Lord Sima said, "Our prince went out with Miss Liu, and returned horizontally. If you hadn't tampered with the wine, who could have poisoned it?"
Wei Huaixu scoffed and said, "Are all the servants you brought blind and deaf? It is fine for me and Jiaojiao to go to the appointment, but whether we have tampered with the wine or not is easy to find out by asking."
Qingying followed up, saying, "Aren't you two being a bit presumptuous? Neither His Highness nor I are fools. If we really wanted to poison your Second Prince, we wouldn't use such a stupid method, would we?"
Lord Sima gritted his teeth and said, "Let's leave aside Miss Liu's thoughts for now, but Your Highness, you truly harbor resentment towards our Second Prince. In the territory of Donglin, dealing with someone is a piece of cake, why bother with such roundabout methods?"
Wei Huaixu sneered and said, "Just because he admires my woman, I should hold a grudge against him? You really underestimate me, sir."
Lord Wanyan asked, "What evidence do you have to prove your innocence?"
Wei Huaixu raised an eyebrow, "Then what evidence do you have to prove that we poisoned them?"
"You...you're just being unreasonable!"
"You should all know who is being unreasonable."
"Enough!" The Emperor's stern and cold voice rang out, stopping their argument. His gaze swept back and forth between the group as he slowly said, "I did not summon you here to watch you argue endlessly. The most urgent matter is to cure the Second Prince of the poison."
Wei Huaixu bowed slightly and said, "Your subject has already sent someone to invite Imperial Physician Cen to the palace."
"Hmm." The Emperor said to the two envoys, "Imperial Physician Cen's medical skills are outstanding in the palace, especially his expertise in detoxification. Rest assured, Your Highness the Second Prince will be fine."
"As for the real culprit who poisoned you, I ask that you two refrain from making any unfounded speculations before there is conclusive evidence. I will have someone investigate and bring you justice."
Lord Wanyan gritted his teeth and said, "What if it turns out that the Crown Prince was indeed responsible?"
The Emperor hesitated for a moment, then heard Wei Huaixu say, "Then I will request the Emperor to depose the Crown Prince myself!"
These words stunned everyone present.
Playing this big?!
Qingying really couldn't guess what he was up to this time. But since he was so confident, he must have been absolutely certain.
...
Yu Chi Wuyou's poison was finally cured, fortunately, Physician Cen happened to know how to cure it, but he remained unconscious all night.
The fact that an envoy from the Northern Yue Kingdom, and a prince at that, had an accident in the Eastern Lin Kingdom, and that a peace agreement had not yet been signed, undoubtedly exacerbated the conflict between the two countries.
At this point, the public was no longer focusing on the marriage alliance, but rather waiting for the truth about the poisoning of the second prince of Northern Vietnam.
Despite pressure from above, the Dali Temple sealed off Banxianju and took everyone there, from shopkeepers to old women sweeping the streets, into custody for investigation.
Fortunately, Wei Huaixu had taken precautions beforehand, sending people to monitor Yuchi Wuyou before attending the banquet, and finally obtained strong evidence three days later.
It turns out that Yuchi Wuyou was not poisoned at Banxianju, but on his way back to the post station. Therefore, the murderer was very likely among the envoys from Beiyue.
Yuchi Wuyou was already able to walk, but he was still a little weak. However, the men of Beiyue were generally strong, and the poison did not seem to have affected him much.
He was always a decisive person. When he learned that the person who poisoned him might be one of his own, he decided to investigate everyone except himself, adhering to the principle of "better to kill a hundred innocent people than let one guilty person go free".
The result was unexpected; it turned out to be Lord Wanyan, one of the envoys who had argued with Qingying in the Hall of Diligent Governance. The aphrodisiac used on Wei Huaixu was also his doing.
“Actually, the poison that Yuchi Wuyou was poisoned with did indeed come from that pot of wine.” Wei Huaixu placed a silver wine pot in front of her, gesturing for her to open it.
Qingying opened it and looked at it, but couldn't figure out anything special. "What's so special about this wine pot?"
Wei Huaixu ordered someone to bring a bowl of tea and a bowl of wine, which were poured into a pot. He then brought two cups, pouring out a pale blue liquid, which was tea. He then poured out another cup, the liquid of which was slightly yellow, which was wine.
Qingying was astonished, "How can two different things be poured out of the same pot?"
Wei Huaixu smiled, put the wine pot back into her hand, and said, "Try turning the beads on the handle."
Qingying touched the small silver bead on the wine pot and found that it could be rotated. So she turned it once and opened the pot to take a look. The first time it was tea, the second time it was wine.
She immediately realized, "So this pot has two inner linings, right? That means the first drink he gave you contained an aphrodisiac, and the one he drank himself was poison?"
"That's right."
"Then why would he do that?"
Wei Huaixu smiled helplessly and said, "Speaking of which, it can be said that Yuchi Wuyou tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead. He had someone prepare half of the wine in advance, which was normal wine, and the other half was wine mixed with aphrodisiac. This was specially prepared for you."
Qingying frowned. "Why would he do that?"
“We are not yet married. Although there is an imperial decree to bestow marriage upon us, if you lose your virginity, he feels that the royal family will not be able to tolerate such a crown princess. He wants to use this as an excuse to replace you with the person to be married off to. Anyway, the Northern Yue do not care about a woman's virginity.”
Qingying felt a wave of fear wash over her; thankfully, she hadn't gone to the appointment alone.
Wei Huaixu continued, "He just didn't expect that there would be a traitor among his men who would taint the normal wine. When he drank it, it was no different from ordinary wine, but the poison had a trigger, which was mugwort. As long as he smelled the scent of mugwort on his way back to the post station, he would be poisoned immediately."
Qingying thought for a moment, looked at him seriously, and asked, "So, you bribed Lord Wanyan?"
Wei Huaixu looked at her, paused for a moment, and then smiled, "My Jiaojiao is so smart."
Qingying still didn't quite understand, "What is your purpose in doing this? Is it simply to get revenge on Yuchi Wuyou?"
"Of course, that's not all. You'll understand later." He gently stroked Qingying's hair.
He was unwilling to say more, so she didn't ask any further questions.
We'll find out sooner or later anyway.
...
An envoy represents the face of a country. Yuchi Wuyou did not punish Lord Wanyan in the territory of Donglin, nor did he make a fuss about it. He simply dragged out the little maid wearing the mugwort sachet to take the blame.
The Emperor wasn't stupid; how could he not see through this? But he said nothing, even leaving the maidservant to be dealt with by Yuchi Wuyou.
Such a big matter ended so hastily.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com