The queen's birthday banquet was only attended by officials and female dependents of the third rank and above, and at noon there were lower-ranking guests sitting in the banquet hall and chatting.

Dazai, who was a very popular minister of Great Chu, brought his female dependents, several high-ranking officials who were majestic, and the princes and nobles of Great Chu also took their seats one after another.

After a while, the concubines who were dressed as beautiful as flowers took the little prince and the little princess to chat and greet everyone, and sat down one after another, leaving only the two chairs in the center of the hall still empty.

"The king and queen have arrived!" The eunuch shouted, and everyone in the palace immediately knelt down and saluted, "Meet the king and queen." ”

"Zhongqing is flat." The king of Chu slowly sat on the dragon chair, looked at the respectful appearance of everyone in the hall, and glanced at He Xuan with doting, and said: "Today is the queen's twenty-fifth birthday. Come on, go on singing and dancing! ”

He Xuan smiled slightly at the King of Chu, and reveled in the wonderful sound of silk and bamboo with everyone, and from time to time there were people in the hall who admired the exquisite skills of the musicians in the palace.

He Xuan secretly glanced at the King of Chu who was immersed in singing and dancing, and he couldn't notice a trace of abnormality, he was still the husband he loved deeply.

With the change of the sound of the pan flute, among the dancers, a graceful woman can be vaguely seen wearing a peach-colored light dance dress, dancing like a dream, like a butterfly fairy who has fallen into the mortal dust dancing on the palace of Da Chu.

Everyone in the palace was talking about it, this dance didn't seem to be a common court dance in Da Chu, I don't know what kind of woman could show the dance so extraordinary.

At the end of the song, the woman brushed her face with long sleeves, lowered her head, and bowed down and said: "The little woman wishes the queen a long life and good luck." ”

He Xuan just began to look at this figure, and he already had a guess in his heart, but now when he heard this voice, he smiled and exclaimed: "It turns out that this woman who is like a shock is the Fifth Emperor Sister!" Flatten down. ”

When Princess Tianwei heard this, she raised her head with a smile, and was just about to get up when she heard an exclamation from the side.

"Wang'er, what's wrong with you?! Don't scare the concubine! Concubine Yao Defei panicked and hugged the second prince, who was limp on the ground and was still twitching, and tried hard to call the name of the second prince, but he was still unconscious.

Everyone looked at Concubine Yao De's arms, the second prince who was colorless and rolled his eyes, and the king of Chu scolded everyone who was already stunned, "Don't announce the imperial doctor!" ”

After a while, Imperial Physician Zhang hurriedly came and looked at the second prince, and Concubine Yao De on the side looked extremely anxious. He carefully checked the food on the table of the second prince and Concubine Yao De one by one.

"Imperial Doctor Zhang, what's wrong with Wang'er?" Finally, the King of Chu couldn't help but ask.

Imperial Physician Zhang immediately walked to the center of the hall in fear, his face almost touched the ground, and he knelt down and said, "King, the second prince is seriously poisoned by strychnine. This strychnine is not an ordinary food, it is cold, bitter in taste, and has medicinal properties, mainly used to treat rheumatism and bruises. However, if a person in good health eats strychnine by mistake, he will die of suffocation due to poor breathing, dizziness and headache, and his limbs will tremble. ”【1】

King Chu's face became more and more ugly, and he stared intently at the prostrate imperial doctor on the ground and asked, "Strychnine is not an ordinary thing, how could the second prince eat it by mistake?" ”

"Back to the king, Weichen just carefully checked the food on the table of the second prince and Concubine Yao De, and the dish of stewed quail was put into strychnine." Imperial Physician Zhang still didn't dare to raise his head, cold sweat was dripping on his body, and he continued: "This strychnine was ground into a fine powder by someone, and then put it in water and stewed with the quail for a few hours, and the medicinal properties have already penetrated into the quail, but fortunately, the amount of strychnine is not enough to kill. Ask the second prince to take some tranquilizers first to relieve the trembling. After the second prince woke up, he took decoctions made of licorice, mung bean, parsnip, Mingteng, Qingdai, ginger, etc., and he could recover after taking four doses in a row. ”

When Concubine Yao Defei heard that the second prince was still saved, her panicked expression suddenly decreased by two points. personally fed the second prince soothing soup, and then watched the palace people slowly carry away the sleeping second prince with confidence.

Concubine Yao De walked to the main hall with a solemn expression, knelt down in front of the King of Chu, and said, "King, today is the queen's birthday, and the concubine should continue to congratulate Niangniang." It's just that today's incident, it is obvious that someone wants to kill the second prince, he is only five years old, and he is still an ignorant child, please return justice to my king. ”

King Chu was already very unhappy when he heard the imperial doctor mention the poisoning, and looked at Concubine Yao De, who was worried about her son, and became even more angry. "Since this strychnine is an unusual thing, Xiao Dezi, immediately send someone to the imperial dining room to ask, someone has gone to the imperial dining room to ask for strychnine recently, and the widow is waiting here to reply!"

