"Dr. Lin, kill all these fish, cut them open, and see if there's anything wrong inside!" Lan Qin said. Actually, she was a little unsure herself. If the murderer poisoned the fish, then Hong Sheng had been dead for some time, and she probably had already stopped, so these fish were likely harmless.
Lady Fucha stood at the back of the crowd, coldly watching them gather around the wooden tub. She was filled with a hundred regrets; she truly hadn't expected Lanqin to think of this. If she had known, she should have told that person to stop. But she wanted Lady Nian dead so badly that she hadn't ordered him to stop.
After Doctor Lin and his servant scooped the fish out of the bucket and threw them on the ground, several women covered their noses with their handkerchiefs. They never usually bothered to learn how the kitchen sourced its ingredients or how it cooked, and now, seeing two fish suddenly thrown to the ground, they all avoided them.
Since learning that she too had been afflicted with cinnabar, Nian Shi had been in a daze. She had always believed that Lan Qin was the one who had harmed Hong Sheng, but now it seemed that it was definitely not her; otherwise, why would she have done so much?
Before Doctor Lin could finish his examination, Fourth Master arrived. He had just finished his own work and came to see how Lanqin's examination was going.
When the women saw the Fourth Master arrive, they all bowed in greeting, but Lady Nian seemed somewhat numb.
"Your Highness, someone has poisoned me and Hongsheng. Please, Your Highness, you must catch this person." Lady Nian was finally unable to hold on any longer, and she suddenly slumped into her chair.
Lanqin then reported her suspicions and the results of Doctor Lin's examination to the Fourth Master.
Just then, Doctor Lin came out from the inner room again, walked up to Fourth Prince and Lanqin, and reported: "Your Highness, Consort, cinnabar was indeed detected in the bodies of those two fish. I only pricked the fish's body with a needle earlier, and the blood that came out didn't show any cinnabar, probably because the concentration was too low. This time, I carefully examined the fish's gills and internal organs, and found very obvious cinnabar in both. It must have been someone who fed these fish cinnabar."
Crack!
Fourth Master grabbed the teacup beside him and smashed it to the ground. The teacup shattered, and the emerald green tea leaves and the lustrous green tea spilled out. Lanqin watched as Fourth Master's hand gripped the edge of the table, the veins on the back of his hand, with its distinct knuckles, stood out prominently.
"Your Highness, the source of the poison has now been found. Continue to investigate along this lead. Also, thoroughly investigate the fish chef, the servant who served the food, and the maidservant who served the Third Prince," Lanqin said.
Fourth Master nodded, instructed Doctor Lin to detoxify Nian Shi and the others as soon as possible, and then took Lanqin back to the South Courtyard. Seeing that Fourth Master and Lanqin had left, the others naturally did not stay either, and all went back to their rooms.
The Fucha family and their servants were filled with apprehension the whole way. If the Fourth Prince continued his investigation, they feared that he might eventually find out about them.
"Xiufang, have you spoken to Liu's maid?" Fucha asked.
"After Consort Liu was confined to her quarters, one of her second-class maids was punished by Liu for breaking one of her pieces of jewelry. I gave her some bruise-reducing ointment. After that, she became very obedient to me," Xiufang said in a low voice.
"Alright, go and fetch her right now, bring her to my room, and make sure no one sees her," said Lady Fucha.
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