Chapter 217 Trouble
In the morning, Chun Tao rushed back like an arrow: "Miss, something terrible has happened! Su Xiao and another apprentice have gone mad, talking nonsense and saying they saw ghosts!"
Ye Wanning gasped in surprise, and the medicine basket in her hand fell to the ground with a thud.
Su Xiao was her most trusted apprentice; calm and meticulous, someone like that would never utter crazy words.
She ran quickly toward the backyard and saw two apprentices lying on the ground in the distance.
The two had vacant eyes and muttered to themselves, alternating between crying and laughing, which was chilling to watch.
"What's wrong?" Ye Wanning squatted down and took their pulses.
The pulse was chaotic and disordered, carrying an eerie feeling of inexplicable restlessness; it wasn't an illness, but rather seemed like poisoning.
"I don't know!" Wang Er, the handyman in charge of brewing the medicine, trembled all over. "This morning I brewed the tonic according to the usual recipe and gave it to the apprentices to drink. Not long after, they became like this!"
Ye Wanning immediately had someone bring over the remaining medicine, and also collected the vomit from Su Xiao and the other person. She brought it to her nose and smelled it, and her furrowed brows instantly relaxed.
It's hallucinogenic herb! This herb has a mild, non-lethal toxicity, but it can cause hallucinations and mental confusion, which is exactly the insidious trick that Consort Xian often uses.
Just as she was about to order her men to suppress the news, there was another commotion in the front yard.
Chuntao rushed back and reported, "Miss, something terrible has happened! There are a lot of people causing trouble outside!"
"They said our heritage center used evil magic to poison our apprentices, and they also said... they also said you wanted to kill people!"
Ye Wanning thought to herself: What a virtuous concubine! How dare she! No wonder rumors spread as soon as the incident happened.
"Let them in, I have something to say!" Ye Wanning sat down angrily.
She said, "Everyone, please be quiet, I will detoxify them right away!"
The villagers crowded in, offering their opinions and criticisms, and a few impatient residents even tried to smash the medicine cabinet.
Ye Wanning stood on the steps and said loudly, "Don't worry, everyone, my two apprentices are not possessed by evil spirits, they are poisoned!"
She held up the bowl of medicine in her hand: "Look, everyone, this bowl of soup—just now, just now, I drank it myself. Someone put hallucinogenic herbs in it!"
"Now, I will detoxify my two apprentices. Everyone, watch!"
After she finished speaking, she sent someone to bring licorice root, mung beans, and lotus seeds. She crushed them vigorously, dissolved them in hot water, and poured them into Su Xiao's and Su Xiao's mouths, one spoonful at a time.
In less than an hour, their eyes were almost clear.
Although still very weak, he was already able to speak.
"I...I just saw a lot of terrifying shadows, and I thought I was going to die!" Su Xiao said weakly.
"That soup tasted a bit strange, but I thought it was the normal taste of tonics, so I didn't think much of it..."
As everyone witnessed this scene, the murmurs gradually subsided.
Ye Wanning pressed her advantage: "Hallucinogenic herbs are colorless, odorless, and difficult to detect. Clearly, someone deliberately poisoned us and spread rumors to try and destroy the Inheritance Hall! I must find out the truth!"
Just then, someone reported: "Prime Minister Wei impeached you in court, demanding that the Emperor shut down the Heritage Hall and conduct a thorough investigation!"
A cold glint flashed in Ye Wanning's eyes as she said, "Very well, I will go to the palace now and make things clear in front of the Emperor!"
She took the medicine, vomit residue, and Su Xiao's testimony and rushed to the palace.
On the way, Su Xiao tugged at her sleeve in a low voice: "Miss, I just saw that when Brother Wang was boiling medicine, a palace servant spoke to him and gave him a jade pendant, telling him to do as he was told."
"What jade pendant?" Ye Wanning asked.
"They said it looked like the Wei family's pattern, so Brother Wang didn't dare ask any more questions and just put it away," Su Xiao replied.
Ye Wanning felt reassured and ordered someone to quickly summon Wang Er to wait at the palace gate.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Ye Wanning entered the hall and knelt down.
