Chapter 320 She was meant to be Empress

Upon receiving the order, the Imperial Guards immediately moved forward and surrounded the entire Jingkun Palace.

Sheng Xiyue's expression changed drastically, and her clenched palms almost bled. Dou Wenyi was just the Crown Princess, and she and the Crown Prince were not even married yet. How could these useless Imperial Guards listen to her?

"What does the Crown Princess mean?"

Slap him!

Manager Chen had long disliked Sheng Xiyue, and he raised his hand to slap her, saying, "How dare you question the Crown Princess's orders?"

Sheng Xiyue's cheeks were red and swollen, her face blurred with tears. "Xue Tuan went berserk because she saw that handkerchief. It was clearly the Crown Princess's handkerchief that was the problem. Instead of arresting the real culprit, how could you hit me..."

Her voice grew softer and softer, and seeing the fierce looks on the faces of the Imperial Guards, she had no confidence to utter another word.

Sheng Shuzhen was so frightened that her face turned pale. She pursed her lips and stopped in her tracks.

Jingkun Palace was in chaos, and Consort Shu had been carried to her bed.

Physician Hu arrived quickly and carefully examined Consort Zhang's cat scratches, mouth, nose, eyelids, etc. "...Generally, cat and dog scratches and bites are not serious, but there is a risk of contracting bite disease. It is rare to see someone fall into a coma like this; it seems more like she has accidentally ingested some kind of poison!"

Dou Wenyi raised an eyebrow slightly, "Poison?"

Physician Hu nodded slightly, his tone quite certain, "It's like peacock gall. This poison is extremely potent. Even a slight contact will cause one to fall into a coma, or even risk death."

As he spoke, he wrote out a prescription, then began to disinfect her wound before preparing to administer acupuncture.

Dou Wenyi's face was gloomy. While sending Cuizhi to the East Palace to fetch the Nine Immortals Jade Dew Pill, she ordered, "Someone, check carefully what Her Majesty ate and smelled at lunch and this afternoon. Check everything, including the tea, pastries, incense burner, etc."

The commotion at Jingkun Palace quickly alerted the Imperial City Guard, and the commander on duty, with the cooperation of Steward Chen, began searching everywhere.

Pei Siyan, Zhang Chengxian, Sheng Chunfang, and others were discussing matters when they heard about this, and the group rushed to Jingkun Palace.

The people all looked rather unwell, and the room was filled with people sitting quietly, like the calm before a storm.

When Sheng Chunfang saw that both Sheng Xiyue and Sheng Shuzhen were there, her breath hitched slightly, and a dark glint flashed in her eyes.

Cuizhi quickly brought the Nine Immortals Jade Dew Pill. Physician Hu was overjoyed, having already witnessed the pill's power. He immediately ordered someone to give it to Consort Zhang. She was awakened by the golden needles, and after taking the pill, she vomited a mouthful of dark blood with a "whoosh."

She drifted off to sleep again.

Half an hour later, the imperial physicians finally pinpointed the source of Consort Zhang's poisoning: residual poison found in the teacup she had been drinking from.

And this poison is exactly the same as the poison on the silk handkerchief!

Sheng Xiyue carefully moved behind Sheng Chunfang and quietly recounted what had happened.

"...Are you saying that Consort Shu was attacked by the cat servant because she took out her silk handkerchief?"

Sheng Xiyue suddenly knelt on the ground, "Your Highness, General Zhang, Father, it is said that cat servants are very intelligent and will protect their masters. Perhaps Xue Tuan sensed that Consort Zhang was in danger with that handkerchief, which is why she acted so strangely. What if the poison got on her hands..."

Her subtext was simply that if poison got on her hands, it could very likely fall into the teacup, leading to accidental ingestion and poisoning.

After a moment's thought, Sheng Chunfang grasped the key point: "Whose handkerchief is it?"

Sheng Shuzhen replied softly, "It belongs to the Crown Princess."

She paused, then said, "Uncle, recently I've heard many palace servants talking about how the Crown Princess wants to regain control of the six palaces."

Everyone present turned to look at Dou Wenyi.

"Ridiculous! You suspect the Crown Princess?" Pei Siyan raised his chin slightly, his expression arrogant, his voice cold and stern.

