About a quarter of an hour later, Song Qu returned and hurried forward to report to the emperor, "Your Majesty, it's been discovered. The imperial physician has found that the Sixth Prince's wet nurse, a woman named Cui, has the same toxin in her body as the Sixth Prince."
At this time, the imperial physician beside him also spoke up: "That's right, the toxin in the wet nurse's body is the same as the toxin in the Sixth Prince's body, but this poison is not strong, and the symptoms are not obvious in healthy adults.
High fever symptoms only occur in the elderly, weak, and young children. The wet nurse must have ingested something tainted with this poison, which is why the Sixth Prince drank her milk and fell into a coma due to a high fever."
After he finished speaking, Song Qu continued, "But I checked the wet nurse's food, and there was no poison in it."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qilan's chest surged with rage: "Where's the man? Bring him here for me to interrogate personally! I want to see who has the audacity to poison the heir to the throne!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a round-faced maid from outside the palace was pressed forward. It was none other than the wet nurse, Maid Cui. Maid Cui was so frightened by the scene that she stammered as she saluted the Emperor: "Your servant... pays... pays respects to the Emperor."
Gu Qilan's sword-like gaze was fixed on the nanny: "Tell me, why did you poison the Sixth Prince?"
The maid was already nervous, and now the emperor accused her of plotting to murder the prince. She was so frightened that her bones softened, and she cried out incomparably, "No...no, I don't know. I didn't do it. How dare I plot to murder the Sixth Prince? Please, Your Majesty, investigate."
"No? The imperial physician has already found out that you have the same toxin that the Sixth Prince was poisoned with. How dare you say you didn't know?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Cui's pupils suddenly dilated: "What? Is there poison in my body?"
Just now, Eunuch Song brought the imperial physician to check the meals of the wet nurses and took their pulses. When they examined her, for some reason, he suddenly pulled her to the main hall to meet the emperor.
Now it seems that there is poison in her body?
Aunt Cui knelt on the ground in a daze.
Seeing this, the emperor frowned unconsciously. The nanny's expression did not seem to be fake. It was estimated that the nanny had no idea that she was poisoned. After all, the poison had basically no symptoms in the body of a normal adult.
Then someone is using this nanny to poison the Sixth Prince!
Thinking of this, Gu Qilan said in a deep voice: "Did you take anything else besides the meal today?"
The meals of the wet nurses of the princes and princesses were all specially prepared by the imperial kitchen, and they were generally not allowed to eat anything else except the meals. However, Song Qu said that there was no poison in the wet nurses' meals, so they must have eaten something else.
After hearing the emperor's question, Nanny Cui finally came back to her senses. Suddenly, she remembered something and said excitedly, "Your Majesty, Qiong Yu Cake! It's Qiong Yu Cake! Besides my meals today, the only Qiong Yu Cake I've eaten was the Qiong Yu Cake that Nanny Zhao gave me!"
Gu Qilan keenly noticed the mention of Aunt Zhao in her words, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Frightened by the Emperor's gaze, Nanny Cui quickly told the whole story: "Nanny Zhao was originally the Sixth Prince's wet nurse. Because... because the Emperor laid off the staff in Concubine Lan's palace a few days ago, she was laid off.
This morning, Nanny Zhao suddenly came looking for me. She brought me a plate of jade cakes and told me to… to remember her and to help her when I have the chance.
At this point, Madam Cui paused, and then continued: "According to...according to the rules, as a wet nurse, I shouldn't eat anything else at will.
But…but that Qiongyu Cake is too precious. I was greedy and ate it. It must be the Qiongyu Cake that’s causing the problem. Your Majesty, please investigate.”
At that time, she was still thinking that she didn't have a close relationship with Zhao Ma when they worked together. Later, when Zhao Ma was laid off, she was still resentful and treated her sarcasticly. Why did she suddenly come to see her with such precious pastries?
Now that I think about it, Nanny Zhao would never come to visit for no reason; she must be trying to frame her!
Nanny Cui was afraid that the emperor would not believe her, so she quickly added, "I couldn't bear to eat all of that jade cake, so I left two pieces and hid them in the bedside cabinet in my room."
As soon as he finished speaking, Song Qu went to Madam Cui's room to look for the remaining Qiong Yu Cake.
After a while, Song Qu really came in with the two remaining pieces of Qiong Yu Cake. The imperial physician took up the Qiong Yu Cake and began to examine it without being told. After a while, the imperial physician reported back:
"Your Majesty, this Qiong Yu Cake is indeed poisoned. It is exactly the same toxin that is in the Sixth Prince's body."
After hearing this, Aunt Cui felt relieved a little.
The matter became clear, and the emperor immediately ordered Song Qu to bring Zhao Ma Ma over.
Taking advantage of this gap, the imperial physician hurried to prepare the antidote. For a moment, the only sound in the palace was Lanpin's sobbing: "Wuwuwu, Your Majesty, why did that nanny want to harm my child? My poor Sixth Prince is still so young. Your Majesty, you must not let the murderer go! Wuwuwu..."
Soon, Nanny Zhao was pushed forward. Perhaps because she felt guilty, she was trembling with fear before the emperor could ask her any questions.
Gu Qilan frowned slightly. Seeing this, Song Qu consciously spoke up for the emperor and scolded him, "Madam Zhao, there is irrefutable evidence that you poisoned the Sixth Prince. Why don't you confess the truth now?"
Nanny Zhao shuddered again, her whole body shaking like a sieve, but she stammered and couldn't utter a word. After all, this was a capital crime punishable by beheading.
Song Qu kicked him and said in a more serious tone, "Whether you tell the truth or not, it's a capital crime. Tell the truth and your family won't be implicated. Otherwise, your whole family, including your little son who is only a few months old, will die!"
As soon as these words came out, Zhao Ma suddenly collapsed to the ground, then struggled to get up and said, "I'll tell you, it was... Concubine Jing. It was Concubine Jing who threatened me to do this. She told me to find a chance to poison the Sixth Prince's wet nurse. When the Sixth Prince drinks the wet nurse's milk, the poison will also affect him.
This way, my mission is complete. If I don't agree, my family outside the palace will suffer. I have no choice but to do as she says. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."
A single stone caused a thousand ripples. No one had expected that Concubine Jing would be involved in this matter. After all, she had always been aloof and unconcerned with everything, as if she had no desires or demands. How could she actually poison someone?
And the one who was harmed was Lanpin's cousin's child? It's really hard to accept.
The one who found it most difficult to accept was the Emperor. He did not believe the nanny's words at all and thought she was talking nonsense. He immediately threw a teacup at her:
"How dare you speak nonsense and insult Concubine Jing in front of me? I think you don't want to live anymore. Come, drag this old slave away and beat him to death!"
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