After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Qin Yuanyao stood upright, like a cold spear, and after a long while, her gaze finally left the blood that had soaked into the soles of her shoes.

The wine cellar was cool and spacious.

Several oil lamps were lit on both sides, casting a dim, yellowish light.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside, bringing with them a cool breeze.

"Have all the screenings been completed?" she asked coldly as footsteps approached.

Xu Tong, dressed in a blue flying fish robe, looked solemn, pressed his hand on the embroidered spring knife at his waist, nodded and clasped his hands in a fist salute:

"We reported to the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War that there were 153 types of wine in the Prince's residence, totaling 962 jars. We screened half of them and found no signs of poisoning."

None of them had been poisoned… Qin Yuanyao frowned, pondered for a moment, and continued, “Were all the wines poured by the thieves at the banquet removed?”

"It's been withdrawn. All the wine at the banquet has been screened by us and the second-class steward of the Prince's Mansion. All the wine in the Prince's Mansion has been sealed. Every jar of wine currently being served was moved from the taverns and wine shops on Datong Street, but..."

Xu Tong hesitated for a moment, then stopped himself from speaking.

"Spit it out if you have something to say."

Xu Tongdao said, "The brothers had some arguments with some of the stewards, guards, and taverns of the Prince's mansion."

Qin Yuanyao raised her knife, turned around, stared at the Imperial Guard commander in front of her, frowned, and said, "With the situation so dire, what are you two arguing about?"

Xu Tong said with a hint of helplessness in his eyes, "My brothers don't know anything about etiquette. They retrieved the wine vessels that might have been poisoned, as long as it wouldn't affect our distinguished guests as much as possible."

"However, like those thieves, we didn't know what kind of wine should be put in which wine cup. We just checked whether the new wine cups were poisoned and whether the wine was poisoned, and put them in randomly."

Qin Yuanyao sneered, "They still have the nerve to discuss this?"

Xu Tong gave a bitter smile and didn't reply. He glanced at the four corpses on the ground and couldn't help but exhale a sigh of relief, feeling both fear and anger.

Of the four corpses, two were wine servers placed here by the Prince's Palace to manage the tribute wine, while the other two were thieves who killed the Prince's Palace wine servers and impersonated them.

Qin Qianshi was bold yet meticulous. He arranged for someone to take a cup or a portion of all the wine and snacks delivered to the guests to test for poison.

An hour ago, a maid carried a tray with an empty wine cup with a plum blossom pattern on it to the wine cellar to fetch wine.

When they returned, the Imperial Guard on duty took a small cup. During the tasting, the maid muttered something about not knowing what was going on with the wine keeper in charge of the tribute wine.

She clearly told the waiter that this cup should contain "Gentleman's Soup," but the waiter made "Autumn Dew White Wine." She has a very sensitive nose, and after she pointed it out, the waiter poured out the wine, fetched more, and warmed it again, which took up a lot of her time.

Upon hearing this, the Imperial Guard who was tasting the wine was still joking with the pretty maid, saying that the rules of wealthy families were indeed strict, but Qin Qianshi, who was passing by, raised his eyebrows directly.

He sent someone to summon the steward of the Prince's mansion, and went directly to the wine cellar.

When Steward Zeng from the Prince's Mansion rushed to the wine cellar, Vice Minister Qin was already facing the two thieves with a chilling gaze.

Qin Qianshi merely shouted tentatively, "Both of you, kneel down before me!" The two thieves were taken aback, thinking they had failed. They exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, drew their knives, and charged forward fearlessly.

They were no match for Qin Qianshi. Without even drawing his sword, Qin Qianshi used the scabbard to sever the thighs of the two men. The two men knelt on one knee, sweating profusely, with nowhere to escape.

The Qin official spared the two men's lives, intending to question them, but the two men simultaneously drew their swords and committed suicide, a truly swift and decisive act.

Upon seeing this, Manager Zeng broke out in a cold sweat.

Without further ado, Qin Qianshi sent someone to summon the chief secretary of the Prince's mansion, and ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to immediately send people over to take over the entire mansion, and to carefully check every person, every jar of wine, and every box of pastries.

It was also required that the banquet not be affected and that the distinguished guests not be disturbed.

The two wine servers in charge of the tribute wine were responsible for the distinguished guests in the third courtyard.

