panic, Jing Yao roughly guessed that some of these people were planted by Si Pei, so that he could assassinate Si Jue by deceiving the real ones.

If that was the case, why did Si Pei suddenly take effect due to the poison? Logically, if the assassin could successfully poison him, there would be no need to kill him in person. Moreover, since it was Si Pei who ordered the assassination, there was no way they would have been given the opportunity to poison him.

All the imperial doctors from the Imperial Hospital came over. A group of them were treating Si Pei, while others who were not good at detoxification went to treat Si Jue, whose life was also hanging by a thread.

"Your Highness, this poison... I have never seen it before!" Doctor Sun, the most experienced doctor in the Imperial Hospital, was horrified and moved his hand away from Si Pei's pulse in fear.

He had seen and cured countless strange poisons in his life, but he had never seen one as tricky as this one.

"Then prescribe some medicine to save his life!" Imperial Physician Sun's words were almost identical to those in my previous life. Jing Yao was on the verge of mental collapse, and he vented without restraint, "Didn't you all say that the poison in his body was no longer a threat? I've asked you to investigate the Western Region's strange poison for so long, but you haven't found any clues. What's the point of the Imperial Medical Bureau keeping a bunch of you useless people?"

Jing Yao attacked everyone indiscriminately, not even caring whether they were right or wrong: "Ming Tan! Have you checked the food in the kitchen? Xing Feng! How could these assassins sneak into the palace right under your nose? What on earth are you doing!"

After cursing for a while, Jing Yao started to scold herself, asking why she didn't confess to Si Pei earlier. Although she had reminded him of everything she could, if she had been frank from the beginning, maybe there would have been a slight chance that the result would have been different.

After blaming himself, Jing Yao felt that it was not his fault, but the fault of that bastard God.

She was given a chance to start over, so why did Si Pei make the same mistake again?

This poison attack is meaningless and there is no logic to it!

Is it possible that God has a big hand controlling all this, and with just a slight wave of his hand, he can easily take away Si Pei's life?

So no matter how hard they try, they can't change the fate that God has set for Si Pei.

"Oh my god."

Jing Yao was in so much pain that she could hardly cry. The Imperial Hospital rushed to prepare a life-saving medicine for Si Pei. The bitter smell of the herbs lingered in her nose, but Jing Yao seemed unable to sense it.

She had smelled this smell enough in her previous life.

No, she would never accept her fate.

Jing Yao, who was lying beside Si Pei's bed, suddenly sat up and wiped away the tears that were flowing.

Si Pei lay lifeless on the couch, motionless. The blood on his face had been wiped clean, and he looked as peaceful as if he was just sleeping.

But Jing Yao knew that beneath this silence lay an exploding pain that would gradually devour all the life in Si Pei's body.

Jing Yao held back her tears. At this moment, she was the only one who could save Si Pei. She knew where to start the fastest.

"Xing Feng, investigate Prince Lin and his cronies. Don't let any of them go. He must have a way to cure this poison. At the very least, find out what kind of poison it is."

Xing Feng, who had just sent someone to review the palace's movements today, hesitated to speak: "Madam Jing, I have already checked Prince Lin's movements today. There is nothing wrong. He just attended the banquet as usual. Besides, Prince Lin is dying at the moment, so it shouldn't be..."

"Just go and investigate when I tell you to. Interrogate all his cronies and guards!" Jing Yao interrupted him unbearably. Her sharp eyes made Xing Feng's heart tremble, and he immediately retreated.

This matter concerns the life of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so he really dare not slack off in the slightest. He has to try any method.

"Madam Jing!" The imperial physician who was treating Si Jue stumbled in from the other side. Queen Dowager Xuan heard that Jing Yao had fainted from the assassin who was chasing him in the back hall and was still unconscious. Now the only person left in the palace who could take charge was Jing Yao.

The imperial physician trembled, "Your Highness, Prince Lin's injuries are too severe. I'm afraid... he won't make it past tomorrow!"

If it were in the past, or when Si Pei was safe and sound, Jing Yao would have been extremely happy to hear this news, and would have been delighted to have avenged his great hatred.

But at this moment, she didn't want Si Jue to die.

If Si Jue also died, then the hope of finding the antidote to save Si Pei would be even slimmer.

She really wanted to cut Si Jue into pieces, but at this moment she also had to keep every hope.

"Save his life at any cost," Jing Yao calmed himself down. Even if Si Jue was really dying, he had to wake up first and make him spit out Si Pei's antidote before dying.

The doctor's forehead was covered with sweat, but he had no choice but to try: "...Yes!"

After all, Eunuch Ming had more experience, and when such a big thing happened, he was the first to step forward to calm the young and panicked guests and let them accept the investigation of the Dali Temple.

There are too many people involved tonight, and almost all the staff from the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice have been dispatched. Fortunately, there are many young men and women among them, and almost no one knows what happened just now, so a large group of non-suspicious people can be eliminated quickly.

The hardest things to check are diet and assassins.

The assassins were either beheaded or committed suicide by taking poison. Only some tattoo patterns related to the Western Rong could be found on their bodies.

And the diet that Jing Yao was most suspicious of turned out to be nothing to worry about.

Eunuch Ming explained, "At first, a palace maid said that the Empress Dowager had the Imperial Kitchen prepare Baixin Xiangyun pastries and serve them to His Highness. His Highness disliked them, so he sent an old servant to remove them and replace them with pear blossom pastries. The other dishes were also tested for poison and found to be clean."

As soon as the incident happened, the imperial doctors immediately retested all the food on Si Pei's table, but still found no trace of poison.

