"What are these?" Xiao Wang frowned and asked, looking at the things on the ground.
Lan Yu stood up and replied, "Lian Chun was afraid that the Second Miss wouldn't sleep well at night, so she specially made a pillow with buckwheat and put lavender in it. The Second Miss likes it very much and has to sleep on it every day."
Hearing this, Xiao Wang immediately said coldly, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and pick up the things!"
Life was at stake!
The chief of the imperial physicians took the lead to help Lan Yu pick up the scattered buckwheat on the ground.
Suddenly, he saw many black things on the ground.
He picked one up and smelled it at the tip of his nose.
It seemed to be aconite!
Judging from the amount on the ground, there seemed to be quite a lot.
Wasn't it said to relieve sleep? What was the purpose of putting so much aconite in it?
Suddenly, as if thinking of something, the chief of the imperial physicians immediately asked, "How long has the Second Miss been using this pillow?"
Lan Yu replied, "For about a month."
After hearing this, the chief of the imperial physicians nodded meaningfully.
Then it all made sense.
Subsequently, he immediately shouted towards Xiao Wang, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, I've already found out the root cause of the Second Miss's illness."
"Speak quickly!"
"The Second Miss sleeps on a pillow filled with aconite every day. And there was a medicinal cuisine at the palace banquet that day, which happened to contain pinellia. Both aconite and pinellia are originally medicinal materials, but when combined, they will produce highly toxic substances.
After the Second Miss returned to the mansion, she relied on ginseng soup to sustain her life every day. I just checked, and there is also pinellia in the ginseng soup. The Second Miss has been eroded by these two medicinal materials every day, so her health has been getting worse and worse.
However, now that the root cause has been found, as long as she is treated with medicine for three months, the Second Miss will be cured."
Hearing this, there wasn't much joy in Xiao Wang's eyes.
Instead, his eyes became even darker.
Aconite? Pinellia?
How could it be such a coincidence?
Just then, Lian Chun suddenly walked in with a pillow in her arms.
Seeing the things that had fallen on the ground, a flash of panic crossed her eyes.
But she quickly hid the panic in her eyes and stepped forward. "Second Miss, I've brought you a new pillow."
Before Lian Chun could change the pillow for Ruan Jiu, Xiao Wang directly snatched it.
He put it to the tip of his nose and smelled it.
The smell of lavender instantly penetrated into Xiao Wang's nose. "Did you make this pillow?"
Lian Chun nervously swallowed her saliva and replied, "A few days ago, the Second Miss had nightmares every night, so this servant specially made a pillow with buckwheat for the Second Miss, hoping that the Second Miss could sleep more soundly."
Hearing this, Xiao Wang curled his lips.
But the smile on his lips carried a hint of chill.
"You're really dexterous."
Hearing Xiao Wang say this, Lian Chun secretly let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Your Highness, for your praise. This is what this servant should do."
What a good "should do".
Subsequently, Xiao Wang slowly took out a dagger from his bosom and cut open the pillow.
Xiao Wang picked up an aconite from inside with his finger and held it in front of his eyes. "Since it's for a good sleep, why did you put so much aconite in it?"
Seeing this, Lian Chun panicked and said, "Per... perhaps this servant was clumsy and put the wrong thing..."
Xiao Wang pursed his lips and nodded. "You are really clumsy. Not only did you put the wrong thing, but you also put so much of it."
Immediately, his eyes turned cold. "Come here, drag this clumsy maid out and cut off her hands and feet."
Lian Chun was so frightened that she immediately knelt on the ground and shouted, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, this servant just put the aconite in by mistake. Why do you have to cut off this servant's hands and feet?"
Xiao Wang said coldly, "Is the ginseng soup that A Yu drinks every day brewed by you personally?"
"Yes, this servant brewed it personally!" In order to dispel Xiao Wang's anger, Lian Chun quickly added, "For this, this servant gets up at the Yin hour every day and never asks others for help!"
