Chapter 271: State Banquet: Part Two

State Banquet: 2

The ginseng soup is poisonous!

For a moment, everyone present was stunned! The situation was obvious: it must have been the young palace maid who delivered the ginseng soup; seeing the soup go to waste, she secretly drank it herself, but she didn't anticipate that her momentary greed would directly cost her life!

But if Nie Jinxuan, after opening the lid, had not felt nausea and instead drank it outright, then it would be clear that the one now bleeding from the seven orifices and dead on the ground is Nie Jinxuan herself!

All those present were shrewd, so in the blink of an eye they understood! The usually gentle Zhang Guifei's face turned extremely sour, Qiu Pingting widened her eyes in fright, Jin Jingwen pressed her lips in anger, as if the murderer were right before her, she would tear the culprit apart alive!

At that moment, after the brief shock, the Elegant Consort, standing aside, narrowed her angry eyes and raised her voice, shouting

"Bring the Imperial Kitchen staff here, and question each of them; let's see who has the audacity to plot against Princess An Guo…"

The Elegant Consort's anger was genuine. Yet at that moment, before she could finish speaking,

"Hold on!"

"What are you doing?"

Princess Li was displeased, but Zhang Guifei lowered her eyes, glanced at the dead young palace maid on the ground, then raised her gaze and said

"Now is the height of the state banquet; gathering all the Imperial Kitchen staff now would likely alarm the Emperor! If the matter spreads, wouldn't foreign envoys mock us? That would be terrible!"

Compared with Princess Li, Zhang Guifei was clearly thinking more. Hearing this, the still‑angry Princess Li blinked.

"Then… what should we do? We can't just leave it like this, can we?!"

"Of course not! This incident targets Nie Jinxuan, so it must be investigated thoroughly, or the repercussions will be endless!"

Speaking, Zhang Guifei glanced again at Princess Li, then at the silent Nie Jinxuan, and ordered the nearby Yu Zhu,

"Yu Zhu, go immediately with a team to the Imperial Kitchen to investigate; bring back anything suspicious, and try not to alarm the people ahead!"

By "the people ahead," Zhang Guifei meant the ministers and foreign envoys present at the banquet. Upon hearing this, Yu Zhu responded at once and hurried away. As soon as Yu Zhu left,

"Shui Yun, send people to interrogate all palace staff who passed through the Imperial Kitchen to Yongle Palace, looking for clues. Also, Lianxi, go to each palace gate and inquire who entered or left today, then check them one by one!"

Having lived her whole life in the palace, Zhang Guifei knew exactly how to handle such matters. Upon hearing Zhang Guifei's orders, Shui Yun and Lianxi responded immediately and set off to carry out the tasks.

…

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Guifei set the plans in motion. While she was doing so, Nie Jinxuan briefly examined the dead young palace maid's corpse; when she began investigating the ginseng soup, she frowned and said to the nearby palace maid Gan Cao,

"Gan Cao, go to the Imperial Medical Institute at once and fetch Doctor Zhou!"

"Ugh… yes, yes!"

Gan Cao was assigned to Nie Jinxuan's side only after Nie Jinxuan moved into Yongle Palace. Though Gan Cao was young and not particularly shrewd, she was obedient and honest, so when Nie Jinxuan ordered her, Gan Cao, though not fully understanding, hurriedly complied, lifted her skirt and ran out like the wind.

…

Because this sudden incident occurred, everyone lost any mood for jokes. After the corpse of the young palace maid was carried away, the group returned to the room. A short while later, Gan Cao came back with Doctor Zhou!

Doctor Zhou was the most knowledgeable about poisons among the physicians of the Imperial Medical Institute. At this moment, while waiting for Doctor Zhou,

"Doctor Zhou, I have summoned you specifically today to ask a favor! Please examine what has been added to this ginseng soup."

Nie Jinxuan didn't say the soup was poisonous, only that something was in it. Upon hearing this, the usually slow‑tempered Doctor Zhou blinked, then leisurely took the soup and began testing it.

He looked, smelled, and tried various reagents… after a lengthy examination, Doctor Zhou finally looked up and said

"Your Highness, if I am not mistaken, this ginseng soup contains Scorpion Grass!"

"Scorpion Grass?"

"Yes! Scorpion Grass is a deadly toxin; it seals wounds and causes bleeding, and if ingested it leads to the seven orifices bleeding to death!"

