The Imperial Kitchen has no grudge against the Prince Ling's mansion and would not do something like exterminating nine generations of his family.
With the Emperor busy with countless affairs of state and dealing with so many concubines in the harem, Xie Jingyan didn't believe that the Emperor would think of enjoying himself with his subjects after eating a nice plate of pastries. Someone must have reminded him from the side.
The colorless and odorless poison was hidden in the pastry, undetectable even by a silver needle. This was something the imperial kitchen could never have come up with. If they had such methods, he and Shen Wan would be dead even if they had ten lives.
This must have been a meticulously planned scheme.
In the past, he was confined to a wheelchair and posed no threat to anyone. No one would keep an eye on him, so naturally, no one would bother to plant spies in his residence. To plot against them, he could only do so from the outside. Poisoning them was not easy, so he could only take advantage of the Emperor's gift of pastries. In addition, with Doctor Tao in charge of his Lingwang residence, he was even extra careful about the food that the Crown Prince Cheng ate, let alone them. In order to avoid Doctor Tao's inspection, he prepared a colorless and odorless poison for them that even Doctor Tao could not detect.
The events were all interconnected. If it weren't for Shen Wan's vigilance, the Tao family would have been incredibly lucky, and today it wouldn't have been as simple as just the death of a dog.
Xie Jingyan concluded that bestowing the pastries was part of the poisoning plot and that the investigation should begin there. Eunuch Yuan said, "When the imperial kitchen delivered the pastries, Consort Zheng happened to be in the imperial study. It was she who suggested that His Majesty bestow the pastries upon the officials..."
But Consort Zheng had no reason to harm Prince Ling and his wife.
Prince Ling and Princess Ling had no enmity with Consort Zheng, so killing them would not benefit Consort Zheng at all.
However, it was rather unusual for Consort Zheng to taste a piece of pastry and praise it so highly that the Emperor would bestow it upon all the officials.
The Emperor said in a deep voice, "Summon Consort Zheng."
Meanwhile, Consort Zheng was enjoying the melodrama of how Prince Ling and his wife almost died after eating the Emperor's bestowed pastries when the messenger arrived, saying, "The Emperor summons Consort Zheng to the Imperial Study."
Consort Zheng was startled.
The Emperor rarely summoned his consorts to the Imperial Study; when he did, it was always for a specific reason.
But how could the Emperor summon her?
A sense of unease flashed through Consort Zheng's heart. Not daring to keep the Emperor waiting any longer, she quickly got up.
It was too hot. When Consort Zheng walked into the Imperial Study, a fine layer of sweat appeared on her forehead. She wiped it off haphazardly and stepped into the Imperial Study. She could feel the gloomy atmosphere in the Imperial Study, and the unease in her heart grew stronger.
Consort Zheng didn't know what she was afraid of. She hadn't harmed Prince Ling or Princess Ling, so there was no reason for her to feel guilty.
She composed herself, stepped forward, and curtsied to the Emperor. "I wonder why Your Majesty summoned me here...?"
The Emperor's face was icy. "Was your suggestion to bestow pastries upon all officials today your own idea, or were you acting under someone else's orders?"
Consort Zheng was stunned.
Those who could sit in the position of Imperial Concubine were not fools. Imperial Concubine Zheng immediately realized that the Emperor suspected her of putting medicine in the pastries to poison Prince Ling and his wife.
Consort Zheng said in a panic, "It was my own idea, but even if I had a few times the courage, I would not dare to harm Prince Ling and Princess Ling."
Xie Jingyan looked at Consort Zheng and asked, "Is this truly Consort Zheng's intention?"
Consort Zheng's gaze was somewhat evasive.
Upon seeing this, the Emperor immediately slammed his hand on the dragon throne and exclaimed, "Speak!"
Consort Zheng was already feeling somewhat guilty, and when the Emperor suddenly slammed his hand on the table, she jumped in fright and knelt down with a thud, saying, "It really was my own idea..."
The Emperor asked, "Do you know what the crime of deceiving the Emperor is?"
Consort Zheng's face turned deathly pale.
