Chapter 136: The Poisonous Plan Fails to Expose Zhao...
Zhao Mingsheng casually took off the silver hairpin from his black hair, and tried all six dishes of the day with the hairpin in his hand, but there was still no black mark on the tip of the hairpin.
Zhao Mingsheng frowned slightly, thinking to himself, how strange, there is nothing wrong with today's dishes, so what could be the problem?
"What's going on?"
Madam Hou and Mrs. Meng came back late from the garden.
During the banquet, Madam Hou was old and felt a little full after eating too much roasted lamb, so Meng accompanied her to take a walk in the garden.
As soon as the incident happened during the banquet, Zhao Mingsheng immediately sent people to look for the two. Now seeing that they showed no signs of poisoning, Zhao Mingsheng breathed a sigh of relief.
Upon closer inquiry, we found out that the old lady and Mrs. Meng left the table only after having the fish soup.
Zhao Mingsheng immediately fixed his gaze on the last cup of tea. Upon closer inspection, he discovered a green leaf, a different color from the tea leaves, buried in the tea dregs.
If she was not mistaken, it was a catmint leaf.
After picking up the cup and sniffing it, Zhao Mingsheng became even more certain, "Someone deliberately added schizonepeta into the tea, which is incompatible with shad."
Aunt Zou, a neighbor from Qingshan Village, had once told Zhao Mingsheng that hilsa shad and nepeta tenuifolia should not be eaten together. The people of Qingshan Village loved nepeta tenuifolia, and nearly every household had one planted outside their yard. Meanwhile, the rivers surrounding Qingshan Village were also rich in hilsa shad. After several incidents of people being harmed by eating the two together, everyone realized their medicinal properties conflicted.
If people consume it seriously, like Mr. Li, it will cause damage to the stomach meridians and bleeding outside the blood vessels.
After Zhao Mingsheng finished speaking, the crowd immediately became agitated.
"Who is so vicious that he would use this method to harm others?"
"Why not ask her herself?"
The moment a gust of cold wind blew past the hall outside the door, Zhao Mingsheng suddenly smelled a pungent and cool scent at the tip of his nose, which was the scent of Schizonepeta tenuifolia.
Her eyes followed the scent and immediately noticed the figure at the edge of the crowd trying to escape. She raised her hand and shouted to the two servants beside her, "Catch her!"
The figure dressed as a maid in a gray jacket turned and ran away.
At first, Zhao Mingsheng was worried that the two old women could not catch up, but he saw that the figure was hit on the leg by a stone that broke through the wind before he ran two steps, and fell to the side of the road.
The two women, though large and strong, were surprisingly agile and quickly caught up. Their rough hands gripped the man's shoulders, one on each side, and lifted him up, releasing a sackcloth bag from their sleeves.
When I opened it, I saw half a bag of dried hyssop.
Caught the criminal red-handed.
It was not until the blue-gray figure was brought to the front of the hall by the servant that Zhao Mingsheng realized that this person was an acquaintance.
The woman dressed as a maid who was brought in front of the guests struggled to dodge, but was held down tightly by the servant beside her, who pinched her chin and revealed a thin face.
"Zhao Mingzhu?! Why is it you?" Zhao Mingjing widened her eyes in disbelief. She knew that the emperor had granted amnesty to the women and Zhao Mingzhu had been released from the detention center, but she couldn't understand why she appeared here.
"Didn't Third Aunt ask Grandmother for grace to allow you to go to the other courtyard? Why are you here?"
"Grace? What kind of grace is this!"
Zhao Mingzhu, who had been tortured by the imprisonment during this period, had a pale face. Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared at everyone in the mansion, her voice filled with resentment that could not be suppressed:
"Why? Why am I being tortured in prison while you are living a life of luxury here! I finally managed to escape from that dark prison, but you are sending me to that shabby courtyard to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures. This is completely different from staying in prison!"
