tallest building

Chapter 379 A Thorn

At this moment, Ying Shan's wet nurse, Mama Wang, also heard the news and rushed over, crying her heart out.

Holding Ying Shan tightly, he refused to let go: "My little darling, you've really killed me! I only turned around for a moment, and you got into trouble?! It's all my fault, I didn't keep a close eye on you. If anything happens to you, I'll go with you!"

Everyone around was moved to tears, feeling sorry for the child.

“Consort Wen,” Zhao Changming walked up to Wen Mingqian and quietly tugged at her sleeve, “I wasn’t here just now, I was in the back on some business.”

"Eunuch Zhao, you brought this water chestnut soup back, right?" Wen Mingqian asked.

“It was the younger one who went to get it,” Zhao Changming said with a sense of self-reproach. “It’s all my fault for being so careless.”

"Come with me and tell me what happened." Wen Mingqian knew, of course, that he hadn't poisoned the food, but she also knew that Zhao Changming was unaware of the details and couldn't predict the future.

"I got the water chestnut soup from Zhang Ma and was walking back when I ran into Yu Lu. He said he twisted his ankle and had no one with him, so he begged me to carry him for a while." Zhao Changming licked his lips. "Of course I couldn't refuse, so I handed him the food box. Yu Lu also had a food box in his hand at the time, but I didn't notice it."

I carried him forward for a while, and then two eunuchs from the Empress's palace came to meet him, so I put him down.

Yu Lu then handed me the food box. Afraid of giving me the wrong thing, I opened the lid to check; it was indeed water chestnut soup. So I didn't think much of it and took it back, then gave it to Xiaoyue.

"You haven't met anyone else along the way, have you?" Wen Mingqian asked him.

"I can guarantee that Yu Lu was the only suspicious person on the way. As for whether anyone else handled it after I brought it back, I don't know." Zhao Changming didn't dare to make any definitive statements.

After all, he couldn't guarantee that no one had poisoned the soup after it was placed in Gong Chang'an's room.

“Be careful,” Wen Mingqian reminded him. “This is no small matter. We will definitely investigate all those involved. The real poisoner will try to get away with it and pin the blame on someone else. You and Xiaoyue are both possibilities.”

"Rest assured, my esteemed sir, I may not have many other skills, but I do have a few backbones. There is absolutely no way I can force a confession out of me," Zhao Changming said.

“You go and report to the Emperor, I will go to the Empress’s palace,” Wen Mingqian said.

The Empress was sitting in the palace, waiting to see what would happen. She tapped the table lightly with her fingers, feeling a little restless. "Why don't you go and take a look first?"

The Empress said to Lu, "It's probably not a good idea to just wait like this."

Yu Lu was naturally hesitant; what thief wouldn't feel guilty? He was afraid that if he went there, Zhao Changming would identify him, and things would get out of hand.

But since the Empress had said so, he couldn't refuse. He was pondering how to respond in a way that would satisfy both sides when a palace maid came in to report, "Your Majesty, Consort Wen has arrived."

It was extremely common for Wen Mingqian to come and go from the Empress's palace; there was no reason for the palace maids not to announce her arrival.

The Empress raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, which surprised her. Logically speaking, the pain of losing a child should have devastated Wen Mingqian, even if the child was not her own, she had still raised him with all her heart and soul, and he was her life's hope.

If something happened, someone from Mingjing Palace should have reported it to me, but it shouldn't be Wen Mingqian coming in person.

Yu Lu, standing nearby, was also startled and blurted out, "She's not here to see me, is she?"

He knew that Zhao Changming would definitely mention him to Wen Mingqian, and Wen Mingqian would naturally come to settle accounts with him.

"Why are you panicking?" The Empress glared at him. "If you're going to question someone, you need evidence. How can you just listen to one side of the story? What have you done?"

"Yes, this servant understands." Yu Lu quickly straightened his expression. "This servant has not done anything." Wen Mingqian entered, his expression somewhat flustered, but not at all what the Empress had imagined.

"Your Majesty, the Second Prince of Chu has been poisoned and his life is in imminent danger," Wen Mingqian said, kneeling down. "I suspect someone poisoned him. Please, Your Majesty, make the decision."

"Who?!" The Empress's eyes widened upon hearing this, and Yu Lu, who was standing next to her, almost cried out in surprise.

“Ying Shan, the second son of the King of Chu.” Wen Mingqian’s reaction confirmed his suspicions. It was clearly the reaction of someone who had failed to plot against someone.

"Ying Shan? How could Ying Shan be poisoned?!" the Empress exclaimed urgently. "Has the imperial physician gone? We must do everything we can to save her!"

"The imperial physicians have tried everything they can," Wen Mingqian said helplessly, "but now it seems... the prognosis is grim."

"Did this happen in your palace?" The Empress looked coldly at Wen Mingqian.

“It was the Second Young Master who went to play with Chang’an. He saw that Chang’an was asleep and mistakenly ate the water chestnut soup on the table,” Wen Mingqian said. “We still don’t know who poisoned it.”

"Since this happened in your palace, your people are naturally the prime suspects," the Empress said. "Arrest all those involved immediately!"

"Yes, Consort Wen, I think you're being too hasty. Why don't you quickly cordon off your palace and prevent any unauthorized personnel from entering or leaving?" Yu Lu added in a shrill voice, "Otherwise, how will you explain this to the King of Chu?"

Wen Mingqian knew they were bluffing, just trying to shift the blame and smear others.

Not wanting to argue with them, she pretended to be submissive and said, "Your Majesty, I have indeed lost my composure. Please make the decision for me."

"Where is Ying Shan now? Is she still in your palace?" the Empress asked.

“He’s still here, but he’s very weak and we don’t dare move him easily,” Wen Mingqian said.

"Let him go back to his own residence! Have several imperial physicians guard him," the Empress said. "Yu Lu, go to Mingjing Palace and examine everyone there first."

As she spoke, the Empress gave Yu Lu a wink, and Yu Lu understood that the Empress wanted him to destroy the evidence.

"Does His Majesty know about this?" the Empress asked again.

"Your Majesty...I don't know." Wen Mingqian lowered his head. "Your Majesty dares not..."

The Empress couldn't help but sneer inwardly, thinking that Gong Chang'an was incredibly lucky.

Grand Tutor Dong tried to harm him once but failed, and Yu Lu has failed again this time.

The emperor will surely be alarmed, but so what? They are the ones who have driven themselves into this dead end.

After Yu Lu and Wen Mingqian left, the Empress quickly summoned someone and said, "Go out of the palace and tell the Grand Tutor what happened in the palace."

The Empress knew that the Prince of Zhao was already on his way to the capital. Not to mention that he himself commanded a large army, most of the troops in the capital region were his subordinates.

These were all generals left behind by his uncle, and also the trump cards that his father had painstakingly cultivated over the years and was unwilling to relinquish.

The Emperor's fear of the Dong family stemmed partly from his fear of Grand Tutor Dong's achievements, and partly from his fear of this family.