To prevent Caiwei from continuing to scratch her own face, Li Wanran ordered her hands to be tied before the imperial physician arrived.
Caiwei was still wailing about how much she itched, claiming it had only started after she drank the milk tea. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Su Peisheng returned, breathless, with the imperial physician in tow. Seeing Su Peisheng’s frantic expression, the physician had assumed something had happened to the Fourth Prince. He hadn’t dared to delay for a single moment on the road, hurrying as fast as he could to arrive this quickly.
When he arrived at the scene and realized it was only a palace maid who was in trouble, he was momentarily speechless with exasperation. However, since he was already there, the physician simply told himself that a doctor must show compassion. Steeling his nerves, he began to pulse-check the bound Caiwei.
A moment later, the physician stood up and asked, “I wonder if the bowl of milk tea this maid consumed is still here?”
“It is, it is,” Banxia replied quickly, handing the milk tea to the physician.
The physician took it and performed a simple inspection, suddenly feeling as if a headache was coming on. He furrowed his brows, writing a prescription while incessantly stroking his goatee.
Li Wanran, watching him, felt like he was about to pluck those few hairs right off. She interrupted him directly: “Physician Li, is there a result?” Stop stroking your beard and just tell us what you found; everyone is waiting.
After speaking, she immediately ordered someone to take the prescription and brew the medicine, lest the girl die from further delay.
Physician Li bowed with his hands clasped and glanced at Caiwei. “The reason this maid has so many rashes on her face is that she consumed an allergen. The toppings in that bowl of milk tea contained something she is allergic to.”
Yinzhen sat in the seat of honor, his eyelids slightly lifted. He asked coolly, “Is that all? Nothing else?”
This was exactly what Li Wanran wanted to know as well. She waited intently for Physician Li’s answer. If it were just a case of bad luck—eating something she was allergic to—that would be one thing. But if…
Physician Li replied, “Beyond that, your servant also discovered a large amount of laxatives in the milk tea. It is lucky this maid only ate the toppings. Had she drunk the milk tea as well, I fear…”
Severe allergies combined with a dehydrating amount of diarrhea—it would have been hard to say if her life could have been saved.
These words caused the expressions of everyone present to shift. After all, this bowl of milk tea was originally intended for Li Wanran. If she hadn’t felt like drinking it, who would be in this state right now? No, Li Wanran’s situation would have been even more tragic.
“What a poisonous heart!” Banxia blurted out in anger. This was clearly intended to kill her mistress! It was a truly disgusting scheme.
Seeing Banxia’s fury and her desire to drag the poisoner out for a beating, no one present felt she was being impolite; instead, they felt she possessed a loyal heart.
Li Wanran patted Banxia’s arm, then turned to look at Yinzhen with a pouting, aggrieved expression. She gently took his hand, her face full of resentment. “I have never done anything to harm anyone, yet I never imagined someone would hate me so venomously. You must help me drag this person out!”
“Such a heavy dose… wasn’t that meant to kill me? To put it bluntly, if I or even you, Fourth Prince, had accidentally drunk this…” Toward the end, Li Wanran seemed too distressed to continue. She took out a handkerchief and dabbed at the corners of her moist eyes.
If she had actually drunk it, the mere thought of that scene made Li Wanran want to collapse. Especially since Yinzhen was there at the time—if something had happened, even if the culprit were found, she estimated she would have been on the verge of losing his favor.
In truth, she already had a suspect in mind. There were only a few “small cats” in this back courtyard; a simple process of elimination pointed to the culprit. However, she didn’t have evidence yet, so it wouldn’t be wise to point fingers too abruptly. But that didn’t stop her from amplifying the severity of the matter. Her life and reputation as a minor mistress might not be worth much, but what about the Fourth Prince, Yinzhen?
Now that a prince was involved, she didn’t believe they would dare to settle this matter carelessly. No matter what, Li Wanran was determined to catch the person who did this.
Yinzhen’s expression had turned hideously cold the moment Physician Li mentioned the laxatives. He patted the back of Li Wanran’s hand reassuringly, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was using him as a shield. His low voice carried a hint of tenderness as he comforted her, “It’s alright. Rest assured, I will find this person.”
If he couldn’t even protect his own mistress, how could he be called the Fourth Prince? After giving Li Wanran his guarantee, he glanced sideways at Su Peisheng. Su Peisheng understood immediately. He turned to see the physician out and then led men to the kitchen to fetch the staff in charge.
A short while later, two eunuchs—one old and one young—were brought in. The younger one panicked at the sight of the obviously wrong atmosphere, kneeling on the ground trembling, not daring to look up. The older eunuch seemed much more stable, though he hadn’t stopped swallowing nervously since he entered.
