Chapter 163: Disintegration

Chapter 163: Disintegration

Duan Gui Ren and Tang Mei Ren walked together towards Fu Yang Palace. As they noticed fewer people around, Duan Gui Ren gestured for their attendants to fall back and whispered to Tang Mei Ren, "Tang sister, what exactly happened? How did it turn out to be dysentery?!"

Tang Mei Ren quickly looked around before whispering back, "You're asking me? I want to know too! How did it become dysentery?!"

The two examined each other's expressions, their doubts deepening.

Duan Gui Ren was the first to regain her composure, whispering, "Tang sister, perhaps we've both fallen into someone's trap. The priority now is to extricate ourselves cleanly."

Tang Mei Ren then asked, "Weren't we agreed that you would distract her maid while I added honeysuckle juice? What exactly did you add?"

Although Sun Mei Ren usually dined with the small kitchen of Yu Fu Palace, she was greedy and had some money, often paying extra for food from the Imperial Kitchen. Once, she even snatched river shrimp from Duan Gui Ren. Yesterday evening, Sun Mei Ren indeed sent for a meal from the Imperial Kitchen, which was exactly the opportunity Duan Gui Ren and Tang Mei Ren were waiting for.

Although temporarily allied, they still didn't fully trust each other. Since they were determined to proceed, neither wanted to remain uninvolved and dry. Hence, they devised the plan of one distracting the maid and the other administering the drug.

Tang Mei Ren felt confident that she only sent someone to chat with Sun Mei Ren’s maid. Even if things were exposed, she could exonerate herself and awaited Duan Gui Ren's reply with raised eyebrows.

Duan Gui Ren's eyes flickered evasively but finally met Tang Mei Ren’s gaze, affirming, "In any case, I would never do something that would cause dysentery. There's definitely someone else's hand in this!"

Returning to Fu Yang Palace, they ordered their people to clean thoroughly in line with the instructions from the Imperial Hospital and Feng Yi Palace. They speculated over the incident, suspecting many but finding no solution, eventually parting on unhappy terms.

Sitting in Bai Hua Pavilion, Tang Mei Ren said to her maid, "I knew she couldn't be trusted. She still won't reveal what she put in, or whose hand it passed through. Luckily, I took the initiative to claim I sent someone to distract Sun Mei Ren’s maid, which gives me an escape route now."

The maid replied, "My lady, but I observed that Duan Gui Ren's demeanor didn't seem feigned. She genuinely appeared unaware of why things turned out this way."

"Whether she did it or not, I cannot be blamed for this," Tang Mei Ren stood up, commanding, "Come, let’s go to Feng Yi Palace again. Be careful to avoid the people from Ning Xiang Zhai."

"My lady? Are you planning to accuse Duan Gui Ren?" the maid asked in surprise, "But you were involved too..."

"Plotting against a consort is not the same as plotting against a consort," Tang Mei Ren sighed, "Had I known that Yi Shun Yi and Fu Gui Ren would be chosen for the southern tour, I would have acted a few days later."

Fengyi Palace.

Jiang Hui was listening to the report from the imperial physician sent to Yufu Palace when Hongyu quietly came in to report, "My lady, Beauty Tang requests an audience."

Hearing this, Qiu Kui turned to glance at the water clock in the corner, thinking Beauty Tang had returned to Fengyi Palace not long after her last visit.

Soon, Beauty Tang re-entered the hall, bowed to Jiang Hui without waiting for her to be called to rise, then knelt down, saying, "Empress, I must report that the dysentery suffered by Beauty Sun was orchestrated by Noble Lady Duan!"

With her forehead touching the ground, not daring to look at Jiang Hui, she knew that by accusing Noble Lady Duan, she could not escape punishment for harming another consort. But considering the severity of dysentery, if Beauty Sun were to die, she would not be at peace, not to mention the Empress would surely investigate thoroughly. Could they conceal their minor schemes from His Majesty and the Empress? Probably not.

On the contrary, if she came forward to confess, perhaps there could be a better outcome.

She gathered her thoughts and whispered, "Empress, Noble Lady Duan and I thought you might be choosing someone to accompany you and Beauty Sun, so we plotted to make Beauty Sun fall ill and unable to join the southern tour."

