Bao Ning asked the Queen to dismiss the servants and told her all the speculations.

The Queen was extremely shocked after hearing this, but she calmed down after a moment. She decided to trust Bao Ning and do what she said.

After an incense stick, a person secretly walked out from the corner door of Changqiu Palace. It was Qiu Shi, the most trusted old nanny beside the Queen, and went to the Imperial Hospital.

The eunuchs who had been watching in the woods for a long time saw this and quickly gathered their spirits and secretly followed.

...

The Crown Princess suddenly fell to the ground, bleeding from all seven orifices, and died in a moment. Such a big thing happened, and the Taiji Palace was already in chaos.

She was carried to the side hall and placed. When the imperial physician rushed over, she was already dead. The coroner came to examine the body. Concubine Gao was helped to sit aside, her face was pale and she was dizzy. Emperor Zhou stood outside in silence, and a group of ministers stood outside looking at each other, quietly guessing the cause of the incident.

Pei Yuan leaned against the wall, watching the palace servants carrying basins of water, busy going in and out, and closed his eyes to take a nap out of boredom. After

a quarter of an hour, the coroner came to the conclusion: the Crown Princess died of poisoning, and the poison was 80% likely to be Yanzhimu.

Upon hearing these three words, everyone in the room looked at Pei Yuan. The reason was simple. In the conspiracy case that year, the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince teamed up to poison His Majesty, and the poison they used was Yanzhimu. The seeds of this poison can only be found in the Far North, and have always been a defensive medicine in the Xiongnu royal court. Except for that poisoning case, it has never appeared in the Great Zhou.

Concubine Gao also looked over with resentment, as if she was going to rush forward and fight for her life.

But secretly, her heart was pounding, nervous and uneasy.

Because she knew that Pei Yuan did not have this poison.

When the crime was first convicted, the Rouge Eyes that were searched out of Pei Yuan's mansion were secretly put in by her secret agents, and this was also the most important physical evidence. Everyone thought that Pei Yuan was the only one in the Great Zhou who had Rouge Eyes, but in fact, the only bottle of poison was in her hand.

So what was going on! She didn't poison, why did Gao Feihe die?

Concubine Gao smelled a conspiracy, but she had no idea what to do. She could only go with the flow and grabbed the teacup at hand, angrily smashed it at Pei Yuan, and cursed loudly: "You thief! Wasn't it enough that you wanted to kill your father? Fortunately, you were forgiven, but you didn't repent and even wanted to harm your sister-in-law. You have such a vicious heart!"

She knelt down in front of Emperor Zhou and cried: "Your Majesty, you We must punish the thief properly and give justice to the deceased Fei He!"

Emperor Zhou waved his hand weakly and asked someone to help her up. He turned to look at Pei Yuan and asked in a low voice: "Yuan'er, is that you?"

Pei Yuan asked in return: "Your Majesty, do you think I'm a fool?"

He was so arrogant, as usual, and he didn't panic or rush to explain. Emperor Zhou looked at his expression and believed him 50%.

"Okay, Li Jiang." Emperor Zhou sat down, sighed and called Concubine Gao by her concubine's name, and comforted her, "Fei He had such an incident. I know you are sad, but you can't lose your mind and make random guesses. No one would use the same poison to kill someone twice. There is no simple matter behind this. Give me some time, and I will give you justice."

"Your Majesty is wrong." Pei Yuan said, "I have never used this poison once, but you just don't believe it."

Concubine Gao stopped wiping her tears and looked at him resentfully again. Pei Yuan looked at her frankly and even smiled.

Concubine Gao's heart skipped a beat. Indistinctly, she seemed to have figured out the truth behind this matter. It must be related to Pei Yuan. He was setting up a trap related to her. However, she was very powerless and could only wait passively and could do nothing.

After listening to Pei Yuan's words, Emperor Zhou sighed again and said nothing.

He called the Minister of Justice Lin Yunze and told him to interrogate him in detail. Lin Yunze took the order and left, taking away all the servants that Gao Feihe had brought into the palace today, all the people in Concubine Gao's palace, and all the people they had come into contact with at the banquet, as many as forty or fifty people.

Minister Lin had a meticulous and clear mind, and was very skilled in interrogating people. He quickly found the most suspicious point, the bottle of Xiaoxiangdan.

