Chapter 145: Reopening the old case to lure the snake out...
“The condition of my mother before her death was indeed very similar to the symptoms of this ‘heart-eating’ attack.”
Princess Tong'an clutched Aunt Liu's confession tightly, her brows furrowed.
"For sixteen years, I have been searching for the true cause of my mother's death, never expecting it to be related to an insignificant palace maid?"
She said to Yan Yi, "Back then, the people in the Empress Dowager's palace were severely tortured and then expelled from the palace. At that time, I was not yet married and had my own residence, so my abilities were limited. I could only ask someone to secretly take care of a few of the Empress Dowager's confidantes. But over the years, they have either fallen ill or died. Now, there is only one second-class palace maid who is still alive, named Cai Xing."
As for Aunt Liu's aunt, Princess Tong'an tried hard to recall for a long time before remembering that she was a plain-looking, inconspicuous little palace maid who was always taking care of the flowers and trees in the small garden by herself.
Whose side is she on?
“I will send someone to find Cai Xing and ask her if she can recall more details about Liu Shi.”
Princess Tong'an stepped forward, took Yan Yi's hand, and sighed softly, "I never thought that I would be able to see the truth in my lifetime, and all of this was brought about by you and A Yue."
Is this the destiny ordained by Heaven and Man?
"Your Highness, I would like to ask Physician Wen to help A-Yue's second brother break the Heart-Eating Poison."
On her way to the princess's residence, Yan Yi repeatedly searched her mind and finally remembered a crucial clue.
She leaned close to Princess Tong'an's ear and whispered, "Although Prince Heng has been exiled to the Japanese islands, in the scene I saw in my dream, His Majesty suddenly fell ill, fainted, and passed away... Don't you find this symptom very familiar?"
Princess Tong'an's brow twitched violently.
"Are you saying that Father Emperor might also die from the Heart-Eating Poison?"
“I think there’s a 50% chance. Although you’ve said His Majesty has always been in good health, who can say for sure what will happen to a person’s health? I’m just thinking of this possibility.”
Yan Yi composed herself and looked at her. "Aunt Liu's aunt said that there is no cure for the Heart-Corroding Technique. Such a vicious method is like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows. We must prepare for it as soon as possible."
Princess Tong'an understood her meaning.
The true culprit who murdered Empress Wei is still unknown, which means that the perpetrator may still possess this poison and have the opportunity to harm others.
If they can develop the antidote first, they will at least have a trump card to protect themselves against this insidious and unpredictable scheme.
“You’re right. I’ll have Wenxian treat Young Master Shen right away. He happens to be the case right now.”
Yan Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Your Highness."
Little Moon should be able to relax a bit now.
...
To avoid alerting the enemy, Princess Tong'an arranged for Shen Mingda to be sent to a secluded villa so that Wenxian could detoxify him.
Aunt Liu was transferred there and imprisoned together, so that Wenxian could question her at any time.
As long as she cooperates enough, she can visit Shen Mingda next door every day for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
Aunt Liu was naturally extremely grateful and cooperated wholeheartedly, telling her everything she knew about the properties and uses of the Heart-Corroding Medicine.
That day, Shen Lingyue and Yan Yi came to visit Shen Mingda and inquire about Wenxian's progress.
They saw a young girl they didn't recognize sitting in the courtyard, processing medicinal herbs in front of a millstone.
Wenxian came out and introduced her to the two of them: "This is my niece, Wen Rujing. She has been quite talented in medicine since she was a child. I plan to train her to take over my position in the future."
This time, in order to break the Heart-Corroding Poison, Wenxian thought it would be a good opportunity to give her niece a chance to gain experience, and perhaps the young woman's ingenious ideas could bring her new inspiration.
Shen Lingyue nodded and then asked, "How is my second brother?"
Wenxian frowned and gently shook her head. "Young Master Shen's situation is not quite the same as Empress Wei's back then. His poisoning progressed too quickly and was extremely potent. However, this is also good news. The more potent the poison, the easier it is to find traces in the meridians. I have already used bloodletting to expel some of the toxins from him. The rest will have to be tested little by little with the new prescription."
Yan Yi asked, "Why is this happening? Has the effect of the Heart-Corroding Medicine changed?"
Perhaps this is just like conducting an experiment. Improper storage of materials, deviations in operating techniques, or any error in any step can lead to completely different results.
