Chapter 971 Lilac
Shang Ruyi stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "Greetings, Father Emperor!"
Chu Ruoyan, Tu She'er, and the others behind her also knelt down and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Although she was confined to her quarters, she was still the Princess Consort of Qin. In addition, the matter of that night was still unresolved, and Yuwen Yuan even forbade the spread of that night's events in the palace. Therefore, Shang Ruyi was not mistreated in Chengqian Palace. Before coming, someone even helped her wash up, so she looked clean and very proper. However, upon closer inspection, one could see that her eyes were bloodshot and she looked very haggard.
Upon seeing her like this, Yuwen Yuan's heart softened instantly.
But his expression remained unchanged; he simply said, "What... what's going on?"
Shang Ruyi raised her head. As soon as she entered the Liangyi Hall, she saw Han Shanggong standing to the side. She also clearly saw that Han Yuhui's face turned pale when she saw them come in, especially when she saw the little eunuch that Wo Xue was holding. But she did not immediately target this person. Instead, she said loudly, "Father, I am innocent."
Yuwen Yuan frowned and said, "Whether it's a wrongful conviction or not, I need to see the evidence. It's not something you can explain with just a few words."
Shang Ruyi immediately looked up: "Of course I have evidence."
Where is the evidence?
"It was in that letter presented to Father Emperor that very night, the so-called letter from your son to Sun Xianyue."
"Oh? There's something wrong with that letter?"
"yes."
Shang Ruyi said, "Before pointing out the problem, I would like to ask Your Majesty to allow me to send someone back to Qianqiu Palace to retrieve some other supporting evidence."
Yuwen Yuan thought for a moment, then pointed and said, "Liu Yu, you go."
Liu Yu immediately walked over to him. Shang Ruyi was a little surprised because Yuwen Yuan was usually served by the chief eunuch Yu Mingli, but today the head eunuch Liu Yu had taken over.
Where did Grandpa Yu go?
Although she had some doubts, she couldn't worry about them now. So she gave Tushe'er behind her a wink, and Tushe'er immediately got up and walked out with Liu Yu.
After they left, the atmosphere in the main hall became even more strange.
Yuwen Yuan looked at Shang Ruyi, then at Chu Ruoyan and the others behind her, and said, "Ruyi, why did you come here with them? Is it also for your sake?"
Shang Ruyi took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, I have been confined to the Chengqian Palace for the past two days and have reflected on everything that has happened. I originally planned to think things through carefully and wait until I found enough evidence before reporting back to you to clear my name. But I never expected that before I could clear my name, someone would take advantage of my confinement to harm Yuangan!"
"What!?"
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Yuan's face immediately darkened: "You're saying someone is trying to harm my grandson?"
"yes!"
"What happened? Explain yourself!"
Shang Ruyi did not speak, but turned her head to look at Chu Ruoyan, who was kneeling beside her. Chu Ruoyan immediately raised her head and said, "Your Majesty, I have been taking care of Yuangan at Jinyu Garden these past few days, but since the night before last, Yuangan has had a fever and has been crying and refusing to eat. I am worried that he has contracted whooping cough, so I asked Physician Ding from the Imperial Medical Bureau to prescribe medicine for him."
Yuwen Yuan asked anxiously, "Then, has Yuan Gan's condition improved?"
Chu Ruoyan said, "Yesterday, Yuangan took the medicine for the first time. After taking the medicine, his condition improved. He was willing to eat and didn't cry much. However, he slept very restlessly in the middle of the night, and when he woke up in the morning, he cried incessantly and started to convulse and gag. Your son and Nurse Feng thought he had whooping cough, so we asked the imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau to come and examine him. After reconsidering the prescription, they prescribed medicine for Yuangan again."
Yuwen Yuan's face darkened, and he looked somewhat worried: "Could it be that there's a problem with the prescription?"
Chu Ruoyan said, "Before coming here, I had the Imperial Physicians check the prescription again, and there is no problem with it."
"Then, is the problem with the herbal medicine?"
"Exactly,"
As Chu Ruoyan spoke, she gave Pan Qing a wink, and Pan Qing immediately handed over the medicine bowl she had been carefully carrying all the way. Yuwen Yuan took it and glanced at it: "Is this the bowl?"
"yes."
"What's the problem?"
Chu Ruoyan said, "Since Yuangan arrived at Jinyuyuan, I have been in charge of all his food, clothing and daily necessities, including the medicine he drinks. I taste it first to make sure it is safe before giving it to Yuangan." Hearing this, Shang Ruyi, who was standing next to her, glanced at her with red eyes. Chu Ruoyan did not notice and continued, "The previous bowl of medicine had a slightly stronger taste, so I did not smell anything else. However, because Yuangan's condition worsened after drinking it, I asked Physician Ding to reconsider the prescription and reduce the dosage of some medicines. Therefore, this bowl of medicine tastes milder than before."
Yuwen Yuan lowered his head and smelled it; it was indeed so.
Chu Ruoyan said, "When this bowl of medicine was delivered today, I smelled a very strong scent of cloves, but there were no cloves in the prescription. So, I immediately had the person who delivered the medicine arrested, and they found this on him!"
After she finished speaking, she took something out of her sleeve. Yuwen Yuan turned his head to signal her, and the little eunuch serving beside him immediately stepped forward to take the thing and brought it to him. When he took it, he saw that it was the lid that the Imperial Medical Bureau used to cover the medicine bowl every time it delivered medicine.
A yellow note was also pasted on top, with the prescription and the name of the person who would take the medicine written in tiny seal script.
Yuwen Yuan looked at it and asked, "Is there a problem with this?"
Chu Ruoyan said, "Father, please look at the inside of the lid."
"Inner side?"
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Yuan flipped the lid over and discovered that the inside of the wooden lid was covered in powder. He rubbed some in and brought it to his nose, immediately emitting a pungent, strong fragrance. Yuwen Yuan frowned slightly and said, "This is—"
Chu Ruoyan said, "This is clove powder."
"What!?"
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Yuan's face immediately darkened.
Even though he was busy with countless affairs and had to deal with thousands of matters, big and small, he inevitably couldn't focus on some small things around him. But some things were not so easy to ignore—for example, Yuan Gan's failure to respond to Ding Xiang had been deeply etched in his mind ever since the last time.
And someone actually smeared clove powder, which is said to cause the Yuan Gan (a vital energy source) to malfunction, onto the wooden lid of the medicine bowl he used!
Chu Ruoyan said, "It is common knowledge in the Imperial Medical Bureau that Yuan Gan does not respond to cloves, so naturally no one would add cloves to Yuan Gan's medicine. And those who want to harm him would not dare to openly open the lid halfway and add clove powder to the medicine, as that would attract too much attention."
At this point, Chu Ruoyan glanced to the side and said, "This method is very similar to the one I was tricked into when I sent hawthorn cakes to Qianqiu Palace last time."
Yuwen Yuan's expression hardened again.
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