Ever since the Taoist priest voluntarily approached Yun Xi and confessed everything, he had moved into the Prime Minister's Mansion.
However, Yun Xi did not withdraw the reward. Instead, she increased it to 30,000 taels of gold, leading people to think she had gone mad!
As a result, almost everyone in the capital, young and old, knew that the Princess Yongning was offering a huge reward to find a Taoist sorcerer, with the aim of catching the real culprit who had poisoned the Crown Prince and rescuing her father and younger sister.
The matter of Yun Xi's generous reward spread like wildfire in the capital and naturally did not escape the Queen's ears.
The current Queen was the most worried and angry person after the Crown Prince, Qi Yu, was poisoned and fell into a coma.
At first, upon learning that it was Yun Ni, the second young lady of the Prime Minister's Mansion, who had poisoned the Crown Prince, the Queen in a fit of anger requested the Emperor to execute the entire Prime Minister's Mansion. But the Emperor, having his own considerations, only ordered the arrest of Yun Ni.
Moreover, after Yun Sheng returned to the capital, he was directly imprisoned in the Imperial Prison by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and no one was allowed to visit him.
The Queen hated the Prime Minister's Mansion to the core, but due to her ignorance of the Emperor's intentions, she did not dare to easily take action against the people in the mansion. When Yun Xi returned to the capital this time, her first thing to do was to request an audience with the Queen, but she was immediately rejected.
The Queen knew Yun Xi's purpose for seeking an audience, but she believed that the evidence was conclusive and would not allow Yun Xi to argue.
However, Yun Xi did not give up. Instead, she made such a big stir in the capital. At first, the Queen was extremely disgusted, thinking that Yun Xi was just trying to evade the charges by being mysterious.
The Queen sent people to secretly monitor Yun Xi and learned that Yun Xi was indeed eager to find a Taoist sorcerer. Everyone in the capital knew about it, and she even increased the reward to 30,000 taels!
Shocked, the Queen specially summoned Liang Sheng, the Prefect of the Capital, into the palace to verify. She learned that the person Yun Xi was offering a reward for was indeed the key to the case of the Crown Prince's poisoning.
If, as the public opinion guided by Yun Xi suggested, Yun Ni was just being used, then the real person who wanted to poison the Crown Prince was still hiding in the dark, waiting for an opportunity!
Just thinking of this made the Queen shiver.
Now that the Crown Prince's condition had slightly improved thanks to the arrival of a divine doctor, if this was known to someone with ulterior motives, he would surely be in danger again!
Prime Minister's Mansion
Based on the Taoist priest's memories, Yun Xi had a general idea of the people who had accompanied Yun Ni to the temple fair that day. Just as she was thinking about how to verify this, she unexpectedly received a secret edict from the Queen.
Yu Zhu stood beside Yun Xi, looking at the letter in Yun Xi's hand. Her expression involuntarily showed concern as she said:
"Miss, you clearly requested an audience with the Queen before, but she refused to see you. Why is she summoning you into the palace now? Will there be any danger if you go?"
Yu Zhu was worried that the Queen, in a fit of anger, would take it out on their miss. At that time, their miss would have no way to defend herself!
Hearing Yu Zhu's words, Yun Xi just smiled slightly and comforted her:
"You can't catch a wolf without giving up a child. If I'm always timid and over - cautious, how can I rescue Father?"
Moreover, everything she was doing now was to attract the Queen's attention, because the Queen must be more eager than her to know the truth about the Crown Prince's poisoning!
So, she knew there were tigers on the mountain but still went towards it. Only in this way could she increase her chances of rescuing her father!
"But, the Crown Prince is still in a coma. This servant is afraid..."
Before Yu Zhu could finish her sentence, Yun Xi immediately interrupted her. Her eyes were bright as she said:
"Who said the Crown Prince is in a coma? He has already woken up!"
It was just that the Queen had deliberately concealed the news about the Crown Prince to avoid disturbing his recovery.
If she hadn't sent the divine doctor Bai Shu into the palace earlier, she would have been kept in the dark too!
Early the next morning, Yun Xi dressed simply and neatly. After getting ready, she took a carriage into the palace and headed straight for the Yonghe Palace where the Queen lived.
Because of the Crown Prince's matter, in less than a month, the Queen already had a few strands of gray hair at her temples. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her face looked extremely haggard.
When Yun Xi saw the Queen for the first time, a look of surprise flashed across her face, but she quickly hid it.
Yun Xi bowed respectfully, but the Queen didn't let her rise. With a cold and sharp look in her eyes, she stared at Yun Xi kneeling on the ground and said sharply:
"You're really brave to come here alone. Aren't you afraid that this palace will just make up a charge against you and have you beaten to death here?!"
As soon as the Queen said this, there was a deathly silence all around. Yu Zhu, who was kneeling behind Yun Xi, couldn't help but tremble slightly, and cold sweat broke out on her back.
You know, in front of the royal family, human lives were as insignificant as ants. Even the royal relatives and nobles would be in danger of losing their lives once they offended the royal dignity!
That's why there was a saying that 'accompanying the king is like accompanying a tiger'. This saying was equally applicable to the Queen.
It was so easy for her to take someone's life!
Facing the Queen's intimidation, Yun Xi remained calm. Although she was kneeling, her back was straight. With a faint smile on her face, she said firmly:
"Yun Xi is not afraid. Because Your Majesty the Queen is wise and will not confuse right and wrong, let alone kill the innocent!"
Yun Xi said the last four words forcefully, which made the Queen can't help but curl her cold lips and retort:
"If this palace insists on killing the innocent, what can you do about it?"
She was the mistress of the six palaces, the current Queen. For her decisions, even if others were dissatisfied, they would only dare to whisper secretly and would not dare to comment in person!
Yun Xi's audacity just made her even angrier!
Hearing what the Queen said, Yun Xi showed no sign of panic. She said calmly:
"If Your Majesty really wants to kill Yun Xi, Yun Xi naturally has nothing to say. But since Your Majesty has summoned Yun Xi into the palace, you must have already found out the truth of the matter. The top priority now is to find out the mastermind behind the poisoning of the Crown Prince, rather than cutting off your own arm and driving away an ally like Yun Xi!"
Yun Xi's eyes were sharp as she fearlessly met the Queen's scrutinizing gaze. Her confident tone surprised the Queen.
"Cut off one's own arm? Ally?"
The Queen murmured these two words and suddenly looked at Yun Xi with a hint of interest in her eyes.
"How can you be so sure that you can help this palace?"
Since she ascended to the position of the Queen, no one had ever been so bold as to claim to be her ally.
At the royal hunting ground before, she had thought that this girl in front of her was quite courageous, but she had never seen her so 'arrogant'.
The Prime Minister's Mansion was now in a precarious situation. The girl should have been submissive, trying to save her own life and avoid being implicated. However, this girl was unexpectedly strong - willed, which made the Queen look at her with new respect!
"If I didn't have some confidence, I wouldn't dare to talk big in front of Your Majesty the Queen."
So, Yun Xi told the Queen about the Taoist priest and also recounted in detail how Yun Ni had been set up at the temple fair that day.
Hearing this, the Queen's eyes suddenly turned cold:
"So, you've known the whereabouts of that Taoist priest for a long time and even arranged him in the Prime Minister's Mansion?!"