Hearing his uncertain choice of words, Xue Shen shook his head and said, "I always feel uneasy."
"Have you checked everything about the Empress's clothing and food? Is there anything unusual?"
Master Huodong thought he was being too nervous, even seeing threats everywhere: "Now that all obstacles have been removed, His Majesty is the supreme ruler, and the Empress is of noble birth. How could anyone be so foolish as to plot against the Empress?"
Xue Shen shook his head: "These things are hard to say. You should be more cautious and thoroughly investigate Zhao Zhao's clothing, food, housing and transportation to ensure that there are no oversights."
Seeing his serious expression, Master Huodong also became solemn and said, "I understand. I will go and check the Empress's clothing, food, housing and transportation again."
Seeing that he had realized the problem, Xue Shen was slightly relieved and turned to leave.
After he left, Master Huodong pondered the matter carefully and, as Xue Shen had instructed, thoroughly searched the courtyard where Shen Youying was currently living, inside and out.
Having learned from the experience of the previous Crown Princess, Master Huodong had his subordinates report all the problems, which he then reviewed personally.
He originally thought this was just a routine procedure, but unexpectedly he actually discovered something strange.
He looked at the potted plant brought over by the palace servants, rubbed his fingers on the leaves, and then sniffed it under his nose. His relaxed expression suddenly turned serious: "Where did this potted plant come from?"
The palace maid in charge of the inspection said cautiously, "It was originally in the Eastern Palace."
Master Huodong looked solemn and had someone bring a shovel to dig up the roots of the flowering tree. Sure enough, they found a rotting bird carcass in the soil at the bottom.
Master Huodong pierced the bird's corpse with a silver needle, and the needle instantly turned black.
He frowned and said, "What a vicious mind."
This bird was clearly soaked in highly poisonous substances and then deliberately buried under a flowerpot. The potted plant absorbed the bird's carcass as fertilizer to bloom, while also absorbing the poison from the carcass. The leaves and flowers that grew from it were also poisonous.
This toxicity is extremely weak. If an ordinary person were to come into contact with it, even if the toxicity accumulated over many years, it would only cause them to fall seriously ill, and would not be fatal.
However, for pregnant women whose bodies are fragile, the accumulation of these trace amounts of toxins can be fatal.
Master Huodong felt a slight sense of relief. Fortunately, Xue Shen was vigilant enough and had repeatedly made him check Shen Youying's clothing, food, and accommodation.
If Xue Shen hadn't given him those instructions today, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to arrange manpower, not even sparing the potted plants in the courtyard.
"Go and send a message to His Majesty: immediately seal off the Eastern Palace and summon all palace staff."
After making the arrangements, Master Huodong immediately carried his medicine box and hurriedly went to see Shen Youying.
Seeing him rush over in a panic, carrying a medicine box on his back, someone asked with a puzzled expression, "Has something happened?"
Fearing to frighten her, Master Huodong did not mention the poisoning. Instead, he made up a pretext, saying, "Your Majesty is nearing childbirth, and His Majesty is very worried. That's why he set a rule for me to take your pulse three times a day. I only took it twice today and almost forgot to take it a third time, so I rushed here to make up for it."
Shen Youying was amused by his expression and tone and laughed out loud: "You don't need to go to so much trouble, Your Majesty is just too nervous. I will talk to him. You have been working so hard for my childbirth, you should get some rest."
While taking her pulse, Master Huodong replied, "It's just a routine check-up, nothing troublesome."
He carefully took Shen Youying's pulse and, after confirming that there was no toxin buildup in her body, he breathed a sigh of relief, got up, and took his leave.
When Master Huodong came out of Shen Youying's room, Xue Shen had already heard the news and rushed over.
Upon seeing Master Huodong, Xue Shen stopped in his tracks, met his gaze, and the two walked toward the study in perfect unison.
Once in the study, Xue Shen finally spoke in a deep voice: "What exactly happened?"
Master Huodong said, "Today, following His Majesty's instructions, I re-examined all the utensils in the Empress's courtyard and indeed found that there was a problem with the potted plants in the Empress's courtyard."
"The potted plant contained the carcass of a bird that had been soaked in highly poisonous liquid. The plants absorbed the bird carcass as nutrients and also became slightly toxic themselves."
"I have had all the potted plants replaced and examined one by one. I found that there are a total of twenty-three potted plants with a slight toxicity."
Xue Shen's expression was solemn, and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes: "Where did the bonsai come from, and who handled it?"
Upon hearing this, Master Huodong shook his head, a look of doubt on his face: "The strange thing is that this potted plant was not purchased from outside, but was already in the Eastern Palace."
Xue Shen frowned: "What do you mean?"
"How could there be such a highly poisonous potted plant in the Eastern Palace?"
But after he finished speaking, he was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered the late Crown Princess who had been killed by Prince Chen and died during childbirth along with her unborn child.
Wasn't the former Crown Princess poisoned to death?
At the time, they only found out who poisoned the food—that the cook had been bribed to put the poison in the Crown Princess's food—but they never noticed that there was such a poisonous potted plant in the Eastern Palace.
Master Huodong speculated, "Could it be something left behind by the person who murdered the Crown Princess?"
However, Xue Shen thought for a moment and then shook his head, denying the guess: "It doesn't make sense. The Crown Princess didn't live in this courtyard back then. Why would Prince Chen, who plotted to murder the Crown Princess, put a poisoned potted plant in a courtyard that the Crown Princess never set foot in?"
Although he moved into the East Palace temporarily, he did not live in the courtyard where Xue Heng had lived before, but chose another courtyard.
The courtyard where the Crown Princess once lived is located to the east and west of here, quite far apart.
If it were truly the poison left behind by Prince Chen when he murdered the late Crown Princess, it shouldn't have appeared in Shen Youying's courtyard.
"Someone is deliberately trying to steer our thinking in this direction in order to clear themselves of suspicion," Xue Shen said confidently.
"Have someone investigate how these potted plants were moved from the former Crown Princess's courtyard to the Empress's courtyard. Once that's been found out, the person behind it will be quickly identified."
Xue Shen's face darkened: "I'd like to see who dares to mess with me."
Master Huodong responded and was about to turn and leave when he heard Xue Shen ask again, "When I returned, you had just come out of the Empress's room. Have you already taken her pulse?"
Master Huodong nodded: "Her Majesty is well and there is no toxin buildup in her body. Fortunately, His Majesty was alert, which prevented a major disaster."
He couldn't imagine what a dangerous scene it would be if Shen Youying stayed a few more days and accidentally came into contact with poisonous plants, and was then affected by the toxins and forced to produce offspring.
Master Huodong felt a cold sweat break out on his brow just from thinking about it.
Xue Shen nodded and then asked him, "The Empress didn't know about this, did she?"
The Fire Cave Immortal said, "No."
Xue Shen was relieved: "Go find Wang Deshun and find him as soon as possible."
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