punish
Another day passed before Shangguan Zeyu finally woke up.
Zhang Qin carefully helped him lean against the soft pillow behind him: "Your Highness, are you feeling better?"
Shangguan Zeyu stared at him blankly, then pounded her forehead three or four times with her right hand before she seemed to remember what had happened.
"What happened?"
Zhang Qin hesitated for a moment, then said apologetically, "Your Highness, you've been poisoned by... aphrodisiac."
Before Shangguan Zeyu lost consciousness, he had already guessed that he might have been drugged with an intoxicating drug, but he never expected it to be an aphrodisiac. His face instantly darkened to the point of being as gloomy as the sky before a storm.
"What did they find out?"
"Your Highness, Imperial Physician Wang says that the poison you have suffered from may have come from the same person or the same group of people as the poison that the Consort suffered from."
"Where did it originate?"
Zhang Qin knelt down, feeling embarrassed and guilty: "Your Highness, I am incompetent and failed to find out."
Shangguan Zeyu looked at him with a sullen face, seemingly lost in thought, and then spoke.
"Get up. If even you can't find out, it means someone is deliberately hiding it."
Zhang Qin stood up: "Your Highness, what should we do next?"
A strange smile appeared on Shangguan Zeyu's lips: "Go find whoever sent it."
Wu Lanyu returned to Lanhuayu and had Qingmei treat her wounds. Then she nestled on the soft couch and carefully recalled what had happened that day.
After a day and a night, she finally came up with some ideas, albeit with dark circles under her eyes.
Someone must be trying to frame her!
The lotus seed soup was made by her own hands, without the help of anyone else. How could Shangguan Zeyu have been poisoned by aphrodisiacs after eating it?
There's nothing wrong with her lotus seed soup!
Then the problem must lie with Shangguan Zeyu!
Shangguan Zeyu returned from the palace; could it be that he was poisoned at that time?
Also, why did Xiao Yiqing and Wang Qianqian go to Yunxiao Pavilion at that exact time?
Did those two know something all along?
Wu Lanyu felt she needed to have a good talk with Wang Qianqian. Just as she and Qingmei left the courtyard to go find Wang Qianqian, a servant called out to her.
"Madam Wu, please wait."
Wu Lanyu had never seen him before, and narrowed her eyes in confusion: "Who are you?"
"Reporting to Madam Wu, this servant works for Steward Cui. Guard Zhang said that His Highness requests your presence at Yunxiao Pavilion, so this servant has come to inform you." After saying this, he bowed and left.
As Wu Lanyu watched his retreating figure, she grew increasingly frightened.
She ignored Shangguan Zeyu's warnings and insisted on getting close to him that day, even kissing and touching him. He must have been very angry!
Now that he's awake, putting everything else aside, he'll definitely hold her accountable for this!
Wu Lanyu was both flustered and afraid. She swallowed several times without realizing it before gritting her teeth and going to Yunxiao Pavilion.
Shangguan Zeyu, dressed in black, sat at his desk with a serious expression, reading a book.
The book cover was made of black cowhide, and there was no title written on it.
Like a frightened bird, Wu Lanyu walked slowly toward Shangguan Zeyu, stopping and starting as she went.
"...Your Highness?" She glanced timidly at Shangguan Zeyu, and when she saw him slightly move his eyelids as if to look at her, she quickly lowered her eyes shyly.
Shangguan Zeyu looked at her with disdain and asked stiffly, "Don't you have anything to say?"
Wu Lanyu blushed even more, gently biting her lower lip, and said softly, "Your Highness, I don't know what to say."
Shangguan Zeyu's patience ran out instantly, and he roared, "Kneel down!!!"
Wu Lanyu was so frightened that she knelt down on both knees without thinking, her face full of fear and panic.
"Speak! Was there something wrong with the food you gave me that day?"
"No, no, no, Your Highness, I wouldn't dare!! How could I possibly..."
"You'd better think this through before you answer!!!" Shangguan Zeyu interrupted her in a cold, hard voice.
Wu Lanyu paused for a moment, then quickly said, "Your Highness! I swear to heaven!!! I really didn't poison the lotus seed soup!!"
Shangguan Zeyu snorted coldly, then looked outside: "Zhang Qin, bring in the witnesses and evidence!!!"
The door was pushed open from the outside.
Zhang Qin led Wang Qianqian in, carrying the bamboo basket she had brought to Shangguan Zeyu to deliver lotus seed soup the other day. They walked in one after the other.
Wu Lanyu watched intently as Wang Qianqian walked to her side and bowed to Shangguan Zeyu.
"Madam Wang, tell Madam Wu, what did you see that day?"
Wu Lanyu didn't understand, but she also seemed to understand somewhat.
She looked anxiously at Wang Qianqian, who had turned to her, and asked urgently, "Sister, what happened?"
Wang Qianqian was in a dilemma and didn't know what to do. She said, "Sister, please don't blame your sister. It's just that this matter is related to the prince."
