Chapter 107: How could you doubt little sister?

Mu Yuanzhi didn't wait for Qilin to answer, she hurriedly spoke up in defense of her junior martial brother: "Father Emperor…"

"I want to hear him speak!" the Son of Heaven said in a deep voice, cutting off Mu Yuanzhi's words; she had no choice but to fall silent, anxiously looking at Qilin.

Qilin stubbornly raised his head: "Your Majesty, the medicinal cuisine I prepared is naturally fine; the broken intestine grass inside must have been swapped with a similar gan ning grass by someone!"

"Who prepared the herbal medicine today?" the Son of Heaven said, his eyes cold as he swept a glance over everyone.

"Your Majesty, it's me!" a newly arrived Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau stammered as he knelt.

"Your Majesty, this is the newly arrived Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau, who has been here less than a few days," an Imperial Physician said.

The Son of Heaven snorted coldly: "As the Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau, can't you even distinguish between a harmful poison and a beneficial medicine?"

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty! It's only because the broken intestine grass and gan ning grass look almost identical and are both tasteless! I always prepare the medicinal cuisine according to the ingredients sent from Wuming Palace; I've never made a mistake—I never expected someone to swap it for poison!" the Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau kowtowed repeatedly in fright.

"Qilin, did you personally gather and prepare these medicinal concoctions?" the Son of Heaven asked in a low voice.

Qilin blinked, unable to refute: "Indeed it is."

"Bold Qilin! Do you have anything else to say?!" the Son of Heaven flew into a rage immediately.

"Father Emperor! This bowl of medicinal cuisine has passed through many hands, and there are many suspects! Qilin would never harm our great-grandmother—otherwise he wouldn't have stepped in to save her!" Mu Yuanzhi defended Qilin.

At that moment, Pei Yunxi spoke up: "We can go search Wuming Palace right now to see what's going on and where the mistake occurred."

As soon as she opened the door, Mu Yuanzhi was certain it was her doing, she glared over with a vicious stare, her eyes full of malice.

Pei Yunxi! It's that wretched woman again!

Mu Yuanzhi's gaze was too frightening, unabashed; Pei Yunxi shrank back in fear, but she immediately realized that Pei Shangling was standing behind her—didn't that mean he could see Mu Yuanzhi's glare crystal clear?

Pei Yunxi thought darkly to herself.

Actually, Pei Shangling hadn't seen it; he was preoccupied.

It really was too much of a coincidence!

Little sister had only gone to Wuming Palace two days ago, and today Wuming Palace has met with disaster…

Even though he desperately denied it in his heart and scolded himself for thinking such things about little sister, he still couldn't help but connect these associations.

In his mind it seemed as if two utterly opposing voices were arguing; one voice kept saying that little sister had been truly strange that day, arriving at Wuming Palace in the dead of night, her answers halting and hesitant when questioned.

The other voice said little sister hadn't gone to Wuming Palace for no reason; she was suffering from insomnia and had even given the sour jujube seeds to the servants, leaving her no choice but to go to Wuming Palace.

These two voices kept trying to convince each other, arguing until his head ached.

When he finally came to his senses, the people who had returned from searching the palace presented all the remaining broken intestine grass to the Son of Heaven.

Look, it's indeed Qilin—this little brat is nothing but a sneaky, petty villain!

Pei Shangling thought that, yet he felt no relief; instead, his doubts grew ever more.

Who in the world would be so foolish as to commit a misdeed and not destroy the evidence, waiting to be caught?!

It feels as if it were deliberately left behind, and the one who just suggested searching the palace was little sister…

No, no, no, Pei Shangling, you've really gone mad! Little sister is clever! How can you keep suspecting her?!

"Father Emperor! This is obviously someone framing him!" Mu Yuanzhi said, looking at Pei Yunxi: "Someone must have secretly swapped the gan ning grass from Wuming Palace! If my junior martial brother had done it, he would have destroyed the evidence long ago—who would be so stupid as to leave such a handle?!"

Her words were exactly what Pei Shangling was thinking.

But Pei Shangling said nothing, just standing there.

Pei Yunxi said: "Perhaps this is what they mean by 'the heavenly net is vast, yet it lets nothing slip'? How pitiful that our great-grandmother, at her age, should suffer such a fate!"

As she spoke, Pei Yunxi burst into tears.

"Senior sister is right," Qilin said, "I personally inspected the medicinal ingredients that were sent over; they were all correct. To be swapped with poison for no reason—there's no doubt someone deliberately framed him, causing the Grand Empress Dowager to suffer this crime!" Qilin also looked at Pei Yunxi.

Everyone senior sister thought it was Pei Yunxi, so it must be Pei Yunxi!

The ever-silent Zhang Mama spoke up: "Your Majesty, the urgent priority is to save the Grand Empress Dowager; the rest can be discussed later!"

She simply couldn't bear to see the Grand Empress Dowager like this—her face wan, her breathing faint.

The Grand Empress Dowager had always been healthy, but ever since she was afflicted with gu poison she has gradually waned; although she had been recovering well under Young Master Qilin's care, now…

She simply could not believe that Young Master Qilin had done this; if he had, why would he have bothered to save the Grand Empress Dowager in the first place? This makes no sense at all.

The only explanation is that she was framed!

And that person… Zhang Mama glanced around everyone, her gaze finally landing on Pei Yunxi, her eyes instantly turning sharp.

Only Pei Yunxi, who constantly opposes Princess Mu Yuanzhi, could be the culprit!

After all, ever since just now this woman has been unusually proactive, as if she knew the inside story—who else could it be?

Too bad there's no proof; as a mere servant she can't really do anything.

The Son of Heaven nodded in deep agreement: "Indeed so; first, let's detain Qilin!"

Pei Yunxi said: "Father Emperor, why not first confine him to the Eternal Lane? I believe that imprisoning him in the Imperial Court of Justice before a verdict would damage Your Majesty's dignity."

In the Eternal Lane she could easily tamper with things, but in the Imperial Court of Justice her influence would hardly reach that far.

"No way!" Mu Yuanzhi objected strongly: "Father Emperor, only Qilin can cure the gu poison afflicting our great-grandmother!"

"But older sister, your junior martial brother is now a major suspect in plotting to harm our great-grandmother—how could we possibly feel at ease letting him treat her?"

Mu Yuanzhi glared at Pei Yunxi, then said to the Son of Heaven: "Father Emperor, the toxin of broken intestine grass isn't hard to neutralize; I have already steadied our great-grandmother's pulse just now. As long as the small kitchen finishes preparing the medicine, giving it to her will suffice."

"Detaining him in the Eternal Lane won't hurt anything; perhaps by then someone will own up!" the Son of Heaven remained unmoved.

He had made up his mind to suspect Qilin.

"Father Emperor!" This time Pei Shangling spoke up: "Father Emperor, why not entrust Qilin to me for investigation? I will surely get to the bottom of things."

"No way!" Mu Yuanzhi exclaimed in agitation: "The Fourth Prince is completely unqualified to preside over the trial!"

Handing Qilin over to Pei Shangling is hardly different from sending him to his death!

Recalling everything from her past life, Mu Yuanzhi broke out in a cold sweat.

We absolutely cannot hand Qilin over to Pei Shangling!

"What do you mean I lack the qualifications?!" Pei Shangling instinctively shouted in protest, but then he recalled that dream, and his indignation instantly drained away.

At the same time, Mu Yuanzhi's excitement, which differed from that of ordinary people, also left him puzzled.

Why is she so opposed? Could it be that she also knows this dream?