Chapter 91 The Flawless Cinnabar Scheme (Part 2)
"Noble Lady Nara, Consort Shen, please proceed to Changchun Palace immediately."
Huanbi, with an arrogant expression, gave a perfunctory bow to the two of them and spoke in a cold voice.
For some reason, Ruyi's heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously touched her belly, asking, "I wonder what brings Your Majesty to such a hurry..."
Huanbi interrupted her before she could finish speaking: "The Empress has summoned you. No matter what the matter is, the two ladies have no choice but to obey."
These words were extremely impolite. Before Ruyi could even react, A'Ruo became furious: "Who do you think you are, daring to speak to me like that?"
Huanbi glanced at her disdainfully, “This servant is the head maid of Changchun Palace, a sixth-rank official in the Department of Remonstrance.”
A'Ruo's face turned pale and then flushed; she was only a sixth-rank official.
Ever since the Emperor introduced female officials, new official positions have been established in both the imperial court and the inner palace. Even if she was completely ignorant, A'Ruo understood that she couldn't compare to a female official like Huanbi who held real power.
Si Yan was responsible for conveying the imperial edicts of the Empress and the Empress Dowager, as well as handling matters such as the suggestions of the concubines in the harem. Ruyi dared not offend Huanbi and gave A'Ruo a reproachful look.
"A-Ruo acted impulsively, Aunt, please don't be offended, we'll go right now."
Huanbi nodded and urged, "Please, both of you."
Ruyi and A'ruo followed Huanbi to Changchun Palace, where they found the Emperor and Empress sitting solemnly at the head of the table, with all the concubines present, including Jin Yuyan who sat with tears in her eyes.
Noticing this, Ruyi's heart beat even faster, and only touching her belly could make her relax.
The two bowed hastily, sat down according to their rank, and dared not utter a single word.
Once everyone had arrived, Fucha Langhua spoke softly, "Do you know why His Majesty and I summoned you all to Changchun Palace today?"
Seeing everyone shake their heads, Fucha Langhua's gaze fell on Ruyi, who had her head down, and she explained, "It is a joyous occasion that Consort Jia is pregnant, but I do not expect that someone in this palace would dare to stir up trouble and harm the imperial heir!"
Empress Fucha slammed her hand on the table in anger. The concubines, who were completely unaware of the matter, were all shocked when they suddenly learned of it, except for Ruyi, who froze for a moment.
"Your Majesty and Your Highness, please do justice for me!" Jin Yuyan knelt down, her eyes red. "Everyone knows that I love Yu Shi's food, and she actually poisoned it. If it weren't for Lixin's quick thinking, my child would have been lost."
"Quickly help Consort Jia up," Fucha Langhua instructed. "Don't worry, His Majesty and I will naturally stand up for you."
"Imperial Physician Wei, Imperial Physician Qi, tell me your findings."
"yes."
Looking at the two imperial physicians, Wei Lin and Qi Ru, in the hall, Jin Yuyan felt much more at ease. Everyone knew that Wei Lin was the emperor's personal physician, and Qi Ru was a physician specially appointed by the emperor to treat several princes of the imperial clan. Both were the emperor's confidants and would certainly not lie.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, the red powder found in Consort Jia’s food is cinnabar,” Wei Lin spoke first.
"Cinnabar?" Gao Xiyue asked curiously. "Cinnabar is common, is there anything wrong with it?"
Wei Lin replied, "Cinnabar is indeed a common substance, used in Buddhist rituals and medicines. However, cinnabar has a unique characteristic: when refined at high temperatures, it readily yields mercury, which is highly toxic. But small doses ingested or exposed to mercury will not cause immediate death. This poison accumulates in the body, and the imperial heir will be the first to suffer."
Gao Xiyue couldn't help but cover her mouth and exclaim, "What a vicious method!"
Qi Ru added, "The Yu family's diet often uses chili powder and red yeast rice powder for seasoning and coloring, so it is not easy to detect when cinnabar is mixed in. If it weren't for Consort Jia's sharp-eyed maid, Consort Jia would have accumulated these ingredients over time. Small doses of mercury poisoning develop very slowly, and the symptoms are very similar to those of early pregnancy. She might have unknowingly lost her baby in the womb."
Everyone gasped in shock, never expecting it to be so terrifying. Who in this palace could possess such abilities?
Hongli closed his eyes briefly, as if he too was shocked, and asked in a deep voice, "Now that you've figured out the poison, I suppose the Empress has also discovered other things?"
Fucha Langhua nodded, "Indeed, with the poison, the rest of the investigation became much easier. Starting with Consort Jia's food, we traced the source back to a junior eunuch in the Imperial Kitchen who was responsible for delivering meals."
Empress Fucha Langhua's face darkened as she glanced at everyone, pausing on Ruyi before finally settling on A'ruo: "I never imagined there would be such a vicious person in the harem, daring to plot against the imperial heir!"
"Aruo, do you know your crime?"
A'Ruo suddenly looked up, shocked, and knelt down with a thud. "Your Majesty, this concubine did not, it was not this concubine!"
