A carriage stopped at the gate of Ruyizhuang, a pair of slender hands stretched out, opened the curtain, and two women got out of the carriage one after the other.

A group of people in Zhuangzi greeted him.

"Hey, princess, Concubine Fang, I was thinking about picking you up outside the city, but I didn't expect it to be half a day early."

The first person who greeted him was Liu Dayou, and Su Hong was also on the side, but he stood aside and watched faintly.

The princess wore light makeup this time, and her clothes were plain light yellow, her eyes swept around the crowd, and finally landed on Xie Ruqing, the smile was a little stronger, and she stepped forward to take her hand, "It was supposed to arrive in the afternoon, but thinking of your body, I urged the coachman to hurry up, hurry up, it's only half a day early." ”

Xie Ruqing gave Ruhuan a look and motioned for her to wait.

"Yo, how long have you been here, how did you lose weight like this?" At this moment, Fang Hui also walked up, her brows frowned, obviously caring about Xie Ruqing's body.

No one answered, Xie Ruqing took Yu's hand and entered the house, and the next person was already waiting, bringing up the prepared tea, and a cup in front of one person.

The tea cup is steaming, and the fragrance of tea is overflowing in the house.

Yu didn't see Xie Ru for a long time, and said a lot of words, Fang Hui echoed on the side, but he was also happy.

The three masters were chatting in the house, and Fang Hui's girl quietly went to the backyard while no one was paying attention.

The backyard is where the kitchen is, and she drove all the way into the kitchen, and a mother-in-law hurriedly greeted her.

The two stood together, and whispered while people were not paying attention to the girl: "That medicine has been used?" ”

The mother-in-law's eyes drifted around, and when she saw that everyone was busy with things at hand, no one noticed this, so she whispered: "Listen to Madame's arrangement, and use it all the time." ”

"Madame meant to increase the dosage of the medicine, and now it looks like the effect is still too slow."

The woman nodded, and the two of them amplified the volume and explained a few words, and the girl withdrew from the kitchen.

When she walked farther, she reached out and sniffed her body, which was already stained with a lot of oil smoke, and there was some disgust in her eyes.

Xie Ruqing chatted with Yu and Fang Hui for a while, and when they returned to the house, Ruhuan followed into the house, closed the door tightly, and made sure that no one was eavesdropping, then they came up and said: "Girl, I just saw the maid next to Miss Fang Hui, secretly chatting with a mother-in-law in the backyard. ”

Xie Ruqing raised his eyebrows, obviously curious.

Ruhuan shook his head, "Those two people are very careful, and I don't dare to get closer, I only vaguely heard something enlarged and effective." ”

It seemed that the amount of poison was not enough, Xie Ruqing sneered in his heart. It's also difficult for her to go all the way to this countryside to suffer, just to see with her own eyes whether she is dead.

Xie Ruqing made a gesture of swapping her two hands, Ruhuan knew at a glance that she was asking her to quietly change the food between Yu and the girl, she didn't quite understand the meaning of this, but she still nodded.

Because of the change of dinner, Xie Ruqing rarely ate enough every day, and his mood also improved.

After eating in the morning, I went out and met Yu Shi in front of him. Yu's face was a little pale, and in order to hide his ugliness, he could see that he had spread a lot of powder, and he could smell the fragrance of powder from afar.

Xie Ruqing stepped forward, looking worried, so he gestured and asked her, "Auntie's face doesn't look very good, is it uncomfortable?" ”

The princess looked sad, and the words were replied by the maid behind her, "Niangniang may have been infected with the wind and cold on the way here, and her body is not very comfortable."

"Then do you want to find a doctor?" Xie Ruqing was worried on her face, but she knew very well in her heart that the princess's symptoms were exactly the same as those when she was poisoned, this was all due to Fang Hui, where was the wind cold.

The girl glanced at the princess and held her in her hand, "The princess's illness has always been seen by the princess in the palace, so naturally she wants to go back to the palace to see." ”

Xie Ruqing nodded clearly, and after just talking for a while, he saw several subordinates coming out of the house, holding a burden in their hands, which was the princess's accompanying luggage. She knew that the princess was planning to leave for the home, so she sent her all the way outside the manor.

A carriage had been waiting quietly for a long time outside, and when the coachman saw someone come out, he saluted, and someone helped the princess into the carriage.

After sitting down, the maid lifted the curtain, and Yu's head poked out, "I can't accompany you more because of my body, you pay attention to your body, especially in the morning and evening." ”

Xie Ruqing shook her hand a little reluctantly.

Ruhuan explained carefully, "The girl wants to say that you must pay attention to safety on the way to the mother, and rest more when you go home, if you are not feeling well, the girl will be worried." ”

The princess nodded, exchanged a few more words with Xie Ruqing, and the carriage drove away.

Xie Ruqing clasped his hands and wore a cloak on his shoulders, and stood there watching the carriage go all the way, raising a lot of dust.

"Girl, it won't take long for us, when you get better, you can go back, don't be too reluctant, pay attention to your body."

