Song Xibai picked up Zhaojing, kissed her on the cheek, and then turned to Dingxiang and said.
"Pick up Zhao Yan and let's go!"
The two dressed the child in a coat and wrapped him in a small quilt, making sure he was completely covered, before heading towards the main hall.
Feng Chun quickly tidied up the west side room.
This was where the two children used to live; all we need to do is move the things from the side hall over.
However, Song Xibai still had more partition doors added.
After everything was settled, Wenniang, Jinnai, and the others, having received their punishments, came over to express their gratitude.
Song Xibai didn't see them either, and told them to go down and rest to recover from their injuries.
At this moment, Jin Xiang suddenly arrived at Changqing Palace.
Song Xibai remained expressionless. After handing the child over to Dingxiang, she took Wei Hong to the main hall of the front palace.
Jin Xiang's round face wore its usual smile. When she saw her come in, he bowed and greeted her.
Song Xibai waved his hand.
"No need for formalities. Eunuch Jin is now a favorite of His Majesty. You should be addressed as Lord Jin."
Jin Xiang smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.
"Your Majesty, please don't tease me. May I ask what important matter you have that Wei Hong secretly sent to deliver this message to me?"
That's right, Jin Xiang came over after receiving a message from Wei Hong.
Song Xibai glanced around, and Wei Hong understood. She walked to the entrance of the hall, keeping an eye on her surroundings and preventing anyone from getting close.
Song Xibai spoke in a low voice about what had just happened and his guesses.
"Now that you're in charge of the Disciplinary Department, you should be quite skilled in interrogation. I'll entrust the interrogation of these people in my palace to you. Make sure you find the spies without alerting outsiders."
Upon hearing that his two young masters had almost gotten into trouble, Jin Xiang's smile vanished instantly.
"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will take care of this matter."
After speaking, Jin Xiang bowed and withdrew.
When he reached the entrance of the palace, he paused for a moment and gave Wei Hong a meaningful look.
"Once this matter is settled, come with me out of the palace. There's something I need to discuss."
Wei Hong was stunned for a moment, and then realized what was happening. She was about to refuse, but Jin Xiang had already walked away.
She bit her lip, but ultimately said nothing, and turned back to Song Xibai's side.
Jin Xiang was very efficient, perhaps because he had special skills in interrogation and punishment. After only a few questions, he narrowed down the scope of the investigation. Finally, after a barrage of threats and intimidation against the three suspects, their psychological defenses collapsed, and they broke down on the ground, crying and telling him everything.
The person who did it was a palace maid from the side hall.
This palace maid was quite old and wanted to climb the ranks. She spent a lot of money bribing her superiors and subordinates, and went to great lengths to get into Changqing Palace to serve the young crown prince.
However, the four wet nurses kept a close eye on the child, and the palace maids rarely even had the chance to get close to him. They were also ordered around by the wet nurses and nannies. The palace maid was indignant and came up with this idea.
She cried and begged for mercy, claiming that she had no intention of harming the young masters.
Song Xibai listened to Jin Xiang's retelling with an inscrutable expression.
Dingxiang sat to the side with her legs crossed, looking at her.
Do you believe it?
Song Xibai gave a cold laugh.
"Believe it? That's absurd. How could a mere palace maid come up with such a clever method? And where did she get that thing from?"
Jin Xiang replied, "She said she did it herself."
"If it were anyone else, they might have believed her nonsense, but unfortunately, it was me."
The purity of that purified alcohol might be difficult for ordinary people to discern, but Song Xibai's sense of smell was extremely keen, and she also had experience from her past life. Trying to fool her? Impossible.
Jin Xiang frowned.
"This is what she said after she was tortured."
"Perhaps she herself doesn't know, or perhaps she's afraid that if she reveals who's behind it all, she and her family won't survive."
Song Xibai muttered to himself, then gave instructions to Jin Xiang.
"I'll have to trouble Eunuch Jin to check if any of the items that entered the palace last night were mixed in with such items. Keep that out in the open, and also have a few people secretly search for the distillation equipment."
Jin Xiang didn't quite understand: "Distillation apparatus? What's that?"
"It's something used for distilling alcohol. The distillery has it, but the ones there are all very large. There should be smaller versions too. You can ask the people at the distillery."
Jin Xiang acknowledged and left, then led his men to take the palace maid to the disciplinary office. He then personally led a search party.
The sky gradually darkened.
Song Xibai thought that no results would be found in a short time, but unexpectedly, Jin Xiang brought something before dinner.
Song Xibai stared at the strangely shaped bronze artifact in front of her, completely bewildered.
"What's this?"
Jin Xiang chuckled: "This is the distillation vessel that the Empress was looking for."
Song Xibai looked surprised.
"Is this it? Where did you find it?"
"Your Majesty would never guess that I found it in the Imperial Household Department's storeroom. It originally belonged to Yongshou Palace. After Lady Shu passed away, Yongshou Palace was emptied, and all the items were moved back to the Imperial Household Department's storeroom."
Song Xibai nodded, moved closer, and sniffed, but instead of smelling alcohol, she smelled a faint floral fragrance.
She seemed to be deep in thought.
"This, I'm afraid it's not for distilling alcohol, is it?"
"Your Majesty has a keen eye. I asked the storeroom manager and checked the storeroom register. This stuff is used to make floral dew."
Song Xibai's eyelids trembled.
Flower dew?
Yes, flower dew is actually water distilled from flower petals. It was a popular item in the palace. She used to use it often when she was in the Eastern Palace, but she stopped using it after she became pregnant.
Unlike perfumery, floral water doesn't have many hidden dangers. It's made from pure flower petals, and the water left after soaking and distilling has a natural floral fragrance that isn't too strong.
However, the required flower petals are too many for ordinary households to make themselves, so they mostly buy them from outside.
The largest cosmetics shop outside the palace sells the best-selling floral dew, which is also the most common rose water. It uses rose petals, which bloom all year round, so it can be supplied long-term.
Thinking of this, Song Xibai's heart stirred.
"It seems that none of the ladies in our harem are fond of using cosmetics and perfumes, are they?"
"How could Your Majesty forget? Consort Guo used to enjoy fussing over these things. She even got hold of some ancient recipes, saying they could whiten skin and add fragrance."
Wei Hong suddenly interjected.
Song Xibai frowned slightly: "Beauty Guo?"
Does she have that ability?
It wasn't that Song Xibai looked down on Guo Jiayi. Previously, Du Jieyu and the others could have easily stripped Guo Jiayi of her rank and punished her if they had joined forces. If she truly had that ability, would she have ended up in this situation?
If it weren't for the fact that Yuan Shennian was relatively well-behaved in the Guo family, she wouldn't even have been able to keep her position as a beauty.
As her thoughts shifted, Song Xibai shook her head.
"It shouldn't be her. Besides, researching fragrance formulas and floral dew are not the same thing."
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