Just then, Huanbi, who was in charge of searching the palace, walked in.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, as Your Majesty instructed, this servant, along with the skilled matrons of the Imperial Prison, searched the palaces of all the ladies. We found this box of cinnabar in Consort Shen's dressing table drawer. Consort Shen's maid, Xin Yan, was acting strangely, so this servant also brought her back."
The cinnabar box was presented, and Fucha Langhua could smell a familiar scent without even getting close. "Your Majesty."
Hongli took it and said in a deep voice, "It smells like agarwood."
Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but look at Ruyi, for everyone knew that only Ruyi in the palace used agarwood incense.
Ruyi calmly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, some time ago, I bestowed many clothes and jewelry upon A'Ruo, including agarwood. At the time, A'Ruo said that she accidentally knocked over a box while doing her makeup."
Thinking back to A'Ruo's outfit when she was vying for favor a while ago, even in such a serious moment, everyone couldn't help but distort their faces for a moment. It's truly a case of one daring to teach and the other daring to believe.
Fucha Langhua looked at A'ruo: "Is this true?"
A'Ruo nodded, "That is indeed true, but as for the cinnabar, I really don't know why it was in my dressing table!"
Huanbi added, "The agarwood scent on this box of cinnabar is too strong; it doesn't seem like something you pick up every day. It looks like it was applied on purpose."
Ruyi sighed softly, "A'Ruo, could it be that you deliberately put on the scent of agarwood to frame me? I really misjudged you."
"I didn't! I really didn't!"
A'Ruo shook her head desperately, but everyone couldn't help but follow Ruyi's words and begin to doubt.
Fucha Langhua sternly shouted, "Enough! Who gave you permission to make such a racket before the Emperor! If you're not satisfied, Huanbi, summon Xiao Luzi and Xiao Fuzi to the palace!"
"Aruo, look at these two, do you know them?"
Aruo turned around cautiously, looked at one of them, and stammered, "This concubine...this concubine only knows one person, Xiao Fuzi from this concubine's palace. As for the other one, this concubine really doesn't know him."
"You don't know him, but he knows you. Xiao Lu Zi is the brother of Xiao Fu Zi in your palace. He is in charge of delivering meals to Consort Jia!"
"Impossible! I don't know him at all!"
A'Ruo didn't know who was trying to harm her, and could only keep shaking her head.
Xiao Luzi hurriedly kowtowed and confessed: "Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty the Empress, spare my life! It was Consort Shen who ordered me to do this! She told me that if I didn't obey her, she would find a pretext to kill my younger brother, Xiao Fuzi. I only have this one brother, and we have depended on each other since we were little. I really dare not disobey Consort Shen."
Aruo trembled with anger. "You're lying! I've never seen you before! Who told you to frame me like this?!"
As she spoke, A'Ruo tried to rush forward, but was pulled back forcefully by the nanny standing behind her.
“At this point, this servant dares not lie. It is clearly Consort Shen who is jealous that Consort Jia has a son and said that Consort Jia is blocking her way, so she coerced this servant to do it. I only beg Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Empress to spare Xiao Fuzi’s life in consideration of this servant’s honesty. He knows nothing.”
After saying that, Xiao Luzi rushed headfirst into the incense burner in the center of the hall. Amid the gasps of the crowd, Wang Qin, quick-witted and agile, grabbed him, covered his mouth, and dragged him aside.
“No rush,” Hongli glanced at Xiao Luzi, and that single glance sent a chill down Xiao Luzi’s spine. “Continue.”
The hall fell silent. A'Ruo dared not act crazy anymore, and Ruyi bit her lip, not daring to look up.
Seeing this, Fucha Langhua gestured to Huanbi, "Bring Shen Changzai's maids with you."
Soon, Xin Yan, trembling all over, was brought up and knelt down on the ground, too weak to lift her head.
"Xin Yan, why did you act strangely during the palace search? Do you perhaps know the origin of the cinnabar in the dressing table?"
"This servant...this servant..." Xin Yan stammered, as if she were terrified.
"Xinyan, you don't know me." Aruo cried out to her as if grasping at a last straw.
Ruyi frowned slightly. "A'Ruo, how dare you interrupt when Her Majesty the Empress is asking questions?"
Xin Yan trembled, seemingly startled by someone's words, and said in a trembling voice, "It was Your Highness... it was this servant who saw Consort Shen... secretly hiding the cinnabar..."
"Xin Yan!" A'Ruo stared at her in disbelief. Who was she? She had even bribed Xin Yan?
She glared at Ruyi, "It was you! You framed me! You used cinnabar to harm the imperial heir, and now you want to pin it on me!"
"Nonsense." Ruyi frowned, looking at A'Ruo with disappointment and heartache, as if she wanted to say something more.
Unexpectedly, Xin Yan suddenly looked up, her face filled with shock: "Harm the imperial heir? How could it be harming the imperial heir?"
Fucha Langhua's gaze sharpened, and she pressed, "What exactly is going on? You'd better tell us the truth."
Xin Yan was terrified and kowtowed desperately, "Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! This servant really didn't know that this cinnabar was used to harm the imperial heir! Consort Nara clearly said that it was only to punish you for theft and teach you a lesson, so this servant dared to listen to her and put the cinnabar in..."
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