At dusk, Fanghua and Fangyun returned to report, bringing back more than a dozen boxes of perfume.
Ye Jingchen smelled them one by one. Some of the fragrances were simple and easy to identify, while others were very complex, consisting of a blend of several scents.
In particular, the perfumes used by the imperial concubines had a very special scent that was distinctly different from the fragrance of flowers and herbs.
Ye Jingchen took a box of perfumed balm used by imperial concubines and handed it to Ye Jinghe. Ye Jinghe took it, sniffed it briefly, and then quickly threw the box away.
"What's wrong?" Ye Jingchen asked.
"This will give me a headache if I smell it," Ye Jinghe said, moving further away from the box of incense.
Ye Jingchen fed him some hot water, then let him smell the gardenia balm for a while, before switching to another balm used by imperial concubines.
He tried this four times in a row, and the smell of each box of perfume gave Ye Jinghe a headache.
After Ye Jinghe had rested, Ye Jingchen had him try smelling the remaining, simpler scented balms, but Ye Jinghe was completely unaffected.
Therefore, the problem clearly lies with those four boxes of perfume.
Ye Jingchen didn't understand these things, but women love beauty and should be very clear about the ingredients of these perfumes.
He handed the four boxes of perfume to Fangfei, asking them to analyze the ingredients used in the four boxes of perfume as soon as possible.
If you know what scents irritate Ye Jinghe, you can try to avoid those scents in the future.
Moreover, the Emperor must now know about what happened in the Imperial Garden today. After such an incident, the Emperor is probably even less willing to keep Ye Jinghe in the Eastern Palace. If he doesn't find out the culprit who caused Ye Jinghe's outburst as soon as possible, he might not be able to keep Ye Jinghe.
If he couldn't even keep Ye Jinghe, then there was no way he could let Ye Jinghe go to school with him.
Without a prince setting a precedent, his idea of having the other princes attend classes together would likely be difficult to achieve. Not only would the emperor be an obstacle, but the princes' mothers would also be an obstacle.
Perhaps women are naturally more gifted at identifying fragrances. After dinner, Fangfei had already placed all the ingredients for the four boxes of perfume in front of him.
The raw materials for perfumes made in that era were very simple, consisting of various floral waters, beeswax, and musk.
Upon seeing the musk, Ye Jingchen roughly guessed what had caused Ye Jinghe's madness.
Although musk may cause miscarriage in pregnant women and long-term exposure may even lead to infertility, it has the effect of refreshing the mind and spirit, making it very suitable for making perfumes. Basically, a small amount of musk is added to high-end perfumes and fragrances.
This enlightening and refreshing effect is very likely to stimulate Ye Jinghe.
Sure enough, Ye Jinghe was unaffected by other spices and beeswax, but when Ye Jingchen simply placed the musk in front of him, he retreated a great distance before even getting close enough to smell it.
Musk is precious, and palace maids couldn't afford perfumes containing it, but most imperial concubines could. Tao Zhi's poison for Ye Jinghe was so sensitive to musk that it was impossible for him to be adopted by the imperial concubines; he would go mad wherever he went.
The person who instructed Tao Zhi to poison Ye Jinghe was truly ruthless, almost cutting off all his escape routes, leaving him with only one choice.
That night, after lulling Ye Jinghe to sleep with a nursery rhyme, Ye Jingchen returned to his bedroom and called out to Chenxi.
"How's Fangzhi's investigation going? Has she found any useful information?"
Chenxi handed over the information they had investigated.
Fangzhi had no palace servants and rarely left her residence; there was even less information about her than about Tao Zhi.
However, one thing was true as Ye Jingchen had guessed: Fangzhi was originally a palace maid by Ye Jingshu's side, and even her personal maid. She was carefully selected by the late Empress for Ye Jingshu.
Another thing that caught Ye Jingchen's attention was that Fangzhi seemed to be very good at making perfume balms. The reason she had been able to survive in the palace until now was somewhat related to her skill. Many of the concubines liked the perfume balms she made.
It seems that the reason she was able to successfully climb into the emperor's bed was because she used a perfume she concocted to seduce him.
"Continue investigating her," Ye Jingchen said.
He increasingly felt that there was something wrong with Fangzhi.
The next day, after breakfast, Ye Jingchen led Ye Jinghe and a large group of people to find Fangzhi.
Fangzhi, being a low-ranking and unfavored concubine, lived in a very remote location, right next to the Cold Palace, which looked quite dilapidated.
Once inside the palace, it was even more desolate.
The palace was very empty, with only Fangzhi living there, but according to the rules, she could only stay in a side hall.
We found the side hall where she lived. It was very clean and had many flowers and plants, the most numerous of which were gardenias.
When Ye Jingchen and his group arrived, Fangzhi was watering her flowers and plants.
Upon seeing Ye Jingchen, and especially Ye Jinghe whom he was holding, Fangzhi dropped the water ladle in her hand to the ground.
"Jinghe, have you come to see your mother?" She rushed over and tried to hug Ye Jinghe.
"How dare you! Consort Zhi, why aren't you paying your respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!" Fang Fei stood in front of Ye Jingchen and Ye Jinghe, and scolded Fang Zhi.
Fangzhi seemed to have just noticed Ye Jingchen, hastily performed a curtsy, and then looked at Ye Jinghe with eager and ardent eyes.
Ye Jinghe felt a little scared under her burning gaze and subconsciously hid behind Ye Jingchen.
"Consort Zhi, you were once taught palace rules by the late Empress herself, just like us servants. How come you are so ignorant of the rules now?!" Fangfei said coldly.
Ye Jingchen couldn't help but applaud Fangfei in his heart. As expected of the maid personally trained by the late Empress, her words were truly devastating, yet Fangzhi couldn't find a single fault with them.
Fangzhi's face changed as expected, turning pale and then blushing. She remained silent for a long time, then took a few steps back and performed a standard kneeling bow to Ye Jingchen.
"This servant greets Your Highness the Crown Prince! May Your Highness live a thousand years!"
She referred to herself as a servant girl and performed the same greeting a palace maid would give to her master.
A mother who doesn't kneel before her son will shorten his lifespan.
As she knelt down, Ye Jingchen stepped to the side, completely shielding Ye Jinghe behind him.
"Get up," he said calmly.
"I wonder what brings Your Highness the Crown Prince and so many people to my humble abode?" she asked.
"I've come to ask you for something," Ye Jingchen said.
"This servant has nothing, I can't even protect my own child, I don't know what Your Highness needs?" Fangzhi said with self-mockery.
"Of course. What did you use to calm Jinghe down in the Imperial Garden yesterday?" Ye Jingchen asked directly.
Fangzhi was shocked, but she dared not show it on her face.
"Your Highness is joking. What could this servant possibly have to cure Jinghe's madness? It's probably because of the bond between mother and son; Jinghe sensed my love and longing for him, which is why he calmed down."
"Is it a perfume balm, or a perfume balm made with gardenias? Am I right?" Ye Jingchen didn't bother with beating around the bush and just said it directly.
Fangzhi suddenly looked up at Ye Jingchen, not even having time to hide the shock on her face.
"Since a mother and son are of one heart, you surely wouldn't want to see Jinghe suffer, would you?" Ye Jingchen asked with a sarcastic smile.
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