“Perhaps it’s related to the method of poisoning.” Wenxian pondered, “Aunt Liu used tea to poison Madam Shen back then, but this time she used lotus seed soup to poison Miss Shao. Perhaps a certain ingredient in the soup is incompatible with the poison, or perhaps it was cooked at high temperature… I’m still exploring the specifics, but as long as the toxicity changes, it proves that the Heart-Corroding Poison is not incurable.”
"Thank you for your hard work." Yan Yi looked at the faint dark circles under Wen Xian's eyes and knew that she must have been working tirelessly these past few days without a moment's rest.
"No need to thank me. This is a completely new challenge for me. I haven't encountered such a difficult illness in a long time."
Although Wenxian was physically exhausted, she was still full of energy, like a warrior with high morale.
"For the sake of the late Empress, and for our future, I will definitely break the Heart-Eating Poison."
Shen Lingyue went into the house to see Shen Mingda and held his slightly cool hand.
"Second brother, you must get better."
"You're going to marry Miss Shao and live happily ever after."
"As long as you can wake up, I... I will give you a piece of wood that is no less beautiful than rosewood!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt Shen Mingda's fingertips twitch slightly.
Shen Lingyue immediately shouted excitedly outside, "Quick, someone come! My second brother is responding!"
Wen Rujing was the first to rush in, and Shen Lingyue quickly gave up her seat.
She bent down to take Shen Mingda's pulse, then pried open his eyelids to examine him, and took out a silver needle to poke around on his body.
When the silver needle pierced a certain acupoint on his chest, Shen Mingda's body trembled violently.
Shen Lingyue exclaimed in delight, "Look, look, he moved again!"
“There are signs that your heart condition is improving.” Wen Rujing lowered her eyes and pondered. “It must be because the new prescription we changed this morning is working. I’ll go tell Auntie.”
...
A few days later, the people Princess Tong'an sent to find the palace maid Cai Xing returned.
She invited Shen Lingyue and Yan Yi to listen together, so that they could discuss any new ideas they might have.
Cai Xing is in his early forties and looks quite energetic, but his left leg is a bit weak, an old injury from being severely tortured years ago.
She was an old woman who had served Empress Wei. Princess Tong'an treated her very politely and had her maid help her to a cushioned chair.
Cai Xing bowed slightly to the group. She had already prepared her speech on the way here, and now she recalled it clearly.
"I don't have a deep impression of Liu'er from the flower room. I only remember that she was very honest and introverted, and didn't like to interact with other palace servants. She stayed in the flower room all day. Until a month before the Empress's accident, the flower room cultivated an extremely rare bicolor peony and quickly sent it to the Empress's palace."
"Her Majesty the Empress was very fond of it. She would go to the flower room to admire it for a long time every day. She also bestowed it upon Liu'er and instructed her to take good care of it and try to make the flower bloom for a longer period of time so that it could add luster to her birthday banquet."
"Liu'er lived up to expectations. Until the day before the Thousand Autumn Banquet, the two-colored peony was still blooming big and bright, and even had several new buds."
The next day was the Empress's birthday. The concubines, high-ranking ladies from outside the palace, and the Empress's family members all came to the palace to celebrate her birthday. Everyone went to the flower room to admire the rare peony.
At that time, the place was bustling with people and quite chaotic. Cai Xing was busy making a final check on the seating arrangements and tableware before the banquet started. In his haste, he passed by a quiet open space behind the flower room and saw Liu'er being forced to kneel on the ground by a noblewoman who was pointing at her and scolding her harshly.
"At the time, I didn't think much of it. I assumed that there were many important people in the flower room and that Liu'er had accidentally bumped into one of them, which is why she was scolded." Cai Xing shook his head with a wry smile. "It's common for a little palace maid like her to be beaten and scolded by her master."
Two days later, Empress Wei suddenly fell ill for no apparent reason. Her condition deteriorated rapidly, and she passed away within a few days.
Then the Empress was subjected to round after round of severe torture.
Cai Xing's face paled slightly as he recalled that blood-soaked nightmare.
"This is the last impression I can remember of Liu'er. She was just a palace maid in the flower room, and the only time she had the chance to come into contact with the Empress was during the few days she took care of the two-colored peonies."
