“Prince Tian and his entourage arrived at Hai Shi (9-11 PM). At that time, I was checking the hourglass and preparing to note the time the princess went to sleep. They left about an hour later. After they left, I watched the princess fall asleep. Around Chou Shi (1-3 AM), I went to her private room. As for the thunder I heard, it must have been around Yin Shi (3-5 AM). I'm not entirely sure, but I know she didn't sleep for very long,” A-Lu said after a moment’s thought.
Gu Xin nodded, mentally checked the time, and then looked at A Yin, who hadn't said a word.
"What about you, Ah Yin? Have you been following Ah Lü around all this time?" Gu Xin asked.
When her name was called, Ayin suddenly looked up at Gu Xin with a blank expression. Then she realized that it was wrong to look directly at a person of importance like that, so she lowered her head again.
“This servant, this servant is with A-Lu. Only after the princess knocked over the medicine bowl the first time did this servant go outside to pour the medicine again. After that, this servant was sleeping soundly and did not hear the thunder. It was A-Lu who woke this servant up later,” A-Yin said softly.
Although she seemed calmer and more composed than Ah Lü, her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible unless you listened carefully.
"Ah Lu, go out and have your Lord Jiang invite Prince Tiantian over. If he's unwilling, have my father, Lord Gu, send someone to invite him. I'll wait here," Gu Xin instructed after thinking for a moment.
Ah-Lu withdrew.
Ah Yin remained calmly standing in place, her head down. Gu Xin glanced at her but ignored her, instead going to the bedside to look at Zheng Qiu.
"How did it go?" Gu Xin asked.
"Third Miss, could you please help me?" Zheng Qiu said.
Gu Xin saw what Zheng Qiu was doing and very skillfully picked up the plate next to her. Zheng Qiu took something out of Princess Nanlin's stomach and put it on the plate.
Gu Xin has worked with Zheng Qiu several times, and now she is fully able to face these things squarely.
She noticed the food on the plate was somewhat black and asked, "Is it poisoning?"
Zheng Qiu nodded: "There are signs of poisoning. But it's not visible on the surface of the body. We need to check what's in this plate."
Gu Xin glanced at the corpse: "Is there anything else?"
Zheng Qiu nodded: "She ate quite a lot. But most of it was normal food."
Gu Xin then asked, "What was the time of death?"
Zheng Qiu said, "It should be around the time of Chou (1-3 AM)."
Gu Xin pursed her lips.
In other words, when A-Lu watched Princess Nanlin fall asleep, she was not yet dead, but died in her sleep.
If it's poisoning, there's a time frame for the onset of the poison, which makes sense.
Zheng Qiu quickly finished examining the body and stitched it back up.
The two of them rummaged through the food on the plate, not knowing what kind of poison they had been given, whether it was from the medicine or the food.
It was already daylight.
Prince Tian Tian was brought over by the deputy general of Jia Cang Kingdom after dawdling for a while.
Gu Xin raised an eyebrow and looked at Gu Shouxin. Gu Shouxin glanced at her, and Gu Xin understood his look without him saying a word. He was saying, "Do you really need your father to do the hiring? Aren't you underestimating me?"
Gu Xin was secretly pleased. Her father was getting cuter as he got older; he used to be so fierce.
“Princess Xin Xin, why did you send me here? I wanted to come before, but the people of Nanlin wouldn’t let me see Long Zhu’er one last time!” Prince Tian Tian complained.
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