“Hmm, no… nothing, is it poisoned?”
Xuan Yi almost bit his tongue. Didn't the silver needle remain untarnished? How could it be poisoned?
Wei Yuan nodded and emphasized again, “It is indeed poisoned.”
Seeing Xuan Yi’s constipated expression, Wei Yuan stopped playing coy and explained, “It’s a colorless and odorless poison, a slow-acting one. It's not fatal on its own, but if it encounters another trigger, it becomes highly toxic.”
“However, this cat was poisoned to death by the slow-acting poison. While the poison isn't lethal to humans, it's extremely potent for such a small cat.”
“As for the trigger for this poison…” Wei Yuan picked up his tea, took a sip, and then gestured to Xuan Yi with his cup, “Tea.”
“Flower tea.”
“One cup is enough.”
Xuan Yi’s hand, hanging by his side, clenched and then relaxed. Despite having many questions, he didn’t ask any more. He picked up the corpse of the tabby cat, cupped his hands towards Wei Yuan, and said, “Thank you, Young Master Wei.” With that, he leaped away and vanished.
He certainly came and went in a hurry!
Wei Yuan shook his head and continued drinking his tea, his gaze falling on the table where the tabby cat had just lain. His eyes flickered as he seemed lost in thought.
Xuan Yi returned quickly and informed Nan Shiying of the conclusion.
Slow-acting poison?
She frowned.
“There aren't many places where such poison can be administered, food, incense burners…”
But no matter which it was, only the four maids in the room and Xuan Yi could have had contact with it.
“Your Highness, we maids…”
Lu Wan also considered this problem and couldn't help but eagerly want to explain, but Nan Shiying raised her hand, stopping her words.
“No need to explain, I trust you all naturally.”
In fact, rather than trusting them, it was more like trusting Ji Jinmo. These were all his personal maids. If they wanted to harm her, the only possibility would be that he instructed them. But he wouldn’t want her dead right now.
Nan Shiying thought for a moment and asked, “How do you handle the dishes sent from the main kitchen?”
Lan Er replied, “Reporting to Your Highness, they are all discarded by the wall.”
Nan Shiying smiled.
“It seems some people in the manor cannot wait any longer.”
The cat ate the food Lan Er threw away and thus was poisoned. This was not difficult to guess.
“Is it Qin Yurou?”
Lu Wan gritted her teeth in anger.
Nan Shiying nodded, then shook her head, “Everyone is a suspect.”
The main kitchen was a place of mixed personnel. Even if the managing嬷嬷 were Qin Yurou’s people, the maids and servants below could still tamper with things. It could only be said that Qin Yurou was the most suspicious.
“Your Highness, what should we do now?”
Nan Shiying picked up a piece of pastry and put it in her mouth, replying with a smile, “Pretend to be sick!”
The Princess Consort was sick again.
The servants of the Xingyuan Pavilion invited the manor’s physician. The physician said she was suffering from worry and advised her to relax and not overthink.
Upon hearing this, the servants couldn't help but think, she’s about to be disgraced, so of course she’d be ill from worry!
A heart ailment has no cure.
The fact that the news spread so quickly only indicated that there were problems with the servants in Xingyuan Pavilion.
Apart from Lu Wan and Xuan Yi, no one else could be trusted. Nan Shiying could only stay in her room and instructed Lu Wan to find some storybooks to pass the time.
“What is this?”
Nan Shiying held an medical text as thick as a shoe sole, and her head began to ache uncontrollably. She remembered the scene of being forced to study by her tutor years ago. The past was like smoke, not to be revisited. Once revisited, her hands, feet, and head all ached.
Xuan Yi lowered his eyes and replied, “His Highness asked you to read more medical books.”
You, who plays with poison, actually need someone else to test poison for you. That’s too much of a specialization!
Nan Shiying twitched her mouth, casually flipped through it, and couldn't help but complain, “This medical book is too thick!”
Xuan Yi continued to lower his eyes and replied, “Reporting to Your Highness, this is the thinnest medical book available.”
As he spoke, he pointed to the cabinet next to them and said in a monotone voice, “Your Highness, if you open the cabinet, you will see more and thicker medical texts.”
“Clang!”
Nan Shiying’s hand paused as she opened the cabinet, then she abruptly closed it again. Looking around and finding no suitable item, she rolled the medical book in her hand into a paper tube and stuffed it into the cabinet’s handle.
Sealing the cabinet completely.
“Didn’t see it, can’t see it, won’t see it!”
Nan Shiying refused the trio.
Xuan Yi: “…”
With such resistance, how did you learn to poison people in the first place?
What, did you only practice and not read books?
Xuan Yi realized that this person only studied poisons and their antidotes, and knew nothing else.
…
The tabby cat wasn't thrown away and was left in a corner. Within a few days, a pungent odor permeated the air. Lu Wan and the other three always took a detour.
“Your Highness~”
Seeing their Highness crouching in front of the tabby cat again, rummaging through it with her bare hands, her expression serious and focused, as if she didn’t smell the cat’s stench at all.
Lu Wan’s face turned pale.
Nan Shiying looked up at Lu Wan, either discussing with Lu Wan or muttering to herself, “You say, if I dissect it in the room…”
“Your Highness, don't!”
Lu Wan’s face immediately turned green.
Nan Shiying said “oh,” dropped the cat, and stood up. All those medical books were piled on the soft couch, forming a small mound. She sat in the pile of books, holding a book called ‘Human Anatomy’ and flipping through the dissection page.
Occasionally, when she looked up and her gaze swept over Lu Wan and the others, Lu Wan and the others had the illusion of being vivisected.
No, why is there such a medical book in that pile of books?
Is this to save lives or to kill people!!
If Lu Wan asked Nan Shiying, Nan Shiying would definitely answer her with certainty: To kill!
After all, in Nan Shiying’s eyes, there was no such thing as saving people.
She was flipping through the medical book when she suddenly thought of something and ordered, “Lu Wan, throw back the dishes sent from the main kitchen today. Xiao Huan, you go with her too. If things get serious, don’t hold back.”
Lu Wan thought the Princess Consort was planning to counter the scheme and lure out the mastermind, so she had not paid attention to the main kitchen. But now it seemed she had misunderstood.
Although she didn't understand the Princess Consort's purpose in doing this, Lu Wan still took the order, carrying the dishes that had just arrived at noon, and headed for the main kitchen with Xiao Huan in an aggressive manner.
“Xuan Yi, you follow too, don’t let Lu Wan and Xiao Huan suffer any grievances.”
Xuan Yi resigned himself to following along.
Bai Zhi leaned over to Nan Shiying and asked with blinking eyes, “Your Highness, won’t we alert the snake by doing this?”
Nan Shiying chuckled, and her slightly raised eyelids held a playful mischief, “This is not called alerting the snake, this is called luring the snake out of its hole.”
“Ah?”
Bai Zhi was completely bewildered.