It seems that anyone who dares to say it will be met with a life-or-death struggle.

Zhang Chengxian said sarcastically, "How dare you! You even try to frame the Crown Princess? The Crown Princess has saved my Zhang family from dire straits several times. She is a great benefactor of my Zhang family. She would never harm my aunt."

Sheng Chunfang stared intently at her daughter and niece, hesitant to speak.

He could see the longing and grievance in her eyes all too well, and he was really worried that she would cause trouble again and implicate the entire Sheng family!

Sheng Xiyue helplessly raised her swollen, tear-streaked face, her whole being radiating sorrow and grief, "Crown Prince, General Zhang, Consort Zhang's fate is unknown, are you not even going to investigate?"

Is Dou Wenyi really that trustworthy?

Even if she murdered their loved ones, could they remain indifferent?

"Uncle, say something! Consort Zhang has treated our Sheng family well, and Shuzhen doesn't want to see her being harmed for no reason." Sheng Shuzhen spoke righteously, looking as if she were truly upholding justice.

Dou Wenyi couldn't listen anymore and stood up. Before she could even speak, Pei Siyan grabbed her wrist.

"When did I ever say I wouldn't investigate? If I'm going to investigate, I'll get to the bottom of it and severely punish the real culprit! My Crown Princess is the Empress, why would she need to wield power?"

As he spoke, he coldly looked at Sheng Chunfang, "Plotting to harm a palace concubine is a crime punishable by death. Lord Sheng, no matter who is implicated later, they must be dealt with according to the law. You don't have any objections, do you?"

"Someone, summon Shen Yanzhou from the Imperial City Guard to investigate!"

Sheng Chunfang froze, feeling as if a great disaster was about to befall her.

His expression was somber and complex as he stared blankly at Sheng Xiyue. "Your Highness, my daughter did not mean to offend the Crown Princess. In my humble opinion, these are turbulent times, and it is not advisable to cause any further trouble. Why make a big fuss about matters of the inner palace?"

Dou Wenyi gave Pei Siyan a reassuring look. “Lord Sheng, you don’t need to use me as a scapegoat. The purpose of finding out the truth is not to prove my innocence, but to restore the truth. Consort Zhang treats the Crown Prince like a mother. Anyone who makes things difficult for her is making things difficult for the Crown Prince. She shouldn’t have suffered this calamity for no reason.”

As she spoke, she voluntarily spread out her hands. "Imperial Physician Hu, please take a close look. My hands are contaminated with poison. I went to the side hall to change my clothes just now and did not wash my hands before returning to the main hall."

So she didn't have time to wash her hands at all.

Based on the previous deduction, Consort Zhang was poisoned because she came into contact with that handkerchief. If she was the one who poisoned her, her hands would have been contaminated with the poison to some extent.

As soon as she finished speaking, Sheng Xiyue's eyelids twitched violently, and her hands, hidden in her sleeves, trembled uncontrollably.

Dou Wenyi paused for a moment, then said meaningfully, "Since you're going to investigate me, you should treat everyone equally. Everyone who was present in Kunning Palace just now should be investigated. Also, before Xue Tuan attacked me, my handkerchief was lost, no, to be precise, it was hidden away."

"Miss Sheng, what do you all think?"

A flicker of panic crossed Sheng Shuzhen's eyes as she mumbled, "Who would know about your personal belongings?"

Dou Wenyi continued casually, "Today, it was Consort Shu who summoned me to the palace. Her purpose was because Miss Sheng wanted to apologize. I didn't orchestrate this. If I had planned it, this timing would have been full of loopholes, and I would have had no opportunity not to make my move."

"But if there are two sisters or multiple people committing the crime, that's a different story. However, this is still reckless, with too many flaws, and is tantamount to courting death!"

With the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne imminent, there are fears that some people may have ulterior motives and want to sow discord between him and the Zhang family.

If they could also get rid of her, the Crown Princess, it would be something that the powerful and wealthy families would welcome, since no one would want an unknown woman to become Empress.

Therefore, besides the two idiots in the Sheng family, there might be other powerful figures hiding inside Jingkun Palace.