Chapter 792 - Shuqis Death (1/2)

Shao Wanru was not afraid of being questioned because she really had not touched any medicine.

“Tell me, what happened after Fifth Miss came in?” The general steward’s face darkened.

The palace maid stammered in a hurry, “Yes… the Fifth Miss didn’t touch my… medicine jar. She just… just glanced at it and then left after sitting at the table for a while. She didn’t touch my medicine jar and I… didn’t leave either!”

“Miss Shao, why did you let your servant girl ask the palace maid to get some water instead of directly asking your servant girl to do this?” The general steward turned to look at Shao Yanru coldly and said.

He asked this on behalf of the Empress.

“I… I don’t know… I don’t know about this…” Shao Yanru covered her face to cry again.

“Bring that servant girl in!” The general steward sternly said.

Shuqi was brought in. She had been kneeling outside before, and her whole body was trembling for being cold and scared. After she came in, her feet went weak, and she knelt on the ground with a pale face.

“Tell me why you didn’t go to find water yourself but asked the palace maid who was boiling the medicine to do that?” The general steward looked at Shuqi, who was scared out of her wits and asked.

Shao Wanru looked down at Shuqi’s expression. Shuqi was almost numbed and her eyes were full of panic. Hearing the general steward’s question, she answered in a hurry, “I… just arrived in the palace, so there is something I don’t know clearly. Miss… needs a pot of hot water, and this palace maid has done this before, … not the first time today.”

“You used to get the hot water too?” The general steward asked the palace maid.

“Yes… yes… it was the same in the past, but only today she came to ask me to get it… when I was boiling medicine!” The palace maid said in a trembling voice.

Shao Yanru and her servant lived in the Phoenix Palace of the Empress. Even though they lived in a remote side hall, it was still in the Phoenix Palace. The master and servant were quite sensible. They asked the people in the palace to help do things that were inconvenient for them to do so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.

With a gloomy face, the Empress turned her eyes from Shao Wanru’s face to Shao Yanru’s face and felt that Shao Yanru was good at bewitching by cajolery. Why had not she noticed before that the First Miss Shao was a seductive girl like a siren? It was said that she was dignified and decent, but if true, she wouldn’t be dressed like this.

She had been badly hurt like this, but she didn’t wear more clothes to keep warm or dress to be comfortable. Now she even tied her waist so thin to show her good figure, which didn’t seem that she was recuperating.

A cold smile appeared on the Empress’s lips. It was not that difficult for Shao Yanru to enter the palace because the Empress would let her enter the palace, but Shao Yanru’s status in the palace would not be guaranteed.

Those who came to the imperial palace might not be able to become the Emperor’s favorite concubines, because there was no shortage of beautiful women in the imperial palace. Even though Shao Yanru had an outstanding appearance, she could not necessarily be favored by the Emperor, not to mention her ambiguous reputation.

It was quiet in the room. “Your Grace, I have something to report!” The imperial physician suddenly said. He had been paying attention to the wrapping paper.

“Speak out!” Said the Empress. She would not leave until something was found out.

The Emperor’s intention just now was to ask her to investigate it clearly, which meant that he was suspicious of this. Originally, she had been wondering why the Emperor suddenly got involved with Shao Yanru. Now that she knew that there was an aphrodisiac powder in the room, how could she not understand?

After the imperial physician had come, the curtain at the door had been lifted high and the powder had spread out a lot.

But even so, the Empress still felt much dryness-heat in her body, which meant that the powder had been used a lot in this room.

“Your Grace, this medicine paper bag doesn’t seem to be newly wrapped. It seems to have been wrapped for a long time because the folding marks inside are very clear. I remember that the medicine was brought here yesterday, so it’s impossible to have clear folding marks. That’s why it seemingly has been wrapped for a long time!”

Finding such a big problem, the imperial physician immediately felt comfortable.

It was not difficult for him to find this. In fact, it was because he had seen Shao Wanru keep looking at the wrapping paper in his hand and muttering to herself, “This folding mark…”

She said in a very low voice, but the imperial physician had been paying attention to Shao Wanru and standing beside her. After hearing what she said to herself, he immediately understood.

As an imperial physician, he had always dealt with medicine. Even if he was not quite familiar with folding marks, he could still speculate something from this. The medicine was obviously not taken today, and it must have been prepared a long time ago.

Shao Yanru’s heart was in a mess, and she lowered her head in a panic, lest her fear would be discovered by others. She was really scared!

She only felt that the wound on her chest was burning, making her breathless. Her wound had not been fully recovered yet, and she forced herself to stand up this time. At this moment, she only felt desperate with cold limbs. Could it be that the things she did had really been discovered?

“Come on, take this servant girl away for interrogation.” The Empress had coldly made this decision. This servant girl named Shuqi was the only person who had the possibility to add the powder, and she worked for Shao Yanru.

“Your Highness, it is impossible for Shuqi to hurt me. Your Highness…” Shao Yanru had to cry loudly and plead with the Empress for mercy, but the Empress ignored her!