Li Qitian's face darkened as he looked at the two maids who were dressed in ordinary clothes. He would never have thought that there would be people who would do Qin Yining by the Empress' side.
"What evidence do you have? Speak." Li Qitian's tone was very impatient, and he wanted to quickly end this matter.
Bing Tang took out two small porcelain boxes from her sleeve and placed them on the ground in front of her. She kowtowed and said, "Replying to Your Majesty, this is the evidence that this servant took from the overturned bird's nest and the dead pug's mouth."
The nobles and womenfolk all stretched their necks and looked at the two porcelain bottles on the carpet. Some of the womenfolk even picked up their handkerchiefs to cover their noses and mouths, as if they had smelled something strange.
Bing Tang said, "This servant has some medical skills. These days, this servant has used many methods and finally confirmed that the bird's nest is indeed poisonous and the pug was indeed poisoned to death. However, the poison in the bird's nest and the poison in the pug are two different poisons!"
As soon as he said this, everyone was stunned for a moment.
The Empress Dowager was shocked and couldn't help but clench her hands. Her elbows hit the small table beside her, making a loud sound. She didn't even realize it.
Li Qitian and the Empress were close to her, so how could they not see the Empress Dowager's strange behavior?
They looked at the Empress Dowager in confusion, but found that the Empress Dowager's face was tense, her teeth were clenched, and her eyes were gloomy as she stared in one direction.
The direction the Empress Dowager was looking at was where Li Helan, Concubine Yu, and Imperial Concubine Yi were sitting.
Li Qitian narrowed his eyes.
The Empress grabbed the armrest of her chair. Her eyes were full of shock and disbelief as she looked back at Li Qitian. The husband and wife looked at each other and saw the answer in each other's eyes.
Bing Tang continued, "After this servant analyzed it, this servant found that the poison in the pug was ordinary arsenic. However, the poison in the bird's nest is not ordinary. "
"Could it be Crane's Head Red or Peacock's Gallbladder?" Someone asked curiously.
Bing Tang shook his head. "Neither. This kind of poison came from Nanjiang, and it was not widely spread in Jianghu. It was said that there were some tribal leaders in Nanjiang who would first feed the food to their cats and dogs to determine whether it was poisonous or not. Someone found this poison in order to murder the chief of the tribe, and the assassination was successful despite the chief's strict defense. "
Bing Tang looked up at Li Qitian, then lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, this poison is only effective on humans. It has no effect on animals."
"There's actually such a poisonous thing!" Li Qitian was astonished.
Every meal he had, although there was a servant who tasted the poison, it still made one's heart tremble when they heard it.
"Yes, this poison is called 'Dream Death'. When a person is poisoned, their brain and meridians will be paralyzed, and they will die instantly. It's not like the Crane's Head Red and the other poisons that take a while to act up. "
Bing Tang raised his head again and said, "In other words, Dream Death is only effective on humans, and once it's used, there's no cure. It's not like Crane's Head Red, which has a time limit and can be cured."
Bing Tang's voice fell, and the hall fell silent.
The noble family members who had previously dared to talk in agreement with Li Qitian were now like quails with their feathers on fire, not daring to say anything.
Everyone knew that this person had taken a poison that would cause a quick death. What did it mean for it to appear in the palace?
Li Qitian's face was ashen, but he didn't forget to observe the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager was trembling with anger.
Under the Empress Dowager's gaze, Li Helan's face was grave, while Consort Yun and Concubine Yu were suppressing their panic, their faces ashen.
Seeing this, even if he didn't know the inside story, Li Qitian had a guess.
The Empress also noticed this and timely said, "Your Majesty, chenqie thinks that you should ask Concubine Yu about this. Concubine Yu's pug was clearly fed arsenic in advance. She came and knocked over the bird's nest sent by the Qin Clan, but insisted that the pug was poisoned to death by the bird's nest. Why would she do this? This was clearly premeditated, and there must be someone behind this. "
The Empress looked coldly at the Empress Dowager, "chenqie can't tolerate anyone trying to kill the Imperial Prince behind her back. Your Majesty, chenqie's heart chills at the thought of having such a person in the palace. "
The Empress Dowager suddenly came back to her senses and met the Empress's gaze. She unconsciously looked away, but then felt guilty and stared back.
The nobles and womenfolk had already seen the expressions of the imperial family members when they spoke. No one was a fool, and everyone had a guess in their hearts. But everyone tactfully lowered their heads again, not looking or listening, and remained silent.
Li Qitian's right thumb and index finger quickly moved. When he suddenly stopped, he ordered in a deep voice, "Invite Deputy Liu."
"Your Majesty." Xiong Jinshui, who was waiting on the side, immediately received the order and quickly ran out, silent as a cicada in winter.
In less than half an hour, the white-haired Deputy Liu rushed over, panting, carrying a medicine box.
He took the evidence and retreated to the trees to examine it.
At this time, Qin Yining, Ji Yun, and Bing Tang were still kneeling in place.
The nobles and womenfolk also didn't say a word.
Li Qitian's fingernails lightly tapped on the small table. His eyes looked around, finally landing on Concubine Yi and Concubine Yu. With his intelligence, he could already figure out the entire situation.
Who didn't want the Imperial Prince to die and wanted to harm Qin Yining?
It could be the Empress Dowager. So the Empress Dowager arranged for Concubine Yu to block the way and ensure that the bird's nest wouldn't enter Kunning Palace.
Who wanted the Imperial Prince to die in this incident?
Then it could only be Concubine Yi and Concubine Yu.
But Concubine Yu had clearly been instructed by someone to use arsenic to block the way. Presumably, she didn't know the reason, or perhaps she did, but was just a chess piece.
What about Concubine Yi? She relied on her beauty, high status, and good family background. If the Eldest Prince died, she would have hope if she had any children in the future. Moreover, Concubine Yi was the Empress Dowager's niece and could enter Ci 'an Palace at will. She had enough motive to secretly switch the poison behind the Empress Dowager's back.
Truly vicious! If one didn't think about it carefully, it wouldn't be clear. The dirty matters in the harem were obviously no less than those in the previous dynasty!
Before Deputy Liu came, he had already heard Xiong Jinshui explain the situation. Now that he had a direction to investigate, it took him less than an hour to obtain the results of the examination.
"Replying to Your Majesty. After this official's examination, one of the two poisons is the commonly seen arsenic, while the other is a poison. This old official still needs to examine it carefully to know the results, but I can confirm that they are indeed two different poisons. "
Everyone continued to remain silent. At this time, Li Qitian's face was ashen.
Qin Yining kowtowed and said, "This official's wife was ordered to enter the palace to accompany Concubine Shun. Before entering the palace, all of my clothes and accessories were carefully inspected and confirmed that there were no dangerous poisons brought into the palace. The bird's nest was made in the small kitchen of Ci 'an Palace. When the palace servants brought it over, this official's wife was only carrying a food box. This official's wife could have poisoned it, but there was no reason to poison it.
"Thinking about it carefully, Concubine Yu brought the poisoned pug dog to block the way and deliberately knocked over the food box. She used the pug dog's death to 'expose' the poison in the bird's nest. It seems like someone knew that the bird's nest was poisoned and didn't want the Imperial Prince to be harmed. They also didn't want to miss the opportunity to slander this official's wife, so they ordered Concubine Yu to knock it over. Your Majesty, please interrogate Concubine Yu. The real culprit will definitely be caught. "
Qin Yining kowtowed and continued to kneel in place.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