Ruhuan held her hand, thinking that she was reluctant to be an aunt.

With a faint smile, Xie Ruqing shook her hand and signaled that she didn't have to worry about herself.

When I turned around and walked back, I saw that the courtyard gate of the random village next door was wide open, and many people inside were busy, but there was no figure of Qi Yan. I don't know if people are concentrating on reading at this time.

At this time, the palace was full of gloom.

The girl Liu in front of the princess took the arm of the princess and walked towards the princess's courtyard, "Doctor Wang, go quickly, come and come, I will support you." ”

"Oh, I said girl, you can take it easy, I'm so old." The white-bearded Imperial Physician Wang gasped, feeling that if he ran a few miles like this again, he was afraid that he would not survive next year.

The prince waited anxiously in the room, and when he saw the imperial physician entering the door, he hurriedly got out of the way, "Excuse yourself from some vulgar etiquette, and show the princess quickly." ”

Doctor Wang carried the medicine box in his hand, and walked to the side of the bed after the prince let go, and the maid had carefully lowered the curtain on the bed, and could only see a shadow in the curtain.

The princess didn't say a word, stretched out her white hand from the bed, and the princess doctor put her hand trembling on it, taking her pulse, and her eyes sank slightly, which made people nervous.

Everyone in the room breathed carefully, and no one dared to make too much noise at this time.

"How?" After a while, seeing that the imperial doctor had withdrawn, the prince asked.

The imperial physician asked the princess: "Princess, do you feel weak and weak at this time, and you can't lift your strength?" ”

The princess replied softly.

Doctor Wang's face was heavy: "Back to the prince, princess, princess, princess is afraid that she has been poisoned." ”

"What?"

Ruyizhuang.

The smell of the field filled the air, Xie Ruqing took a deep breath, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but smile.

She reached out and rubbed her neck, stretched again, and closed the book in her hand.

Counting the time, the princess's "illness" should also be determined.

"Squeak." The door was opened, and there was a big noise, and she glanced at it, Ruhuan was carefully carrying a bowl of soup and came over, "Girl, this is a new soup from the kitchen, drink it while it's hot." ”

Xie Ruqing sat down with a smile, picked up the soup bowl and smelled it, the taste was a little wrong, the "material" was gone, so he asked, "What's the matter?" The kitchen cook has changed? ”

Ruhuan stood behind her, gently pinching her shoulders with her hand, removing the fatigue caused by reading just now for her, and said thoughtfully: "I didn't go to see it, why girl, the taste is different?" ”

Ruhuan didn't know about adding ingredients to the soup, she always thought that Xie Ruqing was not used to eating the food in the Zhuangzi, of course, she had doubts in her heart, because there was nothing wrong with her eating, it was actually better than the Zhuang's rice, and the girl was not a picky mouth, so it was really strange.

If she is thoughtful, she may guess what is wrong with this, but she will not ask, she will believe whatever the girl says, which is also her intimacy.

Xie Ruqing scooped the soup with a spoon and drank it, his brows stretched slightly, the taste of the soup without ingredients in the Zhuangzi is indeed better than the rice in the crop, but it is worse than in the Zhuangzi of Qi Yanzhi, and after going to the rice for a long time, he is still obsessed with the taste of other chefs.

She sent Ruhuan to the kitchen to serve a bowl of rice. Ruhuan knows her, and must know to find out the news.

"Then I'll go and take a look, you drink soup here first, and wait for me to come back." Seeing Ruhuan, he turned around and left.

Xie Ruqing drank it one by one, and after a while, half a bowl of soup went down.

After a while, Ruhuan ran back, with a suspicious face, "Girl, something happened." She closed the door and whispered in Xie Ruqing's ear: "The kitchen steward is gone this morning, and everyone in the kitchen has been replaced." ”

Xie Ruqing was taken aback, started so quickly?

What a ruined corpse, no trace of death, no proof, Fang Hui.

Qiyang Palace.

Doctor Wang checked the princess's pulse, changed the prescription she used yesterday, and finally felt a little relieved on her face: "Back to the princess, the toxicity has been resolved, the princess's body is fine, and she only needs to take a few medicines to recuperate for a while in the future." ”

The prince is still not at ease: "I don't know what kind of poison it is, are you sure there will be no residue?" ”

"It is a chronic lethal drug, if you take it in slow doses, you will not die for three or five years, your body will slowly fail, you will be tired and bedridden, and in severe cases, you will be blind, your skin will ulcerate, and finally the oil will run out." "If taken in large doses, it can be fatal for several months, and the symptoms are about the same, and it is difficult to diagnose it unless you have a doctor. ”

This is also a common pickled method in the backyard for favor, a chronic poison that people can't find out, and God can get rid of a person unconsciously, even if he doesn't die, a woman who is defeated is enough to fall out of favor.

The princess and princess were all afraid, according to the princess's physical condition, she probably took a large dose, if it wasn't diagnosed by the princess, wouldn't it have to be killed?

Thinking about it carefully, the cold sweat on the princess's back came down at once, and she carefully recalled the cause and effect, and already had a conjecture about this matter in her heart.

