Chapter 226: Stirring Up the Matter

Xiao Mingshu's wild joy on her face instantly solidified, as if an invisible hand had clamped her throat.

Her voice suddenly became shrill: "You… what do you mean?!"

Chu Yunzheng was not a foolish man; Wan Tang's pointed retort and the Empress's sudden change of expression made the doubts in his mind surge violently once again.

The anger in his eyes gradually gave way to scrutiny and suspicion, his gaze flicking back and forth between Wan Tang and the Empress.

Wan Tang gave a bitter smile, a smile filled with endless self‑mockery and desolation.

She no longer looked at the Empress, but turned her gaze toward Chu Yunzheng.

Her eyes were complex—there was attachment, grievance, and a desperation born of being driven to the brink.

"Emperor," she said, her voice choked yet unusually clear, "I was born of lowly origin, bullied since childhood, and have once mustered all my strength to resist…"

"Later, by the Emperor's mercy, I found a refuge."

Her tears fell silently: "But I never imagined that from the moment I was born, I have borne a 'original sin.'"

"I admit it!"

"If I truly am guilty, the state law stands here—whether death or dismemberment, I will have no complaints!"

Her tone suddenly grew heated, a blood‑tinged accusation.

Her gaze snapped toward the Empress: "But why?"

"Why does the Empress keep again and again crossing my line, driving me toward a dead end, insisting on driving me to complete madness?!"

"You're spouting nonsense! You're slandering!" Xiao Mingshu shouted sharply, trying to cut her off.

Wan Tang let out a chilling, mournful laugh, each word like a blade: "It's you who forced me to this point today!"

She abruptly turned to Chu Yunzheng, bowed her head heavily, and when she raised it, a crimson bruise already marked her forehead.

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with resolute sorrow, and said slowly:

"Emperor," Wan Tang lifted her head, tear‑filled eyes gazing at him, "Do you still remember… when you asked me whether I was hiding something from you?"

Chu Yunzheng snorted coldly, his tone still icy: "So now you finally want to speak?"

"It's not that I only now wish to speak," Wan Tang's voice was mournful yet resolute, "It's that I could not speak back then!"

"This matter is far‑reaching, concerning the peace of the Imperial harem and the dignity of the royal house."

"Stop spouting nonsense here and confusing everyone!" Xiao Mingshu, panicking, barked sharply, trying to cut her off.

Wan Tang ignored her completely, her gaze still fixed on Chu Yunzheng, her tone bleak yet clear: "Empress… she has long known my origins."

"But not only did she not report the Emperor, she used it as leverage, repeatedly threatening me to act for her!"

"You're lying!"

"Emperor, she's gone mad! She's slandering me!" Xiao Mingshu screamed, even lunging forward to cover Wan Tang's mouth.

"Let her continue," Chu Yunzheng bellowed, his gaze blazing, staring intently at Wan Tang, "I want to hear it."

"Emperor, you are worried about the Grand General's selection."

"The Empress told me that as long as Hui Guifei gets into trouble, the Ning family will fall into chaos, and the Emperor will have to rely on her Xiao Family."

"So she sent someone to deliver this." Wan Tang's gaze lingered pointedly over the bottle of arsenic.

Xiao Mingshu's complexion turned instantly ashen as paper, her body swaying as if about to collapse.

Chu Yunzheng's chest heaved violently, the fury in his eyes nearly bursting forth.

He struggled to restrain himself, his voice low and dangerous: "Xiao Mingshu, is what she said really true?"

"No, Emperor, I did not."

"It's her slander; it's that Mo family remnant who is deliberately taking revenge," Xiao Mingshu denied, tears streaming.

"Heh…" Chu Yunzheng let out an icy snort, the laugh full of outraged fury at being fooled, "Do you think I'm a fool?"

"In this Imperial harem, is it only you in Kunning Palace who can see?"

He no longer looked at the Empress sprawled on the ground, but barked at the trusted eunuch beside him: "Go to Palace of Eternal Joy and Kunning Palace at once and give me a clear answer."

"In recent days, have any unusual personnel entered, especially those who handled herbs or items? I want the truth!"

