Entering the palace means entering a high position; I'm His Majesty's cousin, who am I afr

In the sleeping hall.

Several diamond-shaped windows were wide open for ventilation.

The three judges had already inspected the bedding, curtains, clothes, and pillows. Hongling and Lüe had also taken out all their jewelry and headdresses for them to inspect.

There is no problem.

This is rather strange.

They even checked the wardrobe and hidden compartments two or three times, but found nothing amiss. So where did the poison come from?

After a moment's thought, Judge Gu said to Hongling, "Miss, may I take your pulse?"

Hongling nodded, sat down on the stool, and extended her fair wrist: "Please, Judge."

After taking her pulse for a moment, the physician said, "The young lady also has toxins in her body, but not many, and no symptoms have yet appeared."

This proves that the source of the poison was indeed in the sleeping quarters.

Consort Chen rested here day and night, causing the toxins to accumulate even more deeply.

Her palace maids only came in occasionally, so the accumulation of toxins was still shallow.

Hongling scanned the entire bedchamber, frowning as she asked, "The three academy judges have examined everything in this room. What exactly is the problem?"

Judge Gu also found it strange.

Everything has been checked, including the spices, and there are no problems.

Where exactly is the source of this poison?

He shook his head and looked around the hall again.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on the hibiscus plant on the flower stand, and a thought struck him, "This flower..."

Hongling explained, "This is a hibiscus sent from the flower shop. It has three colors in a day. In the morning, it is pure white like snow. In the afternoon, it is softly pink. At dusk, it is red like the sunset. The three colors coexist and it has a noble and elegant style. Our empress loves this flower very much and displays it in this palace every day."

Imperial Physician Gu asked, "May I have a look?"

Hongling had someone bring over the hibiscus.

Judge Gu picked a flower, smelled it carefully, and found nothing unusual.

He initially thought he was overthinking things, but just as the palace servants were moving the hibiscus away, he caught a faint earthy smell in the air.

Judge Gu's expression changed drastically: "Put this flower down."

The palace maid, puzzled, looked at Hongling and, seeing her nod slightly, put the flowers down again.

Judge Gu asked Hongling for a silver hairpin and stirred it in the mud a few times.

When it was taken out again, the hairpin head was completely black.

Everyone was shocked, and the two vice judges also rushed over upon hearing the commotion.

After examining the soil, Judge Gu said, "This soil is poisonous. Someone has added sap from the vine. Every time it is watered or exposed to sunlight, the sap evaporates with the moisture, causing poisoning."

Hongling asked anxiously, "Hu...vine sap, what kind of poison is this? Does the physician have a way to detoxify it?"

Judge Gu sighed, "That's its formal name; people prefer to call it 'Gouwen' (钩吻)."

Hongling looked horrified, clearly aware of the common name for this poisonous creature: "Gelsemium elegans... it's actually this thing, and I keep it by my bedside every day..."

She couldn't continue speaking halfway through her sentence; her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

He was clearly too frightened.

Lü'e quickly helped her up and looked at Imperial Physician Gu, "I beg Imperial Physician Gu to inform His Majesty of the details and to treat our Lady as soon as possible."

Judge Gu, fully aware of the implications of this matter, bowed and left.

Upon reaching the main room, separated by a beaded curtain, he knelt before the study and recounted the entire affair in detail.

"...The roots of the 'Hu Man Teng' plant can be used to extract a toxic sap that is colorless and odorless. When it comes into contact with water or high temperatures, it evaporates into a mist and has only a faint earthy smell that is extremely difficult to detect when masked by the fragrance of flowers."

...After this poison is released, it invades the human body, initially causing drowsiness and weakness. As strength continues to decline, it damages the heart and lungs, eventually leading to death.

After he finished speaking, the front hall fell into a long, deathly silence.

Pei Yan glanced at the lifeless woman on the bed, who lay there like shattered jade. A chilling aura filled his eyes, and he could no longer suppress his murderous intent.

He strolled out of the study.

They took their seats on the throne in the main hall.

Now that we know what the poison is, how can we find an antidote?

