Chapter 1827: Chapter 1827: Accidental Ingestion of Gelsemium
In the morning, Gu Qingheng went to the Governor’s Office of the Embroidered Knife Guard and found that Deputy Commander Luo Yusheng had not arrived yet. He sent some soldiers to look for him, only to find him dead on the bed.
Now, the body is already lying in the morgue.
The coroner said the death was due to accidental poisoning by Gelsemium.
Gelsemium is a type of Broken Intestines Grass, and it is highly toxic.
Yang Ruxin, though skeptical of this claim, breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the mastermind behind it didn’t use this as a trap to frame them, thus temporarily avoiding much trouble.
However, Gu Qingheng was not without suspicion, so the palace quickly issued orders to find out how the poisonous grass was accidentally ingested.
Cha Anbo’s subordinates were no pushovers. By the afternoon, they had mostly figured out that when Luo Yujiao went shopping for vegetables earlier, she saw someone selling wild greens and bought some. Among them were a few Gelsemium plants, but everyone thought they were wild vegetables.
They hadn’t had a chance to eat them the day before. Returning home late yesterday, the two were hungry and made a pot of vegetable porridge with the existing greens…
The neighbor next door saw Luo Yujiao buying vegetables with their own eyes, and there was still half a pot of vegetable porridge left in the Luo family’s kitchen.
The evidence was clear, and the case was closed by nightfall. The palace issued no further orders.
On April 23, it was Noble Consort Mu’s forty-fifth birthday. The Emperor declared that “a great celebration is in order,” so the entire palace began decorating with lanterns and streamers days in advance.
Yang Ruxin and Gu Qingheng were up before dawn. After a formal grooming, Yang Ruxin took Du Juan and Lun Yi on a carriage, while Gu Qingheng rode a horse toward the palace.
On the road, they frequently encountered carriages from various households of officials, all heading to the palace banquet.
This time, only officials of Fifth-rank and above and their families were eligible to enter the palace.
However, at the palace entrance, everyone had to dismount from horses and alight from carriages, and all belongings had to be inspected, slowing down the process. Everyone queued up to enter the palace.
Once they entered the palace gates, men and women separated. The men headed to Jinluan Hall for court proceedings, while the women went directly to the Harem to pay respects to the Empress Dowager and others.
Gu Qingheng, being a general responsible for palace security, was allowed to ride directly in, but he nonetheless cautiously reminded Yang Ruxin of a few things.
“Sister Ruxin…” At that moment, a young girl ran over directly, “Is this Sister Ruxin’s carriage?” It seemed to be Hen Ziyue.
Hen Ziyue’s grandfather, Hen Bingwen, held the position of Medical Officer in the Imperial Hospital. The Imperial Physicians were generally of low rank, equivalent to a hospital director under the previous dynasty at Sixth-rank. After the founding of the current dynasty by the Grand Ancestor Emperor, it was promoted to a subordinate Fifth-rank.
Today, however, Hen Bingwen happened to be on duty at the palace, so Hen Ziyue entered the palace with her mother.
“Miss Hen,” Yang Ruxin hurriedly alighted from the carriage and introduced her to Gu Qingheng.
Hen Ziyue graciously greeted Gu Qingheng, “General Gu, go about your duties. I will accompany Sister Ruxin.”
Yang Ruxin nodded as well.
Only then did Gu Qingheng turn and ride into the palace gates.
“Yesterday, Lady Caiyun and Pingning entered the palace to accompany the Empress Dowager…” Hen Ziyue said joyfully upon spotting Yang Ruxin, “But Lady Caiyun specially sent someone to tell me to make sure to wait for you before heading into the palace together.”
“I’ll have to properly thank them later on…” Yang Ruxin quipped with a smile.
At that moment, several more carriages arrived in succession from behind, including those from the Duke Changning’s Residence.