King Lu Yan continued, "However, Your Majesty, if we want to truly cure Consort Jieyu of the poison, we still need to find the person who poisoned her. It will be more accurate to prepare the antidote once we have the poison."

"So you mean this case must be solved within three days?" A shadow fell over Zhu Xian's brow.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, solving this case is not difficult at all." King Lu Yan slowly walked to the two-drawer cabinet beside the bed and picked up a glass lamp depicting a fairy holding a peach.

The fairy was made entirely of glass, crystal clear, and hollow inside to store lamp oil. The peach in her hand had its wick at the tip.

Seeing him staring at the lamp, Zhu Xian suddenly realized something. "Does the divine doctor mean there's something strange about this lamp?"

"Your Majesty, I know that the rules in the palace are very strict. Logically speaking, the palace maids who hold the lamps should check the oil in each lamp frequently so that they can be replenished in time. But why is this lamp empty?"

Zhu Xian took the lamp and looked at it. Sure enough, the oil had long since run out and the lamp was completely extinguished, with not a drop left.

Lu Yanwang then recounted the speculations that Li Qingchen had secretly informed him of earlier: "If I am not mistaken, someone tampered with this lamp while His Majesty was up early for court and Consort Jieyu was back in bed for a nap. To avoid leaving any trace, she only left a small amount of lamp oil, thinking that once it burned out, there would be no evidence left."

Now that things had come to this, Zhu Xian believed the explanation and immediately ordered someone to bring the palace maid who was holding the lanterns to him.

This time, however, he wouldn't entrust the interrogation to Granny Yu; he would interrogate her himself.

Li Qingchen watched as Eunuch Cao led his men down to arrest the person. He glanced back at Granny Yu's expression and saw that she was indeed somewhat unsettled. Her hands, hanging at her sides, clenched unconsciously, showing just how panicked she was.

Before long, Eunuch Cao brought the palace maid who was holding the lantern back. Li Qingchen noticed that the maid's first reaction after entering the room was to exchange a quick glance with Granny Yu. The maid's eyes showed a plea for help, but Granny Yu's gaze was cold and imposing, as if she intended to make her bear the burden alone.

The palace maid's hopeful gaze quickly turned to despair. She was kicked in the back of the knee and forced to kneel on the ground, her face hanging low.

Just as Eunuch Cao was about to have her tortured with the finger-crushing instruments, she didn't struggle and simply accepted it:

"This servant...this servant knows her crime!"

Eunuch Cao stopped abruptly, frowning as he looked at the instruments of torture in his hand. It seemed all his preparations had been in vain.

Seeing that she confessed readily, Zhu Xian pressed, "Who ordered you to do this?"

“No one instructed me; it was my own idea! I saw that Consort Wen was disrespectful to the Noble Consort because of His Majesty’s favor, and I felt sorry for the Noble Consort, so I did this.”

She was originally sent by Yu Cui Palace. If she insisted that she had nothing to do with Consort Wen, it would only arouse suspicion. It would be better to directly state her loyalty to Consort Wen, which would make her seem more upright.

"Are you from the Jade Essence Palace?" Zhu Xian could easily understand this from her words.

The palace maid nodded: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhu Xian originally intended to investigate the matter thoroughly, since someone who could harm his bedmate was tantamount to holding a knife to his throat. However, upon hearing that the matter involved Consort Wen, Zhu Xian was unwilling to continue the public trial.

So he skipped over the rest and only asked, "Do you still have that poison on you?"

“Yes…” The palace maid tremblingly reached into her waistband and took out a small bottle. Just as Eunuch Cao’s hand was reaching out to take it from her, she suddenly put the bottle to her lips and poured down the remaining poison inside!

She knew she was going to die anyway, and rather than be imprisoned and tortured again, she preferred to die peacefully.

"Quick! Snatch it!" Zhu Xian ordered urgently.

Eunuch Cao and a group of guards immediately surrounded her and snatched the bottle from the maid's hands! Although she had drunk most of it and was beyond saving, a few drops of the medicine remained.

The life or death of a palace maid is not important, especially since it is a case that Zhu Xian does not want to investigate further. It is better to let her bear the burden alone.

"Divine doctor, please take a look. Is this enough to prepare the antidote?" This was the only question Zhu Xian cared about now.

King Lu took the medicine bottle, looked at it, and smiled with satisfaction: "Your Majesty, rest assured, it's enough. Give me three days, and I will definitely prepare the antidote for Consort Jieyu."

...

At this point, there was a solution to Consort Wen's illness, and the person who poisoned her had been brought to justice. King Lu stayed in the palace to prepare medicine for Consort Wen, while Li Qingchen took his leave of the palace.

Before leaving the palace, Zhu Xian patted Li Qingchen on the shoulder and said meaningfully, "Today's events are all thanks to you, my son. The divine physician you found is even more skilled than the imperial physicians in the palace. There are truly hidden talents around me, capable of relieving your worries!"

If Zhu Xian had only said this, Li Qingchen could have taken it as a casual remark. But Zhu Xian's unusual use of "Chen'er" repeatedly made him think that Zhu Xian was deliberately giving him a warning.

Li Qingchen's original name was Li Qingchen. The difference of one character reflects Qiao Chuan's submission to Daye. Zhu Xian usually addressed him as "Qingchen," but today he emphasized the word "chen," which can be seen as a kind of reminder.

As a subject, there are rules that a subject cannot overstep.

...

When Li Qingchen returned to the Prince's Mansion, the sun was already setting. He summoned Yuan Que and asked him what had happened after he left.

Yuan Que recounted the events truthfully. After hearing Wei Shuwan's questions to Yuan Que, Li Qingchen's face gradually tightened, and he finally sighed, "You didn't realize she was scouting the way?"

"Scout, scout the way?" Yuan Que was somewhat incredulous, but recalling that he had indeed revealed the location information of those people in his words.

"Good heavens! This Lady Wei is too much!" Yuan Que wanted to complain, but he stopped himself in front of his master.

“But even if they can deduce that the person is in Niujia Village, they don’t know which household. There are about a hundred households in Niujia Village, so they may not be able to find them.”

"I'm not worried about her finding them." After all, he gathered those people here for her to use in her trial, and his personal trip with her was only to offer some assistance.

"What is the young prince worried about?"

Li Qingchen glanced at the sky outside the window, "Today is the fifteenth, the brothers in the village will probably have to go down the mountain..."

*

Wei Shuwan, who had already arrived safely at Niujia Village, was searching for someone throughout the village with Miaoxiang, Ziqiao, and four guards.

She thought that the villagers would be wary of the sudden arrival of more than twenty people from other villages and would tell her the truth if she asked. However, she was surprised to find that none of the dozen or so households she asked were willing to tell her the truth.

It was as if everyone shared a tacit understanding.

Just as Wei Shuwan was feeling somewhat dejected, she suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves approaching from afar. Turning around to investigate, she saw that several houses nearby were locked and closed, and someone was even leaning out of a window and loudly reminding others:

"The bandits from the Eighteen Linked Fortresses have come down from the mountain!"