February 10th
When Cheng Shijun entered the mansion, a small wedding banquet was held.
That evening, as Leng Qingning and Meng Xu were preparing to go to bed, Lu Shiyi fell ill with a high fever.
His injury had been there for over ten days, and it should have healed by now, but for some reason it hadn't fully recovered.
Xiao An rushed over to report, and Leng Qingning had no choice but to go.
On the hospital bed, Lu Shiyi's forehead was covered in sweat, his face was pale, and his lips were slightly purple, clearly indicating that he had been poisoned.
Leng Qingning hurriedly asked the doctor, who said that he had indeed been poisoned, but the poison was not fatal, but it would cause vomiting, diarrhea and pain all over the body. Lu Shiyi vomited for several days and caught a cold, and he looked very haggard.
Leng Qingning was furious. How dare someone poison the emperor in her Langya mansion?
"Fu Guang, investigate for me."
"yes."
Fu Guang accepted the order and led Ling Ze, Bai Yu, and others to search the entire mansion. Leng Qingning stayed at Hehuan Pavilion, taking care of Lu Shiyi throughout the night.
Fu Guang and his team were quite capable and acted quickly, catching the culprit in just one night.
…
As dawn broke, a group of people knelt on the ground in the front yard.
“Your Highness, it was Steward Yuanshan of Tingfeng Courtyard who ordered me to do this.” The speaker was Yongfu, the cleaning servant in charge of cleaning the entire mansion.
"You're talking nonsense," Chi Yan shouted sternly.
Yuanshan was so frightened that his legs went weak and he was about to kneel down, but Chi Yan lifted him up with one hand.
He glared at Yongfu and said in an icy voice, "You say my male servant poisoned Lu Shiyi, do you have any evidence?"
Yongfu was intimidated by Chi Yan's gaze, lowered his head and dared not look at him, and said with a trembling body, "My lord, I have evidence. Master Yuanshan gave me money to poison, and I bought poison powder and put it into Lu Shijun's medicine while sweeping the courtyards."
After saying that, he took out a hundred-tael silver note from his pocket and handed it to Langyue.
Wen Yanche took the silver note and slowly said, "You said this silver note was given to you by Yuanshan, do you have any witnesses?"
“Yes, Yongshou was also there when Manager Yuanshan gave me the silver notes. He can testify for me.”
Chi Yan roared, "Who is Yongshou? Come out here!"
A tall, dignified man from among the servants stepped forward and knelt in the center, his posture neither humble nor arrogant.
"Reporting to Master Chi, this servant is Yongshou. That day, Yongfu and I were cleaning in the back garden when we happened to run into Steward Yuanshan. Since Yongfu is the head of all the cleaning servants in our mansion, Steward Yuanshan gave Yongfu one or two hundred silver notes, saying that Master Chi loves cleanliness and hopes that we servants will do our best to clean Tingfeng Pavilion in the future so that Master Chi can be at ease."
"As for the matter of poisoning, I have never heard of it."
"Hmm, you're quite sensible." Chi Yan softened his tone slightly and sat down again.
Yongshou bowed to Chi Yan and said, "I was just telling the truth and fulfilling my duty."
Lin Xianzhi found it strange and couldn't help but ask, "Yongfu, why did you poison Brother Shiyi? And why did you slander Tingfeng Pavilion?"
Yongfu kowtowed three times on the ground and said in a hoarse voice, "My lords, I really did not lie. When Yongshou was in charge of Shiyuan Mountain, he did not mention the poisoning. He came to me privately that night and told me. I dare not lie."
Yuanshan's eyes widened, and he pointed at Yongfu: "You! You're talking nonsense."
Wen Yanche asked Yongfu, "If he wanted to bribe you, why didn't he also bribe Yongshou? Besides, if he really wanted to poison you, why did he only have you give him some medicine that causes diarrhea?"