Once they heard why they had been brought there, cold sweat immediately broke out on their foreheads. They raised their heads, shouting their innocence one after another.
Lin Bao, the fifty-something eunuch, seemed particularly emotional. Tears and snot flowed down his wrinkled face. “Fourth Prince, we truly didn’t know about this! Although that milk tea was made by my apprentice, he has always been honest. He would never do something so harmful!”
Beside him, Fuxiang heard his master’s words and also began to kowtow incessantly, shouting his innocence.
Yinzhen’s head began to ache from their noise. He couldn’t help but close his eyes and lean his head on his hand. Honest? When Li Wanran heard those two words, a flicker of disbelief flashed through her eyes, and she secretly curled her lip.
Su Peisheng quickly stepped forward to scold them. “Enough! Stop shouting about your innocence and think carefully about the situation at the time. Report everything clearly.”
“If it truly has nothing to do with you, the Fourth Prince will surely not let you be wrongly accused.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Bao and Fuxiang wiped their tears and knelt in place, frantically trying to recall if anything had been out of the ordinary. Just as Yinzhen was becoming impatient, Fuxiang’s eyes suddenly lit up brilliantly, as if he had caught a lifesaving straw.
“I remember! Sumei, the maid beside Lady Zhang, was also there at the time!”
It really does trace back to her, Li Wanran sneered internally, though she looked puzzled on the surface. “Sumei? But that doesn’t necessarily prove she is at fault.”
Fuxiang said hurriedly, “Sumei was by my side the whole time and refused to leave. She said Lady Zhang wanted to drink milk tea and kept pestering me, asking how to make it taste good.”
“Later, for some reason, my stomach suddenly felt uncomfortable. Sumei volunteered to help me watch the heat on the stove.”
“I was in so much pain and feared neglecting my duties, so I left it in her care temporarily. When I returned, I saw that her expression was a bit odd.”
“But Sumei said she felt uncomfortable from crouching too long. I was blinded by her words for a moment and didn’t realize anything was wrong.”
Li Wanran didn’t entirely believe Fuxiang’s words. Who knew how much fabrication they had mixed in to save their own skins? Looking at this young eunuch who had once cheated her out of money, Li Wanran couldn’t maintain an objective attitude toward him. But she wasn’t about to let Lady Zhang and her group off the hook either.
While waiting for Lady Zhang to arrive, Lady Song and Lady Yi, who had heard the commotion, also showed up. After expressing her concern, Lady Yi stood quietly by Li Wanran’s side. Lady Song glanced at Caiwei and covered her mouth in surprise. “What a poor thing. Who could be so cruel?”
Then she turned her aim toward Lady Zhang, offering a word for her: “There might be some misunderstanding. Sister Zhang is likely being framed by someone.” After all, Zhang had followed her for a long time; if she could save her, she would try.
“Fourth Prince, the true culprit must be caught. Only then can Sister Li be given an explanation and Sister Zhang’s innocence be restored.”
Yinzhen remained expressionless and unresponsive, merely waving his hand to grant them seats.
When Lady Zhang and Sumei arrived and saw Li Wanran sitting perfectly fine beside the Fourth Prince, as if nothing had happened, they were both stunned into silence. How can Lady Li still be sitting there perfectly fine? Shouldn’t she have lost all dignity, so weak she could only lie in bed?
Realizing that the dream she had of toppling Li Wanran had shattered, Lady Zhang stumbled back a few steps, unable to accept it for a moment. How is this possible!
Because the people sent to fetch Lady Zhang and Sumei refused to reveal any details, only saying the Fourth Prince requested their presence, the two guilty souls had assumed their plot had succeeded. On the way there, Lady Zhang’s thoughts had been simple: she believed that as long as she and Sumei didn’t confess, they would be fine. By the time Li Wanran lost favor, her own good days would come. She had thought of many things, but she had never considered failure.
Lady Zhang looked at Li Wanran with eyes full of shock and blurted out, “You’re actually fine?”
As soon as those words were spoken, everyone present knew exactly what was going on. Looking at Lady Zhang, who had just realized what she’d said, Lady Song cursed her as a fool in her heart. Before the interrogation had even started, she had already exposed herself.
Lady Zhang’s eyes darted around frantically as she tried to find an excuse to smooth over her words. “I… I meant… I heard something happened to Lady Li, so that’s why I was so surprised just now.”
Beside her, Sumei, her face pale, nodded vigorously, trying to make everyone believe that Lady Zhang really didn’t mean anything else.
