Song Lin lay prostrate on the ground with his head down, his face pale with shock.
How could His Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Zhaohua be at Xingzhi Courtyard? He didn't even know a thing.
Granny Wu was also filled with panic, clearly the situation before her was beyond her expectations.
While everyone was kneeling in worship, Jiang Wan called Cai Die over and whispered a few words in her ear.
Song Lin didn't notice her and knelt on the ground, kowtowing and saying, "The servants in the manor are ignorant and have disturbed Your Highness. Please forgive them!"
"Considering that the Old Madam has suddenly fallen ill, I will not hold this against you," Pei Xuan said calmly. "I heard from the servants that the Old Madam was poisoned. Has the culprit been found?"
Song Lin swallowed hard: "...Not yet."
"The old lady followed General Song back then and made great contributions to the Great Yong Dynasty. Now that she has been murdered, I cannot turn a blind eye."
Pei Xuan glanced at the people in the courtyard.
"Men, search the entire General's mansion, starting with this courtyard. Don't let a single person escape."
After saying that, he spread his arms and pretended to be waiting to be searched.
Song Lin was so frightened that he hurriedly said, "Your Highness is too kind to the Song family! Besides, you just arrived at the manor. My great-grandmother was poisoned at noon, so she was not a suspect."
Pei Tang snorted coldly: "Sister Jiang entered the manor with us, so she has no suspicion of anything?"
Song Lin wiped the sweat from his brow: "Of course, of course."
Pei Xuan gave the order, and no one dared to object. They all stood aside and accepted the guards' questioning.
Song Lin stared intently at the people in the courtyard, his expression growing increasingly tense.
"Your Highness! We've found it!"
Suddenly, a guard stepped forward, holding a packet of medicine powder in one hand and grabbing a trembling retainer in the other, and walked towards Pei Xuan.
"This was found on this person!"
The imperial physician took a look and exclaimed in shock, "It is indeed arsenic!"
Granny Wu suddenly stood up and lunged at the retainer: "It was you? You're the one who harmed the old lady!"
The retainer was terrified and paralyzed. He never imagined that this matter would involve the Crown Prince. He knelt on the ground in a daze and cried out to Song Lin, "Young Master, help me!"
"Shut up!"
Enraged, Song Lin strode forward and kicked his retainer hard in the chest with his right foot.
"You wicked scoundrel, you are incredibly audacious! I trusted you so much, yet you dared to poison my great-grandmother!"
Song Lin had a foundation in martial arts, and he used all his strength in this kick. The retainer was so badly kicked that his vision went black, and he clutched his chest and vomited blood.
Jiang Wan watched coldly, her face filled with mockery.
Everyone knows that these white-robed retainers are Song Lin's men.
Since taking charge of the front courtyard, he has been using the pretext of planning for the General's Mansion to hold secret talks with these retainers every day behind closed doors.
It's too late to distance yourself now.
"It was my fault for misjudging people and causing my great-grandmother's death." Song Lin was filled with grief and indignation, pounding his chest and stamping his feet. "If anything had happened to her, how could I have the face to live in this world!"
"No, it is clearly..."
The retainer caught his breath and tried to climb forward to speak, but was lifted up by the person behind him.
"What, are you trying to slander the young master? I've been following him these past few days, and he's never ordered you to do such a thing. I can testify to that."
The speaker was dressed in white and had a rather handsome appearance; he was none other than Bi Yuan.
Granny Wu glanced at him briefly, then lowered her eyes again without saying a word.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for capturing the traitor within the Song family. Leave the rest to me."
Song Lin first flattered Pei Xuan a few times, then gave an order, and the retainer was gagged, tied up, and dragged away.
"I have no intention of interfering in the family affairs of the General's Mansion."
Pei Xuan glanced into the room.
"The old lady's condition is serious. Send someone with my token to invite the head of the Imperial Medical Academy."
Jiang Wan stood quietly to one side without saying a word.
It seems that Pei Xuan also noticed the strangeness of the old lady's illness and wanted to invite the imperial physician to investigate.
"Your Highness, this..."
Granny Wu stood awkwardly to the side, opened her mouth but then felt it was inappropriate, so she could only nervously peer into the curtain.
“Granny Wu,” Jiang Wan suddenly spoke.
Granny Wu was lost in thought when she was startled to hear someone calling her: "Madam, Madam."
Jiang Wan picked up the packet of arsenic on the table, rubbed it between her fingertips, and found that the granules were somewhat coarse.
She had heard that some skilled drug makers could grind arsenic powder into a fine, smooth ash, making it extremely difficult to detect when sprinkled into food.
The packet in front of you contains the cheapest arsenic.
The matriarch of the family was a cautious person with many trusted confidants around her. The cooks and servants at Luhetang had been with her for decades. Even if Song Lin wanted to poison her, he wouldn't succeed so easily.
She needs to find evidence that Song Lin poisoned her.
"Did Grandmother use anything special before she was poisoned?"
Granny Wu was taken aback, then recalled: "Breakfast and morning tea are prepared by the small kitchen, so there would be no mistake. The old lady is not fond of food and does not usually have the habit of eating snacks. After drinking tea, she goes to the Buddhist hall to chant sutras."
"And then what?"
"Later..." Granny Wu frowned, "The old lady suffers from chest tightness and has to take two heart-protecting pills every day. A few days ago, after the general's accident, she felt even worse. Doctor Li took her pulse and instructed her to take one more pill every day. Today, she was supposed to take three pills, but because there wasn't enough tea, while I was getting some water, she suddenly fainted..."
As she spoke, she realized something was wrong and looked incredulous.
"Could it be...? That's impossible! The heart-protecting pill was made by Doctor Li himself. The old lady has used it for so many years and has never had any problems."
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