Concubine Rou brought the Second Prince to attend the eldest princess' birthday ceremony today.

She was talking to Wen Shutang about the interesting stories of the Second Prince when the Second Prince, who was sitting next to them, suddenly fainted on the ground.

Concubine Rou held the unconscious Second Prince in her arms, she was so frightened that she hurriedly called the imperial physician.

Wen Shutang on the side frowned tightly, her eyes full of worry.

All the concubines in the inner hall were also shocked.

The imperial physician rushed over after receiving the news.

At about the same time, the emperor and Ning Wanyin also arrived.

"Your Majesty, the Second Prince has taken something highly poisonous. I will induce vomiting for him immediately!" After taking the Second Prince's pulse, Judge Zhao's expression changed drastically, and he quickly fed the Second Prince emetic.

The words "highly poisonous substance" fell.

Concubine Rou's eyes went dark and she almost fainted, tears streaming down her face.

Wen Shutang was filled with worry, muttering to herself, "How could he be poisoned for no reason? May God bless him, may all the gods and Buddhas bless him, may the Second Prince be safe and healthy..."

Helian Qi's face turned extremely cold when he heard this, "President Zhao, you must rescue the Second Prince!"

"Summon Wu Mi and conduct a thorough investigation!"

After being fed the emetic pill, the second prince vomited a lot of water.

Judge Zhao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and reported:

"Your Majesty, the Second Prince did not ingest a large amount of poison by mistake. The poisoning is still mild and he has already been detoxified. Now he just needs to be carefully nursed back to health."

"That's great..." Concubine Rou breathed a sigh of relief and cried with joy while hugging the Second Prince.

Helian Qi's expression eased a little, "President Zhao, a generous reward!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Judge Zhao expressed his gratitude.

Wu Mi immediately checked what the second prince had come into contact with.

Soon, after inspection by several imperial doctors, a highly poisonous substance was found in the bowl of soup on the table in front of the second prince.

"Your Majesty, this soup is poisonous." Wu Mi presented the soup.

Helian Qi frowned slightly, "Who arranged this soup?"

Xiao Yunyao's heart sank. She took a step forward and bowed:

"Your Majesty, please be advised that all the food and drinks at this birthday banquet have been checked by the imperial physician before being served."

Starting from the Second Princess's full-month ceremony hosted by Ning Wanyin, all palace banquets were arranged according to Ning Wanyin's arrangements.

Before serving, please ask the imperial physician to check.

I have received the gift, please ask the imperial physician to check it.

These were the arrangements made by Concubine Kang before, and Xiao Yunyao copied them.

"I am not aware of the dietary restrictions of the concubines and princes and princesses, so I have arranged the food according to the menu left by Concubine Kang. This is a nourishing fish soup prepared for the Second Prince. The fish bones have been removed, leaving only the white soup." Xiao Yunyao continued to explain.

What this means is that these were all arranged by Concubine Kang before.

Concubine Kang was also standing by, with a look of fear on her face. She glanced at the untouched soup on her table with lingering fear.

This was arranged for the eldest prince, but he didn't drink it because he was playing with the bamboo helicopter in his hand.

Ning Wanyin asked, "Has anyone touched the fish soup?"

“No…” Concubine Rou’s eyes were red from crying, tears streaming down her face: “Han’er knows how to use a soup spoon. After the fish soup was served, he scooped it up and drank it by himself…”

Wen Shutang seemed to be thinking, "Since this fish soup was checked before it was served, it must have been non-toxic. Is it possible that the palace servant who served the dish put something in the fish soup while we were not paying attention? After the fish soup was served, two fruit dishes were also served."

Xiao Yunyao's heart sank.

If a palace servant had drugged the fish soup when the fruit dish was served and before the Second Prince started to drink the soup, this is indeed possible.

No matter which palace servant did it, he would not give away the person behind it.

In the end, it was her fault as the host of the banquet for failing to supervise.

Oversight?

Could it be Concubine Kang who did it?

This birthday banquet was originally planned by her, so it is not surprising that one or two of these palace servants are her confidants.

Xiao Yunyao harmed Concubine Kang, so she was the first one to suspect that Concubine Kang was taking revenge on her.

The second one was to suspect Ning Wanyin.

Because she set up a plan to kick out Concubine Kang, she guessed that Ning Wanyin would also set up a plan to kick her out.

Wu Mi examined the palace maids one by one and also checked all the dishes at the banquet.

Nothing suspicious was found on any of the palace servants, and the other dishes were non-toxic.

The two palace maids who served the dishes to Concubine Rou and the Second Prince said that they did not poison them no matter how severely they were tortured.

The palace maid refused to confess.

The Criminal Justice Department did not find any other suspicious clues.

Wu Mi could only plead guilty, "I am incompetent and failed to find out who did it."

"All suspects will be executed." Helian Qi said coldly.

Wu Mi accepted the order.

Seeing this, Xiao Yunyao stepped forward and bowed, "It's all my fault for not doing my job well. I didn't even notice that the fish soup was poisoned. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

"Be more careful next time." Helian Qi did not blame her.

The fish soup was poisonous, and she was to blame. She might even lose her power to assist in managing the six palaces.

Moreover, she had no prince, so there was no benefit in attacking the second prince.

In Helian Qi's eyes, Xiao Yunyao had no motive for committing the crime, but Concubine Kang was very suspicious.

But without any evidence, everyone is equally suspected.

Helian Qi did not pursue the matter further.

Only then did Concubine Rou recover a little. Seeing Xiao Yunyao apologize, she stepped forward and saluted:

"I failed to take good care of the Second Prince. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Helian Qi looked at her with a lenient expression, "Be more careful next time. You were also frightened, take the Second Prince back and have a good rest."

Concubine Rou has been taking good care of the Second Prince over the past two years and has never used the child to curry favor with him.

Helian Qi saw it all.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace." Concubine Rou looked at Helian Qi with gratitude.

When she was in the palace, she had a child, but the child died within two months, and she was unable to get pregnant again...

She treated this child as her own. When the Second Prince got into trouble just now, she lost half her life.

Ning Wanyin looked at the bowl of soup thoughtfully.

The person who did it must be someone who had access to the fish soup.

Except for the palace servants who served the dishes.

There were also Concubine Rou and Concubine Wen. They sat next to the Second Prince and could throw poisonous things into the soup when he was least prepared.

But this poison is deadly.

The second prince just ate less, so it was no big deal. The poisoner couldn't control how much fish soup a child would eat, so...

The second prince is very likely to die.

Neither of them seemed to have any motivation to do anything, either in terms of interests or emotions.

Concubine Rou relies on the Second Prince.

Although Concubine Wen may have her own children, she has no children at the moment, and the Second Prince is also a support for her.

This matter seems a bit confusing.

But to be honest, judging from the probability of taking action, these two people are the only ones besides the palace servants who can have access to fish soup.