Harem Daily Life

Chapter 746 Working together

Censor Zhang stuffed two taels of silver into the young eunuch's hand. The young eunuch then said with an embarrassed expression, "Everyone in Changle Palace was poisoned last night. The Queen ordered the palace to be closed. I don't know what's going on inside."

Censor Zhang swallowed and asked, "If it's poisoned, there must be someone who poisoned it. Does the eunuch know if anyone has been caught?"

The young eunuch shook his head and said, "I haven't heard of that. I work in the Qinzheng Palace, so I can't find out."

Censor Zhang's heart sank to the bottom of the valley. There was no news at all about the people he sent. It had been a whole day and a night. There was an 80% chance that they had been captured, and there was a high possibility that they were imprisoned in Changle Palace.

After much deliberation, he finally went to the Imperial Hospital, requesting a checkup from the Imperial Physician, citing recent dizziness. Imperial Physician Wang had been on duty at Changle Palace the previous night and had only just returned to the Imperial Hospital early this morning. He was still catching up on some sleep in the resting room of the Imperial Physicians. Censor Zhang was being treated by another Imperial Physician, Zhao, who had arrived that morning.

"Is Imperial Physician Zhao on duty today? I heard he was very busy last night. It seems the eldest prince was injured?" Censor Zhang asked casually.

Doctor Zhao smiled and said, "Doctor Wang stayed behind last night. Judging from his appearance, he must have been very tired. However, the eldest prince's injury is not serious. I have examined the medical records of his pulse diagnosis. It is just a scratch. However, the problem in Changle Palace is more serious."

Censor Zhang casually asked, "Oh? Which master in Changle Palace is feeling unwell? Is it the prince or the princess?"

Doctor Zhao glanced at him and gently removed his hand from his pulse. "It's all of them, right? I heard last night that they were all poisoned. Doctor Wang was busy all night."

"Poisoned?" Censor Zhang looked surprised. "How could someone be poisoned in this deep palace? I wonder how serious it is?"

Imperial Physician Zhao shook his head. "I'm not sure about that. There's no record of it in the medical records. Imperial Physician Wang just returned, and Imperial Physician Li took over." Imperial Physician Zhao collected his medicine chest and said, "You're fine, Censor Zhang. Perhaps you're just a little tired. I'll prescribe you two tonic ointments. You can get the herbs at any clinic."

Imperial Physician Zhao went to take care of other things, leaving Censor Zhang, who was worried, sitting alone in his seat.

He sat there for a long time, and seeing that Doctor Wang had not woken up yet, he had no choice but to take the prescribed ointment prescription to the office of the Censorate.

People from the Censorate came to work one after another. Seeing that Censor Zhang came very early today, they all greeted him. However, Censor Zhang had no intention of dealing with them. He sat at his workstation and was in a daze.

Not long after, a young eunuch came looking for him outside the door. He was called out and taken to a secluded place. The eunuch then said, "I used to serve Consort De in Yongxing Palace. Today, the eldest prince asked me to help investigate what happened in Changle Palace last night. The eldest prince said that if I got any information, I should come to you. Forgive my incompetence, but Changle Palace is tightly sealed off, and I can't find anything. I only heard that Consort Empress returned to Changle Palace last night and hasn't come out since. From last night to this morning, no one except the imperial physician was allowed into Changle Palace. Even Consort Xian was sent away when she asked to see her."

Censor Zhang hurriedly thanked him, saying that what the young eunuch said was exactly the same as what he had heard.

After the young eunuch left, Censor Zhang was still worried, so he found an excuse to leave the palace and went around several times to the back door of the eldest prince's mansion.

The eldest prince knew that Censor Zhang would come to report to him as soon as he got the news, but he didn't expect that he would come so quickly.

Censor Zhang didn't beat around the bush and directly told everything he could find out from the palace.

"There's been no news of any prince or princess dying yet. They're most likely still taking the medicine. Changle Palace is heavily guarded, so outsiders can't get in, and no one's coming out either."

The eldest prince frowned and said suspiciously, "The drug is very toxic. Logically, we should have prepared for our funeral long ago." He felt a little uneasy. Could it be that the poison was not taken in large amounts and only injured people but not killed them?

"Who are you looking for? Is there any news about that person?" asked the eldest prince.

Censor Zhang shook his head. "That man is mute. I asked around a bit, but no one has left Changle Palace. Perhaps he got lost after trying to escape, or perhaps he was captured. His whereabouts are still unknown."

"Mute?" The eldest prince narrowed his eyes and suddenly smiled, "Muteness is good. You can't say anything. Even if you are caught, you can't get anything out of you."

Seeing that Censor Zhang was still distressed, he consoled him, "Don't worry, sir. Neither you nor I have done anything directly. Even if we find out, we can just deny it. Go back and have a good rest, and wait for good news."

Censor Zhang came and went in a hurry, and Eunuch Feng saw it all. After seeing Censor Zhang off, he went back to the palace under the pretext of going out of the house to make purchases, and was anxious to find Eunuch Zhang about something urgent.

Zhang Fuhai was reporting from Changle Palace: "Your Majesty, the people stationed in the Grand Prince's residence say that the Grand Prince and Censor Zhang are very close and have been visiting frequently recently. However, he has been unable to find out what they are plotting. The servants have investigated the guards and there is no problem. They only say that the Grand Prince does not allow them to follow closely, which is a bit unusual."

Eunuch Zhang's information was consistent with what Prince Yong said.

Tao Yanyan snorted coldly: "When things are out of the ordinary, there must be something fishy. What is the eldest prince up to? Sooner or later, the truth will be revealed."

She then asked Chang Tai who had come to inquire about the news from last night to this morning?

Chang Tai reported, "The virtuous concubine came by, saying that the Changle Palace was closed, so she came to see. Mingyue persuaded her to leave. A young eunuch, who was unfamiliar to me, came by and asked a few questions before leaving. I sent someone to follow him, and he went to see Censor Zhang."

"The eldest prince, Censor Zhang... there is definitely something fishy about these two people." Tao Yanyan had just finished speaking when she heard someone outside report that Eunuch Feng from the eldest prince's mansion wanted to see him.

Eunuch Feng knelt on the ground as soon as he entered: "Please spare my life, Queen! If I had known that the eldest prince was going to poison the young masters, I would never have dared to replace the poison with a laxative. I would have definitely replaced it with flour to prevent the eldest prince from doing what he wanted."

Everyone was shocked. They didn't expect that it was really the eldest prince who had murdered the young masters!

"Please tell me what happened clearly. What exactly happened?" To be cautious, Tao Yanyan wanted to know the whole story.

Eunuch Feng then told the whole story, including the collusion between the eldest prince and Censor Zhang, and that the eldest prince went to Fuyan Temple to burn incense, which was actually to cause confusion.

"Your Majesty, I have spoken with all sincerity. I learned that the eldest prince had purchased a highly toxic drug from outside, and I was worried he might do something evil. So I secretly replaced it with a laxative, thinking it wouldn't kill anyone and I wouldn't be exposed. But I never imagined he was going to use that drug on several young masters. I truly regret my decision. This laxative is also a drug!"

Tao Yanyan winked at Chang Tai, and Chang Tai hurriedly helped the man up.

"Where are those poisons? Let the imperial physician identify what kind of poison it is." Tao Yanyan's voice was very cold. This time, she would definitely not let the eldest prince go.