At this point, Li Wanran didn’t say whether she believed them or not. She simply ordered someone to recount Fuxiang’s testimony in its entirety to the mistress and servant.
While Lady Zhang was still racking her brains for an excuse, Caiwei, who had been moved to the side room, had just finished her medicine and started to improve. Hearing Lady Zhang’s sharp voice, her complexion worsened again, becoming terrifyingly pale. Her whole body began to shake as if she were frozen.
Banxia, who had been sent by Li Wanran to look after her temporarily, thought she was just frightened by the incident. Seeing her pathetic state, the remnants of their sisterly bond resurfaced. She held Caiwei and patted her back gently, like soothing a child. “Don’t be afraid. Gégé will surely find the person who harmed you and won’t let them off easily.”
Lady Zhang couldn’t think of anything else to say. The plan she had made on the way to keep her mouth shut was forgotten in her desperation to clear her own name. She claimed she had only sent Sumei to ask Fuxiang about the milk tea recipe and knew nothing else. Her words implied that even if something had happened, it was entirely Sumei’s doing and had nothing to do with her.
Her behavior was identical to that of Lin Bao—both shifting the blame to their subordinates. Li Wanran sneered inwardly. Lady Song, who had intended to speak up for her, immediately abandoned the idea. She closed her half-opened mouth and stood there with lowered eyes, acting as if she didn’t exist. What’s the use of shifting the blame onto a maid? Only a fool would say something so stupid. Lady Song was seething with resentment.
Li Wanran looked with a smile at Sumei, who was kneeling there in a daze. “And you? Other than Fuxiang, you were the only one who touched that stove. This matter must be investigated thoroughly.”
“If you are willing to confess voluntarily, you may receive a lighter sentence. But if you don’t speak now and we find out later…” She paused deliberately. “You can imagine the consequences. Even your family might not be safe…”
When Sumei heard Lady Zhang implicitly shifting all the blame onto her, her heart turned to ash. She felt her fate was sealed. Lady Zhang was, after all, a mistress. Even after the matter was exposed, although the Fourth Prince said nothing on the surface, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t favor Lady Zhang out of some lingering sentiment from the past. Even if she claimed Lady Zhang forced her to do it, the only one to die would likely be an insignificant palace maid like herself.
For a moment, she despaired and hated herself for actually believing Lady Zhang’s words. She had known exactly what kind of person Lady Zhang was for a long time, hadn’t she?
Initially, Sumei had been hesitant and didn’t dare to look up. But hearing that she could receive a lighter sentence and that her family might be affected, she decided to gamble and tell everything. She didn’t want to die, and she didn’t want to become a criminal in the eyes of her family.
Sumei crawled forward a few steps on her knees, moving away from Lady Zhang to prevent her from lashing out in anger later. “Lady Zhang usually vents her frustrations by beating and scolding me whenever things don’t go her way.” Sumei gritted her teeth and rolled up her sleeves to the elbows, revealing fresh and old bruises on her arms.
Looking at the blue and purple bruises on her hands, Sumei’s eyes quickly turned red, and her voice became a sob. “I wasn’t even allowed to cry, nor was I allowed to use medicine. If I made any mistake, I wasn’t allowed to eat. It was okay before, but since Lady Li gained favor, Lady Zhang would curse her constantly. When cursing didn’t satisfy her, she would beat me to vent her dissatisfaction.”
“Shut up, you wretched servant! How dare you lie!” Seeing Sumei reveal her deeds, Lady Zhang’s eyes widened in fury. She scrambled to her feet, intending to rush forward and kick her. “Who taught you to slander me like this?!”
The servants waiting nearby immediately stepped forward and held her back with force. Restrained, Lady Zhang turned and shouted her innocence toward Yinzhen.
A flash of disgust crossed Yinzhen’s eyes. He didn’t want to hear her noise and said indifferently, “Tie her up and gag her.”
The servants quickly found thick rope and a rag, binding Lady Zhang tightly. The way she was tied was so secure that even a grown man with some martial arts training wouldn’t be able to break free. Then they balled up the rag and stuffed it into her mouth.
At this point, Lady Yi, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly spoke. “The palace maids are all from the Eight Banners, and palace rules strictly forbid beating or scolding them. How could Sister Zhang be so cruel?” She let out a light sigh. “It was also my lack of care. Although I saw Sumei’s eyes red and swollen a few times, I didn’t think much of it. Otherwise…”
Yinzhen’s eyes had already turned much colder, like the biting wind in winter, enough to make one ache. He pursed his lips tightly. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was like the thunder before a storm, hitting Lady Zhang heavily. “It seems you didn’t take your previous copying of the palace rules seriously if you dared to continue beating a maid and harming others.”