Yongfu's eyes darted left and right, and after a few seconds of hesitation, he said, "Reporting to my lord, Steward Yuanshan said that His Highness takes care of Attendant Lu at his bedside every day. Young Master Chi is dissatisfied and spends his days in tears at Tingfeng Pavilion. So he instigated him to instruct me to poison Attendant Lu to death, and it had to be done discreetly so that no one else would know. But I am just a cleaning servant. Even if I had ten times the courage, I would not dare to poison Attendant Lu. I only dare to give him some laxatives."
Lin Xianzhi said indignantly, "But what you gave me wasn't a regular laxative."
"That's because I was afraid of offending Tingfeng Pavilion, so I bought some large doses of laxatives. That way, I could report back to Master Yuanshan without committing a capital offense."
Chi Yan scoffed coldly: "What a joke! You think I'd spend my days in tears? Who gave you the audacity to slander me, you dog slave?"
Yongfu shrank back and kowtowed to Chi Yan: "Young Master Chi, this was all said by Master Yuanshan, it has nothing to do with me."
Yuanshan's face was full of fear, and tears welled up in her eyes. She immediately knelt in front of Chi Yan: "Master, I did not say such a thing, nor did I instruct him to poison me. I really only gave him money to bribe him so that he would do his best for our courtyard. Please believe me."
After saying that, he hurriedly kowtowed to Leng Qingning and Wen Yanche: "Your Highness, my lord, the young master did not instigate me to poison him, nor did I instruct him. I beg Your Highness to investigate and clear our young master's name."
Chi Yan remained silent for a moment, then lifted Yuanshan up again, turning his gaze to Leng Qingning, waiting for her to make a decision.
The situation is currently at a standstill.
Leng Qingning weighed the options in her mind. She believed that Chi Yan wouldn't instruct Yuanshan to do such a thing. In the past, whenever he was angry, he would only vent his anger on her and never involve others. And Yuanshan seemed simple-minded and didn't seem like the kind of person who would hire someone to commit poisoning.
So, is Yongfu the only one who is lying?
Yongfu looked like a thief, and during the interrogation, she inadvertently caught a glimpse of the guilty conscience on Yongfu's face.
Moreover, Yongfu's words were full of loopholes. If he were really just a cowardly lackey who dared not offend either side, he could have taken the silver notes to Leng Qingning or Wen Yanche to explain the matter.
Leng Qingning slammed her hand on the table.
“How dare you, Yongfu, slander the future emperor! Drag Yongfu away and give him fifty lashes.”
Yongfu was terrified and lay on the ground begging for mercy.
Several burly maids stepped forward, held Yongfu down, and dragged him away.
"Give me a good beating, beat me until I tell the truth."
The maids' loud voices came from outside the courtyard: "Yes, Your Highness."
Soon, Yongfu's heart-wrenching screams echoed throughout the front yard:
"ah!!!"
"I know I was wrong."
"Spare me, Your Highness!"
A scream rang out, and Chi Yan's lips curled into a smug smile. Cang Yuan gave him a cold glance.
Wen Yanche caught a glimpse of Lang Yue's hand trembling slightly out of the corner of his eye.
His heart sank. Could it be...?
well!
Just as he was pondering how to speak to Leng Qingning to end the matter, Yongfu, who was outside the courtyard, couldn't take the beating any longer and shouted at the top of his lungs, "It was Master Langyue who ordered this..."
Everyone's pupils dilated as they all turned to look at Langyue!
Lang Yue staggered slightly, then resignedly closed her eyes.
Chi Yan looked at Wen Yanche with a sharp gaze and an unfriendly expression. How dare Lang Yue?
Leng Qingning was also shocked! How could it be Lang Yue?
Wen Yanche coldly ordered, "Bring Yongfu in."
The maid threw Yongfu to the ground, and Yongfu screamed and cried out in pain, tears streaming down his face.
"Your Highness, I confess, I'll confess everything! I beg Your Highness to spare my life! I have a seventy-year-old mother and more than a dozen brothers and sisters at home, they're all counting on me! Please, Your Highness, have mercy..."
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