Chapter 375 Pastries
The queen's heart skipped a beat, but she remained calm. She couldn't panic. She definitely didn't do it, so why should she panic?
She was no longer panicked when she thought of this: "I am here to take charge. The Emperor has to attend court tomorrow. Why don't you go and rest first and let Eunuch Zhao leave someone to wait for the results? This matter of the Fourth Prince is of great importance and must be thoroughly investigated."
These words were quite forthright and expressed concern, as if he cared a lot about the Fourth Prince and was considerate of the Emperor. However, he did not have full authority to make the decision himself, and let Zhao Hai watch the decision-making process, which was to prove his innocence.
This time, Xuanyuan Ling rarely did not suspect the Queen. He had suspected the Queen many times, but usually he had no evidence and only suspected when things were in the Queen's favor. But although he looked at the Queen just now, the Queen's attitude was obvious. She wanted to save face and was too harsh, but she did not dare to hurt the Fourth Prince.
Not to mention, at this moment, if something happened to the Fourth Prince, who wouldn't think of the Queen? Moreover, the two dead servants were really conspicuous. In Xuanyuan Ling's heart, the Queen was not so stupid.
However, he was not without any doubt. He was thinking about the miserable state of the Fourth Prince just now, and he really couldn't sleep. After thinking for a while, he simply said, "Pass it on. There will be no court tomorrow."
He obviously wanted to see the bottom of this matter. What kind of person is a prince when he harms the Fourth Prince so blatantly? Are there any rules in this palace? His children, one by one, were harmed like this? No matter which child, he planned to protect them. Even though he arranged people around them, something still happened. Xuanyuan Ling could not tolerate this kind of thing. He must get to the bottom of it and punish them severely.
He just looked at the queen silently: "The queen is thoughtful."
Xuanyuan Ling and the Queen were keeping it a secret at this moment, and Li Concubine was panicking. When she did it, she thought that once the person died, it would be over, and there would be nothing to be found out. But she was always afraid of being investigated. She felt that nothing would happen, but she was also nervous. She was afraid in front of Xuanyuan Ling, so she could only say, "Your Majesty, I want to go and accompany the Fourth Prince."
"Go." Xuanyuan Ling looked at Li Bin. These words sounded more comforting to him than her just crying.
Only then did Concubine Li enter the room, where there were palace maids looking after the child. The Fourth Prince was given medicine and took it internally. The medicine contained both painkillers and sedatives, as they were afraid that the child would wake up and make a fuss because of the discomfort in his body, and the injuries on his body could not withstand the torture.
Looking at the Fourth Prince, Concubine Li couldn't decide whether she felt sorry for him or not. She was afraid that something would be found out outside, and she really didn't understand in her heart that in the past, whenever something happened in the palace, the Emperor would blame the Empress for failing to supervise properly and would punish her. After this incident, she didn't expect the Empress to be deposed because there was no evidence, but at least the Emperor could put some pressure on the Empress.
Whenever the Emperor paid close attention to Luhua Palace and found that the palace servants around her were useless, he would probably send someone to serve her. By then, the Empress would not be able to be so unscrupulous as she is now. But why didn't the Emperor deal with the Empress at the first moment out of his anger this time?
Concubine Li was feeling uneasy. The palace maid serving beside her was rather puzzled by her expression. She had been crying quite loudly outside just now, and now that she came in, she didn't even look at the child. Someone who didn't know might have thought that the child lying there was not her own child.
Zhao Hai saw that the Emperor and Empress were not going to leave, just waiting for something to be found out. He was also in a panic just now, and now he asked someone to serve tea, and he went to urge them in person. Not only did he have to check the body, but he also had to send someone to investigate how the fire started in the Fourth Prince's room. He had arranged people, but they had to report first. He couldn't let the Emperor wait in vain. After all, he was coming and going, and was very busy.
It was late at night and the lights were bright all around. Zhao Hai was so busy that he felt dizzy and hated the person who poisoned and set the fire. What a bastard that was. He didn't even let such a young child go. It was obvious that the Fourth Prince would not have anything to do with the position of the Crown Prince. In fact, even if there was a power struggle or something, it would not involve the Fourth Prince. Yet, someone actually took action at this moment.
It’s true... Children of the royal family are said to be noble, but in fact, it is really not easy for them to grow up well.
Thinking about it this way, the emperor also had a difficult life back then.
Whenever something happens to the children in the palace, it reminds the emperor of his childhood. Doesn't this hurt the emperor's feelings?
Zhao Hai sighed and continued to urge.
The coroner's side acted very quickly, and the people investigating the source of the fire were no idlers, and at about the same time, Zhao Hai received an accurate report, and he brought the people who reported from both sides to Xuanyuan Ling.
"Your Majesty, we have found out."
Xuanyuan Ling looked at him fiercely.
The Queen is also watching now.
The two who reported the incident were frightened and certainly did not dare to delay, so they told the other party everything they had found out.
First, let's talk about how the two eunuchs died: "Your servants examined the abdomens of the two deceased and found that there were cake and nut crumbs in their stomachs and between their teeth. According to the time when the eunuchs in the palace ate and the integrity of the crumbs, your servants speculated that the two died suddenly of poisoning because they ate cakes and nuts mixed with poison."
Pastries are not a rare thing for eunuchs, but eunuchs and palace maids don't eat much of them, especially pastries with nuts. This alone is enough to make the kitchen investigate carefully.
Xuanyuan Ling naturally understood the key and glanced at Zhao Hai: "Today, the imperial kitchen, the dining halls of the palace maids and eunuchs, and the small kitchens of each palace must not be spared. All the cooks who have used this kind of nuts and the servants who have touched this kind of cakes today must be interrogated."
Zhao Hai caught up again and was very busy.
As soon as he left, another person who was investigating the source of the fire also reported it.
"I checked the source of the fire in the Fourth Prince's bedroom. It was the curtain that caught fire first, and then the fire spread. It took at least an incense stick for the fire to spread to the extent it did. All other heavy objects in the room were intact, except for a shelf that fell down. It was probably because the fire started first and then burned the shelf. The shelf couldn't bear the vase and fell down. The Fourth Prince was hit by this shelf."
Xuanyuan Ling felt distressed when he heard this.
He was even less sleepy and was waiting for further reports from the imperial kitchen.
This matter was of great importance, and when it came to light, all the other servants had lost sleep. Once Zhao Hai had passed the message, no one dared to neglect it. What he inquired about was relatively easy to investigate, after all, the ingredients and the amount of ingredients that went in and out of the kitchen every day were recorded in a book, and at a time like this, no one would dare to cheat.
So Zhao Hai quickly took the news to report to Xuanyuan Ling: "Today, there are seven places supplying cakes and nuts to the palace."
He told which palaces the cakes were supplied to. The cakes with nuts were for the empress. Generally speaking, cakes were distributed according to one's rank. Today, the cakes with nuts were supplied to concubines and above, as well as other concubines with princes and princesses.
After careful investigation, it was found that no other concubines suddenly asked for cakes, so there were only seven places in the palace that used this cake today. This made it easier to investigate.
Li Bin was already feeling a little nervous inside, and now she went outside to listen. When she heard this, she was completely shocked. She thought that the two people on guard would be difficult to deal with, so she thought of poisoning the pastries. However, she didn't expect that these pastries actually had a special name?
ps: Well, it’s getting earlier and earlier haha
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