Chapter 521: The true culprit who poisoned the princess must be in the room!

She gently patted Changning's face; the killing intent in her eyes startled Changning so much that her whole body trembled.

She, she... could she possibly still want to kill herself?

Thinking that she had eavesdropped on her father saying that everything that happened at Ningyuan Temple was arranged and plotted by her, Princess Changning felt a surge of fear in her heart.

She thought that most of the Ningyuan Temple incident was merely a coincidence.

But looking at her methods now, could she really dare to commit murder and arson?

Li Qingluo: "Princess Changning, aren't you curious why, in Nan'an, so many merchants running taverns see me, a single woman, doing business thriving, yet none dare to really mix in and cause trouble?"

"Because of them, they simply have no chance to set foot in this Flower Pavilion Tavern!"

"Usually, not even a male mosquito can fly into the tavern; guess why?"

"My guards are the true bronze walls and iron barriers of this tavern!"

Letting her professional assassins serve as guards is nothing short of wasting talent.

She, Princess Changning, still thought this was her princess mansion!

Li Qingluo had Que'er watch over Changning, so she wouldn't keep squealing and causing annoyance.

Then she turned and asked the princess's maid, who had already been frightened into limpness, helplessly: "Has someone already been sent to fetch a female doctor?"

"What on earth happened? You speak first!"

Maid: "Already, already gone."

"Just, just while eating something, suddenly stomach pain wouldn't stop... then, then she collapsed onto the ground, ending up like this..."

Li Qingluo looked at the young ladies from each family.

"May I ask, is it really like that?"

Where have the young ladies ever seen such a scene?

In an instant, they all nodded in unison.

Li Qingluo had Que'er take Changning aside.

Then she laid the princess flat on the ground and reached out to feel her pulse.

Her breath had already grown somewhat weak.

Moreover, her complexion turned dark, her lips purple.

This is clearly a sign of poisoning!

Unfortunately, I have never systematically studied medicine, so I can only have the shopkeeper come over: "Hurry to the Sixth Prince's mansion."

She took out her own token and handed it to the shopkeeper.

After the shopkeeper turned and hurried away, Li Qingluo first poured out one emergency golden elixir that Grandfather Luo had left her.

Then she carefully fed it to the Seventh Princess.

Seeing that she actually dared to give the princess medicine, the other young ladies were frightened until their faces turned white.

"Miss Nangong, it's not that we look down on you, but this is a princess; how can you recklessly give her medicine?"

"Exactly, if something good or bad really happens from eating it, none of us can escape responsibility today!"

"Don't you also implicate us."

Li Qingluo's face sank completely, and she turned her head to look at everyone.

"Don't you all understand yet?"

"Today, none of you can escape."

Upon hearing her say that, everyone instantly wore a bewildered expression.

"How, how does this concern us?"

"Exactly, we are all innocent."

"Isn't this something that happened in your tavern? Even if the princess really meets with misfortune, being beheaded and having the family confiscated would be your affair; why do you want to implicate us?"

"I think you had better hurry and let us leave first!"

"Your Flower Pavilion Tavern is utterly unsafe—eating food can endanger one's life; now you even want to splash dirty water on us?"

In the panic, everyone spoke all at once and their formation fell into chaos.

Except for one person.

A maiden from the Cai family had been sitting quietly in place, silently staring at Li Qingluo, sizing her up.

When Li Qingluo faced the crowd's accusations and had not yet opened her mouth to explain, that Cai family maiden spoke first: "What she said is correct."

"If the princess really encounters good or bad today, our families will all find it hard to escape responsibility."

"Perhaps we will all be arrested and thrown into jail."

"If we leave now, we might still bear the charge of fleeing to avoid punishment; by then, those implicated would not just be us, but all the families behind us!"

"The charge of plotting to harm the princess will then bring the punishment of extermination of nine clans; if you wish to leave, think it over carefully."

The hall fell silent for a moment; all the maidens stared dumbfounded at Cai Jiuniang.

Some gradually became restless.

Some instead grew calm.

Some wore a look of bewilderment and helplessness, and even the more timid had already wiped away tears.

"What then should we do?"

"If I had known today would turn out like this, I wouldn't have gone out."

"This Flower Pavilion Tavern truly is a place of right and wrong!"

"If my father knew of today's affair, he would beat me to death even before the family was confiscated and exterminated!"

Seeing this, Cai Jiuniang involuntarily shook her head, lifted her eyes to Li Qingluo, and said: "From now on, it's up to Miss Nangong herself to speak."

Li Qingluo friendly nodded at her.

What should we do?

Naturally, before we get to the bottom of this, nobody is to leave the restaurant even a step. That way, once we find the true culprit, won't you all be cleared?

A noble lady immediately shouted: "The princess met with misfortune in your restaurant. You're the one least able to escape responsibility—are you saying investigating the true culprit is just a way to shift blame?"

Li Qingluo: "The real culprit was never me—how could I be shifting blame?"

Enough!

Ladies, anyone with a bit of sense would find today's culprit easy to uncover.

It's just those still inside this restaurant.

The culprit must also still be in this very room!

As soon as she said that, a lady involuntarily gasped.

In this room?

How is that possible?

Looks like Miss Nangong intends to investigate the case herself?

Is she really that capable?

Hah, better wait for the Ministry of Justice to arrive.

By then we'll be able to speak clearly? However, the servant who went out has already gone to notify the imperial physician, so the officials will probably be here soon…

So what are we to do, then?

Let's wait and see what she ends up doing.

The noble ladies chatted on, then fell silent, all staring at Li Qingluo, waiting for her to continue.

Li Qingluo stood and paced twice around the hall: "If the food at my Huaxie Restaurant were truly poisonous, why would only the princess show signs of poisoning?"

Could it be that what you ate differed from what the princess ate?

But I just glanced over everything, and the food on your tables and the princess's table are almost identical.

Upon saying that, everyone began to discuss again.

Yes, that makes sense. If someone had poisoned the food, we all ate the same thing!

But that's different—what if only the princess's portion was poisoned?

Li Qingluo chuckled: "You're right."

It must be that only the princess's serving was poisoned alone.

Li Qingluo said, turning her head to look at the princess's place setting.

Cai Jiuniang: "Miss Nangong, you earlier said the princess's poisoning had nothing to do with your restaurant, yet now you say the princess's food is indeed poisonous."

This… what exactly do you mean?