Yun Duoduo looked at the sweet soup in front of her and licked her lips.
"Duoduo, you eat. Your sister-in-law is having severe morning sickness and is eating very little."
The eldest prince, Yun Yibo, looked at Yun Duoduo with a smile.
"Then thank you very much, Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law!"
"This servant will help the princess test if it's hot or not."
The maid beside Yun Duoduo picked up the bowl of sweet soup and blew on it.
"It's just a bowl of sweet osmanthus and jujube soup, is it really worth all this back and forth? Just have the imperial kitchen make a few more bowls!"
Empress Zhaoyuan smiled.
The maid beside Yun Duoduo scooped up a spoonful of sweet soup and put it in her mouth. Feeling that it was a little hot, she picked up another spoon, scooped up another spoonful, blew on it before putting it to Yun Duoduo's mouth.
"Princess, I've tried it, it's safe to drink."
"I'll eat it myself."
Yun Duoduo wasn't quite used to being fed yet. She smiled at the palace maid beside her and took the bowl and spoon.
"ah!"
Suddenly, a shrill scream rang out beside Yun Duoduo. The palace maid's face contorted in pain as she clutched her chest and coughed up a mouthful of black blood.
"What's wrong with you?" Yun Duoduo looked at her in surprise.
The palace maid was in so much pain that the veins on her forehead bulged, and she couldn't speak. Her body stiffened as she fell to the ground.
Yun Duoduo dropped the bowl in her hand, quickly knelt on the ground, and pried open the maid's mouth, making her spit out what was in her mouth.
But it was too late; the maid had already swallowed what was in her mouth.
"Imperial physician! Summon the imperial physician immediately!"
Empress Zhaoyuan shouted loudly, instructing her head maid, Cuiling, to quickly go and fetch someone.
When Ah Xiang walked in carrying Yun Duoduo's outer robe, she happened to see the scene before her.
Yun Duoduo lay on the ground, rummaging under the table for a medicine box, trying to save the palace maid.
However, the palace maid soon died.
[The dosage of poison must have been quite high, to see him die so quickly.]
Yun Duoduo sighed inwardly.
[It's truly remarkable that I've grown this big; there's always someone wanting to kill me.]
The imperial physicians arrived one after another, and upon seeing the collapsed palace maid, they could only shake their heads and sigh.
Those present were stunned speechless at the sight. Yun Beiye and Empress Zhaoyuan detained everyone present.
The incident happened suddenly, and no one was allowed to leave the Imperial Garden until they were cleared of suspicion.
The once lively and festive banquet, where concubines and housekeepers vied for attention, was now gloomy and desolate.
"What happened?"
Yun Beiye looked at Physician Xu, who was taking the pulse of a palace maid, and asked.
"Your Majesty, this palace maid died from poisoning after consuming a large amount of poisonous herbs."
"Heartbreak Grass?"
"What did she eat? Why was there heartbreak grass at the palace banquet?!"
Yun Beiye's face turned ashen, and he slammed his hand on the table, demanding an explanation.
"This is a palace maid serving the princess..."
A young palace maid serving a concubine spoke timidly, a shiver running through her body, as if somewhat relieved that the deceased maid was not herself.
Yun Beiye's eyes narrowed sharply, and he roared angrily, "If anything happens to Duoduo, you will all be buried with me!"
The roar silenced everyone.
Physician Xu took out a silver needle to examine the food on Yun Duoduo's table, and the silver needle did not turn black.
"What did this palace maid eat in the end?"
"Drink this bowl of jujube soup."
Yun Duoduo pointed to the white porcelain bowl that had been overturned on the table.
Physician Xu tested the jujube soup with a silver needle, and the needle immediately turned black.
"Your Majesty, please look, this jujube soup is poisoned."
Physician Xu waved the blackened silver needles in front of Yun Beiye.
"This jujube soup is the prince's jujube soup."
Shangguan Qin'er's voice trembled slightly, and her legs went weak as she nestled into Yun Yibo's arms.
"It's Prince Rui's jujube soup..."
"Someone wants to harm Prince Rui..."
The ministers at the table were whispering among themselves.
"Father, someone is trying to harm me!"
Yun Yibo was covered in cold sweat. He held Shangguan Qin'er in his arms, and the two of them knelt on the ground, crying and pleading.
Shangguan Qin'er clutched her chest, as if she couldn't believe it.
Zhao Zhongquan narrowed his eyes slightly, somewhat unable to understand the situation before him.
The Crown Prince's jujube soup, after being served by Shangguan Qin'er, reached the Princess.
"My lord, please examine my bowl again."
Shangguan Qin'er picked up the jujube soup on her table with a slight tremor.
Physician Xu took out another silver needle, which turned black again in an instant.
Physician Xu's expression changed slightly.
"Father, Father, someone is trying to kill our whole family!"
Shangguan Qin'er burst into heart-wrenching sobs.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, please don't get angry or agitated. Be careful of the child in your womb!" Several imperial physicians beside her advised.
Shangguan Qin'er let out a long sigh of relief, wiping away her tears with a handkerchief. Yun Yibo gently patted Shangguan Qin'er's back to help her catch her breath.
"Your Majesty, someone tried to kill Yibo! They almost implicated the Ninth Princess!"
Empress Zhaoyuan was startled. She knelt in the center of the hall, her face filled with shock and indignation.
"I will not let this go. Summon the people from the Imperial Kitchen for questioning. Why did this poisonous herb end up in the jujube soup?!"
Yun Beiye quickly walked to Yun Duoduo's side and hugged her in his arms.
Yun Duoduo hooked her arm around Yun Beiye's neck and gently patted his shoulder, signaling him not to be angry.
"Zhao Zhongquan, bring up all the palace maids who made the sweet soup, as well as those who brought it here!"
"Have the Imperial Prisoners interrogate me immediately!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
A moment later, a heart-wrenching scream came from a corner behind the artificial hill in the Imperial Garden.
The ministers and their families in the Imperial Garden sat in their seats, their nerves taut, barely daring to breathe.
A moment later, Zhao Zhongquan came to report.
"Your Majesty, these sweet soups and meat soups were just made by the Imperial Kitchen and were served one by one by the palace maids from the Imperial Kitchen."
"The palace maid who delivered the soup to Prince Rui and Princess Rui said that she encountered the Fifth Prince on her way to deliver the sweet soup with osmanthus and red dates."
[Fifth Imperial Brother, Yun Yichun?]
Yun Duoduo has eight older brothers, whose names are Bo, Zhong, Shu, Ji, Chun, Xia, Qiu, and Dong.
Luckily, my cheap dad happened to have eight sons. If there were one more, I wouldn't know what to name him.
At first, Yun Duoduo couldn't remember these names. Apart from her eldest brother, second brother, and third brother who often came to visit her and played with her, she often forgot the names of the other brothers.
If they were to meet on the road, they might not recognize each other's faces, since these imperial brothers look as if they were made from the same mold, they look too alike.
"The Fifth Prince opened the lid, looked inside, and even smelled what was inside."
The Fifth Prince...
"Besides the Fifth Prince, has anyone else touched Prince Rui's food?"
Yun Beiye glanced at the Fifth Prince, who was sitting alone at the table, and his eyes flickered slightly.
The eight princes present each had their own empress or concubine sitting to one side, but Yun Yichun's concubine, Rong Pin, had been demoted to a palace maid and was not allowed to leave Yong'an Palace.
"Your Majesty, apart from the Fifth Prince, no one else has touched it."
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