"Or... does Your Majesty also have a share in these huge sums of money embezzled?"
Lin Wanwan's seemingly casual yet weighty rhetorical question struck the silent hall like an invisible hammer.
This is absolutely shocking!
If exposing Liu Fu's corruption was merely a matter of cleaning house and punishing a traitor, then...
So this statement is now a naked, merciless... attack on the heart!
She actually... she actually dared to openly question the Empress Dowager in front of all the civil and military officials, asking if she was colluding with a corrupt official?!
This is insane!
This empress must be insane!
The breath of everyone present stopped for a moment. They stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the slender young empress who dared to challenge the highest power in the entire dynasty.
On the throne, Empress Dowager Wang's face, which had always maintained an air of elegance and nobility, finally collapsed completely at this moment.
Her face turned ashen instantly!
Those well-maintained phoenix eyes could no longer conceal the raging anger and chilling killing intent! She stared intently at Lin Wanwan, her gaze filled with a desire to devour her alive!
"presumptuous!"
Qin, the old nanny beside the Empress Dowager, shrieked sharply, trying to drown out these treasonous words, "Your Majesty the Empress! How dare you utter such outrageous words and slander the Empress Dowager!"
However, Lin Wanwan seemed not to hear her voice at all.
She didn't even glance at the Empress Dowager again.
Because she knew that the charge of "embezzlement" alone was not enough to completely destroy Liu Fu and the forces behind him.
The Empress Dowager could have easily "executed Ma Su with tears in her eyes," sacrificing Liu Fu as a pawn to save herself.
What she wanted was not to lose a finger.
What she wanted was... to behead him!
Therefore, she did not give anyone a chance to react or argue.
Just as everyone was still reeling from the shock of her piercing question, she immediately presented her... second "gift"!
"Ruolan!" Lin Wanwan's voice rang out again, clear and dignified.
Ruolan immediately stepped forward and took out a small, sealed square bag wrapped in bright yellow silk from the bottom of the wooden box.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty," Lin Wan-wan's voice once again drew everyone's attention, "When I was investigating the accounts of the Imperial Kitchen, in addition to discovering Liu Fu's embezzlement and bribery, I also discovered something that made me... terrified."
She took the silk pouch from her own hands and slowly untied the ribbon.
Inside was a package of dried medicinal herbs, sealed tightly with oil paper.
"This is..." Lin Wanwan held the packet of medicinal herbs high so that everyone could see it clearly. "I found it in the private treasury managed by Liu Fu, which is used to store Your Majesty's daily medicinal food ingredients."
"Your Majesty is ignorant and does not understand pharmacology. But this packet of medicine, mixed together with the tonics Your Majesty usually uses, makes me feel uneasy."
"Guards!" she called out, "Summon—the Imperial Medical Academy's Director, Director Li!"
Soon, Li Yuanshi, who was still in shock from the Empress's arrival, was once again "invited" to the center of the storm.
He knelt down on the ground, trembling with fear, not knowing what had happened again.
"Academician Li, rise." Lin Wanwan's voice was devoid of any warmth. "I ask you, as the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, in charge of all the pharmacology in the land, come forward and, in front of His Majesty and all the civil and military officials, carefully examine what this packet of medicine is."
"Yes...yes..."
With a trembling voice, Dean Li took the packet of medicinal herbs from Ruolan's hands.
When he opened the oil paper package and saw the purplish-red leaves covered with fine hairs inside, his already pale face turned ashen!
His hands began to tremble uncontrollably, as if he were holding not a packet of medicine, but a red-hot branding iron!
On her throne, the Empress Dowager's heart sank suddenly!
She recognizes this thing!
This is her...
"Reporting to Your Majesty, reporting to the Empress Dowager, reporting to... the Empress..."
The voice of the Imperial Physician Li was already tinged with sobs, and his body trembled like a leaf in the wind.
“This…this thing is called ‘Perilla Leaf’.”
"Perilla leaves?"
Many officials present looked puzzled. Perilla leaves are a common spice and medicinal herb used in folk medicine, either to dispel cold or for flavoring, and they are not poisonous at all.
Your Majesty, why make such a big fuss over such an ordinary medicinal herb?
However, what Dean Li said next made everyone's hearts jump to their throats!
He fell heavily to his knees with a thud, his voice trembling so much it was almost incoherent.
"Perilla leaves... are pungent and warm in nature, and generally pose no harm to ordinary people. But... but..."
He raised his head, his face full of horror. "But Your Majesty has been taking warming and nourishing medicines for many years to strengthen your body and replenish your vital energy. And the medicinal properties of this perilla leaf are exactly the same as those of 'Atractylodes macrocephala,' one of the main ingredients in Your Majesty's medicine!"
"If the two meet, they will... they will inhibit each other, greatly weakening the original tonic properties! If this continues for a long time... it will only make His Majesty's body increasingly... increasingly weak without him realizing it!"
"boom--!"
The entire hall erupted in chaos!
If the previous corruption was merely a matter of officials failing in their duties.
Now this matter clearly points to the heinous crime of "harming the imperial body"!
Xiao Che's face, which had been gloomy, turned ashen upon hearing these words!
He turned his head sharply, his phoenix eyes burning with rage, staring intently at the woman in the main seat, whose face was equally pale!
turn out to be……
It turns out that the herbal soup he drank every day had been tampered with long ago!
No wonder his health has never improved over the years, no matter how many tonics he has taken; on the contrary, he often feels weak and tired!
A surge of overwhelming rage at being deceived and fooled instantly engulfed his entire being!
This is exactly the effect Lin Wanwan wanted!
Of course she knew that the "perilla leaves" were not the real reason for Xiao Che's poisoning.
But she knew even more that she absolutely could not take out that deadly "heart-withering grass" at this moment!
The time is not yet ripe!
This "misused" perilla leaf was the perfect smokescreen she threw out!
It could firmly pin the charge of "harming the emperor's health" on Liu Fu, while allowing the real "withered heart grass" to continue hiding behind the scenes, unnoticed by the Empress Dowager.
She looked at the shocked and horrified expressions of everyone in the hall, at Xiao Che's impending raging fury, and at the Empress Dowager's face, which was now filled with shock, anger, and panic, as she could no longer maintain her composure.
She knew that she had achieved her goal.
She slowly turned around and faced the Empress Dowager, who was already teetering on the edge of her seat.
Her face showed just the right amount of shock and lingering fear, and her clear eyes were filled with innocence and naivety.
But what she said next was like the sharpest knife, every word piercing the Empress Dowager's heart with precision and ruthlessness!
"Mother..."
Her voice trembled slightly, filled with fear.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty is dull-witted and truly cannot understand."
"Your Majesty, I do not know whether this Chief Steward Liu Fu's mistake was unintentional, mistaking the medicinal herb for ordinary spices and mistakenly placing it in Your Majesty's medicinal food storehouse..."
She paused slightly, then, in a more "confused" tone, slowly said:
"still……"
"He was acting under someone's orders, deliberately trying to... ensure that His Majesty's illness would never... be cured?"
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