Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 18 These herbs are all non-toxic.
Jin Hua swallowed, her throat feeling a little dry.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just an ordinary country girl, how could I possibly know what kind of herbs you're talking about? In the eyes of us farmers, these are clearly just weeds. These days, no matter how hardworking you are, whose yard doesn't have some weeds growing? Besides, why are you asking me this, Miss? Are you saying that weeds growing in our yard are a crime?"

Chunyu Shuang shook her head.

"Of course not. The Ministry of Justice is in charge of all criminal cases in the country. It is fair and impartial, and it would not judge a person guilty just because there are weeds in their house."

"In that case..."

Before Jin Hua could catch her breath, she heard Chunyu Shuang's voice quietly ring out.

"But I don't recall saying that this grass was dug up from your yard, did I? Aren't we at Yunniang's house right now? Why do you think the grass in my hand is from yours? Do you have grass like this at your house?"

Jin Hua's face turned pale, but she still refused to admit it.

"That's because you asked me, sir. If you had asked someone else, they would have thought you were talking about their family's things. Otherwise, why didn't you ask someone else instead of me?"

"good."

Chunyu Shuang clapped her hands, actually quite admiring of Jin Hua. Although this girl didn't seem particularly bright, she was truly wise beyond her years. While choosing a mistress for someone like Yu Lang might not be the best choice, her courage was first-rate. Even with the question practically on her face, she remained remarkably calm.

Of course, if that's all there is to it, it won't be enough to clear one's name of suspicion.

“Golden Flower, why do you resist like this? This is clearly the simplest question. However, since you’ve brought this up, I’ve also remembered something else.”

Chunyu Shuang placed the wilted grass on the table, and everyone couldn't help but turn their attention to it.

At this moment, Old Mu and the others from Tonghua Lane were also invited over. When they saw the green grass, they were all somewhat bewildered, saying that they had never seen this weed before. After hearing Jin Hua's words relayed, they all shook their heads.

"You flatter me, sir. Our Tonghua Lane may be small, but it's in a good location. Each household has only so much space, so how can we not make good use of it? Every inch of space has to be well-maintained. Take this little vegetable garden, for example; we have to plan ahead for all the seasonal vegetables. After all, in the capital, even a bunch of vegetables costs copper coins. Growing your own saves money, doesn't it? Who would turn down money? So, let alone weeds, some families can't even afford a potted plant, so how could they possibly waste such good land growing weeds?"

"Yes, I've planted small green vegetables all over the small area the size of my butt. Hey, why are you poking me, old lady? Oh, I'm really sorry, I'm an old woman and I don't think things through. I'm sorry for being so forward."

Chunyu Shuang coughed a few times. Although she was quite fierce in officialdom and dared to compete with men, she rarely used these rural slang terms and felt a little uncomfortable. But when she turned her head to look at Ying Jiuque, she found that he was not uncomfortable at all and even chuckled a few times, which was very inconsistent with the behavior of a lady from a prominent family.

But considering he grew up in the village, he must be used to it.

Getting back to the main topic, Chunyu Shuang continued to elaborate.

"So, Miss Jinhua, why haven't these old folks ever seen the common weeds you mentioned? What's even more amazing is that these weeds don't grow in the homes of people in places like Tonghua Lane and Xinghua Lane, but instead grow in your home and Miss Yunniang's home?"

Yunniang and Jinhua both looked rather unwell, but neither of them spoke.

It was at this moment that Wei Yuan returned with a group of people and physical evidence. Looking at the various weeds piled up on the table, the women's expressions were somewhat strange, but they managed to hold back. However, when they saw the trembling witness brought over—the old doctor from Huichuntang—they couldn't quite manage to keep their composure.

Chunyu Shuang glanced at the women whose complexions weren't good and sighed inwardly.

"Dr. Li, take a look at these people, do you recognize any of them?"

Huichuntang was located at the entrance of Tonghua Lane. Because of its reasonable prices and the kind and compassionate old doctor, everyone liked to go there. With so many people going every day, the old doctor, being quite old, found his eyesight failing as he looked at the courtyard full of young women. After a long while, he shook his head. Chunyu Shuang wasn't discouraged, nor did she care about the slightly softened expression on the person behind her. She simply calmly told him to look at the weeds on the table.

Having done this job his whole life, the old doctor showed extraordinary skill with these herbs. He picked one up, smelled it, and then plucked off a leaf, preparing to put it in his mouth to taste it.

"Doctor Li!"

Yunniang blurted out, but swallowed the rest of her words amidst the strange looks from those around her.

"……nothing."

Dr. Li gave a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, this old man has been entangled with herbs all his life, this little bit of herb will be fine for me."

After carefully chewing for a moment, Doctor Li spoke with great certainty.

“This is ‘Wu Luo Cao’, which is indeed a common herb, but it usually grows deep in the mountains, no wonder it is a bit withered and yellow.”

"Old Li, is this herb poisonous?"

"of course not!"

Dr. Li was very certain.

"This is a medicinal herb that strengthens the body, how could it be poisonous?"

Everyone, including Elder Mu, breathed a sigh of relief. After all, if poisonous plants grew in their area, it would be a real problem. There were still young children at home.

However, Chunyu Shuang and Ying Jiuque did not show any surprise, but simply told him to continue looking at the other weeds.

Dr. Li examined the case carefully and gave his conclusions one by one.

“‘Wind-blooming grass,’ ‘Seven-star flower,’ ‘Three-leaf clover,’ ‘Small forest branch’…”

"None of these herbs are poisonous."

After Dr. Li gave his final conclusion, everyone's expressions softened considerably. However, Dr. Li's expression remained somewhat hesitant.

Why did the names of these herbs seem somewhat familiar to him?

While each of these herbs individually is fine, combining them creates a problem. So many blood-tonifying and qi-boosting herbs, if boiled into a soup and given to someone, might be okay in the short term, but prolonged consumption...

Wait a minute! He seemed to remember why the names of these herbs sounded so familiar! Wasn't that the poison that unfortunate merchant from out of town was poisoned three months ago?

“I remember now! These herbs are fine to eat individually, but if you mix them together and drink them for a long time, they will make your body strong quickly. But that’s just the surface, the surface! Old Mu, do you remember that merchant from the north who suddenly collapsed and was sent to me three months ago? Because he didn’t understand medicine, he thought he could drink tonics indiscriminately. He recklessly drank a lot of tonic soup for a month and almost killed himself.”

(End of this chapter)