Then she looked at Shangguan Zeyu and said, “Your Highness, I heard it from my personal maid Liuying. That day, when she went to the kitchen to prepare medicine for me, she saw Sister Wu pour a small bottle of clear medicine into the soup she was cooking. Then she heard her tell my personal maid Qingmei that it was lotus seed soup for Your Highness.”
Wu Lanyu was now truly certain she was in trouble. She shouted fiercely, "Nonsense!! You're talking nonsense!! I didn't do it!!!"
Then, anxiously and panicked, she looked at Shangguan Zeyu: "Your Highness! Please investigate! I really didn't do it!!!" Two lines of tears were already streaming down her face.
Shangguan Zeyu remained unmoved, his face grim as he looked at Wang Qianqian: "Did you have someone verify that the soup was poisoned?"
“Your Highness! Even without a doctor's verification, the poison in the lotus seed soup can be detected by testing it with a silver hairpin! After Madam Wu left that day, the Princess Consort personally tested it with her silver hairpin. She thought it was impossible at the time! Fearing it would be unfair to Sister Wu, she had a doctor verify it again. If Your Highness does not believe me, I can use my own silver hairpin to test it again now.”
Shangguan Zeyu looked at Wu Lanyu, whose face had turned deathly pale with fright.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
Wu Lanyu wept, her face streaked with tears, and looked pleadingly at Shangguan Zeyu: "Your Highness! I am truly innocent! How could I dare to do such a thing? Your Highness! If I may be so bold as to ask, did Your Highness eat anything before returning to the manor? Perhaps you were poisoned at that time, it is not impossible."
Shangguan Zeyu flew into a rage, slammed his hand on the desk, and stood up abruptly.
"Wu Lanyu! How dare you!! I came back from the palace. What do you think I ate there?"
Wu Lanyu was terrified; she was truly terrified.
"Your Highness! That's not what I meant!! I... Your Highness, I made lotus seed soup. I personally delivered it to you! If I had truly poisoned it, would I be so foolish as to deliver it to you myself? Your Highness! I didn't poison it! If the lotus seed soup was poisoned, then someone else must have done it, someone else is deliberately framing me!!! Please, Your Highness, investigate thoroughly!!!"
Shangguan Zeyu's expression gradually softened, and he slowly sat down again.
"What Lady Wu said is exactly what I've been curious about! Lady Wu should know my temperament, so how dare she treat me like this?" Then, her eyes sharpened as she looked at the bamboo basket Zhang Qin was carrying. "The poison in that lotus seed soup must have been deliberately used to frame Lady Wu!!!"
Upon hearing this, Wu Lanyu burst into tears of joy and immediately kowtowed to Shangguan Zeyu: "Your Highness, please investigate! I beg Your Highness to clear my name!!"
Wang Qianqian's expression was not good. Although she was still trying her best to pretend, how could Shangguan Zeyu, who had suspected her from the beginning, not see through her?
"Madam Wang, do you have anything else to say?"
Wang Qianqian lowered her eyes, hesitant.
Shangguan Zeyu sneered and looked at her: "If Madam Wang thinks that this poison should have been administered by Madam Wu, you can also share your opinion and let me hear it."
Wang Qianqian made up her mind: "Your Highness, I think what Sister Wu said makes a lot of sense. She must have been framed."
Shangguan Zeyu looked at her as if he understood everything, and smiled: "Madam Wang, the doctor has examined me. The aphrodisiac I was poisoned with actually came from a brothel! Madam Wang must know someone there, could you help me find out where the poison came from?"
Wang Qianqian's expression immediately turned serious, as if she had suddenly heard some earth-shattering bad news.
"Yes, Your Highness. It is my honor to be able to relieve Your Highness's worries. I will definitely help Your Highness find the source of this poison."
"Very well, now I know who to punish." Shangguan Zeyu feigned relief, then asked with a puzzled look, "Why didn't the Princess Consort come?"
Wang Qianqian glanced at Zhang Qin discreetly. Zhang Qin seemed not to have heard Shangguan Zeyu's question, so she replied.
"Your Highness, the Princess Consort is unwell and was unable to come."
"Not feeling well?" Shangguan Zeyu feigned confusion. "Why would you feel unwell? Are you sick?"
Wang Qianqian then glanced at Wu Lanyu again.
Wu Lanyu was lost in her own thoughts, looking bewildered, when she said, "Your Highness, Sister Wu hit the Princess Consort the other day. The Princess Consort was upset and... needs to rest, so she didn't come to Yunxiao Pavilion."
"Like this?!" Shangguan Zeyu pretended to be very angry and glared at Wu Lanyu.
But Wu Lanyu was so preoccupied with the fact that she had been wronged that she paid no attention to any of this.
Shangguan Zeyu shouted sternly, "Wu Lanyu! How dare you! You dare to disrespect the Princess Consort!!! By my decree, Wu Lanyu, from this moment forward, shall confine yourself to your Orchid Pavilion for solitary contemplation. Without my order, you are not to leave your Orchid Pavilion even a step!!!"
Wu Lanyu was heartbroken, but dared not argue with Shangguan Zeyu, so she had no choice but to thank him against her will.
Although Wang Qianqian still had a blank expression, the smirk in her eyes betrayed her true feelings.
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