Chapter 339 They Surely Came at Me

The Imperial Academy of Medicine investigated quickly.

It involved the cause of death of the Emperor, and now the former emperor. It was also supervised by the two empresses and other officials. They dared not delay.

However, the results of the investigation made the Imperial Academy of Medicine want to hang themselves collectively. The administrative a.s.sistant of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, who was responsible for reporting the results, s.h.i.+vered and threw himself to the ground. He didn’t dare to look up and said, “Although His Majesty washed his hands after eating, because of the fierce toxicity, we can still find poison at the part of the hand between the thumb and the index finger. It is the position where His Majesty holds chopsticks.”

“Moreover, after the chopsticks were inspected by people of the Imperial Palace Bureau, an insignificant mechanism was found on the position where the gem was inlaid on the chopsticks. These chopsticks are hollow and contain poison powder. As long as the person holds them inadvertently and presses the gem, the dark hole will be opened so that the poison powder will exude gradually.”

What made the administrative a.s.sistant frightened was what he was going to report, “Those chopsticks were brought by Her Royal Highness, Princess Yongfu.”

“Ridiculous!” All the people were stunned at that time. Empress Jiang’s face was gloomy and stared at the administrative a.s.sistant. She could hardly wait to go down and kick him to death. She said, “How could the princess offer such a thing to His Majesty?”

“What are you panicking about!” Empress Dowager Gu lifted her eyelids and said, “Continue, administrative a.s.sistant Gu. Now all the civil and military officials are here. This is related to the death of my son. How can we ignore it?”

The administrative a.s.sistant Gu was very grieved, but he had to reply, “However, when Her Royal Highness offered the chopsticks, we checked it, and no mechanisms were found. Now the chopsticks just look the same as those offered by Her Royal Highness, and we can’t find the second pair. And I don’t dare to say whether they are the ones offered by Her Royal Highness.”

He just hoped Empress Jiang wouldn’t be too cruel to him later when he tried his best. It was not easy to do things in full view of the public. His hint was clear.

Empress Jiang of course wouldn’t waste the opportunity he gave, and immediately said, “It seems that someone deliberately took advantage of Yongfu’s filial piety to His Majesty! I know Yongfu’s chopsticks. They are solid and have no mechanism. They must have been replaced!”

“If someone changed them, how can he/she deceive all the people close to His Majesty?” Empress Dowager Gu said coldly, “Those are smart people! They are best at detecting subtle changes! I’m afraid there were two sets of chopsticks when they were forged, one solid and the other hollow. And when Yongfu enters Fu Ning Palace, she will not be checked for what she carries! How much s.p.a.ce can a pair of chopsticks occupy?”

Empress Jiang was furious, “What do you mean, mother? You just said that you as a mother will not be bad for His Majesty. How do you think Yongfu, His Majesty’s daughter, will be bad for him? At the beginning, Chu Weizhou did that to fight for the status of the crown prince. Can Yongfu, a girl, be the Crown Princess?”

Empress Dowager Gu sneered, “She can’t be the Crown Princess, but she can be Princess Royal.” After the crown prince ascended the throne, the system would grant his sister the t.i.tle of Princess Royal.

The meaning of Empress Dowager’s words was obvious.

“Mother, you are framing!” Empress Jiang gnashed her teeth and looked around the crowd. Her sharp eyes made many people in Empress Dowager’s party subconsciously avoid her. She said, “Even if Yongfu is only an imperial daughter rather than an imperial sister, can’t I do it if she wants to be Princess Royal? Does she need to kill the emperor? Mother, you are so old and confused that you can say such words!”

The Empress was going to break up with Empress Dowager.

However, Empress Dowager Gu looked at her and said, “Your words make sense. I don’t think Yongfu can kill her father.”

What?

All the Empress’ party was surprised.

Qiu Yelan’s eyes narrowed slightly. Sure enough, Empress Dowager Gu’s eyes like blade swept down, “Qiu, I remember your cousin Ruan Qingyan. He always thought that the death of the children of your grandfather, General of Warrior, had a lot to do with Kuang s.h.i.+han?”

“Kuang s.h.i.+han is my son-in-law. His son, Kuang Qingwu, is my grandson-in-law. I will not allow you and your cousin to frame the reputation of the Kuang Family.”

“However, the crown prince is young. He has never met his uncle Kuang s.h.i.+han. He only meets his brother-in-law Kuang Qingwu occasionally. And so, he may not protect them as I do!”

“I can’t understand what Your Royal Highness said!” Qiu Yelan sneered in her heart. She thought: Sure enough, she came to me. Did she still want to involve the Western Army this time? But now the overall situation had been decided. She really didn’t know where Empress Dowager’s confidence came from. Did she think that sharp words could rival the toughness of military power? Qiu Yelan asked in confusion, “Do you think you’ll be gone when the crown prince ascends the throne? What should he do when hearing your words?”

Empress Dowager Gu ignored this and said, “Don’t change the subject! I only ask you. Did you murder my son because of what I just said?”

“Of course not!” Qiu Yelan glanced at her, “But just now, administrative a.s.sistant Gu counted the furnis.h.i.+ngs of the bedroom hall one by one. I remembered that there must have been one thing taken in front of his majesty recently. It seems that administrative a.s.sistant Gu didn’t mention it. But I don’t know whether you forgot to or simply didn’t want to mention it?”

Before she finished, everyone in the hall was silent. Empress Jiang even leaned forward slightly and asked urgently, “What is it?”

“Fen Zhuanglou, the Chinese rose that was called Fen Baolin by His Majesty. It was also called Yu Linglong.” Qiu Yelan thanked Princess Yongfu for nagging that day. She did not expect to use it here. She said with a smile. “His Majesty promised to give this flower to Her Royal Highness, Princess Yongfu, after his recovery.”