For what Zhao Mingzhu did, the Marquis' Mansion should have expelled her from the family tree long ago. Fortunately, the old lady was kind-hearted and was willing to listen to Liang's prayers, sending her to another courtyard to spend the rest of her life in peace and taking care of her food, clothing and other expenses for the rest of her life. But in her mouth, it turned into sending her to jail.
Seeing her so ungrateful and even coming to the Zhao family's housewarming party to poison them, Zhao Mingjing was furious. "The Marquis' Mansion has never owed you anything, and the Zhao family has never harmed you. Why did you poison the Zhao family's housewarming party?"
"Never owed anything?" Zhao Mingzhu sneered. "I was once the daughter of a marquisate, but I spent fifteen years as a village girl in Qingshan Village. I finally returned home, but before I could even enjoy two days of happiness, I was taken to the Marquis' Detention Center. This is what Zhao Mingsheng and the Marquisate owe me for fifteen years of luxury!"
Her gaze swept across the table, finally landing on Zhao Mingsheng with a sinister look. "I've been planning this every day in the prison. As long as I can get out, I'll make you suffer all the hardships I've endured. Today, I sneaked into the kitchen and saw the cook stewing shad, so I knew my chance had come. Everyone in Qingshan Village knows that pairing shad with sedge can cause abdominal pain and vomiting of blood at best, or even death at worst. I want you all to fall at this table and taste the suffering I've endured!"
"You have such a cruel heart!" The old lady of the Marquisate trembled with anger. "If I had known you were so vicious, I shouldn't have taken you back! If you hadn't clung to Prince Jin and insisted on marrying that Prince Qi, the Marquisate would have provided you with luxurious living for the rest of your life!"
Mother Meng, standing by, also turned pale, clutching the handkerchief tightly in her hand, filled with fear: "Fortunately, Miss Sheng was careful enough to discover the schizonepeta in the tea, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous."
Zhao Mingsheng looked at the ferocious Zhao Mingzhu in front of him, his brows furrowed slightly. His tone was calm but with a hint of coldness: "After all this, you still don't understand. You were imprisoned because of your reliance on Prince Jin. This is all your own fault. What does this have to do with the Marquis' Mansion? And what does it have to do with me? This is the path you chose in the first place."
"You brought this upon yourself?" Zhao Mingzhu laughed miserably, as if she had heard something funny. "If it weren't for you, how could I have ended up like this? Just wait, wait for me later..."
"Poisoning with the intent to murder everyone. This alone is enough to send you back to prison, and you'll never be able to get out."
A cold male voice interrupted her crazy talk.
The man in the ink-black cloak threw away the remaining stones in his hand and walked towards the guests. The cold air emanating from his body seemed to lower the temperature in the hall a few degrees.
Some of the guests recognized who this person was and immediately gasped. My goodness, isn't this Prince Heng?
Zhao Mingzhu couldn't help but shudder when she heard Prince Heng's words, but she still refused to give in. "Even if Prince Heng backs you up, so what? I came from the Juhou Prison to begin with. At worst, I can go back!"
Yan Zhuo lowered his eyes to look at her, his gaze as cold as ice in the coldest months of winter. His tone was calm, yet it carried an undeniable authority: "You've been detained again? You poisoned the old lady and the guests with the intent to kill them. Such evil deeds are beyond the reach of the Marquis. According to the law, you should be exiled three thousand miles away, and you will never be allowed to return to the capital."
These words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing Zhao Mingzhu's last ounce of arrogance. Her face turned pale, and she struggled to refute, but the maid held her still, unable to move. She could only shout in vain: "Impossible! You can't do this to me! I'm the daughter of the Marquis's family, the Marquis's family can't just ignore me!"
"The Marquis' Mansion doesn't have an unfilial descendant like you!" Old Madam Hou flicked her sleeves and uttered a harsh remark, completely cutting off Zhao Mingzhu's last hope.
The guests who had come to their senses also started talking, looking at Zhao Mingzhu with eyes full of contempt and fear.
