Harem Daily Life

Chapter 745 Poisoning

"Your Majesty, this man pretended to be Xiao Xia Zi and sneaked into Changle Palace. It was my fault for failing to supervise him. I will take him back and interrogate him strictly. I will get to the bottom of this matter." Steward Li took on the responsibility and was determined to clear his name.

Tao Yanyan originally wanted him to come and investigate, otherwise he would not have asked Chang Tai to invite him over.

"He is a mute, how can you get the truth?" Tao Yanyan asked curiously.

Steward Li gave a wry smile and said, "Since he wants to be a eunuch so badly, I will help him."

Everyone: "..."

Is this the kind of fulfillment they want?

Chang Tai squeezed his legs together, and the unbearable memories of the past flooded into his mind, and he felt cold all over.

"Although my methods were a bit despicable, they worked. Your Majesty, please rest assured. No matter who is behind this, I will definitely peel off his skin this time!" Li Zongguan was determined. He had worked diligently for so many years, but this was the first time he had been tricked like this! He really couldn't swallow this anger.

The man was taken away by Chief Steward Li. Tao Yanyan went to see a few children and then returned to the Qinzheng Palace. She still had to wait for news from Prince Yong.

It was after dark that Prince Yong brought his men to the back mountain of Fuyan Temple to find the eldest prince. After being brought back to the palace and treated by the imperial physician, He Ye only had minor scratches. Tao Yanyan then sent guards to take him back home.

"Your Highness, do you have something to say? Just now, I noticed that Your Highness looked at the eldest prince with a hint of...um, scrutiny?" Tao Yanyan had some supper sent over and invited Prince Yong to eat with him to fill his stomach.

Prince Yong hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "I do have some doubts. When I was searching the mountain with my guards today, I asked the leader of the guards assigned to protect the Crown Prince. He said the Crown Prince had asked them not to follow him, saying he wanted to meditate and worship Buddha, and had also withdrawn the guards from outside the Buddhist temple. There's a small path leading to the back mountain from the temple. If the Crown Prince was abducted, it's most likely that he was taken down that path. I checked, and there wasn't any sign of disorderly footsteps on the path, and there were no signs of forced movement inside the temple."

Tao Yanyan frowned and looked at him: "Your Highness, are you saying that the eldest prince followed them obediently?"

Prince Yong shook his head: "No, my guess is that the eldest prince took the initiative to leave the Buddhist temple and go to the back mountain."

Seeing Tao Yanyan's confusion, he added, "Of course, perhaps I am overthinking it. After all, I have no evidence to prove this speculation."

Tao Yanyan thought for a moment: "If the eldest prince left on his own initiative, then what was his motive? To attract our attention, to show his presence, to deliberately torment us?"

The eldest prince was indeed a rather annoying person, violent and eccentric, with complicated thoughts that Tao Yanyan really couldn't figure out.

Prince Yong nodded: "Yes, what is the motive?"

Just as he finished speaking, Chang Tai came in hurriedly from outside, looking somewhat listless, to report that everyone in the Changle Palace was suffering from diarrhea, as if they had been poisoned.

"Where is Xiaobao? He is so young and also has diarrhea? Have you called the imperial physician?" Tao Yanyan asked three times in a row, very anxious.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. The symptoms of poisoning in the young masters are relatively mild. The imperial physician has already gone and prescribed medicine. He is currently investigating the source of the poison."

Large-scale poisoning like this is either transmitted through the air or from food, and gastrointestinal problems are generally caused by food. Tao Yanyan was suddenly startled, and a bold guess lingered in his mind.

"Go back quickly and ask the imperial physician to check the well carefully." Tao Yanyan said to Chang Tai. Chang Tai immediately understood what the empress meant. The empress was thinking of the fake eunuch during the day.

Could it be that the "eunuch" came here to poison!

Chang Tai was terrified when he thought about it, and hurried back to find the imperial physician that night.

Prince Yong didn't know that a real man had broken into the harem, and Tao Yanyan hadn't mentioned it to him. When he saw Tao Yanyan rushing to see the children, he took the initiative to withdraw.

Tao Yanyan returned to Changle Palace and saw that the children could not sleep well. After a while, he went to the toilet and was very angry.

The imperial physician examined the unused water from the kitchen well and found it to contain laxatives, though not a significant amount. He then poured the water out. He then checked the well again and found traces of powdered medicine near the edge.

"Your Majesty, the laxative has indeed been found, but please rest assured, it will be fine after a few days of treatment."

Tao Yanyan didn't dare to think about it too much. If the man had given a highly poisonous drug, wouldn't the entire Changle Palace be in trouble?

Who on earth would harm her children like this?

Tao Yanyan clenched his fingers and said, "Mingyue, Changtai, from now on, don't let anyone in. If anyone comes to inquire about the truth or encounters anyone suspicious, arrest them and torture them."

She thought that the person behind the plot who had poisoned her would be most interested in the outcome of the poisoning and would be tempted to inquire about it. She had sealed off Changle Palace, and from the outside, it looked like something had happened. The person would think their plot had succeeded and might make their next move. And when they were feeling proud, that was when their true colors would be revealed.

After the eldest prince returned home, he received a message from Censor Zhang saying that the person sent into the palace to poison did not come out at the agreed time and was most likely caught.

The eldest prince frowned, extremely worried that the man would reveal the mastermind behind the incident. After much deliberation, he decided to send someone to the palace to inquire about the situation.

However, the palace gates were locked at this time and outsiders could not enter, so he had to give up.

Thinking that the entire Changle Palace might be poisoned and everyone would die, the eldest prince slept very comfortably that night and had a dream of a long and prosperous life in which everyone would bow down to him.

The only one who was unable to sleep or eat was Censor Zhang. The person he sent to poison was a mute. He had a favor to that person and chose him after careful selection. But a favor does not mean that the other person has to work for him. If he had come out at the agreed time, there would be some chance of success. However, that person did not come out at all, which means he was probably caught.

There was no news from the palace. Censor Zhang hoped that the man had not yet taken action, so that there would be no evidence of poisoning.

The next morning, Censor Zhang got up very early. Today was not a day of three-day court session, so he had to find a reason to go to the palace and find out the news.

He found an excuse to impeach an official and went to the Qinzheng Palace, where the eunuch told him that the Empress was in Changle Palace and had not come. Upon hearing this, he went to chat with the eunuch.

"Your Majesty, are you missing the princes and princesses? I wonder when you'll be willing to come over."

The young eunuch looked around and whispered, "Your Excellency may not know, something happened in Changle Palace last night."

Censor Zhang pretended to be surprised and asked, "What happened?"

The young eunuch was a little embarrassed, not knowing whether to tell the truth or not. Censor Zhang cleared his throat and said, "Don't worry, eunuch. I will never tell anyone. I'm just curious. What could have happened so late at night?"