Just as he knelt down, Prime Minister Wei entered and knelt down as well: "Your Majesty! Ye Wanning is using evil magic to train her disciples and bewitch the people. If the Heritage Hall is not shut down, something terrible will surely happen!"
"Prime Minister Wei, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want!" Ye Wanning retorted. "I have samples of the medicine and vomit here, and they all tested positive for the toxicity of the poisonous herbs. The apprentice was poisoned, not possessed!"
"Also, this is the confession of Wang Er, the cook who prepares the medicine. He said that someone gave him a jade pendant with the Wei family pattern and asked him to add something to the medicine. He did so in a moment of confusion."
Ye Wanning stepped forward and handed the items over.
Wang Er was brought in, and as soon as he knelt down, he kowtowed: "Your Majesty, I am guilty! A palace maid gave me a jade pendant and told me to add something to the soup. I was confused for a moment and did as she said. I beg Your Majesty to spare my life!"
The Emperor looked at the evidence, then at Prime Minister Wei, and his expression changed: "Prime Minister Wei, you say Ye Wanning used evil magic, do you have any evidence? This evidence clearly points to your Wei family!"
Prime Minister Wei's face turned pale instantly: "Your Majesty, this is all Ye Wanning's conspiracy! She is framing my family!"
"Whether it's a conspiracy or not, we'll find out by investigating the jade pendant!" Ye Wanning said. "The Wei family's jade pendant has a unique pattern. As long as we investigate the palace servant who delivered the pendant, everything will be clear!"
Upon hearing this, the emperor immediately ordered a thorough investigation. Before long, the palace servant was identified—it was someone from Consort Xian's palace.
The palace servant confessed: "It was Consort Xian who asked me to bribe Wang Er to poison him and spread rumors in an attempt to destroy the Heritage Hall!"
When the truth came out, the emperor was furious: "How dare the audacious Consort Xian do such a thing!"
"Effective immediately, the Consort Xian's confinement period is extended by six months. Without my permission, she is not to step out of the Cold Palace even once!"
He then looked at Prime Minister Wei: "You believed the rumors and made a mountain out of a molehill. You are to be fined three months' salary and confined to your room to reflect on your mistakes!"
"Your Majesty, spare our lives!" Prime Minister Wei and the Consort Xian, who had been brought out, kowtowed and begged for mercy.
Ye Wanning felt no remorse at all when she saw the two of them looking so disheveled—it was all their own doing.
Upon leaving the palace, she encountered Pei Zhi at the entrance.
Pei Zhi, dressed in a dark blue court robe, stood under the corridor looking at her, his eyes carrying an indescribable meaning.
“Madam Ye, it’s good that you’re alright.” Pei Zhixian spoke first, his tone very calm.
"Thank you for your concern, Lord Pei," Ye Wanning said politely. "However, the fact that we were able to find the evidence so quickly this time is thanks to the clues provided by Lord Pei's secret guards."
Pei Zhi was taken aback, not expecting her to know. In fact, Su Xiao had secretly told her that finding the palace servant who delivered the jade pendant was thanks to Pei Zhi's secret guards.
"It was nothing." Pei Zhi avoided her gaze. "Court affairs are complicated, and the Emperor is afraid that we will join forces, so it is inconvenient for me to appear in public."
"I know." Ye Wanning nodded, but she felt uneasy.
Pei Zhi could have helped her directly, but he held back for fear of arousing the emperor's suspicion, which made her feel abandoned.
Neither of them spoke again, and after a long silence, they each left.
Ye Wanning knew that the tug-of-war between her and Pei Zhi had only just begun.
Back at the heritage center, the people surrounded her, apologizing profusely: "Madam Ye, we're so sorry! We shouldn't have believed the rumors and we wronged you!"
"It's alright now," Ye Wanning smiled.
She added, "It's understandable that everyone is worried about their safety. I will manage things more strictly in the future, and this kind of thing will not happen again."
After this incident, the reputation of the heritage center not only remained unaffected, but also became even more renowned for its "timely damage control and superb medical skills".
More and more people are signing up to become apprentices, and good news is frequently coming from branch campuses in various places.
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