She knelt on the ground, her voice trembling, and said, "Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. I bribed a palace maid in the Empress's palace. Yesterday evening, when the Empress was copying Buddhist scriptures, the maid said that in previous years, during the height of summer, the Empress would remind the Emperor to bestow mung bean soup and other cooling treats upon the officials. This year, since I am in charge of the Phoenix Seal, she asked the Empress if she should remind me. The Empress did not respond, so the maid I bribed secretly informed me of this..."
"The reason I came to see Your Majesty today was to remind you that the Imperial Kitchen happened to send over some pastries. I noticed that the pastries had the effect of cooling down and reducing internal heat, so I suggested that Your Majesty bestow them upon all officials to show Your Majesty's boundless grace."
“Everything I have said is true. If Your Majesty does not believe me, you can ask the palace maids in the Empress’s palace.”
Fearing that the Emperor would misunderstand, Consort Zheng had no choice but to confess that she had bribed the palace maids in the Empress's palace.
If the Emperor finds out she bribed someone in the Empress's palace, he will definitely punish her. But that's still better than the Emperor believing she murdered Prince Ling and his wife. She has no choice but to choose the lesser of two evils.
The emperor's face was very long.
As one of the few people who knew that Empress Song wanted to harm Shen Wan, Eunuch Yuan saw through Empress Song's scheme at a glance. It was clear that Empress Song had known all along that the palace maid was Consort Zheng's person and deliberately sent the palace maid to deliver a message to Consort Zheng. Consort Zheng thought she was clever, but little did she know that she had long become a knife in Empress Song's hand.
Empress Song was punished by the Emperor with confinement and forced to copy palace rules, yet she was still able to easily carry out such a scheme. She is truly someone not to be underestimated.
Consort Zheng knelt on the ground, awaiting the Emperor's judgment. At this moment, Xiao Xizi entered and said, "Your Majesty, Prince Ling's guards went to the Imperial Kitchen to inquire. The summer pastries presented to Your Majesty today were ordered by Prince Cheng. A few days ago, Prince Cheng went to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager and heard that she had a poor appetite due to the hot weather. The pastries sent by the Imperial Kitchen were too sweet and she didn't like them, so Prince Cheng ordered the Imperial Kitchen to make some summer pastries for her..."
When King Cheng ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare some refreshing pastries for the Empress Dowager, it only made people think he was being filial, and no one would suspect anything amiss.
The Emperor and Eunuch Yuan were unaware of this, but Xie Jingyan knew that Prince Cheng was on the side of Prince Jin, Xie Jingyin.
Prince Cheng ordered the imperial kitchen to make refreshing summer pastries, while Empress Song used Consort Zheng to persuade the emperor to bestow pastries upon the officials. These two seemingly unrelated people and two separate events actually worked together seamlessly.
Xie Jingyan's eyes were as cold as frost. He knew that it was Empress Song and Prince Cheng who wanted their lives, but he had no evidence and could do nothing about it.
Moyuxuan.
Shen Wan was so frightened, and worried that Xie Jingyan might anger the Emperor, that she had no appetite for lunch.
Haitang brought in a tray filled with jewelry. She showed it to Shen Wan and said, "This servant has selected these pieces of jewelry from the storeroom. What do you think, Your Highness?"
The poisoned pastries terrified Miss Tao and Madam Tao. Feeling guilty, Shen Wan asked Haitang to go to the storeroom to pick out some jewelry to send to Miss Tao and Madam Tao to calm their nerves.
Shen Wan glanced over and saw that Haitang had actually picked out quite a few, including three gold hairpins. But Shen Wan felt that it was not enough to express her apology, so she asked Haitang to also take the mutton-fat jade bracelet from her dressing case, put it in a brocade box, and send it over.
Then he instructed Yinshuang, "Have Chef Li make an extra portion of pastries and send them to the Tao family's courtyard."
While Haitang was delivering jewelry, Dong'er came in and said, "Your Highness, the Emperor has promoted the Eighth Prince's birth mother, Consort Wang, to the rank of Consort Shu..."
"The Emperor also took back the Phoenix Seal that had been given to Consort Zheng and gave it to Consort Wang to manage."
Shen Wan, “…???”
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