Chapter 224: Poisonous Green Tangerine
As autumn arrived, various regions in the South began offering tribute items such as Buddha’s Hand Citron and green tangerines.
The Empress’s Palace was particularly fond of using these for seasonal offerings, with the Empress having a special fondness for green tangerines.
On this day, Madam Wen arrived at the Empress’s Palace and saw a large plate of green tangerines placed on the table before the Empress. The entire room was filled with the unique fragrance of green tangerines.
“These past few days, the incense you made has helped me sleep very soundly. Moreover, autumn is my favorite season,” the Empress said. “One must remember the best scenery of the year, it is when the oranges are yellow and the tangerines are green.”
“Her Ladyship’s spirits are truly excellent these days,” Madam Wen said, “just like the weather outside.”
“Yes, the autumn sky is high and the air is crisp, and I feel refreshed too,” the Empress said with great pleasure. “If only it could last like this forever.”
“Her Ladyship is blessed with profound fortune; the days ahead will surely be good ones,” Madam Wen said.
“I’ll give you some of these green tangerines too. Take them to your room and place them there,” the Empress said, playing with a green tangerine in her hand, bringing it to her nose to sniff from time to time. “I truly find this scent to be the most pleasant in the world.”
Madam Wen thanked her for the reward and chatted with the Empress for a while longer before taking her leave.
A palace maid carried the plate of green tangerines, a reward from the Empress, to Madam Wen’s room, saying repeatedly, “Madam Wen, you truly have great favor. Her Ladyship the Empress rarely bestows these green tangerines upon others.”
Madam Wen merely smiled and said nothing. She did not like the scent of these green tangerines, but she could not show it in front of others.
It was the same as her feelings towards the Empress; she actually detested her, yet showed no trace of it.
In reality, these green tangerines were ordinary items, but simply because the Empress liked them, their value increased immensely, making them a rare commodity in the palace.
Madam Wen reached out and picked up a green tangerine, slowly playing with it in her hand.
She was lost in thought, gradually becoming engrossed.
When she came back to her senses and put down the green tangerine, her hands were already covered in its scent.
Madam Wen rubbed her hands, and her brows couldn’t help but furrow slightly.
This scent…
She hesitated for a moment, then sniffed it carefully again.
Something was wrong!
Madam Wen was a master of incense making and was exceptionally sensitive to fragrances.
She could clearly distinguish between different types of scents, and even within the same category, she could discern differences in intensity, freshness, and age.
Of course, she could also tell if a scent was pure or not.
She faintly detected another scent mixed within the fragrance of the green tangerine. This scent was not common; it was strangely peculiar, and smelling too much of it caused an indescribable feeling of vexation.
Madam Wen picked up another green tangerine and brought it close to her nose to sniff carefully. It still contained this strange scent.
The fragrance of green tangerines was actually quite strong. The strange scent was mixed within, barely perceptible. If it weren’t for Madam Wen, a master of incense blending, she wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
Of course, even she had to bring it close to distinguish it.
If it weren’t for the chance encounter today, with the Empress gifting her this plate of green tangerines, she wouldn’t have noticed either.
Madam Wen brought the tangerine to the window and observed it carefully in the sunlight. She noticed that within some of the peel’s textures, there seemed to be faint light brown powder, which clearly indicated tampering.
Looking at her hands, she could also vaguely see traces, but only to an extent that a discerning eye could detect.
It was evident that someone had applied something to the green tangerines.
Madam Wen carefully used a brush to meticulously brush each tangerine; some had more powder, while others had none. After brushing this plate of tangerines, a thin layer of powder was collected on the plate, resembling a layer of dust.
Madam Wen then sprinkled some water on it and tested it with a silver needle, which immediately turned black.
As she had suspected, this substance was poisonous.
Who was trying to poison the Empress?
This person had an astonishing amount of courage!
“Mother!” Just as Madam Wen was contemplating, Gong Changan entered.
Madam Wen quietly hid the silver needle and asked him, “Where did you come from?”
“I was listening to the Tutor lecture, and it just finished,” Gong Changan said, sitting down and starting to sneeze. “Why are there tangerines in this room? I really dislike this smell.”
“They were a gift from the Empress. If you don’t like the smell, I’ll put them away!” Madam Wen said, taking a cloth bag and putting all the tangerines inside.
“I miss Zhang Ma. I haven’t eaten his cooking in so long,” Gong Changan pouted. “When can he come into the palace?”
“If you miss him that much, go see him the next time you can leave the palace,” Madam Wen said. “He probably won’t be able to come in anytime soon.”
“Mother, let’s hurry,” Gong Changan said. “I feel like I’m just wasting time in the palace right now.”
“Changan, if you have free time during your days, you might try visiting Consort Yun’s Palace,” Madam Wen instructed him. “It’s inconvenient for me, and I fear the Empress would be displeased if she knew. You are a child, so visiting occasionally is fine.”
“I haven’t seen Consort Yun since I entered the palace,” Gong Changan said. “I heard the Empress doesn’t favor her.”
“Consort Yun has been claiming illness and not appearing, which the Empress has tacitly allowed. It’s because she was close to my elder sister back then. After my elder sister’s incident, her situation is understandable,” Madam Wen sighed. “Now that we are in the palace, our status limits us from bringing people in, so we have to find helpers slowly within the palace.”
Zhang Ma did mention a few people to me, but after all these years, and with people’s hearts changing, I need to test them one by one.
In my opinion, Consort Yun should be the most reliable among them. If she had joined others in kicking me when I was down, she wouldn’t be so out of favor with the Empress.”
“I understand, Mother. If there’s a suitable opportunity, I will definitely go,” Gong Changan nodded.
“Why aren’t you with those two Heir Apparents today?” Madam Wen asked him.
“Those two have had some disagreements,” Gong Changan said. “Didn’t we discuss it before? We need to stir up their conflict.
Actually, for the past few years, they’ve been quite harmonious, rarely arguing. The reason is that Prince Chu’s Heir Apparent has always yielded to Prince Zhao’s Heir Apparent.
Ultimately, the Zhao family has greater influence, and Ying Tong has a closer relationship with the Empress. The Chu family is naturally aware of this, so they have been avoiding the spotlight at every turn.”
“Yes, if it continues like this, it won’t stir up much trouble. As the saying goes, a storm begins at the tip of the duckweed; conflicts are stirred up bit by bit,” Madam Wen said. “The most important thing is to ignite the competitive spirit of Prince Chu’s son. As long as he has the will to contend, that’s good.”
Madam Wen and the others had analyzed this before: the Empress’s maternal family was deeply rooted, with Prince Zhao and Prince Chu being the right-hand men of the Dong Family.
They must find a way to eliminate them one by one.
The best strategy would be to make them fight amongst themselves. This way, it wouldn’t implicate too many innocent people and would be twice as effective with half the effort.
“I’d say this isn’t difficult. Ying Bai is a person with a lot of pride,” Gong Changan said. “I’ll find the right moment to fan the flames for him.”
“Then you must also remember not to be too obvious, lest people notice something amiss,” Madam Wen cautioned him. “You absolutely cannot be impatient; the path must be walked one step at a time.”