With that, he glanced at Sumei. His tightly pursed lips uttered only two words: “Continue.” The main point hadn’t been mentioned yet.
Seeing that Lady Zhang could no longer attack her, Sumei’s tense shoulders relaxed. she continued to drop bombshells: “Seeing Lady Li becoming more and more favored, Lady Zhang wanted to trip her up but couldn’t think of a way. Until the Dragon Boat Festival, when Lady Zhang found Caiwei and learned from her that Lady Li loves sweets…”
Sumei held nothing back and told everything she knew. From bribing Caiwei and luring Fuxiang away to finally poisoning the milk tea, she laid it all out. She only hoped the Fourth Prince and Lady Li would see her full confession and give her a lighter sentence.
Who had done this was already clear from Lady Zhang’s actions upon arrival. What Sumei said were merely the final nails in her coffin. Li Wanran suddenly understood why Lady Zhang had been staring at her during the Dragon Boat Festival banquet. It must have been to confirm if what Caiwei said was true. However, she was curious: where did Lady Zhang get the laxatives?
Sumei: “Lady Zhang felt a bit unwell last year and asked a physician to prescribe medicine, which included croton beans. Lady Zhang hated the smell of the medicine, so it was put away.”
Having finished, she lowered her head deeply, waiting for the judgment that was about to come. By now, the facts were clear, and there was no need for further interrogation.
“Sumei, ten strokes, and sent to the Sinjeku.” With a casual sentence, Yinzhen decided Sumei’s fate. Sumei breathed a sigh of relief as she was led away for her punishment. Although her future days would be difficult, it was much better than dying and dragging her family down. At least now, both she and her family were safe.
Next were Caiwei and the two eunuchs from the kitchen. Lin Bao and Fuxiang were simple cases. Yinzhen knew a little about what they were doing behind the scenes and had just been waiting for an opportunity to deal with them; this was the perfect chance.
Lin Bao’s position as head eunuch was definitely gone. Yinzhen thought for a moment and decided the vacancy would be filled by the deputy head eunuch, Zhang Ru. Considering Lin Bao was only guilty of lax supervision, a fine of four months’ salary would suffice.
As for the young eunuch named Fuxiang, Yinzhen wasn’t so lenient. He ordered him to be dragged out for thirty strokes and barred him from the kitchen.
Watching Fuxiang, who was no different from his own son, being dragged away wailing for punishment, Lin Bao felt bad in his heart. But if you asked him to plead for mercy… Lin Bao quickly glanced out of the corner of his eye at the frost-faced Fourth Prince and trembled with fear. Better not. He was already old; if he completely enraged the Prince, how would he live his remaining days? Moreover, he kept feeling that the Prince knew something. He would just have to see the boy’s luck. If all else failed, he would have to find a new apprentice quickly so he would have someone to depend on in his old age.
Caiwei was Li Wanran’s maid. He turned to look at Li Wanran. “This maid has reaped what she sowed. How do you plan to handle her?” He had previously reminded Lady Li to deal with this maid; perhaps Lady Li had kept her out of a soft heart. What about this time? In this palace, the soft-hearted do not live long, Yinzhen thought with lowered eyes.
Fortunately, Li Wanran did not disappoint him this time, which improved his mood.
Li Wanran looked thoughtful for a long while before saying, “I certainly cannot keep her here any longer. However, we were mistress and servant after all, and she is in such a state now. When she is better tomorrow, let her leave.”
Lady Song chuckled at this. “Sister Li is truly kind-hearted. No punishment is too severe for such a treacherous servant.”
Yinzhen agreed with Lady Song’s words. He took a sip of tea and said, “You are still a bit too soft-hearted. This isn’t enough to deter other servants.” After a thought, he continued, “Caiwei sold her master for favor. Ten strokes and sent to the Laundry Bureau.”
As he spoke, he scanned the surrounding servants with a cold gaze and said sternly, “In the future, before anyone else does such a thing, think of Caiwei today. Your end will not be much better than hers.”
After this warning, all the waiting servants were terrified and knelt to declare their loyalty. Li Wanran accepted Yinzhen’s help in establishing her authority. “Everything is according to the Fourth Prince’s decision.”
With the accomplices dealt with, only Lady Zhang remained. Yinzhen didn’t want to look at her pleading eyes even once. Without another word, he pronounced her “death sentence.”
“Lady Zhang has violated palace rules by beating servants at will. Her heart is cruel, and she resorted to poisoning others with the intent to kill. If she is not severely punished, it will be impossible to maintain order. Twenty strokes, a fine of six months’ salary, and move her to another location. She is not to step out even half a step ever again.”