"Your Majesty!" Zipei helped Shen Nong onto the carriage, her eyes filled with concern.
Shen Nong waved a hand, her forehead supported, signaling it was time to go.
Zipei said no more, instructing the driver to head towards the palace.
Sitting in the carriage, Shen Nong gazed at the opulent interior, then lifted the curtain to scan the bustling crowds on Wenchang Avenue.
She murmured, "I am the mother of the nation, yet I cannot even protect my own offspring. Is it so difficult to merely enjoy family happiness?"
After a moment, as if remembering something, she called out to Zipei, who was hurrying alongside the carriage, "Zipei, go to the Crown Prince. Tell him the matter was not successful, but Shen Ying will not be able to say anything detrimental to the Crown Prince."
"Yes!"
Zipei nodded and ran off in the opposite direction.
-------------------------------------
"What flower blooms layer upon layer, what flower blooms with lasting fragrance, what travels windingly to the ends of the earth, what cuts grass roots with a curve..."
Inside the disciplinary room at this moment.
Zhong Li looked at Shen Ying, who had woken up but appeared dazed, mumbling something to herself, feeling a bit helpless.
She truly couldn't understand how Shen Ying had ended up like this after Zipei merely helped her.
"Shen Ying," Zhong Li said persistently, "Stop pretending. I'm not afraid to tell you, the Empress has left. She will no longer protect you. If you're willing to tell me everything you know, perhaps the Dali Temple can spare your life."
"Chrysanthemums bloom layer upon layer, osmanthus blooms with lasting fragrance, the moon curves to the ends of the earth, the sickle curves to cut grass roots..." Shen Ying acted as if she hadn't heard Zhong Li, shaking her head and continuing her nonsensical ramblings.
"Shen Ying!" Zhong Li stood up and walked to her side, gazing intently into her eyes. "Don't think you're safe just because the case at Beitian Nunnery is over. Wu You has already confessed everything you went through with crystal clarity. The Dali Temple found a secret medicinal powder for women at Beitian Nunnery. If placed within a woman's lower body, it will tighten it within half a month. Combined with the low-class tricks used at Hua Man Lou to deceive men, you had made thorough preparations to disguise yourself as a virgin to marry the heir!"
"Mmm... Ying'er is thirsty!"
Zhong Li's words were like casting pearls before swine. Shen Ying blinked her eyes, looking quite uncomprehending. After much mumbling, she uttered only this sentence.
Zhong Li's eyebrows furrowed, her eyes filled with disbelief. Shen Ying's gaze hadn't wavered just now, and it seemed she had truly gone mad.
"Impossible!" She crouched down, grabbed Shen Ying's pulse, and felt it repeatedly. However, her medical skills were limited, and she couldn't detect any problems.
"My lord!" A constable from the Dali Temple stood at the door, followed by an old man carrying a medicine chest. "The physician Wu you asked us to summon has arrived."
Zhong Li nodded, making way for Physician Wu. Physician Wu crouched beside Shen Ying, first observing her eyes, then beginning to feel her pulse. Zhong Li stood in place, not interrupting.
After a long while, Physician Wu stood up.
"How is it?" Zhong Li asked.
"Replying to my lord, this young lady has become foolish and insane."
"How could this be?" Zhong Li's eyes were filled with disbelief. "Physician Wu, just half an hour ago, she was perfectly fine."
"Alas!" Physician Wu sighed. "My lord is from the Southern Yue Kingdom and surely cannot guess the methods involved."
"Please, Physician Wu, enlighten me," Zhong Li said, cupping her hands.
Physician Wu explained, "There is a secret medicine in the Shu Rong Kingdom. This medicine, when consumed, damages a person's nerves. Within the time it takes for one cup of tea to be consumed, the person will inevitably become foolish and delirious."
"Took medicine?" Zhong Li frowned and began to recall. She remembered that when Zipei helped Shen Ying back into the chair, her fingertip had indeed brushed against Shen Ying's lips. Could it have been then...?
"It's all my fault, I wasn't careful!"
