"Qinglian, the princess wants you to come in."
Mo Feng's words made Qinglian feel relieved. What is coming will come, and she must deal with it calmly.
Qinglian walked into the main hall calmly and calmly, "Princess, I am here."
"Look at this old salt shaker. Was it replaced in the small kitchen back then?"
Qinglian took a closer look at the salt shaker in Xiao Lingyu's hand and said, "Yes, when Butler Hu brought the new salt shaker, I gave him this old one."
Xiao Lingyu asked again, "Did the salt inside become damp that day?"
"Yes, it's a little damp." Qinglian asked again with a puzzled look, "What's wrong with the salt?"
Xiao Lingyu looked at her and said, "The salt in here is grain by grain and not damp."
Qinglian was surprised. "How could it be? It's damp. How could it not be moist? It was damp when Ziyu scooped it out with a spoon. Shaoyao and Baizhi should have seen it at the time."
Bai Zhi said, "Yes, my lady. Shaoyao and I saw it at the time. The salt was indeed damp. I also remember that when Butler Hu brought the new salt jar, he took the old one away. Could it be that Butler Hu tampered with it after taking it away?"
"Impossible! When I took the old salt shaker away, I opened it and looked at it. The salt was not damp at all. It looked just like what the princess was holding."
"Butler Hu, you said you opened it and looked at it when you left. Who can prove it?" Yun Gu felt that Zi Yu, Qing Lian and Shao Yao could not lie.
Butler Hu was speechless for a moment. He was only looking at the salt and didn't pay any attention to other people.
Yun Gu said sternly: "I can't tell you, so you changed it?"
"No! No. I didn't change it!" Butler Hu said anxiously: "Zi Yu, Shaoyao, Qinglian, you should have seen it at the time."
"Did you see it?"
Zi Yu said, "Miss Yun, when Butler Hu came in, I only glanced back, and then I stared at the fish porridge."
Bai Zhi: "I didn't see it."
"I didn't see it either." Shaoyao agreed.
"Qinglian, you must have seen it." Butler Hu looked at Qinglian as if asking for help. "You said you would wash the salt jar for me, but I thought it was a waste, so I snatched it from you. The salt jar was open at the time. Do you remember?"
Qinglian: "I remember that the salt jar was open and the salt inside was wet, not dry like it is now!"
Butler Hu was dumbfounded: "You must have remembered it wrong, it's dry, not wet!"
"I can't be wrong, it was damp!"
Butler Hu's heart choked. Why did Qinglian lie? "It was you! You changed the salt. You wanted to frame me. You're the one who poisoned me!"
"What?" Qinglian was annoyed. "Butler Hu, please don't make such random accusations. You really must have misremembered it. Think carefully about who you met on the way when you took the salt away. And this was found in your room. It's been a day or two, and the weather is hot. Could the salt have dried up? Or could someone have entered your room and changed it?"
"This..." Butler Hu felt that he might have remembered it wrong. He had been under custody for the past two days and had not been able to eat or sleep well.
"Princess, Princess, I haven't changed the salt. It's possible that I made a mistake, or someone else might have sneaked into the room and changed it!"
Xiao Lingyu pondered their words and stared at them for a long time without saying a word.
Xie Wanyi looked at Qinglian, and the more she looked, the more she felt that she was the one who poisoned her. She was already suspicious of her. "Mo Feng."
"I'm here!"
"Go to Qinglian's room and search it carefully!"
"yes!"
Xie Wanyi looked at Butler Hu again and asked, "Think about who you met on the way that day."
"On my way back, I didn't meet anyone else. I went straight back to my room, put the salt shaker in the cupboard, and went to the kitchen to eat. Then, Xu Mo and his men took me into custody. After questioning me that day, I was sent back to my room. Because the guards were guarding the door, I hadn't slept well in the past few days and forgot about the salt shaker. At this time, I was detained in the room the whole time. I was only taken out of the room after questioning yesterday. As for whether anyone came in, it can only be because I was taken away for questioning that the bad guys had a chance to come in and change."
Aunt Yun said, "You didn't meet anyone on your way back, so no one can prove your story! You can't escape suspicion!"
"Princess, Princess!" Butler Hu knelt down. "I am wronged. I have never changed the salt!"
Li Haiying asked, "Housekeeper Hu, is your room dry?"
Butler Hu: "Neither dry nor wet."
Li Haiying smiled and said to Xiao Lingyu, "Perhaps there's nothing wrong with the salt. It's just that the weather is hot and it's dry again. Now that you've found that the Niu family's pheasants are poisonous, why would the villain bother tampering with the salt? If they were going to tamper with it, they would have tampered with all the spices in the cupboard. If my princess has time, please test all the spices. If they're all fine, then the villain must be Mother Zhang."
"Sister Princess, what do you think?"
Xiao Lingyu carefully examined the salt in the jar. "When I went to the small kitchen today, I saw that all the cabinets, big and small, were locked?"
Qinglian: "Yes, Princess, all the kitchen cabinets must be locked. When you cook, open them and take out the various seasonings. After use, put them back in order, and then Mother Zhang will lock them."
"So you can only access these spices after the cupboard is opened?"
"Yes."
Xiao Lingyu glanced at Qinglian's sleeves, which were relatively light and thin. Could the salt jar, which was the size of a palm, fit inside it?
Ziyu also tasted salt...
"Alright, follow Eunuch Li's instructions and test all the seasonings." Xiao Lingyu then said to Xie Wanyi, "Send that day's lunch to the Jade Courtyard as well. I'll let you know the poison test results tomorrow morning. It's getting late, so I'll take my sister Xi back to the Jade Courtyard to prepare an antidote for the prince."
Xie Wanyi hurriedly stood up and said, "Sister, take care."
"Oh, by the way, there are two bowls of antidote on the table. Sister Wanyi, have Ziyu and Mother Zhang drink them first. They need to drink them for three consecutive days. Someone will send the antidote over tomorrow."
As soon as the mother and daughter left, Mo Feng entered the main hall and glanced at Qinglian, who lowered her eyes. "Princess, I didn't find the salt jar in Qinglian's room."
"Have you found any other suspicious objects?"
"No."
Xie Wanyi looked at Qinglian's submissive appearance and felt more and more annoyed. Why couldn't she find anything useful?
"Take them all away and keep them under strict guard. Have two of you take this bowl of antidote to Mother Zhang."
"No!" Yun Gu objected, "Princess, Madam Zhang is still the biggest suspect and is not qualified to drink the princess's antidote."
Li Haiying: "Auntie Yun is right. Mother Zhang is not worthy of drinking it. If those spices are not poisonous, then Mother Zhang is the one who poisoned it, and there is no need to drink the antidote."
Xie Wanyi nodded: "Then you can drink all the purple jade."
"Thank you, Princess."
Xiao Lingyu, Xiao Xier just returned to the Jade Courtyard, and an iced lunch and seasonings were delivered to her.
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