Chapter 689: The Truth (1/2)
The little eunuch outside came over carefully and whispered a few words in the head steward's ear. Su Chi glanced at his teacher, and Su Ran stared at him and said, ”What are you looking at me for, do I still have to teach you?”
”Your Imperial Majesty, Imperial Prince Xu is outside the palace doors, requesting to see you!” Su Chi stepped forward, closing the gap, and reported the news brought to him by the little eunuch to the emperor.
”Oh, he's coming to us to find his person!” What should've come had come, but Zhu Junfan's heart was relaxed. He wondered if that guy would flip the Kunning Palace after finding out that his wife had been poisoned in the palace. Hopefully, he would give them some face after seeing that Xiaocao was still alive and kicking, and not make too embarrassing of a scene!
”Allowed!” Zhu Junfan gave Xiaocao a look. If Imperial Prince Xu, that boy, got angry, only this lass would be able to put out his fire!”
Yu Xiaocao was puzzled, ‘Your Imperial Majesty, my man is coming. What do you mean by giving me looks?'
”This subject greets the emperor!” Zhu Junyang’s steps were rushed and hurried. He had been waiting outside the palace for a long time and didn't see his little wife leave the palace, so he felt something was wrong. After entering the palace, he used his abilities to find out from Kunning Palace's maidservants and eunuchs that his wife had been poisoned. He was so anxious, he almost ‘flew’ in.
Upon entering Kunning Palace, he looked for his wife. He saw her rosy cheeks and that she was sitting safe and sound in the warmed partition in the east side of the room. Only then did his anxious heart finally calm down.
”Husband...hubby...my lord!” Yu Xiaocao's address for her man changes three times in a row. The first address wasn't appropriate for the moment. The second address was too embarrassing, so she finally settled on the third address. When she read transmigration novels in the past, the female leads always addressed the male leads, who had high ranks or were princes, like that. She thought it was pretty interesting at the time.
As soon as the emperor's ‘you may rise’ came out, he saw Zhu Junyang taking long strides towards Xiaocao's side in two or three steps. The prince took her hand and looked at her romantically for a while before asking, ”Is the poison gone?” This guy, how did he find out his wife was poisoned? Did he have eyes and ears in the palace?
Yu Xiaocao didn't answer the question and exclaimed in happy surprise, ”Oh right! Your Imperial Majesty, I have an idea! My lord is the best at judging those tight-lipped tough guys. Let him help, maybe we'll have a breakthrough with the case!”
“Oh? You have so much faith in your man!” Zhu Junfan didn’t have much hope. Even Su Ran didn’t have any ideas. Could his cousin open someone’s head and pick at their brains?
Yu Xiaocao had a completely confident expression on her face as she proudly said, “Of course! He’s my husband, if I don’t believe in him, who would I believe in?”
Zhu Junyang saw that she still had the energy to argue with the emperor and the rest of his unease was resolved. Hearing what Xiaocao just said, he frowned and said, “What? You still haven’t found the poisoner? They’ve hidden pretty deep! Your Imperial Majesty, this subject is willing to assist with the investigation!”
“Your Imperial Majesty, the evening meal is ready!” Su Chi’s voice rang out once again.
Zhu Junfan waved at his cousin and cousin-in-law, “Junyang hasn’t eaten yet right? Eat some to fill your stomach first before talking about this case! Earlier your wife said people can’t function on an empty stomach. Skipping a meal will cause extreme hunger! The emperor doesn’t send out hungry soldiers, come! Eat with us!”
The dinner was arranged in the Flower Hall in the warmed area of the western side of the room. Zhu Junyang wasn’t an outsider so the emperor didn’t pay attention to the formalities. When dining, not just the empress was present, even the Imperial Prince Zhu Hanwen was called over. After all, he was regarded as the successor to the country, being cultivated for so many years, and he would’ve been an easy target for the traitors.
Nearly half the chefs and workers in the Imperial Kitchen were arrested. Everyone was panicking, so only the Head Chef of the Imperial Kitchen was calm enough to make a table full of presentable food for dinner.
The dinner couldn’t be counted as extravagant as there were only eight dishes and one soup. Compared to the luxurious palace banquets in TV shows, it was simple. There was Eight Treasures Soup, braised shark fin, braised deer tendon, imperial court lucky meatballs, steamed chicken, shredded chicken with vegetables, sliced sea cucumbers, fresh shrimp balls, and stir-fried water bamboo.
Su Chi stood at one side with a silver needle, testing each of the dishes one by one. The dishes were only brought before the masters when the needle didn’t change colors. Xiaocao was already waiting with her chopsticks.
However, Zhu Junyang held down his wife’s impatient hands and picked up a piece of deer tendon, took a bite, and chewed it carefully. After waiting a moment with no reaction, he put it into Xiaocao’s bowl.
Xiaocao ate the warm deer tendon, blinked, and said, “Those pastries from this morning had slow-acting poison! My constitution is special and my tongue is sensitive to drugs so I could quickly detect it. Before the poison took its course I was able to take an antidote.” This meant that their method would only work on fast-acting poisons and not on slow-acting poisons.
Zhu Junfan reacted to this by saying, “Beloved subject, was your pain this morning just an act to test me?”
“No! How could I dare try to fool the emperor? Alright ah, it wasn’t all pretending. It was only half true and half faked. Your Majesty, I was really poisoned!” Yu Xiaocao ate the shrimp ball her man had picked for her, blinking her big eyes, pretending to be innocent.