In the Imperial Study, the rich aroma of ambergris wafted from a gold-inlaid beast-shaped incense burner, permeating the air.
The finest silver frost charcoal made the room as warm as spring, yet Prince Shun felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave.
He had just entered the Imperial Study when the Longshun Emperor struck his head with a paperweight, causing crimson blood to seep from his temple.
As he stood in shock, the Longshun Emperor's voice rang out, filled with rage: "Third brother, you are truly audacious! How dare you plot to harm my imperial sons!"
"Guards, take Prince Shun to Zhao Prison to await punishment!"
Hearing this, Prince Shun, ignoring the pain of his wound, immediately knelt down in terror: "Please investigate clearly, Your Majesty. Your brother is innocent!"
He had indeed tried various ways to harm Li Shuchen and Li Shuyu, and had even used poison before.
But last night, it truly wasn't him!
He was wrongly accused!
He was as pure as the snow outside!
Who on earth was framing him?
@&# ...... (Omitting a section filled with profanities.)
But now was not the time for cursing.
After regaining his composure, Prince Shun quickly pulled out a certificate from the Tailai Silver Bank from his waist and respectfully handed it to the Longshun Emperor.
"Your Majesty, I have always looked to you for guidance, only wishing to be a wealthy prince living in leisure. I can't wait to dote on my two nephews, how could I want to harm them? This is the New Year's money I prepared for them. Please pass it on to them."
The Longshun Emperor skillfully took the certificate, unfolded it to see the amount, and his expression softened slightly.
Seizing this opportunity, Prince Shun prostrated himself on the ground and said in an aggrieved tone: "Someone must be deliberately framing me. Please believe me, Your Majesty."
"Over these years, my only wish has been to earn more silver to serve you well, Your Majesty."
"Look, I've lost an arm now and have no hope for the latter half of my life. How could I covet things that don't belong to me?"
The Longshun Emperor's gaze fell on his empty sleeve, then he rubbed the certificate in his hand a few times. He dismissed the Imperial Guards who had come in response to his call, and instead threw the confessions from the Three Judicial Offices at him.
"How do you explain these?"
The thin pages fluttered to the ground. This meant the Longshun Emperor was willing to give him a chance to defend himself.
Prince Shun crawled over on all fours, picked up the pages one by one, and quickly scanned them.
From a series of confessions, he pieced together a complete story.
The Imperial Chef responsible for roasting venison in the imperial kitchen was someone the Longshun Emperor had recruited from the Jinyu Building during an incognito visit. The Jinyu Building was a property of Prince Shun's estate.
The chef confessed that Prince Shun had sent someone to give him a packet of salt, instructing him to use it specifically for roasting the venison for the second prince.
The second prince was young, so his portion of venison was smaller and easily distinguishable. However, unexpectedly, the second prince suddenly left his seat, and the venison was casually given to Li Shuchen by the Longshun Emperor.
Reading this, the veins on the back of Prince Shun's hand bulged as he tightly gripped the paper, creasing it.
"Nonsense!"
It was true that the chef came from the Jinyu Building, but it was the Longshun Emperor who had specifically requested him, not something he had offered voluntarily. In fact, he hadn't wanted to provide the chef at all.
He had feared exactly this kind of situation - if anything went wrong with this chef, he would be implicated to some extent.
So, he had privately tried to eliminate the chef to prevent future troubles.
Who would have thought that not only did he fail, but he was also bitten back by the chef.
Prince Shun was like a mute swallowing bitter herbs, unable to voice his grievances.
He couldn't possibly tell his imperial brother that all this happened because he had sent someone to kill the chef, which resulted in the chef holding a grudge and falsely accusing him.
If he were to tell the truth, the Emperor would likely be even more enraged, blaming him for overreaching.
Prince Shun's face was full of frustration as he continued to read the next confession.
A vegetable-washing maid named Baozhen testified that before the banquet, she had personally seen the head eunuch from Guanju Palace visit the imperial kitchen.
Guanju Palace was where Prince Shun's imperial mother resided.
