The Crown Prince was about to return to the palace, but after hearing about this matter, he stayed back. With something like this happening, he would be questioned by the Emperor even if he returned, so it would be better to deal with it first before returning.
Su Xiangling looked calm. She had made every possible preparation for today, so there was nothing to worry about. She was grateful to have accompanied the Crown Prince. Not only could she clear the Su family of suspicion, but she could also teach Su Qingyu a lesson.
This house was previously the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse. After deciding to provide disaster relief here, they partitioned off a hall to create a place where they would discuss matters and plan strategies.
At this moment, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sat in the main seat, with Su Xiangling standing behind him. The other officials sat according to their rank. The merchants who had provided disaster relief sat at the very end.
Su Qingyu sat next to Su Shunci, sitting there as the owner of Huajin Pavilion.
Shen Zhixiu had already asked the imperial physician Li from the palace to check on the condition of the victims. At this time, everyone was sitting here, waiting for the imperial physician's reply.
Su Qingyu sat calmly with her eyes lowered. When she noticed Su Xiangling looking at her, she raised her head and looked at her, her eyes full of scorn and disdain.
Su Xiangling was so angry that she gritted her teeth and wished she could convict Su Qingyu immediately.
Soon, Doctor Li walked in quickly.
He knelt in the middle of the hall and said, "Your Highness, I have examined all the victims and it appears they have been poisoned. The exact nature of the poison is still unknown."
The prince asked, "Is it serious? How should it be treated?"
Doctor Li replied respectfully, "It's not serious. You just need to boil some heat-clearing and detoxifying medicine. Drink it for a few days and you'll be fine."
"These people are safe, they are just suffering from vomiting and diarrhea."
The prince said in a deep voice, "Father loves the people like his own children and has always been concerned about the victims. Now that such a serious incident has occurred, we must do our utmost to treat them. We must use whatever medicine is necessary."
Doctor Li hesitated for a moment and then said, "The biggest problem here right now is the shortage of medicinal herbs. Your Highness, could you please send someone back to the palace to get some?"
The Crown Prince asked Doctor Li in confusion, "They're just some heat-clearing and detoxifying medicines. If I remember correctly, they should all be on the list of herbs for disaster relief. How come they're not there?"
Doctor Li replied, "I've asked around, and the one in charge of the medicine storehouse is the Su family's servant. He clearly stated that none of these herbs are available."
Upon hearing this, the prince immediately looked at Su Yuanqing, "Where are the herbs? How could there be none?"
Su Yuanqing subconsciously glanced at Su Xiangling, who scowled back at him. He suddenly remembered that his sister had taught him how to respond to this question.
"Your Highness, we have run out of all the herbs today. New herbs will be delivered tonight. It was my fault for being careless. I didn't expect the victims to be poisoned so suddenly."
"I should still be in time if I go to the shop to get the medicine now."
As soon as Su Yuanqing finished speaking, a man's gentle voice came from behind him.
"No need, I've already sent someone to deliver the herbs, they'll be here soon."
Lin Wuchen, wearing a green mink cloak, walked in slowly.
He knelt in the middle of the hall and said, "Your Highness, I have just visited the victims. I happened to hear Doctor Li say that they were short of medicine, so I took it upon myself to send it here. Your Highness, please forgive me."
How could the prince blame him? He said, "Young Master Lin San is thoughtful. Please sit down."
Lin Wuchen thanked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for his grace, stood up and sat down next to Su Qingyu.
When Doctor Li heard that the medicine was available, he went downstairs and told his young apprentice to prepare it.
The Crown Prince looked at Shen Zhixiu, his face somewhat gloomy. "Sir Shen, your father ordered you to take charge of disaster relief. How could such a serious incident happen?"
Shen Zhixiu bowed slightly and said, "Your Highness, please calm down. I will thoroughly investigate this matter and give an explanation to the Emperor and Your Highness."
The prince pondered and asked, "How does Lord Shen plan to investigate?"
Shen Zhixiu had obviously thought it through. "Since so many people were poisoned at the same time, it must be related to something they ate or touched together."
"First, check the disaster relief supplies and daily food. There should still be some leftover lunchtime food in the kitchen, so it won't be difficult to check."
"As for the coal provided by the Lin family and the medicinal herbs provided by the Su family, we need to ask the imperial physician to help thoroughly check to see if there is anything wrong."
The prince nodded and said, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Shen. I will leave this matter to you. I will wait here for the results of your thorough investigation."
Shen Zhixiu hurriedly said, "This is my responsibility. Fortunately, no one was killed in this incident, otherwise we would be blamed."
Afterwards, Shen Zhixiu brought people from the Imperial Hospital to thoroughly check all food and items that the victims had access to.
But nothing was found, everything was normal, no problem at all.
Su Yuanqing felt something was wrong. Could it be that Su Qingyu and the others' steamed buns were okay? He turned around and used the excuse of going to the restroom as a pretext, and quietly went to the small kitchen where the steamed buns were made.
After searching for a long time, I finally found several large basins of unused, fermented dough in a hidden place at the back.
According to Desheng, he put the medicine in the basin of fermented dough.
They had just finished lunch and it wasn't time to prepare dinner yet. So, did they not use the noodles for lunch?
Did Su Qingyu notice something wrong, or did she make too much dough and leave these behind?
He immediately called Desheng over. Desheng took a look and said, "Second Young Master, these bowls of noodles are indeed the ones I drugged. Huh? Why don't they work?"
Su Yuanqing spun around on the ground for a moment, unsure what to do. He wanted to go back and ask his sister, but Su Xiangling was with the prince, so he couldn't get close.
After much deliberation, Su Yuanqing finally made up his mind and asked Desheng to pick up one of the bowls of noodles and go to the front hall.
Regardless, it was a fact that croton powder was found in the dough used to make steamed buns. It would be difficult for Su Qingyu and Su Shunci to deny it.
"Your Highness, this is some discarded noodles that I stumbled upon. I wondered why such good noodles were thrown away. Perhaps there are clues inside."
Afterwards, Desheng placed the washbasin in the middle of the hall and knelt down beside it.
Su Qingyu looked puzzled. Su Yuanqing had discovered all this? It seemed he was undoubtedly the mastermind behind this.
As for what was inside the noodles, Su Qingyu already knew. She kept it because she wanted to see who would get anxious in the end. Of course, this was also evidence that she was being framed by Su Yuanqing.
It happened that Shen Zhixiu and Doctor Li were replying to the prince, and the prince ordered Doctor Li to go and check it out.
Not long after, Doctor Li knelt down and replied, "Your Highness, this noodle has been mixed with croton powder."
"What if it is made into steamed buns and someone eats it by mistake?" the prince asked.
"In mild cases, there will be abdominal pain and diarrhea, while in severe cases, there will be soreness and weakness all over the body."
After hearing what he said, the prince looked at Shen Zhixiu with a sullen face, "What do you say, Lord Shen? This involves the Third Madam of the Shen family."
"The emperor trusted Lord Shen and asked you to preside over the disaster relief. I didn't expect that the victims were poisoned, and the mastermind behind it was actually Madam Shen San."
"If Lord Shen doesn't give me a reasonable explanation, I can only report the truth to you."
Shen Zhixiu said in a deep voice without showing any panic.
"I would like to ask Doctor Li a few more questions."
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