Doctor Zhou spoke solemnly, but then paused, and

"However, Princess, I recall that Scorpion Grass typically grows in the ancient cold lands of the Central Plains, and only the Western Di Kingdom has it; how could it—"

Doctor Zhou was puzzled. At that moment, when he mentioned that the toxin was Scorpion Grass and that it only came from the Western Di Empress, several people in the room simultaneously stared in shock, but then Jin Jingwen instantly burst with anger and said

"Hmph! It must be her, it must be Princess Xiao Lanshu!"

Jin Jingwen immediately thought of Xiao Lanshu. Hearing this, everyone present grew cold, and Nie Jinxuan first sent Doctor Zhou away, then said to Jin Jingwen

"Jin Jingwen, don't act rashly; just because there's a piece of Scorpion Grass, jumping to conclude the murderer is Princess Xiao Lanshu may be improper!"

The biggest pitfall in investigations is preconception; it gives the real culprit a chance. Hearing this, Jin Jingwen looked at Nie Jinxuan and said

"Sister Nie Jinxuan, I understand your point. But I truly can't think of anyone else besides her! Moreover, if it weren't for your great fortune today, you would be dead now! This is clearly aimed at you, and with such cruel methods, who else could it be but Princess Xiao Lanshu?"

"Exactly, Sister Xuan, I agree with Jin Jingwen! Apart from her, there truly is no one else!"

Qiu Pingting, like Jin Jingwen, clearly also concluded the murderer is Xiao Lanshu. Hearing this, Nie Jinxuan kept a slight frown, and Zhang Guifei, standing beside her, asked gently

"Nie Jinxuan, what are you thinking? Could there be another angle?"

Zhang Guifei was generally more composed. Until then, Nie Jinxuan only slightly pursed her lips

"Aunt, I indeed find this matter rather odd… Of course, I understand Jin Jingwen and Pingting's views, but poisoning the ginseng soup seems too simple, Aunt. Moreover, there are many throat‑sealing poisons—arsenic, hemlock, etc. —why choose Scorpion Grass, which exists only in the Western Di Kingdom? So I think this case is not as straightforward as it appears…"

Nie Jinxuan knows Xiao Lanshu's temperament well. Yet even so, she still finds many suspicious aspects in this case. Hearing this, the Elegant Consort widened her eyes and interjected

"Um… what does that mean? Could someone be framing her?"

Princess Li, though not very shrewd, had been in the palace long enough to know many twists. Hearing this, Jin Jingwen directly replied

"Oh dear, who would frame her?! Moreover, Sister Nie, you've seen Princess Xiao Lanshu several times; you know her nature—she kills without hesitation, is exceptionally cruel, and bold. What wouldn't she dare do? She also has motive, since she bears a grudge against you, so from every angle she is the most suspicious, indeed the only suspect!"

…

The poisoning of the ginseng soup today is, frankly, not very clever, but Jin Jingwen makes a good point, and precisely because it's unsophisticated, it seems like something Xiao Lanshu would do!

After all, Xiao Lanshu has motive, courage, a ruthless hand, and a direct method… Yet she is no fool; her hallmark is that she makes it obvious it was her, yet leaves no evidence!

Just as with the incident at the Tianyuan Inn, everyone understood internally but could not act against her. Even when they captured one of her followers, they have not received any news from Pei Yaoguang for days, clearly because that follower has not confessed!

But is that really the whole story?

Nie Jinxuan still harbored doubts, and for some reason, when she thought of today's poisoning, she recalled the various events during Emperor Shun Cheng's reign, which all shared a common trait: a clever manipulation of people's hearts!

She considered the victim's mindset, the perpetrator's style, and others' opinions… the only person she could think of was

Thus, recalling the dead young palace maid, the image of her bleeding from the seven orifices, Nie Jinxuan felt an indescribable sorrow!

Yet ultimately, Nie Jinxuan did not voice her suspicions. Soon after, Shui Yun, Lianxi, and Yu Zhu all returned, and then Yu Zhu stepped forward and said softly

【61】

"Your Ladyship, the Commandery Princess, this servant has just checked in the Imperial Kitchen and indeed found a palace maid named Hong'er acting suspiciously! But just as this servant was about to bring her over for questioning, that Hong'er committed suicide by poison!"

Frowning, Yuzhu explained the matter in detail. Upon hearing this, the people present also furrowed their brows, after all the person is dead, there are no witnesses, isn't this just letting Xiao Lanshu get away scot-free again?!