"So at that time, the imperial physicians in the palace were unable to diagnose that the Empress had been poisoned by the Heart-Eating Poison, and they only treated her as if she were ill..." Yan Yi shook her head, "Who administered the poison and where it was administered remains a mystery to this day."
Shen Lingyue pondered deeply: "Could it be peony pollen? When Her Majesty the Empress was admiring the peonies alone, Liu'er sprinkled poison into the flower stamens. Her Majesty the Empress unknowingly inhaled it, and then the effects only appeared a few days later?"
Yan Yi shook her head: "It's hard to control the dosage, and it's also hard to clean it up completely. What if someone accidentally inhales the poison powder?"
Cai Xing agreed with her, "That two-colored peony is kept in the greenhouse. We've all secretly gone to see it. If it really was poisoned, it's impossible that only Her Majesty the Empress was affected."
Moreover, after Liu'er was captured and severely tortured, the peony withered and died within a few days because no one took care of it, and it was thrown outside.
Cai Xing was taken away to rest.
Princess Tong'an looked at the two of them: "Do you have any other new ideas?"
"Your Highness, I would like to know what crime the Wei family committed and was exiled for? Although the cause of the Empress's death could not be found at the time, does Your Majesty suspect that the Wei family is involved?"
"I remember that before my mother's accident, she and my father had a conflict over the matter of my uncle from the Wei family."
Princess Tong'an recalled: "At that time, the local people in the south rebelled. My uncle led troops to suppress the bandits, but his deputy general was caught in a trap because he was greedy for merit and acted rashly. The casualties were heavy. The censors submitted memorials to impeach him and demand that the commander be severely punished."
Empress Wei pleaded for her brother, arguing that the fault did not lie with him and that he should not suffer for someone else's sins.
But Uncle Wei was, after all, the commander-in-chief, and he couldn't remain unscathed when his subordinates made mistakes. Moreover, the Wei family was too powerful in the court at the time, which inevitably aroused jealousy and people would try to bring them down whenever they had the chance.
The emperor and empress disagreed and had a cold war for several days, until the opportunity of the Thousand Autumns Banquet allowed them to reconcile.
"I think Father Emperor was probably filled with remorse, hating that he and Mother Empress had been arguing during their last time together. He also took his anger out on the Wei family, feeling that they were useless and caused Mother Empress to fall ill and never recover."
Shen Lingyue murmured, "If Empress Wei fell ill not because she was worried about her brother, but because she was poisoned by someone with ulterior motives... then wouldn't the Wei family have been carrying the blame for more than ten years for nothing?"
This is truly a case of both thunder and rain being acts of imperial favor.
Princess Tong'an couldn't sit still any longer. "No, if Mother was really murdered, I must ask Father to reopen the investigation and clear the Wei family's name."
Over the years, the Wei family has been burdened with the crime of forcing the Empress to her death. They were exiled to the Northwest and lived a difficult life. The once illustrious military family can no longer be seen in the court.
Even Wei Shao had to suppress his brilliance and become a sickly, gigolo in the eyes of the world.
Princess Tong'an knew of his resentment and grievances, and the sighs he uttered while tossing and turning at night.
Yan Yi stopped her, "Your Highness, please don't act rashly. We don't have any more evidence right now..."
Before he could finish speaking, a female official entered from outside, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, Imperial Physician Wen has sent word that she has prepared the antidote."
Princess Tong'an clenched her fist and smiled at Yan Yi: "Isn't the evidence here?"
Yan Yi seemed to be thinking: "Does Your Highness intend to lure the snake out of its hole?"
Suddenly, the scene before her eyes changed, as if she were in a magnificent garden with lush vegetation.
...Could it be that the Goddess Xuan Nu has given her another revelation?
Yan Yi tentatively took a few steps forward, walked through a corridor, and looked up to see a little palace maid kneeling in the open space in front of her, sobbing softly.
A richly dressed woman stood in front of her, pinching her chin and forcing the young palace maid to raise her head.
“Cry louder… Yes, someone’s coming, now.”
The woman raised her hand and slapped the young palace maid hard across the face.
Yan Yi stared wide-eyed in surprise when she saw another palace maid walking towards her from the opposite direction.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that the person was none other than Aunt Cai Xing, who looked more than ten years younger.
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Author's Note: The long-awaited cheat system has finally appeared! [Let me see!]
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