Chapter 216: One Person Down
“What snakeberry juice! I’ve never heard of it…”
Lu Xi clutched the hem of her skirt, her voice trembling like a mosquito’s, filled with panic. “I haven’t even stepped over the threshold of the Imperial Kitchen!”
“Second Young Lady Lu! This poison did not come from the Imperial Kitchen.”
Xue Sui walked closer to her, the bonfire dancing in her eyes. The cold wind stirred by her wide sleeves startled Lu Xi, causing her to stumble back. The agarwood bracelet on her wrist struck the coiled dragon pillar with a crisp sound.
Dozens of gazes in the hall pierced her like steel needles.
In her panic, Lu Xi lunged towards Madam Lu, tears streaming down her face.
“Mother, Mother, please help your daughter…”
Madam Lu’s face was ashen. She pulled her daughter behind her, her voice stern.
“Your Majesty, please be discerning. The Lu family has served with loyalty and integrity for generations. My daughter has studied the teachings of the sages since childhood, how could she commit such a wicked act? Consort Xue is clearly speaking nonsense, who knows what her intentions are!”
Xue Sui bowed to Emperor Chong Zhao, her voice calm.
“This concubine dares to report to Your Majesty that when I was testing the poison for Imperial Consort, I discovered that the poison the Imperial Consort was afflicted with is precisely snakeberry poison. And at today’s banquet, only Second Young Lady Lu was in close proximity to Imperial Consort while she was having tea…”
“Nonsense! You’re talking nonsense!” Lu Xi shrieked, interrupting her.
“There are countless palace maids coming and going in this hall, why are you singling me out?”
Xue Sui smiled slightly, suddenly stepped forward, pushed Madam Lu’s arm aside, and with quick hands, snatched a plain handkerchief from Lu Xi’s embrace, displaying it to everyone.
“The Imperial Physician is here, why not test it immediately?”
Emperor Chong Zhao narrowed his dragon eyes and said in a deep voice, “Test it!”
The Imperial Physician cautiously stepped forward, holding the plain handkerchief and examining it for a long time, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, this poison is too insidious. This old minister… this old minister truly does not know where to begin testing…”
Xue Sui let out a cold laugh. “This item was soaked in snakeberry juice. After soaking the tea soup, it is colorless and odorless. Only when it encounters musk will it reveal itself… Imperial Physician, have you truly never heard of this, or do you not wish to assist Your Majesty?”
“Utter nonsense!” Madam Lu trembled with anger, pointing at Xue Sui’s face, her hairpin shaking wildly in her hair.
“My child is pure and kind by nature, she cannot bear to step on an ant, how could she poison someone? Consort Xue, do not falsely accuse her!”
Xue Sui curled her lips coldly.
The Second Young Lady Lu, who couldn’t bear to step on an ant, had colluded with Princess Ping Le to push her into the snow, the cesspool, and the mud, trapping her in a deadly situation time and time again. Not only did she show no mercy, but she would occasionally add fuel to the fire with sarcastic remarks and piercing laughter…
She said, “Madam Lu must be blinded…”
Empress Xie slowly rose, the dark patterns of the phoenix on her robe flowing under the candlelight. “Consort Xue, do you have any evidence? It is the Mid-Autumn Festival, do not ruin the harmony of the imperial harem for no reason.”
“This is indeed snakeberry poison…”
A clear female voice suddenly rang out.
Princess Tuya suddenly stood up. Her moon-white merman silk skirt shimmered under the candlelight, making her look like a fairy from the moon.
Everyone turned to look, whispering amongst themselves.
Why was Princess Tuya getting involved in this?
Tuya seemed oblivious to their gazes. The silver gauze on her face fluttered with her breaths, her voice like pearls falling on a jade plate.
“This subject is willing to swear by the name of Wulan Holy Mountain. This is indeed snakeberry poison.”
The entire hall erupted in uproar.
Wen Jia’s hand, which was holding the handkerchief, suddenly loosened.
Last night, she had followed Xue Sui’s instructions and brought Niu Niu to the palace to visit this aunt.
