But a short while later, Granny Ji returned with something, her face pale. "Empress Dowager, this..."
The latter opened his eyes, looking exhausted, and said, "Just say what you have to say."
Granny Ji gritted her teeth and composed herself before uncovering the stone, still covered in mud and wrapped in black cloth, and handing it to the Empress Dowager. "Your Majesty, this is Blue Sail ore, it's... it was dug up from around our vegetable garden!"
The Empress Dowager was taken aback, looking at the unremarkable stone. "Granny Ji, what is this Blue Sail Ore? You look so frightened. I don't know much about these stones."
“This old servant…this old servant’s father and brothers used to work in the government’s mines, so I know a little about it.”
Granny Ji's voice trembled, "To put it simply... Blue Sail ore is poisonous, and after being washed by rain, the poison will seep into the soil."
This old servant had wondered why our vegetable garden had so few weeds and insects; now I understand why!
Although Granny Ji didn't say it explicitly, the Empress Dowager understood everything in an instant. She stared wide-eyed in disbelief, "You mean to say that the vegetables and fruits I've eaten over the years have grown in a toxic environment, and therefore, some of these toxins have entered my body?"
Granny Ji carefully wrapped the stone again, looked at the Empress Dowager, nodded with great difficulty, and uttered a single word, "Yes!"
"Outrageous!" The Empress Dowager was no longer calm. She slammed her hand hard on the edge of the bed. "Who is so vicious? Does scheming against me really bring him so much benefit?"
Granny Ji dared not speak; such a thing was indeed terrifying to think about.
If she were the Empress Dowager, she would probably be even angrier.
After a long while, the Empress Dowager calmed down and turned to ask Granny Ji, "How did you find out?"
"This morning, Consort Ji Yun said she wanted to go fishing, so she took her maids and dug for earthworms all over the courtyard. They searched several places but couldn't find any. They figured there should be some in the vegetable garden. Who knew that when they dug, besides earthworms, they also found more than ten or twenty pieces of this blue sail ore, buried in the upper part of our vegetable garden. When it rains, the water flows down from there..."
Such meticulous arrangement could not possibly be a coincidence; it was clearly deliberate!
After hearing this, the Empress Dowager was first furious, then chuckled, "Well, I'm already halfway to the grave, and I'm still worth outsiders going to such lengths for. I don't know whether to be happy or angry!"
If that's the case, then let's investigate.
Go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation in a little while and take this poisonous stone to the Emperor. Also, have him search the palace to see if it's unique to my residence or if there are others elsewhere in the palace.”
Granny Ji agreed, then thought for a moment and couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, this old servant has a guess, but I don't know if I should say it."
"Why do you need to be so hesitant in front of me?"
"Yes. This old servant was thinking that Princess Pingting often helps look after the vegetable garden, almost two or three times a month, perhaps..."
The Empress Dowager was slightly shaken. This was the third time the blame had been placed on Pingting. There was no going back to the third time. Was she going to keep lying to herself and say that it had nothing to do with her?
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