"Did you just go out?" Song Chengze sat on the big kang next to the window, picked up the tea on the kang table and took a sip.
Meng Qi sat across from him and hummed, "It's about Ran Ge."
Song Chengze paused as he was pouring tea for Meng Qi, "Brother Ran, aren't you strong yet?"
Meng Qi said softly, "I brought back the medicine that Qingning prepared. He will come to see it in person tomorrow."
Song Chengze was stunned. "What do you mean? There's something else behind Ran's illness."
Meng Qi looked into Song Chengze's eyes steadily and said word by word, "Brother Ran's illness is man-made."
"What did you say?" Song Chengze stood up and asked, "Who is it?"
After Meng Qi finished explaining the incident of Mrs. Hu taking the purse, she continued, "I didn't know when Qingning would be back, so I sent Yujie'er's and Ran's purses, along with Mo's, to Second Sister. Unexpectedly, Qingning came back last night, so he helped check on it overnight. Today, I went to Jinming Hutong, and Ran's illness was indeed caused by the fragrant cake."
"So it's Hu? She used Sister Yu to harm Ran-ge?" Song Chengze took two steps forward. "Who's behind her? Wu? How is that possible?"
Just as Meng Qi thought, Song Chengze never doubted Wu.
"Whether it's Wu or not, we can't confirm it yet, but we have a pretty good guess about the origin of the fragrant cake."
Song Chengze sat back down. "Fragrant cakes? I remember Aihua gave them to them, and every family got some. Could it be that someone took advantage of this?"
Meng Qi said softly, "It's not that someone is taking advantage of him, but this whole thing was done by the Crown Prince from the beginning to the end."
"What did you say? The prince?" Song Chengze was surprised at first, then he pondered, and then said coldly, "Go on."
Meng Qi told Qingning that she had guessed that the fragrant cake was prepared by Zhuang Jing, and emphasized how to make the fragrant cake work.
"That's not difficult to find out. I think when Aihua was ill, Zhuang Jing would come to the palace every once in a while. I'm afraid the match was already made by then." Meng Qi refilled Song Chengze's tea and continued, "Zhuang Jing is in Mother's care now. We can ask her in the palace or bring her out for questioning."
Song Chengze nodded, "The most important thing at the moment is to dig out the prince's hidden clues in the palace."
Meng Qi hummed, "That's right, that's exactly what I wanted to discuss with the prince today. You just said it wasn't Wu. The reason she allowed Hu to take Yu Jie'er to Ran Ge'er every day was probably not her intention."
"You mean she was threatened?" Song Chengze said coldly.
"Yes, the person who threatened her must be the one behind the scenes. And now there is only one person in the mansion who can reach so far and arrange it for so long."
Song Chengze looked up suddenly, "Do you suspect Li?"
"It's not suspicion. In my opinion, it must be her. She has been with you since the palace. For you, she has been with you the longest. But for the prince, she is the most convenient person to be placed next to you in the palace."
"What are you going to do?" Song Chengze's voice was noticeably low. He really couldn't believe it was Li, but if not her, who else could it be? The inner house was now filled with only Li and Wu.
"Your Highness, this is an emergency. We don't have much time to waste on this matter. I mean to directly eliminate the root cause. Don't collect that useless evidence. Just start with those servants."
"Are you talking about the ones around Wu and Li who are useful?"
"Yes, and it must be done quickly. When I left today, I asked Wang Chenghai to have people keep a close eye on Jinmoju and Yinyan Pavilion. Now everything depends on the prince's wishes."
Song Chengze was surprised. "Why? Are you afraid that I won't believe you?"
Meng Qi shook her head. "It's not that I'm afraid you won't believe me, but after all, this involves the Li and Wu families. Although the analysis is in place, it's still just a guess. If it's really different from what I thought, what if..."
"No one will be spared. Just do as you wish. At this point, it's better to kill ten thousand people by mistake than to let one go." He stood up and said, "Who do you need to interrogate? Bring them outside and I'll let Chu Yong interrogate them."
Meng Qi was delighted. This was easy to solve. Chu Yong's method was naturally incomparable to hers.
------
Li had just emerged from the small Buddhist temple. The courtyard was quiet, and Mother Jin, who usually waited for her at the gate, was nowhere to be seen. She didn't pay much attention, wrapping herself tightly in her coat and ascending the steps.
When they entered the main room, Roland did not come out to greet them. Another maid came forward to help her take off her coat and then went to pour tea.
"Where are the two of them?" Mrs. Li sat down and frowned. Mother Jin and Roland were the ones she valued the most, and at least one of them would always be by her side.
The girl whispered, "Just now, Eunuch Hu came and called Mother Jin and Roland away."
Li paused while holding the tea. "What's going on?"
"Eunuch Hu said that the doctor named Qingning who treated the prince a few days ago came today, but he couldn't find out what was wrong with the second young master. The prince is angry and wants to call in everyone who has been to the second young master's courtyard recently for questioning."
Mrs. Li breathed a sigh of relief. Mother Jin and Roland had indeed been to the outer courtyard a few times, but they had only been there to give her some small trinkets they had embroidered themselves.
"What else did you say?"
"No, Eunuch Hu said he would go to Yinyan Pavilion and Jing'an Garden."
Li looked up, surprised, "Jing'an Garden?"
The maid nodded, "Yes, I gave a copper coin to a young eunuch and told him that Suxin and Xiaoman had gone to the outer courtyard."
Li hummed, "Who went to Wu's side?"
"Mother Hu and Yinzhi."
"You go down and keep an eye on it." Li waved her hand, stood up and walked to the window. The window was covered with thick bast paper. The weather outside was getting darker and the wind was whistling, as if it was going to snow.
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