Zhu Ling's eyes flashed with coldness, and she said fiercely, "Okay!"
"Then I will make sure Yue Haoyun never sees the sunrise tomorrow morning."
After saying that, Zhu Ling called over her personal maid, handed her a packet of medicine powder, and whispered, "Tell Min that tonight's event must succeed. Failure is not allowed!"
…
In the Grand Prince's Palace.
Princess Min went to attend the palace banquet with the eldest prince today.
When the palace banquet ended, the Empress Dowager kept the prince to talk, so Min came back first.
After returning from the palace banquet, Min was exhausted. She briefly instructed the housekeeper to take good care of the Great Xia envoys and then returned to Wutong Courtyard.
Because the couple were physically together but spiritually apart, the prince usually lived in his own Bishui Courtyard, while the princess lived in Wutong Courtyard.
Min sat in front of the dressing table, and her maid Cui'er helped her take off her hairpins.
"Princess, aren't you waiting for the prince to come back?" Cui'er asked.
Min rolled her eyes in disdain. "These past few days, I've been dealing with the Great Xia envoys and investigating the prince's secrets. I'm really exhausted. I need to get a good night's sleep tonight."
"I don't know when the prince will be back, never mind."
Just then, there was a sudden "bang bang bang" sound from the rear window.
Both Min and her maid Cui'er were startled and their hands stopped moving instantly.
Min gave Cui'er a look, and Cui'er immediately walked quickly to the rear window and opened the latch.
With a "plop", a black shadow jumped in.
The man, wearing night clothes and a mask, said in a cold voice, "We will take action tonight. The Queen has ordered that we must succeed and not fail!"
As he spoke, he pulled out a paper bag from his bosom and said, "Use this. If you eat even a little bit, you will die within an incense stick of time."
Min respectfully extended her hands to receive the paper package: "Please tell the Queen Mother to wait for good news!"
The man in black's eyes flashed, and he turned and jumped out of the back window.
…
The palace kitchen.
The princess changed into a casual dress and went into the kitchen with her maid Cui'er.
The eldest prince and princess did not have the habit of having midnight snacks, so on weekdays, when it was time to light the lamps, the kitchen would turn off the fire and the cooks and chefs would go off duty.
Only one person was left in the kitchen to watch over the night.
Because today was the palace's evening banquet, the master and guests would be back late and would be drinking. Therefore, three cooks, led by Xiao Zilan (Qiao Yu Niang), were left in the kitchen to prepare a hangover soup.
The four of them were sitting on a bench chatting, waiting for a letter from above asking them to make some sobering soup.
They were all surprised to see the princess suddenly come in. Xiao Zilan bowed respectfully and said, "Good evening, princess. It's so late. If you need anything, just let us know. Why did you come in person?"
Min waved her hand at them and said, "Today I will personally prepare a hangover soup for the prince. You can go down first."
When the four heard this, they were all very surprised and looked at each other.
Xiao Zilan said, "Then let the three of them leave first. I will stay and add some firewood to the fire."
Min thought about it and realized that her maid Cui'er didn't usually do rough work and was definitely not capable of doing the work of lighting the fire, so she said, "Okay!"
The three cooks retreated happily.
Min and Cui'er prepared the ingredients for cooking soup in a proper manner, while Xiao Zilan went to the firewood room next door to get some dry firewood, squatted on the ground and lit the stove.
Then, Cui'er started to cook a pot of sobering soup and poured it into the soup bowl.
Xiao Zilan was still squatting in front of the stove, watching the fire.
Min glanced at Xiao Zilan and said coldly, "Yu Niang, go and see if there are any almonds in the storeroom. I suddenly want to drink almond milk."
Xiao Zilan responded and walked out. When she had taken five or six steps, she suddenly remembered that she had used up all the sweet almonds when making almond milk last time, and the person in charge of purchasing had not brought back new ones, so she turned around and walked back.
When she walked to the kitchen door, she heard the princess and Cui'er whispering.
Cui Er's voice said, "Should we put all the contents of the whole pack in?"
The princess said in a deep voice, "If you put all of it in, the soup might taste bad. Only one-third will do."
Xiao Zilan felt a chill down her spine. She tiptoed back two steps and looked inside through the kitchen window. She saw Cui'er sprinkling a packet of medicine powder into the soup.
Cui Er asked, "Will this poison not kill people?"
The princess reached out and twisted Cui'er's arm, scolding her fiercely, "Foolish thing! Stop asking nonsense questions and just do as I say."
When Xiao Zilan heard the words "unkillable poison", her heart began to beat like thunder. She seemed to know what the princess was going to do, but she was not sure.
At this time, Cui'er had cleaned up the medicine powder that spilled outside the soup bowl and closed the lid.
Xiao Zilan pinched the palm of his hand hard with his fingernails, letting the pain help him stay calm.
She took a deep breath, tiptoed back seven or eight steps, then rubbed her face, put on a natural expression, and strode towards the kitchen.
Arriving at the kitchen door, Xiao Zilan stopped and said with lowered eyes, "Your Highness, the almonds in the warehouse have been used up, and we haven't had time to buy new ones."
Min said calmly, "Then don't drink."
"Just in time, Yu Niang, please take this bowl of sobering soup to the prince's room."
"Tell the prince that this soup was made by the princess herself, and make sure he finishes it."
When Xiao Zilan heard this order, his heart started beating wildly again.
When she heard the princess poison the prince, she was still thinking about how to remind the prince not to drink the sobering soup.
But she never expected that the princess would ask her to deliver the soup.
In an instant, her mind started working rapidly.
Great! This way, she could just remind the prince that the soup was poisonous and he couldn't drink it. This way, the prince's life could be saved.
But then, she became terrified again. The princess had deliberately asked her to deliver the soup so that she could frame her for the poisoning.
Ahhh, what should I do?
If I reminded the prince that the soup was poisoned and the princess falsely accused me of poisoning him, wouldn't I be unable to defend myself?
If I hadn't reminded the prince, he would have been poisoned to death.
She couldn't let the prince die! Absolutely not!
Thinking of this, Xiao Zilan stepped forward, took the tray from Cui'er's hand, and said softly, "I'll take note of this."
After saying that, he turned and left.
After Xiao Zilan disappeared into the kitchen courtyard, Cui'er asked in confusion, "Princess, why did you choose Qiao Yuniang as your scapegoat?"
Min smiled evilly and said softly, "By the way, find a lovable person for our prince to be buried with him!"
"This way, Your Highness will not be lonely on his journey to the underworld. I have done my utmost to be kind and righteous."
Cui Er looked at Min Shi in confusion: "A favorite? Are you saying that the prince is attracted to Qiao Yu Niang?"
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