As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present could smell the strange stench.
The stench was faint yet pervasive, spreading rapidly through the crowd like a net, enveloping everyone within it.
It was almost devastating, making everyone want to avoid it.
The crowd panicked instantly. People frowned, quickly covered their noses, and desperately searched through the crowd while suppressing the urge to vomit.
But at this moment, Song Ruoan suddenly felt something was off.
She abruptly covered her mouth, took a few steps back, and stared in horror at the incense burning on the table.
That pungent fishy smell seems to be coming from here...
Prince Ning covered his mouth with a handkerchief, his brows furrowed as he stared at the wisps of white smoke rising from the incense burner: "Is there something wrong with the incense you made?"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked in disbelief in Song Ruoan's direction. A sea of heads thronged around them, and everyone was buzzing with discussion.
No one expected that the incense burner, which had been emitting a fragrant aroma just moments before, would now be emitting an unpleasant fishy smell!
This is probably something no one expected.
Those who had initially held high hopes now had only deep disappointment in their eyes: "They made something like this, and they're just trying to attract attention!"
"They kept saying it was even better than Mu Zong, and they even used some extinct fairy herb. I was so excited just now!"
"I could make incense like this even if I just threw it together, why would she open an incense shop! I bet her other incense isn't any better either!"
He Yunze listened to the Prince of Ning's words and also focused his gaze on the incense burner in front of Song Ruoan.
His pupils contracted sharply, and his handsome face was filled with confusion: "Ruo'an, what exactly is going on?"
"Impossible... My production process was correct, and there's nothing wrong with the incense recipe. You saw it with your own eyes!"
As Song Ruoan listened to the whispers of the crowd, the unpleasant fragrance still lingered in her nose, and her mind went blank for a moment.
Prince Ning nodded, his eyes filled with a mixture of doubt and eager curiosity.
"Your production process is flawless, and your movements are very skillful. I have been watching you closely."
Having naturally become skilled, Song Ruoan has been working day and night to prepare incense, striving for perfection, to the point that her body has almost developed muscle memory for it.
Upon hearing this, Madam Xin frowned and sneered: "However, this stench is coming from your incense. All the tools on your desk are from Ruo'an Tower, and we haven't even touched them."
"You don't know how to make incense at all! Are you going to blame Xizhi for using tricks, or for the feng shui of the Fragrance Pavilion being problematic?!"
Upon hearing this, Song Ruoan's face grew even paler.
She gritted her teeth and opened the lid of the aromatherapy burner in disbelief.
But as soon as the lid was opened, the faint fishy smell instantly became much stronger.
She hurriedly poured water to extinguish the fire, her eyes instantly reddening: "This is impossible, this is absolutely impossible..."
She reviewed her movements over and over, and after confirming that there were no problems, she hurriedly walked to Prince Ning and almost pleaded:
"Your Highness! The incense I made could never emit such a foul odor. It was supposed to have a fragrance far superior to that of the wood! There must be something wrong with it!"
"It must be Song Xizhi's doing! I made incense at her shop, she must have done something to sabotage it. You are an expert in appreciating incense, please uphold justice and find out what really happened!"
Upon hearing this, Prince Ning's eyes showed a mixture of curiosity and hesitation: "It really shouldn't be like this, but..."
Sensing Prince Ning's hesitation, Song Ruoan gritted her teeth and knelt straight down before him, her expression stubborn yet aggrieved: "If I am truly framed by a villain, then this humble woman truly cannot survive..."
Prince Ning turned his head and looked in the direction of Song Xizhi.
Song Xizhi smiled calmly and nodded to Prince Ning: "Then I will trouble Your Highness to take a look. Song Ruo'an wants to clear her name, and so does this subject. Please, Your Highness, prove that this has absolutely nothing to do with this subject."
Upon hearing Song Xizhi's words, Prince Ning finally nodded.
"It's really strange. The previous steps were fine, and the aroma was normal. How come it suddenly turned so smelly during the moxibustion..."
"I have never encountered such a situation before. It is quite interesting."
Prince Ning spoke curiously as he walked to the incense burner. He bent down slightly and took a deep breath in front of the incense made by Song Ruoan.
The scene fell silent instantly, everyone holding their breath, waiting for Prince Ning's reaction.
All that was heard from the Prince of Ning was a loud "Ugh..."
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then suddenly let out a "Ugh..."
Hearing Prince Ning's two loud vomiting sounds, everyone was startled.
Prince Ning suddenly straightened up, and everyone saw a pained and ferocious expression on his handsome face. Two streams of tears uncontrollably flowed from his phoenix eyes: "It's just too... ugh..."
Seeing this scene, the two guards beside Prince Ning rushed forward and anxiously supported him, asking, "Your Highness, what happened to you?"
Prince Ning weakly reached out and grabbed the guard's arm: "Give me... a spittoon... I need... I need to vomit..."
The guard's eyes widened in an instant, and Madam Xin, upon hearing this, hurriedly went to fetch a spittoon and tea.
Then everyone saw Prince Ning bend over and vomit, disregarding his image.
Seeing the Prince of Ning's reaction, Song Ruoan's face turned deathly pale in an instant. She refused to believe it and rushed to the incense burner, taking another deep breath.
"vomit……"
It was stench, an overwhelming stench that, when inhaled suddenly, felt like being punched in the face by a foul odor.
The faint fishy smell just now was nothing compared to this stench.
The smell was like a mixture of countless foul odors, so foul that it was almost unbearable to stand up straight.
Song Ruoan's eyes instantly welled up with tears, and she couldn't help but gag.
When He Yunze saw the reactions of Prince Ning and Song Ruoan, it was as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight. He hurriedly grabbed Song Ruoan's arm and asked, "Ruoan! What happened!"
"Is there really something wrong with the incense you made? Is it really that smelly? What exactly happened?"
Song Ruoan frowned in pain, wanting to speak, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she vomited again.
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