13. Who exactly is it? (Revised)
The 'Carefree King' had a cold gaze and exuded a chilling aura. As he asked questions, his eyes kept darting back and forth between the women in the backyard, his suspicion obvious.
Perhaps believing their plan to be flawless, the people in front of them remained calm and composed, showing no signs of panic. This infuriated the "Carefree King," who could only vent his anger on Liu Hanruo.
"Your Highness, you are my lawfully wedded wife and the mistress of my harem. Regardless of the reason, you are fully responsible for this serious incident. Go and accept your punishment!"
"Your Highness, I know I was wrong. It was my fault for mismanagement. Once the truth is found, I will go to the ancestral hall to accept my punishment." Liu Hanruo lowered her head and sincerely admitted her mistake.
Her lowered head perfectly concealed Liu Hanruo's disdainful expression. What talk of a legitimate wife, what talk of the mistress of the harem? When had she ever had the right to manage anything? And when had he ever treated her as a legitimate wife? He left everything to Liu Hanxue to handle, making her, the princess consort, a mere figurehead. Only when something went wrong would he push the blame onto her. If she didn't bear a blood feud, why would she have to compromise like this?
Perhaps it was Liu Hanruo's humble and sincere attitude that satisfied the 'Carefree King's' inherent male chauvinism, because he didn't criticize her too much anymore. However, his face remained cold, and his indifferent words were spoken in a faint tone:
"Liu Hanruo, you should understand that what I need is not a pretty face. I'll leave this matter to you. If you want to secure your position as the Princess Consort, then show me your skills. If you can't even handle this small matter, then I think it would be more appropriate to replace you with someone more suitable for the position!"
"Your Highness, I understand. I will definitely find out the truth as soon as possible and give Your Highness and my sister an explanation!"
Upon hearing the words of the "Carefree Prince," the concubines present reacted in various ways, but all shared the same intense excitement. Some curled their lips in a mocking smile; others appeared arrogant, as if they were the only candidates to become the next queen; still others had already begun dreaming of becoming queens, contemplating how to enslave the other concubines. These women had completely forgotten where they were, and even the "Carefree Prince" himself had been forgotten, demonstrating just how alluring the temptations of power and status were.
Seeing this, the carefree king's eyes sharpened, the surrounding temperature plummeted, and his icy yet authoritative voice resounded throughout the bedroom.
"What? I never knew that the loss of my child would make you all so happy. Do you think that without the child, no one can threaten your position?"
A heavy hat loomed over them, and no one dared to speak. They could only suppress their expressions, bow their heads, and stand there silently, motionless. The scene was tense for a moment. Just then, a mournful wail faintly came from the inner courtyard. It turned out that Liu Hanxue, who had regained her senses, knew that her child was gone and, overwhelmed with grief, burst into tears.
Without uttering a word, the 'Carefree Prince' rose and walked towards the inner courtyard. Reaching the bedside, he looked at Liu Hanxue, whose face was streaked with tears, sighed, and pulled her into his arms. He gently called her Xue'er and patiently wiped away her tears. Although this gesture was meant to comfort her, it only made Liu Hanxue's nose sting, and her tears fell even more freely. Her sorrowful voice emanated intermittently from the 'Carefree Prince's' embrace.
"Your Highness...I'm so sorry...I couldn't...protect our...child...I'm so sorry!"
"Xue'er, don't cry. To me, nothing is more important than you. We can have more children in the future! We made a promise to hold hands and grow old together." The carefree prince took her hand, looked at her affectionately, and said gently.
"Your Highness. My child... You must avenge our child!" His words deeply moved Liu Hanxue, lessening her grief at losing her child, yet she still could not hide her sorrow.
"Yes, Xue'er. Don't think too much now. Just rest well and leave the rest to me."
While Liu Hanxue was sleeping, she held onto 'Xiaoyao Wang's' hand and wouldn't let go. 'Xiaoyao Wang' didn't say anything and quietly stayed by her side.
While the 'Carefree King' entered the inner garden to accompany Liu Hanxue, Liu Hanruo was not idle either, and had already begun her investigation.
Liu Hanruo had taken her pulse and understood that this was a miscarriage caused by the effects of the medication. It seemed that Liu Hanxue must have unknowingly eaten food laced with the drug. As a descendant of the Ghost Doctor, Liu Hanruo was well-versed in pharmacology and the properties of medicine. After roughly calculating the time, she realized that the problem must have occurred during lunch. However, half an hour had passed since lunch, and all the tableware had probably been washed by the kitchen long ago, making it impossible to investigate.
Liu Hanruo pondered quietly. If she started from the motive, she understood that everyone was a suspect because the existence of this child was directly related to their future, and anyone could have been the one to drug the child.
After a moment's thought, Liu Hanruo called over Dongmei and inquired about Liu Hanxue's lifestyle. She learned from Dongmei that Liu Hanxue would have all her food tested by pregnant women before eating it to ensure it was safe to consume. Logically, with such strict precautions, it shouldn't be so easy for anything to go wrong.
After questioning, Liu Hanruo learned that the pregnant woman who had lunch also took the medicine, but did not show any signs of miscarriage. Therefore, there was no doubt that the medicine was administered within the short five minutes between when the pregnant woman took the medicine and when Liu Hanxue took it. However, there should have been many people present at the time. So how did she manage to administer the medicine secretly without being noticed by everyone?
Who drugged her? And how did they drug her? All the mysteries seemed elusive, leaving people confused and unable to make any conclusions. The only thing Liu Hanruo was certain of was that the person who drugged her must have been someone who had appeared at lunchtime.
Liu Hanruo glanced thoughtfully at the six concubines, then called over her maid Xiaolü and instructed her to investigate all the people who had been present at lunch and bring them all back. After giving all the instructions, Liu Hanruo quietly whispered something to Chunxiang behind her. Chunxiang nodded and left.
Before long, thirteen maids appeared before them, trembling. The less timid ones turned pale with fright after hearing that Consort Liu had miscarried. Some of the bolder ones knelt on the ground, trembling, when they heard that they were also suspected, fearing that they would get into trouble and be caught up in the struggle in the backyard. Only the personal maids of the six concubines knelt on the ground in an orderly manner, showing no signs of panic.
After a brief inquiry, seven maids who had not approached the inner garden were ruled out. After further investigation and verification, Chunhe and Qiushuang, the personal maids of Consort Wang and Concubine Zheng, were also temporarily ruled out, leaving only four maids: Xia Yu, the personal maid of Consort Dong; Liu Jin, the personal maid of Concubine Zhang; Cuizhu, the personal maid of Concubine Liu; and Shui Han, the personal maid of Concubine Hua. All four of them had appeared at lunchtime and were suspected.
Liu Hanruo looked at the four people in front of her, speaking while carefully observing their reactions.
"I don't need to say more, I think you should understand that murdering the prince's child is a crime punishable by death. If you still have a conscience and do not want to implicate your family, I advise you to come forward yourself. Otherwise, once I find out, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Upon hearing that their families might be implicated, some people's expressions changed slightly, their palms broke out in a cold sweat, and they unconsciously gripped their clothes tightly, but they still tried to remain calm, telling themselves that nothing would happen, absolutely nothing, and they would definitely not be discovered.
Liu Hanruo noticed the slight changes but didn't say anything.
---Aside---
I've been having a bit of a mental lapse lately, please forgive me.
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