"My lord, Lady Yin has always been gentle and obedient. How could she possibly harm the Third Prince? Even I, your humble servant, find it impossible for her to do such a thing," the Fujin hurriedly advised.
"Does the Princess Consort mean that Ye Ying was tortured into confessing?" the Fourth Prince asked, glancing sideways.
After exchanging a glance, Lanqin and Songshi remained silent, watching how the Fujin and Yinshi would argue.
“My lord, although Madam Yin is taking care of the Third Prince, it’s true that his medicine pot isn’t only accessible to those around her. If anyone is a suspect, then everyone living in the West Courtyard is a suspect. Isn’t it possible for anyone to enter the Third Prince’s storage room?” The Fujin (Prince’s wife) understood Madam Yin’s meaning. If she didn’t say a word in defense of her at this moment, Madam Yin might do something drastic.
"Does the Madam mean it's not just the West Courtyard? I'm afraid the entire inner quarters might be targeted for replacing that medicine pot?" Lanqin couldn't help but retort sarcastically upon hearing this. The Madam's meaning was clear: to exaggerate the situation to the extreme, muddy the waters, and ultimately plead for Yin's sake.
"What is your opinion, Consort? Is Lady Yin considered the prime suspect simply because she is close to the Third Prince? If things can be judged based on this, then what is the point of having an official government?" the Consort said.
The Fourth Prince frowned slightly. What his wife said wasn't entirely without merit. His initial assumption that it was Lady Yin was based on his own preconceived notions. Now that his wife had brought it up, it was indeed his own subjective judgment.
“Very well, let’s do as the Princess Consort wishes. Let’s start by investigating the ginseng slices from various places. Why don’t we have the head nanny investigate and see which courtyard’s residents have gone out? Such an exquisite ceramic utensil couldn’t have appeared out of thin air. As for the ginseng slices, I’m afraid we shouldn’t start with that,” Lanqin retorted sharply. At this point, she couldn’t back down. If she allowed the Princess Consort and Madam Yin to remain unharmed, they might be targeted by assassins at any time in the future.
"Alright, let's do as Consort says. Head Granny, go and investigate. Find out who has gone out in the last three months. I don't believe we can't find out." The Fourth Prince gave Lanqin an approving look.
Madam Yin felt a slight heaviness in her heart. The medicine jar was naturally made by someone she had sent Ye Ying to find. It had happened exactly two months ago.
The head maid agreed and went to the gatehouse to check the records.
Taking advantage of this lull, Lanqin said to the Fourth Prince, "Your Majesty, the Third Prince has suddenly been poisoned by lily of the valley. We still have no clue how he was poisoned. I think that thoroughly investigating everything in the Third Prince's room might find some clues."
“What Consort says is very true. The Third Prince’s poisoning is indeed very strange. We must start by checking the things in the Third Prince’s room, and then check everywhere else. Perhaps the person who poisoned him still has that thing.” The Consort unexpectedly cooperated with Lanqin.
Lanqin was surprised that she would say such a thing, and couldn't help but glance at the Fujin a few times with suspicion.
"Su Peisheng, take Wu Youcai to investigate, check every single item in the Third Prince's room," the Fourth Prince said in a deep voice. "We can't miss a single thing."
Su Peisheng accepted the order and left. The room fell silent once again, with only the ticking of the quartz clock reminding people that time was passing by.
"My lord, I have an idea," Lanqin suddenly turned to the Fourth Prince and said.
"Please speak, Consort," the Fourth Prince said gently.
“The pollen of the lily of the valley is poisonous, something I have never heard of before. Anyone who knows about such a poison must have someone helping them. That person is either a physician or someone with knowledge who has heard the news. It’s certainly not something that the ladies in the inner quarters would know. In that case, why don’t we go to the pharmacy in the manor and check the records of the medicinal herbs that have been purchased in the past year? Does it contain this lily of the valley?” Lanqin said.
Upon hearing this, even the Fujin's heart couldn't help but tremble; she hadn't expected Lanqin's thinking to be so clear.
Madam Yin was even more horrified.
Everyone was taken aback and turned to look at Lanqin. They were surprised to find that her suggestions were so accurate, which made them secretly admire her.
"Alright, as you say," Fourth Master said.
After that, no one said anything more; they could only wait.
Fortunately, the head nanny returned quickly, her face slightly flushed, showing how anxious she had been. She calmed her breathing and said, "Reporting to Master, this old servant has checked with the gatekeepers. In the past three months, all the mistresses' maids have gone out. Among them, Wu Gege's Hongqian went out, Yin Gege's Yeying went out, and the Fujin's Lingxiu went out. The secondary Fujin's Cui Niang and Chen Shou also went out."
As it turned out, only Song and Geng did not send anyone out. After hearing this, the Fujin was slightly smug and said, "After these people went out, they could all have gone to make that medicine pot. That Linghua only felt that the medicine pot had been replaced, but she didn't see who replaced it. Judging that it was Sister Yin who did it based on Ye Ying's confession after being tortured is really not convincing."
Lanqin felt a surge of irritation. She had been too simplistic in her thinking; one could say the Fujin was too cunning.
"Let's put the matter of the medicine pot aside for now. Now we'll wait for Su Peisheng to investigate and see who poisoned the lily of the valley. The person who replaced the medicine pot is probably involved too," said Fourth Master.
Lanqin never expected that the seemingly certain matter would change so suddenly, and she couldn't help but exchange a few words with Song and Geng through their eyes in anxiety.
Lanqin glanced at the Fourth Prince, then at the Fujin (principal wife), her initial certainty gradually waning. Song Shi, on the other hand, grew even more anxious. She had initially thought Yin Shi was almost certain to be the one who had released the red pills, but now, with the Fujin's interference, she was becoming uncertain again.
Just then, Su Peisheng, Wu Youcai, and two servants carried in a wooden box.
"Your Majesty, this servant and Doctor Wu have examined all the utensils in the Third Prince's room and finally found traces of lily of the valley poison. It was indeed found in the Third Prince's room," Su Peisheng said.
Upon hearing this, everyone stared at the wooden box being carried by the two servants.
"Wu Youcai, you really did discover lily of the valley pollen?" Fourth Master raised his voice.
“This servant dares not deceive Your Majesty. This servant and Eunuch Su found this item in the Third Prince’s room. Please take a look, Your Majesty.” Wu Youcai walked up to the box, unlocked it, and opened the wooden box.
When Lanqin saw the undergarment, she could hardly believe it; she felt as if the blood in her body had frozen in that instant. But when the Fujin (wife of the emperor) and Madam Yin saw the undergarment, they smiled faintly.
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