"All ingredients in the imperial kitchen have been carefully examined and recorded, so it's difficult to tamper with them."

"Just because it's difficult doesn't mean it's impossible. Keep investigating and uncover all the suspicious things." Jing Yao had a terrible headache, but he still remembered the cakes that Eunuch Ming mentioned: "Have you checked the cakes that the Queen Mother sent?"

"I checked it at the time." Eunuch Ming hesitated, his panic evident to Jing Yao. It was the first time Ming Tan had seen such a fierce gaze on a young girl, and it sent shivers down his spine. But he still said, "I didn't look too closely, because I thought it was sent by the Empress Dowager, so it couldn't be..."

Jing Yao seemed to have grasped the last straw of hope: "Find those cakes and check them again carefully!"

Eunuch Ming knew that this was his fault, and cold sweat broke out on his hands and feet. He hurriedly retreated after hearing this.

Time passed by bit by bit. The people from the Dali Temple were still outside verifying the details of the banquet and what had just happened. The last person to be checked was Jing Yao.

Baili Wenfu walked slowly and lightly to the girl's side. Her face was numb, and even her tears had stopped falling. Jing Yao stayed by Si Pei's bedside, her mental state extremely fragile at the moment, and Baili Wenfu did not dare to disturb her easily.

He looked at the lifeless Si Pei, and his mind was suddenly filled with mixed feelings.

If you had told him half a day ago, he would never have believed that such a thing could happen in the palace.

The prince was poisoned, the prince was stabbed...

Everything was so chaotic that even the investigators had no idea where to start.

These assassins were released at just the right moment, leaving no useful clues. It was as if... someone in the palace was behind this, and it wasn't just any ordinary person. The most terrifying thing was that there was no evidence to prove that these assassins were the ones who poisoned the crown prince. If they weren't, then there was a strong possibility that there was another danger lurking in the palace.

The two of them stayed in silence for a while. Just when Baili Wenfu was about to break the silence, Jing Yao spoke first: "Brother Wenfu."

Baili Wenfu was startled at first, but then he immediately moved closer to her and said softly, "Lingyi, don't be afraid, I'm here."

But Jing Yao didn't seek his embrace as powerlessly or weakly as he imagined. Instead, he was terrifyingly calm. He didn't know that Jing Yao no longer had the strength to collapse and go crazy.

"Ask whatever you want to ask."

Jing Yao didn't have time for sentimental talk, so he went straight to the point and asked Baili Wenfu to state his purpose.

Baili Wenfu was initially surprised, but after a moment, he felt a sense of emotion. This was perhaps a reflection of Jing Yao's growth after experiencing so many great changes. She was no longer the crybaby and spoiled girl he remembered.

So he also became serious: "Ling Yi, have you been with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince the entire day?"

"Not entirely. I separated from him twice. Once in the morning when I was catching up with Zuo Yuanwu, and once in the evening when I was with the eldest daughter of the Jiang family and Mrs. Huo Si during the lantern festival." Jing Yao tried hard to recall everything that happened that day, answering the questions calmly and methodically. "Apart from that, we were together."

"Is there anything wrong with His Royal Highness? Has he ever revealed that he was unwell?"

Jing Yao shook his head: "No."

If there was, she could see it.

Today Si Pei was really no different from the past. The only possibility was that he was a little happy because she agreed to marry him.

"Can you describe the scene when His Royal Highness was assassinated again?"

Jing Yao tried her best to recall the moment when Si Pei held her in his arms, and the scene of him collapsing with blood at the mouth.

It's simply another round of mental torture.

"Okay, I understand." Baili Wenfu also failed to get any useful clues from her, so he had to wait and see. They even sent people to catch up with the convoy that was transporting the Fifth Princess to the outskirts of the city and interrogate her again.

After all, her throwing tantrums during the day was also one of the biggest anomalies today.

There were still some people being detained outside the palace, including two young men and women, Wen Renyou and Jiang Min, whose suspicions had risen sharply because they were also parties involved in the case of the fifth princess causing a disturbance at the banquet today.

With her sister detained and her best friend suffering a huge blow from her lover becoming critically ill after being poisoned in front of her, Jiang Jing had no reason to leave, and Huo Zhuxin also stayed to accompany her.

"What should Ling Yi do..."

Jiang Jing thought she was not a sentimental person, but at this moment she couldn't control the tears that kept flowing from her eyes.

Wen Renyou was filled with regret. Jiang Min was implicated in both the burns and the interrogation because of him. Even his two brothers stayed because of their worry.

"There may still be danger in the palace. We stayed to protect the princes."

Wen Rencuo explained coldly, seemingly unwilling to admit that he had any selfish motives in caring about his brother.

Almost an hour later, Eunuch Ming, who had gone to check on the pastries, finally arrived with news that all of Bai Xin and Xiang Yun's pastries had been retrieved. The free imperial physician immediately began testing for poison, and Jing Yao felt a glimmer of hope.

"Madam Jing!" Doctor Fu said with a sad face, "These cakes... are fine."

The little bit of expectation that Jing Yao had built up with great difficulty collapsed in an instant.

"You vicious bitch!" A weak but still sharp voice came from the back hall. The Queen Dowager Xuan, who had just woken up, suddenly appeared in the hall. "You poisoned the prince, and you still have the nerve to slander me!"

Jing Yao slumped on the ground. When she heard the voice, her eyes, filled with resentment and ferocity, stared at the aggressive Queen Dowager Xuan, frightening the old woman again.

At this moment, the girl was like a lynx ready to attack, intending to brutally bite the vital point of the prey that was delivered to her door.