Imperial Physician Guo bowed and said, "I will prepare the medicine and decoct it. After Your Majesty takes it and the toxins are cleared from your body, you will regain consciousness."

After Judge Guo withdrew, the hall was silent.

Although Consort Li possessed the emperor's fierce demeanor, she understood that this was an excellent opportunity.

She swallowed hard and cautiously began, "This flower room belongs to the Siyuan Division, which in turn is under the jurisdiction of the Shangqin Bureau, a place controlled by Consort Lan. Could this matter be related to Consort Lan?"

She knew in her heart that it was not Consort Lan.

How dare this coward lay a hand on Consort Chen?

Even Consort Hui is more suspicious than Consort Lan.

However, now that the matter has been brought to the Imperial Bedchamber, Consort Lan is inevitably involved to some extent.

The reason for dragging Consort Lan into this mess was because of the palace power she held.

If His Majesty finds Consort Lan's supervision inadequate, then the palace power will be taken back, and he will naturally benefit from it.

This is why Consort Li risked saying these things.

Consort Lan, whose name was mentioned, turned pale and hurriedly begged for forgiveness, "This matter was absolutely not done by your concubine. Please investigate thoroughly, Your Majesty."

On the high platform, the emperor did not look at anyone, but only instructed Qing'an, "Bring the female officials of the Imperial Garden Office and the palace maids who usually deliver flowers to Yihua Palace."

After Qing'an responded, he led his men away.

Sensing the emperor's coldness, Consort Lan dared not rise and remained kneeling, as did Consort Li, let alone the other concubines.

The atmosphere inside the hall suddenly plummeted to freezing point.

The oppressive silence was almost suffocating.

Until Qing'an returned, he attracted the attention of everyone in the hall.

Despite being out of breath, Qing'an hurriedly reported, "Your Majesty, the female officials of the Imperial Garden Department have arrived, but... the head gardener who often delivers flowers to Yihua Palace has hanged herself."

He committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

They stared at each other in disbelief, and everyone present was stunned.

In the ensuing silence, Qing'an continued, "However, I obtained a clue during my interrogation at the Siyuan Division."

After saying that, he withdrew.

The female official of the Imperial Garden Office was led from the corridor into the palace.

Upon entering, she knelt in the center of the hall, kowtowed, and presented her report.

"Since the fifth year of the Zhaoqi reign, I have served as the Director of the Imperial Garden, responsible for the cultivation and maintenance of flowers and trees within the palace."

This year, a new master moved into Yihua Palace, and I appointed Liu Qing, an eighth-rank official in charge of the palace's gardening, to oversee the cultivation of its flowers and trees.

This autumn, because Consort Zhaoyi loved hibiscus, Liu Qing carefully selected hibiscus in full bloom every four or five days and sent them to Yihua Palace.

When Chief Eunuch Qing came to the flower room just now, Liu Qing had already confessed her guilt and pleaded guilty. However, the two young palace maids under her command had noticed something amiss.

For the past two weeks, Liu Qing has been deliberately lingering in the flower room from time to time, and even having private conversations with people there late at night.

Two palace maids happened to witness this and inquired about it. Upon hearing this, Liu Qing's expression became unnatural, and she simply said that they had misheard and that there was no such thing.

After being questioned by Chief Eunuch Qing today, the two young palace maids racked their brains and finally remembered how Liu Qing addressed the person he had secretly met one night.

These words left the concubines on edge.

Soon, the emperor's cold and authoritative voice rang out from the throne, "Speak."

The female official of the Imperial Garden Department prostrated herself on the ground: "Those two young palace maids heard with their own ears that Liu Qing called the person he was meeting in secret to Sister Xuezhu."

No sooner had these words been spoken than Consort Li exclaimed, "Isn't that the name of Consort Qi's personal maid?!"

Upon hearing this, all eyes in the hall turned to Qi Ronghua.

Qi Ronghua was listening with great interest, thinking that Zhu Yao was about to be introduced, but unexpectedly she suddenly heard Xue Zhu's name.

Her mind went blank, her lips trembled, and a heavy breath caught in her throat, leaving her speechless with shock.