"This servant still advises you, Princess, not to be curious. Just follow the instructions and think about how to sprinkle this on the things sent from the South Courtyard. Whether you do it or not is up to you, Princess." After saying this, Lingxiu turned to leave.
"Sister Lingxiu, please wait! The princess was just confused for a moment. Please leave the small porcelain bottle behind," Ye Ying hurriedly called out.
Lingxiu's fair and delicate face, which had appeared cold and sinister under the sparse moonlight shining in front of the door, now curled into a disdainful smile upon hearing Yeying's call, making her look somewhat sinister.
"Then I'll keep this. Master and his wife will be back in two days. Then, Lady Yin can personally greet the wife. Please don't make things difficult for me." Lingxiu reached out and handed the small porcelain bottle, its mouth sealed with red silk, to Ye Ying.
"This servant will take her leave. Please, Lady Yin, think carefully about how to do this in a reasonable and watertight manner," Lingxiu said again, then turned and left.
"Bang!!" Madam Yin slammed a teacup on the table to the ground. "This is outrageous!! Have you seen it? Every time she has something, she just orders this girl around. I have to be mindful of her attitude."
Ye Ying carefully held the porcelain bottle and walked to Madam Yin's side, saying, "But this time, we can't do what we did last time, taking the blame for everything. If the master finds out, and if the Fujin (Madam) tries to pin everything on the Gege (Princess), then..."
"So we must find out exactly how the Princess Consort poisoned the Third Prince, otherwise we'll be used as pawns again." Madam Yin stared at the small porcelain bottle in Ye Ying's hand and said, "Tomorrow morning, take my imperial edict with you and find a doctor to see what's in this bottle."
Ye Ying frowned and said, "I'm afraid that if I go out now, it will attract the attention of the South Courtyard."
Seeing that what she said made sense, Madam Yin became even more indignant and said, "It seems that I can only be her pawn now, and I can't move an inch."
The master and servant stood solemnly, one sitting and one standing, in the sparsely lit room. In the corner, two braziers filled with red charcoal crackled intermittently. The temperature in the room gradually cooled down as the charcoal fire was extinguished, just like Madam Yin's mood at that moment.
“No, Ye Ying, I cannot do the same thing again. Think about it, what was special about the times the Fujin came? If we can find that the things she sent contained this, we will have caught her red-handed. Even if things don't work out, we can use this as leverage to force her to save me. Master can be heartless to anyone, but he still cherishes some of the bond between us." One side of Madam Yin's face was in shadow, while the other half was exceptionally bright in the lamplight. This contrast between light and shadow made her face seem unreal, like a demon from the underworld, exceptionally beautiful but with a heart as venomous as a snake.
“Your Highness is absolutely right. I’ll think about it carefully. When the Princess Consort first came, she brought some medicinal herbs. There are still some left. Tomorrow, I’ll have Doctor Wu check if there’s any poison in them,” Ye Ying said.
“I’m afraid those things aren’t poisonous; they’re too obvious. Our Lady of the House wouldn’t do something so easily discovered,” Lady Yin said, shaking her head.
"The second time the Princess Consort came, she gave the Third Prince a set of bedding and pillows, and he is using that set now." Ye Ying thought for a moment, how could she tamper with a set of bedding and pillows?
"Pillow?" Madam Yin repeated the two words in confusion. "Do you remember what kind of fabric that set was made of? Let's make an identical pillow tonight and swap it with the one that the Third Prince is using."
"Does the princess suspect the problem lies in the bedding set?" Ye Ying asked in surprise.
“It’s just a suspicion, but we still have to take it out and see. Now that Doctor Wu is guarding the Third Prince’s room, and there’s also Cui Niang from the South Courtyard, we have to be careful when taking anything,” said Madam Yin.
"Yes, I remember that pillow. It was made of Suzhou satin with a blue-green ruyi pattern. Making one overnight wouldn't be difficult," Ye Ying said.
“It seems that the Princess Consort didn’t bring anything with her the third time, so only that set of bedding is suspicious. Ye Ying, quickly go to my closet and see if you can find that kind of fabric.” Madam Yin stood up immediately and said.
The two, mistress and servant, hurried to Madam Yin's inner room and opened the cabinet where fabrics were usually kept. Madam Yin remembered that she had asked for similar fabrics to make pillowcases before, but she couldn't quite recall if the pattern was the same.
Ye Ying took out rolls of fabric from the cabinet and placed them on the table. Madam Yin stood beside her, anxiously watching the rolls of fabric Ye Ying took out of the cabinet, but she still couldn't find a pattern that matched the Third Prince's pillow.
“I clearly remember there was a volume, how could it be missing?” Madam Yin said anxiously.
"Found it, found it, this is the roll, isn't it?" Ye Ying took a roll of cloth from inside and handed it to Madam Yin.
"Let me see it quickly." Madam Yin took the roll of cloth and walked to the lamp of the lotus-shaped bronze candlestick, examining it carefully and repeatedly.
“Night Poppy, come and take a look. This pattern seems to be the same as that one,” said Madam Yin.
Ye Ying hurried over and, together with Madam Yin, examined the fabric carefully under the candlelight. After confirming it repeatedly, she said, "It's exactly the same as that one. Princess, we happen to have some cotton reeds left. Let's get started making it."
By the dim light of the candlestick, the master and servant worked together, one cutting and the other padding, and then they sewed it together. It was exactly the same as the one the Third Prince had used as a pillow.
Madam Yin had always trusted only Ye Ying. There weren't many people serving her in her room, only three maids in total. The other two maids were sent by the Imperial Household Department and didn't know Madam Yin's thoughts.
"Princess, it's finally finished. You can go to sleep now. The rest is just some tassels to twist; I can do it all by myself. We'll have to figure out how to replace this pillow tomorrow, which will take some more work," Ye Ying said.
“When you’re done, wake me up. We’ll change it secretly in the dead of night,” said Madam Yin.
Meanwhile, Doctor Wu had already administered the medicine to the Third Prince twice, temporarily preventing the poison from spreading to his internal organs. Although he had also tried using silver needles to draw blood to test for the poison, he still couldn't determine the exact cause.
It was past midnight, and Doctor Wu was exhausted, so he fell asleep fully clothed on a chair beside the Third Prince's bed. Not wanting to share a room with him, Cui Niang slept fully clothed on the couch in the outer room of the Third Prince's room.
Around dawn, two ghostly figures carrying a faint lantern walked towards the Third Prince's room. Their footsteps were extremely light, as if they were afraid of disturbing something.
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