Doctor Zhang, who was standing on the side, heard this, and immediately knelt in front of the King of Chu and said: "King, don't ask, yesterday evening, the palace maid Cuilan next to the queen mother came to the hospital to ask for strychnine, saying that there was a palace maid in the queen's palace who was injured and urgently needed strychnine for medicine. After that, his eyes involuntarily glanced at the queen and Xuan who were sitting next to the king of Chu.

"Queen, is there such a thing?" King Chu looked at He Xuan suspiciously, his eyes clearly revealing suspicion and distrust.

"The king, the concubine instructed Cuilan to take the palace maids to clean up the treasury today, and the concubine was busy preparing for the banquet early this morning, and she has not seen her yet." He Xuan looked at the King of Chu as usual, and explained without hesitation. Xindao, indeed, from yesterday afternoon to now, I have never seen Cuilan's girl.

The king of Chu was suspicious, but he also felt that He Xuan had not lied, so he said: "Oh? Since the Queen said so... That... ”

"The king," Concubine Yao De, who was kneeling on the ground, exclaimed, "Please summon Cuilan to confront her face to face." Otherwise, the concubine was panicked in her heart, and the second prince was so young that he could never be persecuted again. Please fulfill the heart of a mother. ”

"The widow is approved, summon the Lan palace maid to face the saint immediately." The King of Chu glanced at Concubine Yao De, who was kneeling on the ground, and said slowly: "Concubine De, you get up first, it's cold on the ground." Concubine Yao De's heart warmed, and the panic on her face also decreased a little, Ying Ying stood up and stood beside King Chu.

He Xuan's eyes quickly glanced at the people in the hall, it is true that the second prince was poisoned, but who did it and what was the purpose? Thinking of this, somehow, He Xuan faintly became uneasy, and his hand unconsciously tightened his sleeve.

Overtime, Cuilan knelt down in front of the King of Chu in fear, her eyes secretly glanced at the queen mother, and for a moment, she immediately lowered her eyes and did not dare to raise her head.

"Cuilan, do you know what happened when the widow summoned you today?" King Chu condescendingly looked at Cuilan who was kneeling on the ground and said.

"The slave doesn't know. Please also ask the king to make it clear. Cui Lan said respectfully.

"I don't know, okay, Cuilan, what did you do when you went to fetch the strychnine yesterday evening?" Concubine Yao Defei said angrily.

"This..." Although Cuilan lowered her head, her eyelids went up, and she secretly glanced at He Xuan, who was sitting next to King Chu, and swore solemnly: "King, the slave maid has never been to the Tai Hospital, let alone asked for a strychney. ”

"Cuilan, is this true? This Imperial Doctor Zhang said in person, I saw you go to the Tai Hospital last night to ask for strychnine, and claimed that there was a little palace maid in the queen's palace who was injured and needed strychnine for medicine. King Chu asked suspiciously, his eyes swaying on Imperial Doctor Zhang and Cuilan.

Imperial Doctor Zhang knelt down again, this time kneeling faster than last time, his expression was even more nervous, and said, "King, the old minister will never dare to deceive the king." This matter is not only Weichen, but many people in the Tai Hospital have seen the Lan Palace Nu to take medicine. ”

"Ask the king's permission to search the queen's bedchamber. If the strychnine is not found, it proves that the Lan palace maid is not lying, if not... Concubine Yao said sharply, looking at He Xuan and Cuilan with resentment in her eyes.

"This..." The King of Chu slowly looked at He Xuan, his tone was mixed with uncertainty, his eyes were a little gentle, and he finally spoke softly: "Queen, don't blame Concubine De, she is really frightened today. It's just that there are different opinions on this matter, is the queen willing to be wronged and prove her innocence? ”

He Xuan has never done anything before, of course, he is not afraid of searching the palace, not to mention that her husband pleaded with her so much, how could she not be? "The king, the concubines are willing to prove it."

"Okay, Xiao Dezi, you can take someone to search the queen's bedroom. Don't mess things up, and watch your heads. The king of Chu gave an order, and Gonggong De walked quickly to the queen's palace with a few eunuchs.

Everyone waited for a long time in panic, and finally, Grandpa De came back with someone. "My lord, the slave did just find the powder of strychnine in the queen's palace, and it is in the room of the Lan palace maid. Look, Lord. With that, Gonggong De handed the small paper bag in his hand to the King of Chu.

King Chu glanced at it and motioned to Xiao Dezi with his eyes to hand over this thing to the imperial doctor for inspection.

Imperial Physician Zhang looked at it, picked up a small puff and sniffed it, and replied, "King, this is indeed a strychnine." ”

At this time, King Chu's expression was already ugly, he glanced at the silent Hexuan beside him, and then said coldly to Cuilan: "What else do you have to say?" Why did you murder the second prince! ”

Cuilan suddenly panicked, kowtowed over and over again, and shouted over and over again: "Niang Niang save me!" Save the slave! ”

He Xuan was stunned for a moment, and said coldly: "Cuilan, have you ever asked for strychnine?" What do you want strychnine for? If you can't make it clear in front of everyone today, don't blame this palace for being ruthless! ”

"The slave and the maid want a horse and a money... Slaves... Cuilan gritted her teeth, raised her head to look at He Xuan, and said, "Queen Niangniang, for the sake of the slave maid's heartfelt sake, you can't abandon the slave and maid!" ”