The next day, Lanqin couldn't sleep well because she was worried about the Third Prince, so she got up very early. Nianxue helped Lanqin get up, change clothes, and wash up, and whispered in her ear, "The head nanny just said that the wet nurse didn't confess anything, but one of the two maids, named Linghua, told us something a bit strange."
"What strange thing is this?" Lanqin asked, examining her slightly pale face in the bronze mirror. Today was supposed to be the first day of the month; she should have taken her child back to her parents' home to visit Anjia.
“Linghua said that the pot used to decoct medicine for the Third Prince seemed slightly different. At the time, I thought it was a bit strange, but now I wonder if there was something wrong with that pot. The medicine for the Third Prince was served by the three of them; none of Yin’s people directly served the Third Prince,” Nianxue said.
"I know, it's all the Third Prince's fault. Don't dress too conspicuously, or this New Year will be anything but peaceful," Lanqin said.
Yesterday, Lanqin sent Lanqi to find Chen Shou and instruct him to go to the Thirteenth Prince's residence to inform the Fourth Prince about the Third Prince's situation. Since the Thirteenth Prince has no mother in the palace and no children, he and Lady Zhaojia will definitely return to their residence.
As for what the Fourth Prince said and what he would do after learning about the situation in the manor, Lanqin had no way of knowing. There was no news coming back from the palace yet.
"Have Xicha go and tell the head nanny, and have Linghua take that medicine pot. If there's any real problem, that pot might be the key," Lanqin instructed.
"Yes, let me help you comb your hair first," Nianxue said.
"No need, hurry up, or it might get too late and someone might have tampered with it. It all depends on luck; it might have already been tampered with yesterday. But no matter what, get that medicine pot first," Lanqin said, frowning slightly.
Seeing this, Nianxue had no choice but to put down the ox horn comb in her hand and hurriedly went out to find Xicha.
Meanwhile, Madam Yin and Ye Ying, having stayed up late the previous night, didn't get up early. The two of them changed their pillows before returning to sleep. Madam Yin seemed to be having a nightmare; despite it being the dead of winter, her forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat. Ye Ying lay fully clothed on the couch outside, curled up, perhaps because of the cold; the charcoal in the room had long since gone out.
"No, don't come looking for me!!" Madam Yin began to ramble incoherently, a bead of sweat appearing on her nose, her head constantly turning from side to side.
Ye Ying frowned deeply, her sleep not very sound. However, she had been keeping watch for many years and was used to turning a blind eye. At this moment, when Madam Yin was having a nightmare and started talking nonsense, Ye Ying naturally woke up.
Ye Ying rubbed her sleepy eyes, threw off the quilt, crawled out of bed, quickly put on her shoes, and ran to Madam Yin's bedside. She hurriedly lifted the gauze curtain and saw Madam Yin with her hands behind her head, as if she had heard some sound in her dream.
"Princess, Princess, wake up, please wake up!" Ye Ying hurriedly grabbed Yin Shi's hand and shook it.
"No!" Madam Yin suddenly opened her eyes, which were filled with red blood vessels, startling Ye Ying.
"Princess, what's wrong? Did you have a dream?" Ye Ying shook Yin's arm and asked.
"Li Shi, Li Shi has come to see me." Madam Yin's almond-shaped eyes were wide open, filled with endless fear, as if she had just experienced an infinitely terrifying scene.
"Princess, you're just dreaming, it's just a dream," Ye Ying said, trying to hide her panic.
"Night Poppy, how terrifying! It seems like she was right in front of me just now. Her breath touched my face, so cold, so cold. Touch my face, isn't it cold?" Madam Yin covered her cheeks with both hands, and indeed, they were as cold as ice.
“Princess, the charcoal in the room has burned out. Look, my face is cold too,” Ye Ying said hurriedly.
"Ye Ying, tell me, is it because we harmed the Third Prince that she came back to seek revenge on me? Is that it?" The fear in Madam Yin's eyes did not dissipate in the slightest despite Ye Ying's explanation.
“Princess, we didn’t harm the Third Prince. Those things only slowed down his recovery; they didn’t kill him. Someone poisoned the Third Prince, and we need to find out who did it and what kind of poison it was.” Ye Ying said solemnly to Madam Yin.
Madam Yin gradually calmed down, her head bowed as she breathed heavily, beads of sweat sliding from the tip of her nose onto the silk bedding.
Ye Ying raised her hand to pat Yin Shi's back and comforted her, "Princess, please wait a moment. I'll get you a cup of hot water."
"Night Poppy, has that jar been replaced?" Madam Yin grabbed Night Poppy's hand as she was about to leave.
"That maid hasn't even touched it yet, and it's been used for so long. No one would have guessed what was inside," Ye Ying said dismissively.
"Go quickly, take that jar. No matter what method you use, go quickly, even if you have to hide it, replace the original one with the new one." Madam Yin suddenly shouted, the fear on her face long gone, replaced by a face full of gloom and determination.
“But you…” Ye Ying was not entirely at ease with Madam Yin.
"Go quickly, did you hear me? I'm fine. Li Shi is just a ghost, I'm not necessarily scared by her." As soon as Madam Yin threw off the quilt, she was completely different from the weak woman who had been terrified in the nightmare just now.
Seeing her resolute expression and unyielding tone, Ye Ying had no choice but to leave immediately.
Ye Ying quickly washed up, put on her cotton coat, and went to the backyard. As she approached the Third Prince's courtyard, she saw the head nanny and Linghua, who served the Third Prince, just coming out of the storeroom. Linghua was indeed holding the medicine pot in her hand.
"Greetings, Granny. What are you doing, Linghua? Why are you carrying a medicine pot?" Ye Ying forcibly suppressed the pounding in her heart and tried her best to make her tone sound the same as usual.
"This is what Consort Niu wanted. Let's see if anyone has tampered with this jar," the head nanny said personally.
"What can a medicine pot do? Linghua, do you think there's anything wrong with this medicine pot?" Ye Ying didn't expect that it would actually lead to this medicine pot. She should have replaced it last night. She had planned everything, but she had overlooked such an important point.
“Sister Yeying, this servant doesn’t know what’s wrong with this medicine pot. The concubine said she wanted to take a look and sent this servant to get it,” Linghua said.
“Miss Yeying, the Third Prince is still inside. I’ll have to trouble you princesses to take good care of him these next few days. If you don’t have enough people, I can transfer a few over to serve him temporarily.” The head nanny said, slightly displeased that Yeying was pestering Linghua.
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