In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Concubine Wang Shu's lavender dress was stained red with blood, and her body slowly fell limp, making Ming Cui and Xishun on the side look horrified.
"Your Majesty! My Majesty, what's wrong with you?"
"Imperial Physician, call the Imperial Physician quickly!"
"Someone is coming! Hurry!"
…
Under the leadership of the general manager Haigui, the imperial doctors who came with Xiao Xiruo rushed into the hall almost immediately and carried Concubine Wang Shu out of the hall smoothly.
As if to express her concern for Concubine Wang Shu, Queen Mother Hua immediately sent her personal aunt Jiayue to report any situation at any time.
This scene happened so fast that many of the frightened women could not recover until now.
Who would have thought that such an unlucky thing could happen at this royal family banquet.
It would be better if Concubine Wang Shu was ill...
I'm afraid she is...
As if to confirm the thoughts of some people, Jiayue, who went to the side hall, quickly brought the news that Concubine Wang Shu was not ill but poisoned.
Almost at the same time, Haigui also entered the palace with several imperial doctors and began to check the food and drinks on everyone's tables.
After half a stick of incense, an imperial physician brought a plate of exquisite pastries and respectfully presented it to Feng Wuyan and Queen Mother Hua.
It wasn't until this moment that everyone realized that this was actually a plate of pastries that could only be found on Concubine Wang Shu's table.
"Chestnut snowflake cake..."
Ming Cui, who came from the side hall, looked at the plate of pastries in a daze, her eyes bloodshot.
As we all know, this is their empress's favorite pastry, a must-have for Zhongcui Palace, and a snack that will be prepared for their empress at every banquet in the palace.
There was only one plate for a banquet, and the poison that harmed their wives was accurately sprinkled on this pastry...
Obviously, this was a deliberate poisoning rather than some kind of accident.
"Come here, call the stewards from the House of Internal Affairs and the Imperial Kitchen immediately!"
Queen Mother Hua frowned and immediately showed the aura of the Lord of the First Palace. Her meaning was very obvious, she would never allow anyone to make small moves under her nose.
Soon, a group of people were brought in by Haigui.
The steward of the Imperial Kitchen and the steward of the House of Internal Affairs looked at each other, each looking uglier than the other.
This is the first time something like this has happened in the palace since the new emperor ascended the throne.
It would be fine if it were a harem fight, but it happened at such an important banquet...
"To report to the Queen Mother, all matters in the House of Internal Affairs are handled according to the Queen Mother's orders, so the food slaves have all been inspected..."
The steward of the Ministry of Internal Affairs explained tremblingly, and at the same time presented a series of evidence to prove his innocence.
According to the Taiyuan Hospital's careful inspection, the poison should have been sprinkled on the snowflake cake after it was made. The poison was on the outside of the cake, not inside.
In other words, the person who poisoned the dish may have come into contact with the plate of Snowflake Crispy from the time it came out of the pan until Concubine Wang Shu ate it.
Soon, the nun in charge of making pastries, the palace maid in charge of delivering pastries, and those who had been near Concubine Wang Shu's desk were all taken out individually and knelt down neatly in front of Queen Mother Hua.
"Empress, who do you think did it?"
Looking at the crowd of palace people crying for injustice, Xue Fang finally couldn't bear it after watching the show for a long time.
She doesn’t know anything about the harem and politics, but maybe their empress does!
Then she saw Xiao Xiruo and said calmly:
"Dogs move."
Snowfall: "?"
Well, let’s just pretend she didn’t ask...
Automatically ignoring the depressed Xue Fang, Xiao Xiruo continued to watch the movie with her arms crossed.
How about saying that all the queen mothers have been palace fighting champions?
Under Empress Dowager Hua's courtesy first and then her defense, various hints, explicit instructions, and warnings, all the palace officials quickly stopped complaining and began to describe everything they knew one by one.
They racked their brains to recall the plate of snowflake cake, trying hard to find something that could exonerate themselves.
In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can see that these people are not murderers.
Why do you say that?
Because Jiayue has checked their resumes, they are all clean and have no grudges against Wang Shufei.
I would like to ask such a few low-key slaves, what reason do they have to poison their master?
Finally, the nanny who was about to be dragged down remembered something.
She said that when Xuehuasu had just come out of the cage, a palace maid from Zhongcui Palace appeared near her. She thought she was here to rush her, so she told her to wait a moment.
But the palace maid didn't answer her, she just smiled at her and left soon after.
According to this nanny, because Wang Shufei liked good-looking plates, she briefly left Snowflake Soup in order to change to nicer ones...
And with this nanny's inspiration, several eunuchs and maids on duty in the imperial kitchen suddenly remembered that they seemed to have seen the palace maid mentioned by the nanny.
"Although she didn't come in sneakily, she did stay beside grandma for a while."
"Yes, yes, she was nearby when grandma left the table..."
"I have seen her before. She is the maid of Zhongcui Palace. Her name seems to be Ruolai..."
…
As the eunuchs and maids reminisced one by one, Ming Cui, whose eyes were red from crying, finally couldn't sit still.
Everyone saw her rushing towards Xiao Xiruo with a vigorous step, then grabbing a person's hair and dragging him directly in front of everyone's eyes.
"Is it her?"
"Tell me if it's her!"
Ming Cui's hysterical questions frightened everyone in the palace and turned pale. But when they saw clearly the person Ming Cui pulled in front of them, their paleness was quickly replaced by ecstasy.
It's her!
That's her!
This group of palace people said in unison, but the expressions of everyone in Changle Palace changed, and they all looked at the person who was grabbed by Ming Cui in disbelief.
Because she is none other than Du Juan, the new palace maid who has just arrived at Changle Palace.
"It's really you bitch!"
Ming Cui slapped Du Juan hard on the face. She had grown up with Concubine Shu since she was a child, and now she wished she could strangle the murderer in front of her.
Fortunately, Jiayue immediately asked someone to drag her away, while Dujuan fell weakly to the ground.
At this moment, her mouth was bloody, her hair was messy, her delicate face was slightly swollen, and she was in a miserable state...
However, unlike the flustered palace people just now, she was very calm and stared at the emperor and queen mother above her calmly, without any intention of defending herself.
"Did you do it?"
Queen Mother Hua looked at her and asked coldly.
Hearing this, Du Juan actually glanced sideways at Xiao Xiruo, and the gratitude in her eyes flashed away.
"To report to the Queen Mother, it was a servant who did it."
She confessed so cleanly that everyone present was in an uproar.
Obviously, she had no intention of hiding it from the beginning.
"This slave came from the Zhongcui Palace and was tortured and humiliated in every possible way by the Concubine Shu. Now, even though I have gained a sage like the Concubine, I still can't forget the hatred in my heart. The Concubine Shu is unkind, and I have no righteousness to speak of."
Since the cause and effect are so clear, can he be convicted?
Everyone thought.
However, at this moment, an imperial doctor came quickly outside the palace and said to the Empress Dowager Hua with a solemn expression:
"To report to the Queen Mother, what Concubine Shu was hit by was probably a strange poison from Northern Yi..." This chapter has been completed!