He asked Emperor Zhou for permission to arrest Sun Xingye and bring him into the palace. Emperor Zhou agreed.

After hearing this, Pei Yuan found a seat and sat down, crossed his left leg over his right leg, and asked the eunuch for a cup of tea.

Concubine Gao stared at him secretly. The more comfortable he was, the more panicked she became, and her heart was in turmoil... When she saw the spy stationed outside Changqiu Palace entering the palace, her panic became even more severe.

She found an excuse to go out, found a secluded place, and asked the little eunuch: "What's wrong?" "

Your Majesty, Nanny Qiushi beside the Queen went to the Imperial Hospital and asked five or six imperial doctors to go to Changqiu Palace." The little eunuch lowered his eyes and reported, "There is nothing unusual in Changqiu Palace, no sound of fighting, and the palace servants are coming in and out normally. It's just that Aunt Taoxian can't be contacted." Concubine

Gao was shocked and asked: "What do you mean she can't be contacted? She is a living person, did she break her legs and couldn't leave the palace, or was she poisoned and made mute and unable to speak? You..."

Concubine Gao suddenly paused, she thought of another possibility, the conspiracy failed, and Taoxian was imprisoned. Thinking of this, cold sweat rolled down her forehead. She grabbed the eunuch by the collar and asked sternly, "What did she say when you last met?"

The eunuch was terrified. He knew nothing and was just a follower. He didn't know why Concubine Gao got so mad. He stuttered and replied, "Aunt Taoxian said that the Empress didn't eat the snacks sent, but the Princess of Jibei ate one. She asked me to tell you as soon as possible. Xiaosuizi was sent to pass on the message. Didn't he come to inform you?" As

she was talking, Concubine Gao glanced and saw the eunuch holding his stomach. When Xiao Suizi came over, she shouted, "Stupid slave, what have you been doing!"

Xiao Suizi was so scared that she knelt down immediately: "Slave, I had a stomachache, so I went to the toilet, but the servants of Changqiu Palace refused to lend me the toilet, so I went back to the toilet in Yanxi Palace..."

Concubine Gao was almost mad at this stupid slave. Her head was buzzing, and she murmured, "It's over, it's over, it must have been exposed..."

It must be that Baoning found something wrong with the snack after eating it. Taoxian was still a child, so she must have panicked, exposed her tracks, and been discovered.

One wave has not settled, another wave rises, tonight is really weird, nothing is good for her... Concubine Gao took a deep breath, quickly cheered up, and restored her usual calm expression.

She dismissed the two eunuchs and told them to shut up and not talk nonsense. Then she called her trusted nanny and whispered, "I don't know what the fourth brother is plotting in secret, but it will definitely harm me. I can't just sit there and wait for death. His princess is now poisoned by Jianshouqing and will have uncontrollable hallucinations. Things have come to this point. It would be a pity to give up halfway. It is better to seize the opportunity and kill her in one fell swoop!"

The nanny asked puzzledly, "What should I do?"

"Didn't she have a mother-in-law who died early?" Concubine Gao narrowed her eyes and said, "Trick her into the Suoyang Palace and wait for an opportunity to kill her. Then, say it was the wronged spirit of Concubine Xian who did it. She is now in a daze after taking Jianshouqing. No one will say anything even if she dies of madness."

The nanny nodded after hearing this, praising this as a good plan, but hesitated: "Your Majesty, we didn't plan this in advance. Who should we find to take charge in such a short time?" Concubine

Gao thought for a moment and asked, "Did Xiao'er send a little eunuch into the palace some time ago? He said that he had a relationship with the fourth prince's wife and his name was Zhao Qian?"

The nanny agreed.

Concubine Gao said, "Let him do it, and tell him that when it's done, I will reward him with five hundred taels of gold and a hundred acres of fertile land. I will guarantee that he will be promoted to a higher position and will never have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of his life!"

...

Baoning was lying on the bed in a side hall of the Changqiu Palace, with the empress beside her. A palace maid came and told her everything that happened in the Taiji Hall.

The Queen sighed, "Why is there so much trouble tonight?"

Bao Ning held her hand and comforted her, "Everything will be fine."

The imperial physician came quickly, checked her pulse, asked about her symptoms in detail, and examined the plate of mushroom cakes. He said to the Queen, "It is indeed because of eating uncooked chrysanthemums. Fortunately, it is only a small amount and it is not serious. She will recover after a few days of rest. Your Majesty, this matter should be the negligence of the palace servants in the kitchen. Should we hold them accountable?"