At that time, Tuya’s expression was cold, her eyes filled with distance and wariness. After a few pleasantries, she had sent her away.
She hadn’t expected her to say such a shocking thing today.
Emperor Chong Zhao turned, his dragon-patterned black boots crushing the broken porcelain on the floor.
“How do you know?”
“Just now, this subject observed the symptoms of the Imperial Consort’s seven orifices bleeding, which matches the description of ‘snakeberry poison’ in the Holy Mountain’s ancient texts. This poison requires snakeberry juice as an agent. When heated, it becomes invisible, but when mixed with musk, it will produce green spots and emit a unique rotten smell…”
“Continue!” Emperor Chong Zhao said coldly.
“Your Majesty, please order someone to fetch musk—”
Emperor Chong Zhao’s eyes sharpened, and he looked at the Imperial Physician.
Soon, a box of musk was presented.
Tuya covered the handkerchief she had taken from Lu Xi over the musk. After a moment, green spots indeed spread across the plain handkerchief, and a faint, undetectable rotten smell permeated the hall, quite unpleasant…
“Reporting to Your Majesty, this subject witnessed this poison as a child with the High Priest and will not be mistaken.” Princess Tuya bowed solemnly.
Emperor Chong Zhao waved his dragon sleeve, his gaze sweeping over Lu Xi like a knife.
“Poisonous girl! You still dare to deny it?”
Everyone in the hall gasped.
All suspicious gazes turned towards Lu Xi.
Lu Xi trembled all over, leaning tightly against Madam Lu, her tongue tied as she stammered incoherently.
“I didn’t, I didn’t…”
“Your Majesty!” Madam Lu suddenly knelt down and kowtowed heavily. “My daughter has no enmity with the Imperial Consort, why would she poison the Imperial Consort? This matter is a setup!”
“No enmity?” Li Zhao’s python robe swayed gently, the dark jade at his waist emitting a cold, eerie glow. “Princess Ping Le occupied civilian land to build a villa, and Grand Tutor Lu once impeached Prime Minister Xiao in court for his failure to discipline his son. The land occupation case led to the tragic deaths of Xiao Jing and Xiao Zheng Yuan in prison—Consort Xiao, enraged, publicly accused Grand Tutor Lu of being ‘old and immoral,’ smashed a phoenix hairpin, and swore to the heavens, cursing the entire Lu clan…”
Lu Xi’s pupils contracted sharply.
Madam Lu’s expression also changed abruptly.
Consort Xiao’s mocking laughter, “A daughter of the Lu family is not worthy of serving the Eastern Palace,” still echoed in her ears.
She subconsciously looked at her daughter, her throat tightening.
“Xi’er, where did the poison on your handkerchief come from…”
“Mother, that’s not mine, I didn’t. I don’t know anything about snakeberry juice, let alone how these dirty things got on the handkerchief…” Lu Xi suddenly shrieked.
Her hysterical denial shattered in the dead silence of the hall.
Pale and powerless.
“Guards!” Emperor Chong Zhao roared like thunder. “Imprison the Lu clan in the Ministry of Justice prison and thoroughly investigate their accomplices!”
The Imperial Guards outside the hall burst in with clanking armor, grabbed Lu Xi’s arms, and were about to take her away.
“Your Majesty! This subject is wronged!”
Lu Xi, her hair disheveled, lunged towards Empress Xie, crying heartbrokenly.
“Your Ladyship, save me, Empress, save me… I did not poison her…”
Empress Xie’s face showed reluctance, but seeing Emperor Chong Zhao’s stern gaze, she tightened her grip on her handkerchief and finally lowered her eyes, remaining silent.
The guards stepped forward and roughly pulled Lu Xi’s hands, which were tightly gripping Madam Lu.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please be discerning!” Madam Lu watched her daughter struggle as she was dragged away by the guards, collapsing to the ground, tears and snot flowing, her cries of grief piercing.
“My humble wife’s daughter would not harm Imperial Consort! Someone must have deliberately framed her, it is unjust!”
The candlelight in the hall flickered, casting the mess on the floor in and out of light.
