Yuan Shen frowned, unable to recall what she had said for a moment.
Feng Jia, understanding the situation, stepped forward and whispered, "Your Majesty, the Crown Princess wanted Wei Zi to serve you personally, but you refused."
For Yuan Shen, this was just a trivial matter, and he had long forgotten about it.
But for Wei Zi, this matter was a knot in her heart and became her deepest resentment.
A look of realization dawned on Yuan Shen's eyes.
He remembered.
"You resent me because of that incident? Everything you've done is for revenge?"
To everyone's surprise, Wei Zi shook her head.
"I don't hate you, I only hate Zhao Xinya! She gave me hope, but then destroyed it!"
Her eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on her face were bulging; she looked as if she hated the Crown Princess to the extreme.
"I know what she cares about most. She wants the Empress's position and for the Zhao family to enjoy wealth and prosperity for generations to come... I'm going to shatter her dream, hahaha! I'll make her see hope, only to have it destroyed! She'll never be Empress!"
Wei Zi suddenly screamed, acting as if she had gone mad.
Yuan Shen frowned.
"Are you admitting that you harmed the Crown Princess?"
Wei Zi nodded without hesitation.
"What method did you use to secretly tamper with her medicine without telling anyone else?"
Yuan Shen asked again.
Wei Zi said with a smug look on her face: "The eunuch in the Imperial Pharmacy is greedy. I just gave him some silver so he would sell me more herbs each time. I have to thank that Dingxiang. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have known that changing the prescription even slightly would result in different effects."
Yuan Shen remained silent.
Previously in the Eastern Palace, Dingxiang often treated the palace maids for free and taught them some basic pharmacology knowledge, but she never expected to be taken advantage of in this way.
With a change of heart, he turned to Jin Xiang: "Have they finished writing their statements? Have her sign them, and that will close the case."
Jin Xiang responded, took the confession, walked to the cell door, grabbed Wei Zi's hand, and pressed his fingerprint on the paper.
Throughout the entire process, Wei Zi offered no resistance, as if she had already resigned herself to her fate.
Just as Jin Xiang was about to get up and step back, Wei Zi suddenly grabbed him.
No one knows where she got the strength, but taking advantage of Jin Xiang's unpreparedness, she pulled out the short dagger from his waist and, to everyone's astonishment, stabbed it into her own heart.
In an instant, blood gushed from her chest, soaking her front and staining it red.
Of all those present, only Feng Jia reacted quickly. As Wei Zi drew her dagger, Feng Jia swiftly stepped in front of Yuan Shen, shouting "Protect the Emperor!"
Yuan Shen remained calm, patted Feng Jia on the shoulder, and told him to step back.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
Wei Zi collapsed to the ground, but her eyes remained fixed on Yuan Shen.
She opened her mouth, and said with difficulty, "Your Majesty...be careful...lu..."
Before she could finish speaking, her body stiffened, and she lost her breath.
When Jin Xiang came to his senses, he kicked her in anger.
"You can't even finish your sentence! Who are you wary of? Lu? Or Lu's?"
After venting his anger, he turned around and knelt down to beg for forgiveness.
Yuan Shen waved his hand: "She has already decided to die. Even without you, she will find other ways."
Feng Jia craned his neck to take a look and muttered, "That's good. She took her own life, which saves us the trouble. Your Majesty, what's next?"
"Dispose of the body, and send the confession and the dregs of medicine that Physician Huang found to the Dali Temple, so that the Dali Temple can talk to the Zhao family."
If this matter hadn't involved the imperial palace's inner garden, and he hadn't been worried that the Crown Princess's people would make baseless accusations against Song Xibai, he wouldn't have spent so much time and energy having his own people interrogate her; he could have just handed her over to the Dali Temple.
After leaving the Disciplinary Office, Yuan Shen returned to Changqing Palace in silence. Only after seeing Song Xibai did Yuan Shen show signs of exhaustion.
Song Xibai keenly smelled a faint scent of blood on him and was startled.
"What happened to Your Majesty? Are you injured?"
Yuan Shen shook his head, scooped her up, wrapped his arms around her waist, leaned against her, and closed his eyes.
"I now realize that a woman's resentment can be so terrifying."
He briefly recounted what Wei Zi had done and the reasons behind it, and finally sighed.
Song Xibai had actually guessed it long ago, but she didn't expect the reason to be this.
If we really delve into it, it's because the Crown Princess didn't treat Wei Zi as a "person." Wei Zi was her dowry maid, someone she grew up with since childhood. But when she needed her, she only thought of her; when she didn't, she was thrown aside to fend for herself. No wonder Wei Zi harbored resentment.
With her thoughts racing, Song Xibai glanced at Yuan Shen and then cleared her throat.
"Your Majesty need not overthink it. This matter was the Crown Princess's fault. Although Wei Zi is a palace maid and a servant, she is still a human being! She also has emotions and desires. She is in the Eastern Palace and sees Your Majesty every day. It is perfectly normal for her to be moved. Your Majesty is so handsome and elegant; who wouldn't be captivated by you?"
As she spoke, Song Xibai raised her hand and pressed Yuan Shen's face against hers, squeezing them together.
Yuan Shen was immediately amused.
"Only you would think that way. All they care about is my status and power. If I hadn't been the Crown Prince, the Zhao family wouldn't have married Zhao Xinya to me. Anyway, this matter is now over."
Song Xibai wrinkled her nose: "It's those words Wei Zi said before she died that made people uneasy. Is there someone lurking in the palace who wants to harm you?"
She couldn't help but feel worried.
But Yuan Shen didn't pay any attention to this.
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