“Your Majesty, I didn’t see this flower in His Majesty’s bedroom hall.” Administrative a.s.sistant Gu hurriedly said. He was relieved because he could not provoke the Empress’ party. He was more worried than Empress Jiang when he found out the problem of that pair of chopsticks.

But it was impossible to hide it for so many people seeing the mechanism and poison being found out.

Now Qiu Yelan seemed to have found a flaw. Administrative a.s.sistant Gu naturally felt that the pressure was greatly reduced.

Empress Jiang asked, “Where is the flower now?”

“Your Majesty, the flower is ill, so it should not be placed in His Majesty’s bedroom hall.” A moment later, a palace man came back and said, “When Her Royal Highness came, they enjoyed it for a while, and then it was moved back. Now the flower is still in the back hall.”

“Are you sure it is in the back hall?” Qiu Yelan asked after hearing the words with a half-smile. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, the back hall.” That palace man didn’t know why she had such expression. He thought for seconds and nodded.

Empress Jiang and others were also confused. They looked at Qiu Yelan, waiting for her answer.

“When Her Royal Highness first ordered me to make appetizers for His Majesty, she told me that His Majesty intended to give flowers.” Qiu Yelan didn’t tantalize everyone, but said frankly, “At that time, I thought it was a little strange: His Majesty owned everything, and Her Royal Highness was the only legitimate daughter of His Majesty. Even if His Majesty raised a pot of rose in person, why didn’t he give it immediately, but after he recovered?”

“So?” the Empress’ party replied.

“So I thought that this flower must be sick! His Majesty loves his royal highness, so he will postpone the reward until the flower recovers and give it to Her Royal Highness again.”

What was the point?

Qiu Yelan ignored the people’s confused expression and continued, “I know a little about the flower ‘Fen Zhuanglou’. In this season, its most vulnerable disease is the vast white between the branches and leaves, like frost!” In fact, it is powdery mildew, the most common disease of Chinese rose.”

“The Chinese rose suffering from this disease should be moved to a ventilated and sunny place immediately before it can recover. How can it be put in the dark back hall?!” Qiu Yelan sneered, “This flower is easy to get sick.” The name of medicine pot for the Chinese rose came for the reason.

“If so, the flower won’t survive.”

“Maybe it’s because the palace people are ignorant?” Someone in Empress Dowager’s party retorted, “They thought that since it was ill, it couldn’t be beaten by wind and rain, so they put it in the back hall. Moreover, madam Qiu, it’s just a pot of flowers. What does it have to do with His Majesty’s death?”

Qiu Yelan glanced at that man and said, “Why doesn’t it matter?! Her Royal Highness told me before: this flower was cut and cultivated by His Majesty last autumn! Now the flowers have already grown several buds. Am I right, Your Royal Highness?”

Because of the death of her father, Princess Yongfu, who was crying ferociously, was shaken several times by Maid Lin before she came back in a trance and said, “Yes. The flower has several buds. When my father showed it to me, one of them was about to bloom…”

“This shows that His Majesty cultivated it well.” Qiu Yelan didn’t have the patience to wait for Princess Yongfu to finish. After she got the answer she wanted, she immediately interrupted, “The reason why it got sick is that this kind of flower is very easy to get sick in this season. It can’t be avoided.”

Even Empress Dowager Gu couldn’t stand it here, “What about the relations.h.i.+p between flower and my son’s death? I’m here with the Empress and all the officials. You keep talking about flowers… What do you mean?”

“Since His Majesty raised flowers so well, he obviously has some experience in the art of raising flowers! Palace people are ignorant. They thought it was ill and vulnerable to wind and rain and put it in the back hall!” Qiu Yelan squinted, “But how could His Majesty not know that this flower should be exposed to the sun after it was ill?! Moreover, this potted flower is His Majesty’s promise to reward Her Royal Highness, Princess Yongfu. How can His Majesty not care about it?”

“As a result, it was still left in the back hall. What does that mean? It means that the palace people didn’t pay attention to His Majesty’s orders at all! How could the palace man have the courage to do this? I am afraid that after knowing today, His Majesty is going to die. Of course, there is no way to give flowers to Her Royal Highness! And the princess is heartbroken. How can she remember a pot of flowers? When the princess isn’t sad, even if the potted flower is dead… With the benevolence of Her Royal Highness, it is impossible to find the palace man any trouble and let it go!”

Qiu Yelan looked at the crowd with a sneer, “From this point, it seems that some people have long planned to murder His Majesty.”

After she finished, some people came and asked outside the hall, “The flower is here. Shall we move it to the hall?”

“Although I don’t know how you and your people killed His Majesty, or what plan you have, most of the time the lack of evidence can be made up by strength!” Qiu Yelan calmly looked at a pot of yellow leaf withered “Fen Zhuanglou” being carried to the hall as material evidence. She thought, “I guess the cause of the His Majesty’s death will soon be transferred to this pot of “Fen Zhuanglou” from the chopsticks offered by Princess Yongfu!”

After all, when she just mentioned the word “Fen Zhuanglou”, she saw Princess Yongfu’s maid quietly withdraw from the hall!

The reason why she said such a simple thing so slowly that Empress Dowager urged her twice was that she wanted to buy time for the maid. If this “Fen Zhuanglou” had not been tampered with by the Empress’ party, no one would believe it.

“Empress Dowager Gu, I don’t know if your plan is still useful?” Although she was sure that the Empress’ party would frame again, Qiu Yelan was still very cautious and thought quietly, “If you don’t use it, you’ll be dead.”