Consort Xiao’s body had not yet been collected, and the noble ladies and wives in the hall were all silent with fear.
Only Lu Xi’s sharp denials echoed in the vast hall.
Lu Xi’s voice gradually faded outside the hall.
However, the people in the hall exchanged glances, all feeling that something was amiss…
The mystery deepened.
It was common knowledge that Lu Xi was close to Ping Le.
Even if Consort Xiao was displeased with the Lu family, she had no motive to kill Consort Xiao…
Moreover, where would a weak young lady from a noble family get the courage to poison an Imperial Consort?
“Consort Xue.”
Li Huan suddenly stepped out from the crowd, the woven gold cloud pattern on his sleeve cuff brushing past Xue Sui’s waist.
No one noticed how the green qilin coin purse fell into his hand. They only saw him raise the coin purse with bulging veins, his eyes still bloodshot, revealing the fierce aura of resentment after his birth mother’s death.
“What is hidden in Consort’s coin purse?”
Xue Sui looked back. “Just some everyday spices and medicines.”
Li Huan’s expression was blank. He reached out and opened the coin purse.
Inside, several silver needles, two small porcelain bottles, and half a broken jade pendant were scattered—
Li Huan picked up the broken jade pendant and examined it, then suddenly let out a cold laugh.
“Well done, Consort. Is this the totem of the Xizi Wolf Guard?”
The hall immediately erupted in an uproar.
The totem of the Xizi Wolf Guard was the symbol of the Xizi Death Warriors. Its appearance in Xue Sui’s coin purse, coupled with Consort Xiao’s dying accusation that she had the brand of a Xizi spy on her waist, how could anyone not suspect her?
Xue Sui looked at Li Huan’s bloodshot eyes and suddenly let out a light laugh.
“Your Highness, this coin purse was a gift from you personally.”
Li Huan’s face turned ashen.
“Xue Shi, you have disappointed this Prince greatly.”
He suddenly turned and gathered the coin purse into his palm, his knuckles turning white from the force.
“Imperial Father, my concubine colluded with foreign powers and murdered my mother. It is all my fault for trusting the person by my side and being negligent in my defenses. I am beyond forgiveness…”
“A Prince of great skill.” Xue Sui calmly adjusted her torn clothes and suddenly leaned in to sniff Li Huan.
“This concubine feels that the malevolent aura on Your Highness is more pungent than that snakeberry poison.”
Li Huan’s expression turned cold.
“Are you saying that this Prince poisoned his own mother?”
Xue Sui’s eyes darkened.
She knew it was impossible for her to leave any evidence, and this half broken jade pendant could not have been placed by anyone around her.
Only Li Huan had been close to her during the chaos.
Then there could only be one possibility—
Li Huan had slipped it in just now as a diversion.
The broken jade pendant was his.
He wanted to send her to prison.
Without evidence, he would create evidence.
Li Huan’s “counterattack” was seamless…
There were no flaws.
Prince Duan would naturally not harm his own mother. This jade pendant was found in Xue Sui’s coin purse, so the mastermind behind colluding with Xizi and poisoning the Imperial Consort was naturally Xue Sui.
Besides, it was a fact that she was at odds with Princess Ping Le, and she also had a long-standing feud with Consort Xiao?
“Guards, arrest Consort Xue as well!”
Li Zhao, who had been standing with his hands behind his back by the coiled dragon pillar, finally changed his expression.
Lai Fu, standing beside him, even heard a faint “crack” from the Crown Prince’s throat, like a wolf king grinding its teeth when its prey is snatched away…
“Imperial Brother.” He stepped forward, a cold arc forming on his lips. The knuckles under his python robe turned white from exertion.
“The Ministry of Justice has not yet investigated, and you have already judged Consort’s guilt?”
Li Huan: “The witness and evidence are all present, what more is there to argue?”
Li Zhao stared at the coin purse in his hand, a mocking smile curling on his lips.
“The jade pendant could also have been placed there by Imperial Brother…”
Everyone in the hall was shocked by this.