"Of course." The queen nodded. "Take the cook who prepared the cake and the palace maid who delivered the meal and keep them under guard.

I will question them tomorrow morning." After she finished speaking, she said to several imperial physicians, "The princess is young and weak. Although there is nothing serious, she still needs a doctor to watch over her at all times. You can stay in my palace tonight." The imperial physicians

agreed, and a palace maid stepped forward and took them away.

The Queen breathed a sigh of relief, patted Bao Ning on the back of his hand and

said, "Don't worry, everything has been arranged. Tao Xian has already been taken care of. You can rest first..." Before she finished her words, Nanny Qiushi came in and frowned and said, "Your Majesty, the eunuch Xiaoye beside His Majesty is here. He said to summon the princess to the Taiji Palace."

The Queen was stunned for a moment: "What are you going there for?"

Nanny Qiushi said, "It is said that because of the death of the Crown Princess by poisoning, Lord Lin of the Ministry of Justice ordered to find everyone who had seen the Crown Princess today for questioning. This morning, the princess also saw the Crown Princess when she paid respects, so she should be sent together."

The Queen said dissatisfiedly, "So many people were there when she paid respects. Could it be that Bao Ning poisoned her? Besides, Bao Ning was so sick, how could he walk such a long way."

"Your Highness, please don't embarrass me." Just as she finished speaking, Eunuch Xiaoye came in from outside with a bitter face, "These are all orders from His Majesty, and I dare not disobey! Your Highness, the innocent are innocent, I just ask a few questions, you should let the princess go, I will be back soon. If you stop her, it will arouse suspicion. A big case happened tonight, so we'd better avoid suspicion."

"This..." Eunuch Xiaoye was the apprentice of the great eunuch Jiang Yan beside Emperor Zhou. He was a very prestigious eunuch in the palace and was trusted by Emperor Zhou. When he said this, the queen hesitated.

Baoning stood up and said, "Your Highness, then I will go."

The queen said, "Well, there is no other way." She and Nanny Qiushi went to help Baoning together.

Eunuch Xiaoye smiled, "Don't worry, ladies. We have prepared a sedan chair. It will be very quick to go back and forth."

Baoning followed him out. The sedan chair stopped at the door and someone helped her get on.

Baoning was dizzy. She closed her eyes and took a nap after sitting on the sedan chair. After an unknown period of time, the sedan chair suddenly stopped.

She opened her eyes in confusion and asked, "Are we there?"

But what she saw was not the magnificent Taiji Palace, but a remote place with only a small building in front of her. The sedan chair was at the door.

Looking again, the palace maids carrying the sedan chair were gone, and Eunuch Xiaoye was also gone.

Baoning took a breath and hurriedly got off the car.

When she raised her eyes, she saw the plaque on the small building clearly - Suoyang Palace.

No wonder the building looks so familiar. There is also one in the Jibei Palace. It was built by Pei Yuan to commemorate his mother. It is almost identical. But why is the sedan chair parked here? Baoning's heart beat violently. She tentatively called out, "Eunuch Xiaoye?"

As expected, there was no response. Baoning then realized that this might be another trap! She turned around and wanted to leave quickly, but before she took a step, a dark shadow suddenly flashed in front of her and pushed her shoulder. Baoning screamed and staggered, and the door of the small building behind her suddenly opened.

She fell into the door, still in shock, and the door in front of her closed again with a snap.

...

In Changqiu Palace, the queen was waiting anxiously, and Baoning had not returned yet.

She originally thought that the time was delayed by the questioning of Minister Lin, but after thinking about it, she suddenly found a suspicious point. Since everyone who had seen Gao Feihe had to be questioned, why didn't she need to go? Gao Feihe should have spent more time with her, but he only called Baoning...

Was she too suspicious, or was Eunuch Xiaoye also bribed?

The queen could no longer sit still. She called Nanny Qiushi over and instructed, "I think this is strange. Go to Taiji Palace in person to see if Baoning is there. If not, or Baoning has never been there, go find the Fourth Prince and tell him everything that happened tonight."

Qiushi asked, "Madam, do you want to tell His Majesty?"

"No need. You just need to contact the Fourth Prince." The queen's face was gloomy. "Our Majesty is a confused man. I don't trust him."