Before the New Year, he had sent a sum of money to his mother, instructing Eunuch Liu in her palace to take care of the imperial kitchen staff during the New Year, to ensure that the chefs, busy with the imperial banquet, wouldn't neglect or slight his mother's meals.
He hadn't expected that this filial act would indirectly corroborate that he had the opportunity to contact people in the imperial kitchen that day.
Prince Shun was so furious he could grind his teeth.
The person behind this had truly thought it through meticulously. The testimonies contained both truths and lies, not completely fabricated.
This greatly increased their credibility.
However, there were still loopholes to exploit. Prince Shun calmly looked at the third confession.
The densely written small characters detailed why the food taster hadn't been affected, while Prince An had been poisoned.
It turned out that the food taster had a tooth extracted on the inside, where he had hidden an antidote.
Compared to the chef, the food taster was initially very tight-lipped.
No matter how severely he was tortured, he refused to confess.
It wasn't until the officials brought in his partner, a palace maid, that he finally spoke.
According to his confession, Prince Shun had once accidentally encountered him being bullied by other eunuchs and had stepped in to save him, teaching the older eunuch a lesson.
Since then, he had secretly worked for Prince Shun.
He had his tooth extracted and hid the antidote so that he wouldn't give himself away during the food tasting, allowing the poisoned venison to successfully reach the table.
Every word in the confession was like a thorn, piercing deeply into Prince Shun's heart.
This hidden chess piece was one he hadn't even used yet, and somehow it had ended up on someone else's chessboard without his knowledge.
He truly didn't understand why the food taster would betray him after receiving his kindness.
Why had he suddenly turned against him?
Was it really for a woman?
Or had he discovered the truth?
In fact, the reason the food taster had been "bullied" by the older eunuch for several years was entirely on his instructions, so that he could then show kindness and win him over.
The knife he had personally sharpened had now turned against him.
The complete chain of evidence caught Prince Shun off guard.
He didn't know how to defend himself for a moment.
But he was truly innocent!
Seeing his silence, the Longshun Emperor thought: Silence is admission!
"Guards! Take Prince Shun to Zhao Prison to await punishment!"
The familiar words fell on his ears again, but unfortunately, Prince Shun hadn't brought enough silver notes today and had no extra money to buy a second chance to defend himself.
He was "escorted" to Zhao Prison by the Imperial Guards.
He could only hope that his advisors would come up with a good plan, and that Shan'er and Xiu'er would rescue him soon.
While Prince Shun was feeling angry, furious, and helpless, Qi Huan was experiencing the same emotions.
When she went to deliver folic acid to Young Madam Song, she learned of a shocking piece of news.
Young Madam Song, pregnant, actually wanted to "open the face" of her chief maid Shuyu, allowing her to serve Song Jingcheng in her place.
Although such practices were common in this era, Qi Huan still couldn't accept it.
"Sister-in-law, you're having such a difficult pregnancy, unable to keep food down and constantly nauseous. Why aren't you focusing on taking care of yourself and the baby, instead of worrying about whether someone is serving my cousin?"
Young Madam Song knew she was speaking up for her, so she affectionately held her hand. Just as she was about to speak, another wave of nausea hit her.
Shuyu quickly handed her a cup of strong tea.
Qi Huan frowned at the sight and took the teacup, but didn't pass it to Young Madam Song.
She had, after all, studied a small stack of medical books.
Although it was harmless for pregnant women to occasionally drink light tea, it was best not to drink such strong tea.
Qi Huan handed the teacup to Nanny Xu, who was standing nearby, thinking to herself: Shuyu is young and doesn't understand these things, but shouldn't Nanny Xu know better?
Noticing the doubt in her eyes, Nanny Xu said with difficulty: "The Madam says the nausea is too unbearable, and only strong tea can suppress it. This......"
Qi Huan simply explained directly that pregnant women should not consume too much strong tea.
After hearing her words, Young Madam Song immediately changed her request: "From now on, replace all tea with plain boiled water."
Once the seed of doubt is planted, it begins to take root and sprout. Qi Huan concealed the inquiry in her eyes and pretended to be naive: "Sister-in-law, I want to tell you something in private. Could you ask them all to leave first?"
