"When did you get these nails done?"
Yun Gu couldn't help but doubt her. Just now, Ah Hu and Chun Jiao, the two girls, didn't grow their nails either. Their nails were not like hers, sticking tightly to the skin without showing.
"I have to trim my nails every two days to make sure they don't grow out. This is also what Mother Zhang requires. I have to wash my hands every time I enter the kitchen. After all, the prince's food cannot be sloppy, and every step of cooking must be clean."
"Ziyu, were her nails really like that that day?"
Ziyu nodded, "When I took the salt shaker from Qinglian, her nails looked like this."
Xie Wanyi looked at Qinglian again, and she still didn't like her very much as when she first met her.
Compared to others, people are more suspicious of her.
But everything requires evidence.
Xie Wanyi looked at Aunt Yun: "Aunt Yun, do you have anything else to ask Qinglian?"
"This old servant has no more questions to ask."
"Peony, take Qinglian away and let Zhuyue in."
Zhu Yue fell to her knees as she entered. "Princess, we are all elders of the Grand Prince's Palace. We entered the palace when we were seven or eight years old. It was the Prince who went to the Charity Bureau to select us to enter the palace. We can't possibly harm the Prince."
"Enough!" Yun Gu shouted angrily.
Zhuyue's voice stopped abruptly.
"Whether there was any attempt to murder the prince is up to the princess to judge. Just answer whatever is asked of you."
"It's...Aunt Yun."
Zhu Yue calmed down after being scolded by Yun Gu. "Princess, please feel free to ask me anything. I will tell you everything I know."
"Get up and talk."
"It's the princess."
Xie Wanyi glanced at the pleasant-looking Zhu Yue for a few seconds and said, "Tell me in detail what duties Ah Hu, Chun Jiao, and Qing Lian are responsible for in the kitchen?"
"Princess, we are all helping Madam Zhang. The main dishes, side dishes, and stews are all cooked by Madam Zhang herself. Chunjiao stir-fries a few exquisite side dishes according to the recipes Madam Zhang gives her every day. I am responsible for adding firewood and water..."
Xie Wanyi frowned. What Zhuyue said was the same as what Ah Hu and the others said. "And is it Mother Zhang who is responsible for tasting the pickles?"
"Yes, it's always Mother Zhang who comes to taste the saltiness."
"On the day the prince fainted, did you notice any abnormal behavior from the other people in the kitchen?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yue turned her head and glanced at Zi Yu.
Zi Yu frowned, "What are you looking at me for? Just say what you want to say."
Zhu Yue withdrew her gaze, lowered her eyes, and clasped her hands together tightly, as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare.
Shaoyao and Baizhi looked at each other. Could it be that Zhuyue wanted to throw dirty water on the three of them?
"Tell me what you saw as soon as possible. I will make my own judgment on who the villain is."
"Princess, if you were to say whose behavior was the most abnormal that day... it was Ziyu."
Xie Wanyi's face darkened. "I asked her to make the fish porridge. Do you suspect Ziyu of poisoning the prince?"
"No... I mean, she tasted the salt directly with her mouth and then sprinkled it into the fish porridge. This is not allowed. The fish porridge is stained with her saliva, which is not clean in itself and is disrespectful to the prince."
"Princess, she's talking nonsense!" Zi Yu was immediately annoyed. "She's making a false accusation! I clearly scooped a little salt with a spoon soaked in boiling water, tasted it, and then added salt to the fish porridge."
"Princess, I'm not talking nonsense. I added a small spoonful of water to the pot and looked up to see Ziyu tasting the salt. Sister Qinglian should have seen it, so you can confront her. Also, Shaoyao and Baizhi were right next to her and saw it too."
Bai Zhi: "You are trying to throw dirty water on the three of us. You are responsible for adding water. Did you poison it?"
water?
Xie Wanyi was shocked. How could she have overlooked such an important step?
Zhu Yue cried anxiously, "I didn't! Don't accuse me, I'm just telling the truth and I didn't mean to frame you."
"Enough!" Yun Gu shouted, and the room fell silent in an instant.
Yun Gu was close to the Empress Dowager, and the maids were all afraid of her.
"Peony, Baizhi, have you seen Ziyu taste the salt?"
Baizhi spoke before Shaoyao, "Ziyu did taste the salt. We didn't notice whether she put the salt directly into the fish porridge. But Ziyu tasted the fish porridge and was poisoned by the colorless and odorless poison. When she went to deliver the food to the prince, she developed diarrhea. There's still poison in her body that hasn't been neutralized. Ziyu couldn't possibly be the one who poisoned her."
Bai Zhi glanced at Zhu Yue angrily and said to Xie Wanyi, "Princess, I suspect Zhu Yue put the poison in the water. Every dish prepared for the prince and princess that day must have contained this poison. Only Zhu Yue, who was responsible for adding the water, could have done it without anyone noticing."
"No! I didn't. How could I possibly poison the prince!" Zhu Yue immediately knelt before the princess, "Princess, I didn't do it. I am innocent!"
"Xu Mo!"
Xu Mo quickly pushed the door open and glanced at Zhu Yue lying on the ground, "Princess."
"We put the small kitchen under martial law that day, but did you find anyone entering?"
"No! There are people guarding the water every day, so not even a fly can get in. The lunch that day was also locked in the ice cellar. As for whether the water was poisoned, I need to ask the princess to check it. If the water is poisonous, then Zhu Yue..."
"Princess! This servant..."
"Shut up!" Xie Wanyi shouted, "This concubine will not wrongly accuse a good person, nor will she let a bad person go. Everything will be determined after the princess has the test results! Xu Mo, take Zhu Yue away and keep her under strict supervision. Others must not let down their guard either!"
"Wait, I have something to say!" Zhu Yue thought that if poison was found in the water, even if she was innocent, she would die unjustly. She couldn't let the person who poisoned her succeed.
Xie Wanyi looked unhappy, "What else do you have to say!"
"It is true that the water in the large vat is touched by the servants every day, but it is not the servants who carry the water. Please also keep under surveillance all servants who come into contact with the water source."
Xie Wanyi nodded, and Xu Mo took Zhu Yue away.
"Princess." Yun Gu glanced at Zi Yu, "Your maid must also be taken care of!"
Bai Zhi: "Aunt Yun, if Zi Yu was the one who poisoned the fish, how could she have tasted the fish porridge and gotten herself poisoned?"
"Isn't it a slow-acting poison? It's not immediately fatal, and you three were in the kitchen that day!"
"Aunt Yun!" Bai Zhi argued, "The prince was poisoned in Yongcheng. The three of us and the princess have only been married here for a few days? Could it be that Aunt Yun still suspects my princess..."
"How dare you!" Yun Gu was so angry that her face turned red. No little maid had ever dared to be so presumptuous in front of her!
Seeing the situation was not good, Zi Yu was determined not to implicate the princess, so she quickly said, "Aunt Yun, calm down. What you said makes a lot of sense. The three of us who were present that day are indeed suspects. Please keep us under strict supervision, Aunt Yun!"
Shaoyao quickly echoed, "Aunt Yun, please keep us under guard."
"...Aunt Yun, please keep us under strict supervision." Bai Zhi agreed unwillingly.
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