That was Li Huan’s consort. No one in the court was unaware of how Prince Duan doted on her. In a short period, she went from a concubine to Madam Ping’an, and then, in the Golden Palace, he personally knelt to beg for an imperial decree to have her enfeoffed as a consort. What passionate affection this was!
If Consort Xue had not poisoned Prince Duan’s birth mother, how could a man who doted on her like a treasure personally send her to prison?
No one would believe such a thing that went against common sense.
Emperor Chong Zhao did not believe it either.
Seeing Li Zhao interfere and be so aggressive, his face suddenly darkened, and he smashed the teacup at Li Zhao’s feet.
“All of you, shut up!”
Ceramic shards flew and cut Li Zhao’s hand.
“Are you fighting in front of me like this is a marketplace teahouse?”
Li Huan’s lips drooped, a cruel shadow on his face.
“Imperial Father, this son suspects Consort’s identity. She left the Xue family and was unheard of for ten years, her whereabouts a mystery. After returning to the capital, she married into Prince Duan’s mansion. Perhaps she was deliberately placed by Xizi…”
As he spoke, he subtly glanced at the exposed skin on Xue Sui’s waist—the peony pattern there, faintly visible.
“Imperial Father!” Wen Jia, holding Niu Niu, knelt in the hall, her eyes full of earnestness. “Your Majesty, Consort Xue was injured by death warriors when she saved this subject and Consort Wan. The scars on her body were left from that time. If she were truly a spy, why would she risk her life to save us?”
“Your Majesty!” Empress Xie weakly propped herself up, her chest heaving violently. “Your Majesty, Consort Xue also provided assistance when I fell ill just now…”
Emperor Chong Zhao’s gaze glinted sinisterly at her.
“Is that so?”
Empress Xie immediately pursed her lips.
If she spoke up for Xue Sui now, wouldn’t it confirm the accusation that the Eastern Palace colluded with the Xue clan to kill by proxy?
Her plea for mercy at this moment would be extremely disadvantageous to herself and the Crown Prince.
However, after a moment of thought, Empress Xie forced herself to speak.
“This subject believes that today’s events are full of doubts. It would be best to thoroughly investigate before passing judgment…”
“Enough!” Emperor Chong Zhao suddenly roared. “Take her down and have the Ministry of Justice guard her strictly!”
The Imperial Guards rushed forward, their iron palms gripping Xue Sui’s shoulder blades.
Amidst gasps of surprise, Li Zhao suddenly lunged forward, grabbing the Imperial Guard’s wrist. His knuckles turned white from exertion, and the fierce aura in his bloodshot eyes was almost obsessive, but he suddenly let go when he met Xue Sui’s gaze.
“Imperial Father.” Li Zhao turned and bowed deeply, his python robe’s wide sleeves falling like dark clouds.
“This son requests to preside over this case.”
“The Crown Prince intends to shield her?” Li Huan sneered.
Li Zhao returned an even colder smile. “I will request a joint trial by the Three Judicial Offices. If Imperial Brother has any doubts, he may send his confidants to observe.”
Li Huan lowered his gaze, concealing his sharpness, and said to Emperor Chong Zhao, “This son has managed the capital’s affairs for many years and has handled countless criminal cases. If this case is handed over to me for thorough investigation, it will be resolved soon.”
Li Zhao’s gaze swept over Consort Xiao’s body, covered by white silk, his eyes chilling. “Imperial Consort has just passed away. Imperial Brother should prioritize filial piety, handle Consort Xiao’s funeral rites, appease her maternal relatives, and comfort your deceased mother’s spirit…”
Emperor Chong Zhao’s sharp gaze flickered between his two sons.
He then swept over Xue Sui’s calm face, narrowing his eyes slightly.
“Issue my imperial decree: for the case of poisoning and murdering the Imperial Consort in Qing Hui Hall, the Crown Prince shall preside, and Prince Duan shall supervise. Within ten days, it is imperative…”
Before he could finish speaking, hurried footsteps were heard from outside the hall.
A forbidden guard scrambled in, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
“Reporting to Your Majesty—”
“Second Young Lady Lu, on the way to the Ministry of Justice prison… her seven orifices bled, and she died of poison…”
An~~
