Everyone stared quietly at the imperial physician, who, under pressure from all sides, quickly gave his report: "Your Majesty, Your Highness, the Princess Consort has been poisoned, but fortunately, the poisoning is not severe. I will administer an antidote pill to her and prescribe some other medicine. She will recover once she takes it properly."
Hearing this, He Liufeng breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the imperial physician, "Where is the antidote?"
Upon hearing this, the Emperor sighed inwardly, feeling somewhat regretful. He hadn't expected that Qu Qingxi hadn't been poisoned to death; she was truly lucky.
The imperial physician hurriedly rummaged through his medicine chest and pulled out a box. Inside the box were two brown pills.
The imperial physician gestured for He Liufeng to take a pill, but to his surprise, He Liufeng took the box as well, saying, "Give it all to me, and go write the prescription."
After saying that, she ignored the imperial physician who was still standing there in a daze, stepped forward and pulled the imperial physician away, then stood in her previous position, took out a pill, pried open Qu Qingxi's mouth and put it in. Fortunately, the pill melted in her mouth without much effort.
"Your Highness, this old minister only has these two antidote pills left. The princess's condition is not serious; one pill will suffice." The imperial physician stared longingly at the remaining pill in He Liufeng's hand and spoke weakly.
He only made three of these antidote pills in total. One was given to a concubine, leaving only these two. How could the prince take them all?
He Liufeng didn't speak, but turned his head and glanced at the imperial physician. His eyes were sharp as a thin blade, which frightened the imperial physician into immediately shutting up.
The antidote pills were indeed precious, but his life was even more precious. Seeing the prince's murderous gaze, the imperial physician had no choice but to take two steps back, but his eyes still lingered on the box in He Liufeng's hand.
After taking the medicine, Qu Qingxi's complexion gradually improved, and He Liufeng was relieved. He turned his head and saw that the imperial physician was still staring at the box in his hand. "Imperial Physician Jiang, what are you still standing there for? Hurry up and prescribe the medicine!"
The remaining antidote pills are not going to be returned to him; there's no point in him looking at them.
The imperial physician was taken away to write the prescription, and He Liufeng finally had a chance to look at the emperor. "I beg Your Majesty to do justice for me. How dare someone poison the Princess Consort? Please send someone to investigate this matter immediately."
The Emperor nodded and looked at Laifu, "Send someone to investigate this matter immediately."
After giving his instructions, the Emperor glanced at the Empress, who immediately lowered her head, not daring to look him in the eye. Yang Mama had already left; she should be able to handle the matter well.
Seeing the Empress's guilty look, the Emperor simply lowered his eyes and remained silent. He Liufeng was clearly angry today, and he had to find someone from the Empress's palace to give him an explanation.
Lai Fu returned quickly with his men. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Highness, we've found some clues," Lai Fu said, then looked up at the Empress.
The Empress immediately sensed something was wrong.
Lai Fu waved his hand slightly, "Bring him in."
Two eunuchs quickly brought in a person, and upon closer inspection, everyone realized it was none other than Yang Mama, the Empress's personal maid.
Granny Yang was filled with fear. When she saw the Empress, she quickly broke free from the eunuch's grip and knelt down with all her might. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, this old servant is innocent! This old servant did not poison the Princess!"
The moment the Empress saw Yang Mama being captured, she felt a chill run through her body. She looked at Yang Mama with a mixture of disappointment and anger, thinking, "She actually got caught!"
"What's going on?" The Emperor's eyes turned cold when he saw Granny Yang.
"Your Majesty, we servants just noticed that Granny Yang in the Empress's palace seemed flustered and acted suspiciously, so we followed her and found her holding a teacup and pouring the tea into a flowerpot next to her."
“That teacup is the one the Princess just used,” a eunuch said, bringing up the teacup.
The Emperor glanced at Physician Jiang, who quickly stepped forward to take the teacup. The tea in the cup had already been poured out, so Physician Jiang had to take a silk handkerchief and dip it into the teacup.
He gently rubbed it between his fingers, then smelled it under his nose, before turning to the Emperor. "Your Majesty," he said, "the poison in this teacup is the same poison as the one on the Princess Consort's body."
The Emperor glanced at Laifu again, who bowed slightly and nodded, then looked at Granny Yang and asked, "Who handled the Princess's tea today?"
"It wasn't me, old servant. I was ordered by the Empress to escort the Princess to the palace. I went with the Princess and didn't know anything about it," Granny Yang quickly explained, trying to distance herself from the situation.
"It was this servant who served the tea today. However, this servant only brewed one pot of tea, and the same pot was poured for the Empress and the Princess. This servant absolutely did not poison it." A palace maid immediately knelt down.
The observant eunuch quickly brought over the teapot. Imperial Physician Jiang examined the teapot again and then shook his head at the Emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, there is no poison in this."
"When you were pouring the tea, did anyone else touch these two cups besides you?" Lai Fu asked sternly to the kneeling palace maid serving the tea.
"Yes, there is one more person." The palace maid said, looking up at Yang Mama kneeling beside her. The answer was self-evident.
"No, this old servant is innocent! This old servant really did not poison her!" At this moment, Granny Yang panicked. If she were to be found guilty of poisoning the princess, she would not only die, but also implicate her family and the empress.
With a determined heart, Granny Yang kowtowed twice to the Emperor. "Your Majesty, please forgive me. This old servant did add something to the Princess's teacup, but it was only a little laxative. There was no poison at all. I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly."
Laxatives and poison are not the same crime at all. Granny Yang knew which was more serious. If it was just laxatives, the crime wouldn't be serious. Besides, she was the head nanny by the Empress's side, so she would just get a few lashes and that would be the end of it.
But ideals are often grand, while reality is harsh; Qu Qingxi's teacup has now been poisoned.
"Your Majesty, I did not find any laxatives in the teacup." Imperial Physician Jiang subconsciously shook his head, then noticed the Empress staring at him coldly, and quickly shut his mouth in fright.
It seems he said something he shouldn't have again.
The Empress glared at Physician Jiang. That damned physician talks too much.
"Why would you put laxatives in the Princess's cup for no reason?" He Liufeng suddenly asked, staring at Yang Mama kneeling on the ground.
"Old servant, old servant." When Yang Mama met He Liufeng's murderous gaze, she quickly lowered her head. "Just now, on the carriage back to the palace, the Princess gave me a cup of freshly brewed hot tea, and I have been holding a grudge ever since."
Granny Yang dared not say that she had poured the tea for Qu Qingxi first, and could only give an ambiguous explanation.
"Freshly brewed hot tea? Why did the Princess give you this?" He Liufeng continued, and the Emperor, who was standing to the side, did not stop He Liufeng from questioning.
He Liufeng knew that Qu Qingxi was always kind and adhered to the principle of "I will not offend others unless they offend me". Qu Qingxi would not punish anyone for no reason.
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