The eunuch took the order and hurried away. The hall fell into death‑like silence, only Xiao Mingshu's suppressed sobbing could be heard.

Soon, the eunuch returned, kneeling to report: "Your Emperor, the servant has inquired; indeed, in the past few days Kunning Palace has seen unfamiliar faces entering."

"Also… also tampered with the small storeroom's herb records…"

The people of Palace of Eternal Joy all saw Aunt Bai Wei personally deliver something. Afterwards, Ning Daying and the staff of Jingren Palace also confirmed that Virtuous Consort came here to cook.

The same bottle had also been placed on the table.

But after Virtuous Consort left, nothing happened to anyone.

Those words rang out like a final bolt of thunder.

Wan Tang could have acted from the start; it was truly unnecessary, yet months later, at her most disadvantageous moment, she acted again.

Xiao Mingshu collapsed completely on the ground, her face drained of color.

Chu Yunzheng slowly approached her, looking down from his height, his gaze icy and bone‑piercing, his tone oddly contradictory yet brimming with murderous intent:

"Fine… very fine indeed!"

"This is my Empress!"

"The Xiao Family truly raised a fine daughter, truly my… virtuous consort!"

Even though Xiao Mingshu was collapsed on the ground, she forced herself to lift her head, her voice sharp yet trembling, and shouted: "Even if… even if someone in the palace tampered with the herbs, that does not prove that I administered the poison."

"This is clearly Wan Tang, that scoundrel, deliberately framing me."

"She hates that I exposed her identity."

Wan Tang calmly looked at Chu Yunzheng, her voice clear and steady: "Emperor, whether I framed you will be known once investigated."

"As for how Minghui and Hui Guifei were poisoned, the imperial physicians only need to examine the poisoning route carefully."

She turned her gaze to the physicians: "May I ask, doctors, how did the poison enter?"

The chief imperial physician bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Empress, after investigation, the Princess and the Consort were not poisoned through food."

"We suspect… perhaps it was caused by skin contact."

Wan Tang immediately replied, "The Empress's mind is meticulous; she knows that direct poisoning is easily detected."

"Therefore, she ordered someone to quietly sprinkle arsenic powder onto the clothing Hui Guifei changed today!"

Xie Taiyi also stepped forward, saying that when he arrived, he happened to catch a sneaking palace maid.

He then summoned a laundry bureau maid who had been waiting outside the hall.

The maid knelt trembling, confessed without hesitation, saying she was ordered by the senior maid of Kunning Palace.

She sprinkled a packet of powder onto Hui Guifei's clothing and received a generous reward.

Xiao Mingshu heard this, her face turned pale at first, then as if she had grasped a lifeline.

She shouted in a harsh voice, "Nonsense!"

Chu Yunzheng cast a cold, indifferent glance and said, "Investigate!"

The imperial physicians immediately went to the Side Hall to examine, and a moment later reported, "Your Majesty, we have carefully inspected Hui Guifei's discarded clothing and found no trace of any toxin."

Xiao Mingshu instantly let out a sigh of relief, and a hint of color returned to her face.

She suddenly pointed at Wan Tang, her voice laced with post‑catastrophe madness and venom, "Emperor, did you hear? There is no poison on the clothing at all."

"It's that scoundrel; she colluded with that lowly maid to frame me."

"I humbly beg the Emperor to immediately execute this treacherous consort."

She said this while struggling to rise, as if mad, trying to lunge at Wan Tang.

"Empress, why the haste?" Wan Tang remained unruffled, even a cold curve forming at the corner of her mouth, "There is no poison on Hui Guifei's clothes… what about the inner side of your Phoenix Robe sleeve?"

The words caused the entire hall to gasp in shock.

Chu Yunzheng's gaze sharpened, and the guards stepped forward.

Ignoring Xiao Mingshu's screaming struggle, they forcibly restrained her.

An imperial physician stepped forward, gently scraping the inner side of her sleeve with a silver needle, which instantly turned jet‑black.

The evidence was conclusive.

Wan Tang looked at the blackened needle, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "Repeating the old trick… back then, Consort Qi's handkerchief was poisoned; today the Empress's sleeve hides poison."