"Thankfully, Madam Hou still remembered their old friendship and allowed her to live in the other courtyard. I never thought she would be so ungrateful."
"Luckily, Fifth Lady was careful enough to find the schizonepeta, otherwise we would all have been killed by her today!"
"People like this should be severely punished according to the law to prevent them from harming others in the future!"
Zhao Mingzhu listened to the accusations and looked at Zhao Mingsheng, the star of everyone's praise, and completely collapsed. She collapsed in the arms of her mother-in-law, tears mingled with despair, her voice hoarse, "I can't accept this... I'm the real daughter, and I finally made it back from Qingshan Village, only to end up like this..."
"You chose the path yourself." Yan Zhuo said coldly, and ordered the guards beside him, "Take the man away and hand him over to the authorities for disposal. Investigate and deal with him according to the law. No mercy will be shown."
The guards stepped forward and carried the distraught Zhao Mingzhu out. As she was being dragged, Zhao Mingzhu continued to mutter to herself, "I won't accept this... I shouldn't have lost..."
Zhao Mingzhu's cries gradually faded away as she was taken away by the guards.
Although the guests in the hall knew that the crisis had been resolved, they were still frightened. After this incident, everyone was more or less frightened and had no mood to continue attending the banquet. Some of the poisoned guests still needed to rest and recuperate, so Zhao Mingsheng decided to end the banquet early.
Zhao's father and Mrs. Meng were busy going to the front hall to greet and see off the guests. Zhao Qingyue also took the initiative to send the frightened young lady from the Huang family back home.
In a blink of an eye, only Zhao Mingsheng and Yan Zhuo were left standing in the hall. The atmosphere was a little quiet with the pungent and cool scent of hyssop scattered on the ground.
Yan Zhuo's eyes fell on Zhao Mingsheng's slightly furrowed brows. The sternness that he had shown in his calm drug investigation and cool confrontation just now was now completely gone. After letting down his guard, the barely perceptible fatigue in his eyes was like a thin layer of frost covering the petals of a newly opened plum blossom, which made his heart suddenly tighten. He couldn't help but want to reach out and smooth away the tiredness.
He subconsciously raised his hand, and just as his fingertips were about to touch the hair falling from her temples, he suddenly stopped. The question he had asked in the courtyard that day had not yet been answered, and he was afraid that his feelings would become a burden to her.
The fingertips were suspended in mid-air, and in the end, only a question as light as the brush of a feather could be heard: "Were you hurt just now?"
Zhao Mingsheng shook her head slightly, and the moment she looked up, she met his eyes, as deep as a cold pond. The emotion in his eyes made her heart tremble slightly, and then she remembered the stone that had just broken through the wind and hit Zhao Mingzhu's leg with such force and accuracy, no one else could do that except him.
Her eyes unconsciously slid to the hem of his dark cloak, where she saw a few imperceptible specks of dust on the rich material, and a slight wind-blown wrinkle at the edge. She knew his nature all too well; he was always a man of cleanliness, and he must have been meticulous in his outings. Now, in this state, it was clear he had galloped all the way from the Western Hills.
He didn't need to come so hastily, as training was imminent. Yet, he was willing to rush to the banquet just for a casual invitation.
Thinking of this, Zhao Mingsheng felt a slight pang of pain at the tip of her nose. The tension she'd felt during the drug search and the coldness she'd felt during the confrontation melted away at that moment. Seeing the worry burning in his eyes, her heart softened. She reached out, first gently rubbing his suspended fingertips with her fingertips, as if to soothe him. Only after he paused slightly did she dare to gather those slightly cool fingers into her palm, her voice soft, "I'm fine. But your hands are so cold. You must be tired from traveling all the way here, right?"
Yan Zhuo was stunned.
The coldness around the body seemed to be suddenly taken away at this moment, leaving only the warm touch from the fingertips.
His Adam's apple rolled slightly, and he subconsciously tightened his palm, firmly wrapping the soft hand that was offered to him.
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