Beauty Tang looked up to gauge Jiang Hui's reaction but could discern nothing, so she continued, "We... Noble Lady Duan and I had agreed only to add some honeysuckle juice to Beauty Sun's food, which at most would cause her diarrhea, not dysentery... We agreed I would distract Beauty Sun's maid who was to order meals from the imperial kitchen, and Noble Lady Duan would seize the opportunity to add the honeysuckle juice... Surely, Noble Lady Duan must have added something else, and after much thought, feeling uneasy, I have come to confess to you."

At this moment, Qiu Kui said, "Honeysuckle? That's a common remedy for cooling heat in the summer. I suppose all the palaces have some stored. You and Noble Lady Duan were betting that even the Medicine Bureau couldn't trace who was responsible, right?"

Beauty Tang turned even paler, unable to utter a word.

Jiang Hui glanced at her and said indifferently, "Hongyu, bring Noble Lady Duan here."

As soon as Noble Lady Duan was brought into the Mingluan Hall, she saw Beauty Tang kneeling in the center, panicked, stiffly bowed to Jiang Hui, asking, "I do not know why the Empress has summoned me; may I know the matter?"

With a stern face, Qiu Kui said, "Noble Lady Duan, please elaborate, did you send someone to the imperial kitchen yesterday, encounter Beauty Sun's maid, and add something to the food ordered by Beauty Sun?"

Noble Lady Duan hastily knelt and said, "Empress, I sent someone to the imperial kitchen for the evening meal, unrelated to Beauty Sun, and certainly did not add anything to her food! Perhaps there's been a misunderstanding with what Beauty Tang mentioned yesterday about her maid encountering Beauty Sun's..."

Jiang Hui ignored her, and Qiu Kui continued, "Noble Lady Duan, do you think that Beauty Sun had already consumed those snacks yesterday? Or, is it that Beauty Tang lied?"

The implication was that something had been detected in the food, and Beauty Tang had already confessed everything to the Empress.

Noble Lady Duan's ears rang with the realization, and after a moment, she stammered, "To report to the Empress, I indeed had someone add something to Beauty Sun's food, but... but it was under Beauty Tang's direction!"

At this point, she became agitated, "I added aloe vera juice, which came from Beauty Tang's Hundred Flowers Pavilion! In this weather, aloe vera outside cannot survive, only the aloe vera in Beauty Tang's pavilion, kept in a warm chamber, would thrive. The Empress can send someone to verify this!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?!" Beauty Tang, taken aback that Noble Lady Duan had added aloe vera juice, attempted to rise and confront her but was restrained by Hongyu.

Turning to Jiang Hui, she cried, "Empress, it's true I have aloe vera, but how would I know it causes diarrhea? And there are no signs of that aloe vera plant being plucked, I am truly wronged!"

However, as much as Beauty Tang tried to defend herself, when a servant presented her aloe vera plant with clear signs of breakage, she was left speechless.

From the moment Noble Lady Duan knew of her catching a cold and delaying the imperial physician, she should have realized not everyone in her quarters was loyal.

"Noble Lady Duan and Beauty Tang, having conspired to harm another consort, are stripped of their titles, demoted to palace maids, and sent to the Cold Palace," Jiang Hui finally declared.

She rose from her throne and walked towards the warm chamber, ignoring Noble Lady Duan's cries of being framed and acting under Beauty Tang's instructions.

Returning to the warm chamber, Imperial Physician Liu continued, "Empress, besides aloe vera juice, the pastry contained a mix of herbs, which I suspect includes the laxative Zhen Shui Fu, commonly used by the Ministry of Justice in interrogations. Combined with the hotpot Beauty Sun consumed, these caused her dysentery."

Zhen Shui Fu is not a talismanic water but a specially formulated laxative powder, frequently used by judicial departments to interrogate uncooperative prisoners.

"I understand, thank you for your efforts, Physician Liu," Jiang Hui nodded, prompting the physician to discreetly take his leave.

Qiu Kui then quietly remarked, "Who would have thought, such a coincidence."

Jiang Hui's expression held a hint of irony as she softly said, "The Tang, Jiang, and Sun families all harbored their little schemes, with Sun outsmarting herself, thinking her maid encountering Tang's people would allow her to drug herself and blame Tang. For the position of accompanying the emperor on the southern tour, all three met with unfortunate ends."