Lin Qingwan took the lead, and Mu Xue, Qiu Hong, and the kitchen staff all knelt in the courtyard.
Zhao Cong watched expressionlessly as Cang Ying tasted the dishes one by one, only finding that the two plates of cold wild vegetable salad were poisonous.
"Your Highness, the meatballs for the young prince are clean." Cang Ying breathed a sigh of relief, but her brows were still furrowed.
Mu Xue trembled with fear, "Your Highness, please understand, it's definitely not Miss."
"Miss, I'm so grateful to you, how could I possibly poison the food?"
The people in the kitchen also kowtowed and begged, but Lin Qingwan stood tall and straight, without the slightest panic.
Zhao Cong scanned the room, but deliberately avoided giving Lin Qingwan any of his chilling, imposing presence. "Investigate them one by one."
"yes!"
Shen Xu led the Imperial Guards to take the man to the woodshed on the east side for interrogation, and also took out everything in the kitchen for a thorough inspection.
"Arrest everyone who has entered or left the courtyard in the past few days." His tone was icy, his long eyes suppressing the flickering flames of anger. "Also, arrest the few suspicious men and women loitering outside."
Finally, Mu Xue and Qiu Hong followed Cang Ying out, leaving only Lin Qingwan behind.
Zhao Cong suppressed his coldness and said calmly, "Get up first."
Lin Qingwan stared at him blankly, and couldn't help but ask, "You don't doubt me?"
Zhao Cong was silent for a while, his expression somewhat complicated. "You wanted to poison me, but you put the poison in your favorite wild vegetables?"
"Lin Qingwan, do I look stupid?"
Lin Qingwan swallowed her words and shook her head. "Your Highness is wise; I was foolish."
Zhao Cong chuckled, "Ignorant? There's no need to be so modest."
"You knew all along that someone was watching you, didn't you?"
Lin Qingwan was genuinely nervous this time.
She lowered her eyes and head, her fingers secretly digging into her palms—the same reaction she had when she was caught tearing his pants in the camp that day.
He is usually eloquent and resourceful, and has the courage to plan and act, but when his words are exposed, he dares not argue back, which is inexplicably funny.
"Get up and answer me." His voice softened slightly.
Lin Qingwan remained obedient and dared not move. "I did indeed take advantage of Your Highness, please punish me."
"I only ask that you bring the dumplings to the young prince when you return to the palace. We planted the seedlings together before, and we agreed that I would cook them for him after they grew up."
The first sentence says to punish, the second sentence uses Feng'er to act pitiful, what's the point of punishing him?
No, he didn't intend to punish her; he was just asking a question.
Never mind, she knows how to use herself, that's how she protects herself from those outsiders. Even if he hadn't come, she probably wouldn't have been poisoned.
Zhao Cong was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you know who it is?"
Lin Qingwan shook her head, "I don't know."
She suspected Consort Su, but had no evidence. Even if she did, it was inconvenient to say so.
Consort Su's father had been kind to the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince was willing to treat her like a concubine, so it was not something that Lin Qingwan, an outsider, could interfere with.
Since Consort Su dared to be so ruthless towards her, there was no reason for her to suffer in silence.
She did nothing wrong, and she couldn't bear to suffer in silence.
Before long, news arrived from Shen Xu's side: the few unfamiliar faces who were gathering information outside the courtyard were easily captured by the Imperial Guards.
"Your Highness, Aunt Zhang said that Uncle Li, who delivered vegetables a couple of days ago, broke his foot after drinking. His nephew, Li San, has been delivering vegetables for the past two days. The vegetables and meat are fine."
"It's just that Li San was reckless today and spilled the dressing that Zhang Ma had prepared."
"At the time, Zhang Ma and the others were busy cooking, and Li San volunteered to prepare the ingredients again."
No wonder only cold-dressed wild vegetables are poisonous.
Shen Xu said, "I've already had Li San arrested. He said he met a stranger outside today who gave him silver and a packet of medicine powder, asking him to find a way to put it in his food."
Zhao Cong narrowed his eyes. "Whose people?"
Shen Xu paused for a moment, then said, "From the residence of Vice Minister Tang."
Lin Qingwan's expression hardened slightly. How could it be the Tang family?
Did Qiu Hong mistake her identity that day? Or did she misunderstand Consort Su due to her petty mind?
"Your Highness, what should be done with these people?" Shen Xu asked for instructions.
Zhao Cong frowned. "Drag them outside the courtyard and beat them to death. Then send the Tang family's token to the Vice Minister's residence and tell them that if there is a next time, I will not let them off lightly."
After this whole commotion, Lin Qingwan lost her appetite, so Zhao Cong still had Zhang Ma make two more bowls of shredded chicken noodles.
"Fish soup needs to be simmered for a while to taste good, but we don't have time today, so please make do with this," Zhao Cong explained.
Then she remembered the two plates of wild vegetables she had personally picked. "There are plenty of wild vegetables outside the city. I'll pick some fresh ones for you tomorrow."
Lin Qingwan was still pondering the Tang family's affairs when she heard him say this, and her eyes immediately softened.
"It's alright, as long as Your Highness can eat the dumplings."
Zhao Cong had just picked up a mouthful of noodles when he heard this and paused, thinking to himself that he hadn't even eaten yet, and she was only concerned about Feng'er.
She said she was taken advantage of, and now she thinks a simple apology is all it takes to get away with it?
Zhao Cong's expression darkened. "Let's eat."
Lin Qingwan felt a suffocating feeling, as if a gloomy rain was pressing down on her head. The steam from the chicken noodle soup wafted up, and she tried to avoid it.
Seeing that she wasn't touching her chopsticks, Zhao Cong asked again, "Is it not to your liking?"
Lin Qingwan quickly replied, "No."
She pursed her lips and whispered, "I didn't know you were one of Minister Tang's men. I just thought I hadn't done anything wrong and didn't want to suffer in silence. But I couldn't show myself, so I waited for you to come and deliberately put you in this mess."
She hadn't thought much of it at first, but seeing Zhao Cong eating noodles with gusto, she realized that the Crown Prince was busy with affairs, and his visit must have been because he was worried about her health, and also because he wanted to get some fresh air.
But she spoiled my fun.
He saw right through her thoughts, but didn't punish her. Instead, he asked Zhang Ma to make two more bowls of noodles.
Looking back at their successful goal, they forgot that the crown prince was still hungry.
Zhao Cong blew on the noodles, his brow relaxing unconsciously. "It's because of me that they want to harm you."
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