"Lord Zhong, do not blame yourself. This medicine is colorless and odorless. Anyone slightly unaware could fall victim to it," Physician Wu consoled.
"Is there an antidote?" Zhong Li asked.
Physician Wu shook his head. "Please forgive my incompetence, my lord. I have not obtained the prescription for this medicine yet, and without a prescription, I cannot prepare an antidote. Furthermore, this medicine is rare; it is a sacred object of the Shu Rong Kingdom. I presume the person who administered it only had this single dose."
"Alright, thank you, Physician Wu." Zhong Li watched as Physician Wu packed his medicine chest and prepared to leave, following him to see him off.
Physician Wu bowed to Zhong Li, indicating she didn't need to see him off, and then departed from the Dali Temple.
Zhong Li returned to her seat, looking at Shen Ying, who was counting blades of grass opposite her. She thought of Lin Jin, who was still lying in the Prince Xian's mansion and had yet to regain consciousness, and her heart felt complex. She had originally intended to use the momentum from arresting Shen Ying to interrogate her about Lin Jin's affairs and add to her crimes, avenging Lin Jin. Now, it seemed there was no longer any necessity. Speaking of which, Shen Ying was also a pitiable person. Zhong Li could vaguely guess her relationship with Shen Nong, though she wasn't entirely certain. Shen Ying was first abandoned by her birth mother, and then fell into a state of idiocy and madness. In retrospect, it was quite dramatic.
"Lord Zhong, what now?" Several constables, finishing their shifts, saw that Zhong Li had not left and couldn't help but step forward to ask.
Zhong Li looked up at the sunlight streaming through the skylight and said, "Dispose of her according to the laws of the Southern Yue Kingdom. Imprison her in the water prison to suffer the gnawing of ten thousand insects."
After speaking, Zhong Li stood up and walked out of the disciplinary room without looking back.
Outside the disciplinary room, the torture chamber was still busy, with screams of agony echoing and reverberating throughout the Dali Temple. Zhong Li stopped and headed towards the torture chamber. Generally, she wouldn't go to that place. Although both were under the jurisdiction of the Dali Temple, she always felt that any confessions obtained through such methods could not be entirely truthful. However, the person being interrogated inside this time was different – it was the madam of Hua Man Lou.
Zhong Li stopped outside the torture chamber, composed herself, and pushed the door open. The torturer's whip was still swinging. Seeing someone enter, he glanced towards the door, quickly put away his instruments, and cupped his hands in greeting. "Lord Zhong."
Zhong Li looked at the madam, who was tied to a rack and whose body was already covered in bloody gashes, and asked, "Have you interrogated her?" The torturer nodded and handed her a piece of paper filled with writing. Zhong Li finished reading and casually placed the paper on the table. Her gaze swept over the madam, who was on the verge of unconsciousness, and said, "It seems she has confessed everything she needs to."
"Yes, Hua Man Lou was an intelligence network set up by Fu Chong. The madam has also admitted that she has been passing information to Fu Chong for many years. Hua Man Lou was involved in the Ming Xia case and the Gu Ling case within the building," the torturer answered concisely.
Zhong Li smiled. She could have guessed this even without him saying it. A Wu had an extreme personality, and only someone like Fu Chong would be so adept at exploiting people's weaknesses. However, she still had one question she wanted to ask the madam.
"What is this for?" Zhong Li pointed to a bucket of water on the ground, from which a pungent odor faintly emanated.
"This is chili water. When applied to the whip and used to strike someone, it causes exceptionally severe pain," the torturer replied.
Zhong Li recalled Lin Jin interrogating Tang Yuanhua previously. She opened her palm and moved it closer to the torturer. The torturer understood and quickly handed over the whip in his hand. Zhong Li dipped the whip in some chili water and approached the madam, saying, "Madam, I will ask you only one question. If you answer willingly, you will suffer a little less. If you refuse, I don't mind drawing the whip down further."
The madam forced her bloodshot eyes open and mumbled, "What does Lord Zhong wish to ask?"
"Who is Young Master Hong?"