The prince's backyard is quite clean, there are only two aunts, the princess is soft and ruthless, and the means are self-contained, the two aunts are suppressed by it to be obedient, and they almost don't get out of the hospital, if they have the courage to have the opportunity to poison the house, the princess doesn't believe it.

Then the problem can only lie in Zhuangzi, but who in Zhuangzi will be unfavorable to her?

Xie Ruqing? No way, this kid isn't like that.

Fang Hui? The princess really couldn't think of her motives.

"Call Concubine Fang to come over." While the princess sent someone to invite Fang Hui, she asked someone to secretly go to Zhuangzi to bring the people involved in the kitchen into the palace.

After a while, Fang Hui came in worriedly, and she had a hunch that it was probably not a good thing for the princess to call her, but she was not sure what it was. After returning from Zhuangzi, the princess was sick, and every day she only told her that she did not need to ask for peace, and no one knew what illness she had, or if she was not sick at all—did she find something?

"Princess, how are you lately?" Fang Hui asked cautiously while observing the princess's expression.

"It's okay," the princess said slowly with the hot tea, "It's just that I went to the Zhuangzi and ate my stomach, and it will be okay to raise it for a few days." ”

Fang Hui chuckled in her heart, went to Zhuangzi to eat a bad stomach? How is it possible, everyone eats the same pot of rice, why does the princess eat badly, and if it is bad, it should be Xie Ruqing, or ......

The princess took a sip of tea, but her eyes were on Fang Hui's face, taking in her expression, "You can take a look at the accounts on the Zhuangzi in the past few months." ”

Fang Hui had doubts in her heart, but she didn't dare to slack off, so she had to go down to get the account book.

The princess checked the accounts, and the news in the Zhuangzi also came.

"Princess, it's not good, the kitchen steward in Zhuangzi is gone to jump into the well this morning!"

"What?" The princess was surprised, "What's the matter, why is it suddenly gone?" ”

"Back to the princess, no one knows why she jumped into the well, whether she stumbled or jumped by herself is inconclusive, anyway, there are no more people."

The princess glanced at Fang Hui, and the other party's face was also surprised, but it didn't look like pretending.

The housekeeper Mama jumped into the well at this juncture, either committing suicide in fear of sin, or being killed, no matter what the reason, it can prove that she has a problem, but that Mama was pulled by the princess, how could she poison her for no reason - or, she actually poisoned others and let her eat it by mistake?

Fang Hui knelt on the ground at this time, and said hesitantly: "Fang Hui has something that I don't know whether to talk about or not. ”

"Oh?" The princess raised her eyebrows: "I don't know what's going on?" ”

Fang Hui held the corners of her clothes with both hands, looking like she had done something wrong, "Last month, I once punished this housekeeper, she was a kitchen steward, but she was full of private pockets, and she also privately brought home the output of Zhuangzi, and after I found out, I only said that there were two sons in the family who wanted to marry, and the money was not enough, so I became a thief. ”

The princess understood what she meant, "You mean she originally wanted to get revenge on you?" ”

"The princess atoned for her sins." Fang Hui kowtowed, "You just said that you ate something bad, I just remembered, everyone in the Zhuangzi has eaten the food, why is it only you who have a stomach, thinking about it, the biggest possibility is that she originally wanted to take revenge on me, but I don't know how to let you eat it by mistake." It's only to blame me for being soft-hearted for a while, and I didn't punish her, which left a bane. ”

"You mean she committed suicide in fear of sin?" The princess stared at Fang Hui with a fierce gaze, "But how does she know that I ate it by mistake?" ”

This was originally a flaw, the news of the princess's poisoning did not spread, Fang Hui was eager to get rid of the crime, and would ignore this detail, but it seemed that there was no silver here. But Fang Hui's cleverness lies in the fact that she started very quickly, and got rid of Mama's death without proof, and the account book was forged in advance, everything was not different from what she said, even if the princess was suspicious, it was difficult to find out anything.

The princess is indeed inconclusive, because she can't figure out why the grandmother must get rid of herself, since there is no full motive, then Fang Hui's reason is completely valid.

Of course, this does not completely dispel the princess's concerns, this matter is an unsolved case in her heart, and she needs to be wary of every day before it is clear.

However, this is not within the scope of Fang Hui's worries, she thought that the plan was perfect and was not negligent, and the big stone in her heart had already been put down, "Princess, I think you will be suspected by him when you hurriedly return home that day, I have no symptoms in the past two days, probably that grandma is a thief." ”

Hmph, the princess knew that Fang Hui was not a fuel-efficient lamp, but she couldn't be touched for the time being, but the people in the Zhuangzi couldn't stay, so she immediately ordered to replace all the people in the kitchen, including the fire girl.

In addition to the replacement of Zhuangzi, he also conducted a thorough search, and found several unknown medicinal powders in the house of the dead housekeeper, including croton powder, sweat medicine, rat poison, and some allergy medicines, and even found arsenic. The family was then kicked out of Zhuangzi.