Chapter 118: Someone must be framing Xi'er

Mu Yuanzhi nodded: "Exactly, I smelled it too, thank you for the trouble, Physician Zhou."

"Princess, you're too polite, it's just my duty," Physician Zhou said with a smile.

At this moment, Qi Shihuai also came out from inside; from his expression, it seemed he had found nothing, and Pei Yunxi was about to sigh in relief when she heard him say: "We didn't find anything in the search, but why does the soil in the rear courtyard show traces of having been blown up by explosives?"

He said while spreading the soil in his palm.

Pei Yunxi's face paled for a moment, but she quickly said: "This is from the firecrackers I made myself explode; surely that's not allowed either, General Qi?"

"I didn't say it's not allowed, Your Highness, why are you in such a hurry?" Qi Shihuai asked, amused.

Pei Yunxi gritted her teeth in silence, hateful traitor! No respect for rank!

Mu Yuanzhi seemed to already know what this was; surely Pei Yunxi was testing the power of the explosives she had made here, to see if they were suitable for detonation in the Ministry of Works.

Unfortunately, all they found was some scorched soil.

However, this jar containing the Southern Border Red Spider was enough for her to explain.

"His Majesty approaches!"

Suddenly, a sharp cry of "His Majesty approaches!" broke the existing atmosphere in the air.

Usually hearing those words meant it was Pei Yunxi's time to show off, but today she grew even more panicked, for what she feared most was facing the Son of Heaven.

Noble Consort De brought the Emperor hurrying over; hearing that her daughter had been put under house arrest and was to be searched, she could not stay seated, especially since her son had already been imprisoned and she had lost her appetite, now she had to risk incurring the Emperor's wrath to plead with him.

Of course she made her request proper, telling the Emperor that his personal supervision would be better.

As Noble Consort De looked upon the palace in utter disarray, she immediately felt heartbroken to death; she had come too late, and Xi'er must have suffered endless injustice!

Thinking this, Noble Consort De's gaze fell upon her daughter's wronged little face, and she hurried over to comfort her: "Xi'er, are you alright?"

"What could possibly happen during a palace search? My Weiyang Palace has already been searched twice." Mu Yuanzhi said leisurely.

Her implication was that Noble Consort De was making a fuss over nothing; hearing this, the Emperor turned his gaze toward mother and daughter.

Noble Consort De glared resentfully at Mu Yuanzhi, cradling Pei Yunxi in the crook of her arm as if fearing someone would snatch away her poor daughter; to those unaware, it looked as if Pei Yunxi had suffered some terrible fate.

Since the day Mu Yuanzhi threw away the swaddling cloth that Noble Consort De had brought, peddling familial affection, they had not seen each other again; this encounter felt like that of strangers.

Of course, this is from Mu Yuanzhi's perspective; from Noble Consort De's view, she always hopes Mu Yuanzhi will repent, out of regard for their years as mother and daughter, and not make things difficult for Pei Yunxi.

"What did you find?" the Emperor asked the Commander of the Imperial Guards; seeing Qi Shihuai also present, he frowned slightly and asked again: "Why is Lord Qi also here?"

"Your Majesty, this subordinate worried that the Commander of the Imperial Guards would not search the palace thoroughly; having extensive search experience, I came to help, and under my leadership we found no less than ten jars of the gu worms that Princess Yunxi keeps!"

Noble Consort De was so frightened she could hardly stand, and cold sweat instantly broke out on her palms.

What did he say?!

"Someone must be framing Xi'er, Your Majesty!" Noble Consort De immediately cried out in injustice, "Such a vicious thing, our Xi'er would never touch it!"

"Who would have such a vicious heart to use this method to frame her Xi'er? Could it be Zhiyan?!"

Hearing this, Mu Yuanzhi couldn't help but laugh.

"Well scolded!"

Pei Yunxi had originally wanted to stop Noble Consort De, but since she spoke too quickly, Pei Yunxi hastily tugged at her sleeve; Noble Consort De had no time for this, only anxious to explain.

"These, Yunxi has already told me, were given to her by a witch-doctor for self-defense; she said her third brother and great-grandmother had both been afflicted with gu poison, finding it frightening, so she kept these gu for emergencies; how is it that you, as her birth mother, didn't know about this?" the Emperor said, looking at Noble Consort De.

Noble Consort De pursed her lips, stared blankly at Pei Yunxi, then forced a smile: "Is that so? I, your servant, had no idea; this child really is something, keeping such dangerous things without even telling her birth mother..."

Her face burned with pain.

What she had just said was completely a boomerang that struck her daughter's face.

Qi Shihuai's mouth twitched; such a lame excuse, does the Emperor really believe it? Impossible.

So it's a cover-up, then?

"Your Majesty, this is one; furthermore, a jar carrying the scent of the Southern Border Red Spider was also found buried secretly in Princess Yunxi's bedchamber, which Princess Yuanzhi and Physician Zhou both confirmed truly smelled of the Southern Border Red Spider."

Qi Shihuai added.

Noble Consort De's heart jolted; what does this mean? Why would this happen?

The Emperor's expression changed abruptly; he said nothing, but gestured for the guards holding the jar to come forward.

Pei Yunxi's heart felt like it was about to leap out of her throat.

The Emperor examined the jar, unsure whether he was observing or pondering; after a long while he finally looked toward Pei Yunxi and said: "Xi'er, what is going on here?"

"Father Emperor, I really don't know either." Pei Yunxi had thought long and hard, could not come up with a steady solution, so she simply feigned ignorance: "Perhaps it was some palace servant... maybe the Southern Border Red Spider in Vermilion Bird Lake was released by that very servant!"

As she spoke, her conviction faded; the excuse was too far-fetched, even she found it laughable, let alone the Father Emperor—he surely would not believe it.

Noble Consort De naturally didn't believe it either; she couldn't understand—could it be that her daughter didn't know this spider was poisonous, carelessly raised it, and it then ran to Vermilion Bird Lake? But Vermilion Bird Lake lies far in Shanglin Park; could the spider really crawl that far without being noticed?!

She simply could not make sense of it.

"Your Majesty..."

The Emperor waved his hand, signaling Noble Consort De to hold her tongue.

Noble Consort De now deeply regretted bringing the Emperor here; if this matter were kept behind closed doors in Xuanshi Hall, the Emperor's partiality toward Xi'er would not have become known to so many.

But everything still depends on the Emperor's wishes.

"If that's the case, first thoroughly investigate all the palace servants in Changle Palace!"

The Emperor's words instantly relieved Noble Consort De and Pei Yunxi.

Indeed, the Emperor/Father Emperor is on their side!

As expected, the answer was predictable, but Mu Yuanzhi still felt relieved, after all Pei Yunxi's hypocritical visage had once again been exposed beyond doubt.

After all, anyone with a brain knows what's going on.

"Yunxi, come with me to Xuanshi Hall; I have something to say to you." The Emperor said this, then turned and walked away with his hands behind his back.

Everyone knew the Emperor was in a foul mood, and each went their own way with their own thoughts.

Pei Yunxi felt anxious and uneasy, the dread in her heart unprecedented.

She knew the Father Emperor's words would certainly concern gu poison and the red spider toxin.

Pei Yunxi, feeling uneasy, gave a soft yes, then with head bowed followed behind the Son of Heaven and left.

Mu Yuanzhi also wanted to leave, but Qi Shihuai flashed to her side, smiling bewitchingly: "This subordinate has again resolved the Princess's predicament, yet the Princess still shows no response? Truly chilling."