When the chief steward of the Prince's mansion and several first-class stewards arrived, the first-class steward in charge of the wine and beverages turned pale and his legs went weak. He was so frightened that he was paralyzed. If any of the distinguished guests who had entered the third courtyard were to suffer any harm, it would be considered a mercy from Prince Xin to only lose his head and not to exterminate his entire family.

Upon seeing this, the chief clerk and the other stewards immediately cooperated.

Fortunately, the preparations were sufficient. Although the chief clerk was furious, he remained calm and composed. He sent people out to order all the wine shops on Datong Street to get moving.

Under the supervision of the Chief Secretary, after an emergency exchange and testing of the wine, it was found that the wine was not poisonous... After all, if it were poisonous, the Imperial Guards who tasted the wine earlier would have already been poisoned.

Compared to someone getting poisoned at a banquet, the inconvenience of the wine not matching the pattern on the wine cup is a minor matter.

The chief clerk and several first-class stewards all breathed a sigh of relief; it was a false alarm.

However, since most of the maids and servants were being checked earlier, the Prince's mansion was short-handed. The Embroidered Uniform Guard, worried about trouble, took over many tasks, which led to some disputes.

The wine merchant, who had been killed by the two thieves, was also found deep inside the wine cellar, killed with a single blow.

Xu Tongdao said, "We are still investigating how these two thieves got in. The commander of the guards and all the guards in the Prince's mansion have also been imprisoned and will be interrogated one by one."

Qin Yuanyao squinted and asked, "Did anyone resist?"

"No," Xu Tongdao said. "When Commander Yang heard about this, the person who accompanied us was the First-Class Steward of the Prince's Mansion, which is sufficient evidence. He was extremely ashamed and immediately disarmed. Commander Shangguan has already left his seat and gone to interrogate Commander Yang."

Hearing that Shangguan Xiu had already left the banquet and rushed over, Qin Yuanyao was slightly relieved, but a deep worry quickly reappeared on her face.

She instructed that with Prince Xin's ascension to the throne imminent, people should be assigned to keep an eye on the various envoys, especially the Northern Dynasty envoy, as well as the Qi Prince's residence... Qin Yuanyao stared at Xu Tong, her eyes flashing with a sharp light... and the Gui Prince's residence.

Xu Tong unconsciously pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword, his pupils contracted, and after a few breaths, he slowly nodded.

……

……

The courtyard is divided into three sections.

Ning Nan introduced himself as Jia Songling.

The reason for using this name was carefully considered. After shooting that Northern Dynasty general in the street and beating the fourth young master of some Northern Dynasty prince's mansion, he was sentenced to confinement by the emperor. If he were to appear here under his real name, he would likely cause some trouble.

Moreover, he was summoned to Prince Xin's residence by the dark-skinned woman, who said that Prince Xin had shown him leniency and allowed him to enter. Prince Xin must have known about this.

I chose this name because I wanted to be considerate of the Prince and not cause her any trouble.

After all, on their first meeting, Prince Xin rewarded him with one hundred gold pieces.

The next day, when I went to see my brother-in-law, I was able to present him with eighty gold coins as a token of my gratitude.

Presumably, when Prince Xin hears me mention this name, he will understand my good intentions.

Quite a few people in the room knew his real name; he had only glanced at them briefly when he saw many familiar faces.

For example, Liu Zhi and Xu Longdao, who were in charge of the handover of Baiyufang before, are both good people, so there's nothing to fear. And there's Lady Jia, the wife of the Marquis of Zhenguo... um... she's looking at him with a surprised expression... Shangguan Zhao sat back down... he should be explaining to his mother... Xiuxiu didn't see it.

At that moment, Ning Nan glanced to the side and found a pair of eyes staring at him with hatred and malice... Huh? Familiar face, who is it again? ...Oh... Chess Master Wu... We had a fight before... No wonder he's looking at me like that.

Ning Nan felt a little uneasy, wondering if this guy would jump out and accuse him of deceiving the emperor. Wu Qisheng seemed to have lost face today, so he might be taking a gamble to gain some credit.

Thinking this way, I dared not look up.

A fragrant breeze wafted through the air.

Several maids carried up a few screens to separate the guests in front, seemingly to prevent these distinguished guests from being disturbed by these uncouth people.