She hoped that Xiao Wang would spare her for the sake of her careful brewing of the ginseng soup for Ruan Jiu.
"And the pinellia in it, did you put it in personally?"
Hearing this, Lian Chun's heart instantly rose to her throat.
Wasn't it said that no one would know about this method, let alone suspect it?
What did His Highness the Crown Prince mean by asking this?
"This... this servant brewed the medicine for the Second Miss according to the prescription given by the mansion's doctor!"
Hearing Lian Chun say this, the mansion's doctor immediately denied it. "Nonsense! I never asked you to put pinellia in it!"
Now, whether he asked Lian Chun to put it in or not, he didn't dare to admit it in front of His Highness the Crown Prince.
After all, the combination of pinellia and aconite had made the Second Miss suffer so much and almost cost her life.
If he admitted it now, he would surely anger His Highness the Crown Prince.
The aconite in the pillow was clearly put in deliberately by Lian Chun. How could he be the scapegoat?
Seeing this, Lian Chun immediately knelt beside Ruan Jiu's bed, tightly grabbed the corner of Ruan Jiu's quilt, and cried, "Second Miss, this servant is loyal to you. Please save this servant! This servant really didn't know that aconite and pinellia would be highly toxic when combined!"
Hearing this, Ruan Jiu's eyes darkened.
When the chief of the imperial physicians said that aconite and pinellia were highly toxic when combined just now, Lian Chun didn't seem to be in the room.
Xiao Wang just asked her if she had put these things in personally, but he never said that they would be highly toxic.
How did she know?
So Ruan Jiu looked at Xiao Wang and said softly, "Your Highness, Lian Chun is a palace maid I brought back from the Eastern Palace. She grew up in the Eastern Palace since childhood and is not familiar with medical principles. I think it must be just a coincidence."
A coincidence?
Xiao Wang didn't believe there were any coincidences in this world.
However, Ruan Jiu's words did remind him.
Lian Chun was brought back from the Eastern Palace by Ruan Jiu, so the person behind this must be...
Thinking of this, Xiao Wang suddenly kicked Lian Chun away and coldly scolded, "Tell me, who exactly instructed you to poison A Yu!"
"No... no one instructed me..."
It took Lian Chun a while to catch her breath. Unexpectedly, she was grabbed by the neck by Xiao Wang again.
"I have ten thousand ways to make you tell the truth."
"No one instructed me!"
Lian Chun still insisted and looked as if she was ready to face death.
Just then, Lan Yu beside her suddenly said, "Lian Chun has a lover!"
Hearing Lan Yu say this, Lian Chun immediately exclaimed, "Don't hurt him!"
Seeing Lian Chun care so much about her lover, Xiao Wang sneered. "Anyway, you're going to die. Why don't you let your lover accompany you."
"No!" Lian Chun cried.
At this point, she knew that she was doomed. Gritting her teeth, she said, "It... it was the Crown Princess who asked me to do this!"
Lian Chun's words made the imperial physicians who were kneeling on the ground gasp in unison.
Such a vicious method turned out to be the idea of the Crown Princess.
But wasn't Miss Song the younger sister of the Crown Princess?
Xiao Wang let go of Lian Chun's neck, and his eyes instantly became fierce.
Sure enough, it was Song Yanran!
Using lavender to cover up the smell of aconite. No wonder Ruan Jiu had been tricked.
He would never let Ruan Jiu suffer this in vain!
"Come here, arrest this slut and Song Yanran and throw them into prison together."
-
It was late at night and everything was quiet.
Ruan Jiu lifted the bed curtain and slowly got off the couch.
She had been lying in bed dying during the day, but now she seemed like a different person.
Her face was rosy, showing no sign of illness at all.
Just then, the door of the room was suddenly pushed open. Lan Yu walked in with a cold face.
But as soon as she entered the door, Ruan Jiu smelled a strong smell of blood.
Frowning, she asked, "Are you injured?"