"The method may be hackneyed, but it works just as well."

"Impossible—what's going on?" Xiao Mingshu asked, bewildered.

She also knew this was not the time for her to argue.

No one would listen to whatever she said.

Xiao Mingshu's face was ashen, yet she made a final struggle, shrieking, "Even if… even if my sleeve is poisoned, what then?!"

"How could I have poisoned them from such a distance?!"

"Could I have personally fed them poison?!"

"This is the crux," Wan Tang said, no longer looking at her, turning to the physician, "May I ask, based on the onset time and symptoms of Hui Guifei and the Princess, when were they poisoned?"

The silent Xie Taiyi stepped forward, clasped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, according to our judgment, if the Princess and the Consort were poisoned with such potent arsenic while in the Cold Palace, it would be impossible for the toxin to remain dormant until they returned to Jingren Palace."

"By now it had already… In reality, the Princess at first only vomited milk, appearing to have a stomach upset."

"Hui Guifei, on the other hand, was exhausted and startled, fainting briefly."

"The true toxicity manifested only after returning to Jingren Palace, and thanks to timely discovery, they could be rescued."

Wan Tang took over, her gaze as sharp as a blade, aiming at Xiao Mingshu: "That explains it."

"Empress, you pretended to step forward to show concern when Sister Hui Guifei collapsed and everyone was in a panic assisting and checking her."

"Seizing the chance, you used your poisoned sleeve to brush Minghui's little face."

"Or perhaps you 'supported' Sister Hui Guifei… passing the poison unnoticed!"

"In this way, the poison's onset is naturally delayed, and everyone would think the toxin originated in my Cold Palace."

"What a brilliant move—transplanting a flower onto a tree, killing two birds with one stone!"

Wan Tang fell silent at the right moment, lowered her gaze and stood quietly, handing the stage entirely over to the Emperor.

She knows that the sharpest knife is often the Emperor's own suspicion.

The tangled threads of the Former Dynasty and the harem, together with the Xiao Family's ever‑growing ambition, have now become silent poisoned thorns, piercing Chu Yunzheng's suspicious heart.

Chu Yunzheng's face was as still as water, beneath which roiled a storm of raging waves.

His gaze at Xiao Mingshu was no longer that of a criminal consort, but an examination of a potential disaster that could shake his realm.

"Xiao Mingshu…" his voice was low, yet it struck each heart, "You truly have earned my respect."

At that moment, Ouyang Qing hurried in, his expression solemn as he reported, "Your Majesty, the Duke of Ning seeks an audience outside the palace."

"The Duke has heard of the Noble Consort's matter, his worry burning, and has arrived at the palace gate!"

Chu Yunzheng's brows tightened abruptly, a genuine fear and gravity flashing in his eyes.

The Duke of Ning, not only a pillar of the nation with outstanding merits, is also Hui Guifei's father; both publicly and privately, he holds him in great respect, even reverence.

He immediately asked in a stern voice, "Who leaked this information to the Duke?!"

He ordered this matter strictly sealed, fearing to disturb the Old Minister.

Xiao Mingshu's face was expressionless, her whole body trembling, stammering, "I… I was thinking, what if Sister Hui Guifei's younger sister… meets a tragic end."

"The Duke, as a father, if he cannot see her, would that not be the greatest human sorrow?"

"I… I only meant goodwill…"

"Goodwill?" Chu Yunzheng's voice was so cold it could freeze blood; he stared at Xiao Mingshu as if to see through her, "I never knew when the Empress became so 'far‑seeing' and 'considerate'."

"Are you truly afraid the Duke does not know, or are you deliberately trying to exploit the Duke's love for his daughter to stir a bigger storm?"

"Do you intend to drive the Ning family apart from me?"

These questions point straight to the core, heavy as a mountain.

If proven true, it would be a great crime of overturning!

Xiao Mingshu was so frightened she almost fainted, and could only shake her head with tears and sobs: "Subject does not dare, Subject would never have such thoughts, Emperor!"

Chu Yunzheng no longer watched her clumsy performance; he took a deep breath.

Suppressing the surging emotions, he said in a low voice to Ouyang Qing: "Immediately summon the Duke of Ning."