The imperial physician looked at Shen Minghui: "Prime Minister, have you been feeling chest tightness and shortness of breath lately? Sometimes, even when you're sitting, your heart rate increases, and you often have diarrhea at night..."
Shen Minghui nodded; he had indeed been experiencing these symptoms in the past few days: "What illness does Benxiang have?"
The imperial physician sighed softly, his gaze grave: "The Prime Minister is not ill, but poisoned by a slow-acting poison that has damaged his lungs and internal organs..."
Shen Minghui was startled and turned sharply to look at the imperial physician: "What did you say? I've been poisoned by a slow-acting poison?"
"Yes!" The physician nodded, stroking his beard with a grave expression. "The poisoning was recent, and the dosage was not large, but the medicine is very potent and has already damaged your lungs and internal organs. Prime Minister, have you eaten anything unusual recently?"
“I have been recuperating in my residence, and the food I eat is nothing more than the food served here.” Shen Minghui frowned, his gaze terribly gloomy: “It must be some servant trying to harm me by poisoning my food. Guards, arrest all the servants in the kitchen. I want to interrogate them myself!”
These lowly servants dared to plot against him; they were truly lawless.
Shen Minghui slammed his hand hard on the table. He was a weak scholar and ill, so he didn't have much strength. The table was intact, but his arm went numb from the impact, and several black pills fell from his sleeve and scattered on the ground.
Shen Minghui was startled and quickly went to pick up the pills.
The imperial physician was faster; he picked up a pill, held it to his nose, and sniffed it. His expression instantly turned serious: "Prime Minister, the slow-acting poison is mixed into this pill. Who gave it to you?"
Shen Minghui suddenly stopped picking up the pills and slowly looked up at the physician: "Are there slow-acting poisons in these pills?"
"Yes." The physician nodded emphatically, his gaze grave. "This humble servant is absolutely certain that he has not misheard. The poison is extremely potent. If the Prime Minister were to take it for even a month, he would perish!"
"Bang!" Shen Minghui's expression changed drastically. He slammed his fist heavily on the table, blood seeping from the back of his hand. His lips trembled, and his face was terribly gloomy. These pills were given to him directly by Lei Hong. They had never been handed to anyone else. No outsider could tamper with them. Good, good, good Lei Hong. He actually put a slow poison in the antidote.
Heh, they held a grudge against me for forcefully burning Lei Yarong to death. In addition, I knew a lot of their secrets and threatened them. They were worried that I would reveal the secrets, so they wanted to kill me. If I could take those secrets to my grave, they could go free forever without any worries.
There's no such thing as a free lunch!
With a sharp look in his eyes, Shen Minghui's face darkened horribly. He stood up, flicked his sleeve, and strode out, his angry voice echoing in the air: "I wish to enter the palace to meet the Emperor!"
The royal physician watched as Shen Minghui walked out of the courtyard, got into a sedan chair, and headed towards the palace. The surrounding area was full of guards from the War Prince's Mansion. He bowed to Shen Lixue and said, "This humble servant has not failed in his mission!"
"Well done, thank you for your hard work, Physician!" Shen Lixue smiled slightly and handed a stack of silver notes to the physician.
Shen Minghui's pills contained no slow-acting poison at all; she bribed the palace physician to frame Lei Hong.
Shen Minghui had long known that the Gu poison he had been afflicted by was from the Grand Commandant's mansion, but he did not completely break with Grand Commandant Lei. Instead, he angrily burned Lei Yarong to death to vent his anger.
Commander Lei watched helplessly as his own daughter was burned to death, without stopping it or reprimanding her. Although they hated each other, they did not break off their relationship. Shen Lixue guessed that there must be an invisible thread connecting them. They shared a major secret, and their fates were intertwined. No matter what happened, they would not easily break off their relationship, nor would they easily reveal that secret.
A fortress is most easily breached from within. Shen Lixue's plan to sow discord was to start with Shen Minghui, causing him to turn against Grand Commandant Lei and reveal the major secret from back then. He was seriously ill, separated from his wife and children, and given his competitive nature, he would definitely drag the entire Grand Commandant's mansion down with him in a fit of rage!
The guards looked at the one hundred and twenty gold chests: "Princess, what about these jewels?"
"Take it all back to the War King's Mansion!" These are all Lin Qingzhu's dowry, so of course they must all be taken away, and not a single bit can be left for Shen Minghui.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The sounds of intense clashes of weapons suddenly rang out. Shen Lixue frowned. "Go see what's going on?"
"Bang!" Just as the words were spoken, an unidentified object flew in from outside the door and slammed heavily into Shen Lixue.
Shen Lixue dodged to the side, and the unidentified object fell to the ground. The tall but weak body, the familiar face, and the familiar aura were none other than Shen Minghui, who had just left in a sedan chair.
At this moment, his forehead was swollen high, his face was covered in bruises, and blood was seeping from the corner of his mouth. He was nowhere to be seen as the majestic and noble Prime Minister Qingyan.
A man in black, carrying a long sword, strode in. His gaze was icy, and his entire body was enveloped in a fierce killing intent. He stared coldly at Shen Lixue and Shen Minghui: "This Prime Minister's residence is the burial place for you and your daughter. It's fair that it's done you a favor!"
Twenty guards instantly stepped forward, forming a circle around Shen Lixue, tightly protecting her in the middle. They held sharp swords and stood ready for battle. Chu Youran and Granny Li also walked to Shen Lixue's side.
The man in black sneered, his eyes full of disdain: "Shen Lixue, do you think these guards can stop me!"
Shen Lixue looked at the sharpness and anger deep in the black-clad man's eyes and recognized it: "You are Lei Hong!"
The man in black was slightly taken aback, then said coldly, "You're quite clever!"
"It's not that I'm smart, it's that you arrived too fast!" Shen Lixue glanced at the black-clad men and guards of the Prime Minister's residence fighting fiercely outside the courtyard: "This is the Prime Minister's residence. Ordinary people don't dare to plant spies here. Lei Yarong served in the Prime Minister's residence for more than ten years and won over many people in the residence. Although she is dead, her maids and nannies are still in the Prime Minister's residence!"
"Hahaha!" Lei Hong laughed loudly, "You're smarter than Shen Minghui. He still doesn't know why I suddenly appeared here!"
"You've come to silence me!" Shen Lixue stated calmly, explaining, "Shen Minghui knows your big secret, and you don't want him to reveal it!"
“I didn’t want to make a move against you and your daughter so soon, but unfortunately, Shen Minghui betrayed me and tried to go to the palace to expose that matter. Hmph, how could I let you live any longer and ruin my plans!” Lei Hong looked at Shen Lixue and raised his thick eyebrows: “You are indeed smarter than Shen Minghui. You figured out the reason so quickly. For fifteen years, he has been completely fooled by my sister!”
"Shut up!" Shen Minghui's lips trembled, his face ashen. Lei Yarong's illegitimate child was a pain that would never fade from his heart.
Lei Hong looked at Shen Minghui and sneered disdainfully, "You're incompetent, who else can you blame? Now that things have come to this, I might as well tell you the truth. My sister initially only had a vague feeling for that Ah Zhi. One time, while drunk, they did something they shouldn't have, and she got pregnant. My father didn't want her to marry that poor guy and was preparing to find her another husband. Just then, you went to the Grand Commandant's mansion, and my sister fell in love with you at first sight. She got you drunk and had relations with you..."
"Shut up!" Shen Minghui's face turned ashen with anger, and he trembled all over. "You got me drunk; you're clearly framing me, trying to use this as leverage against me!"
Shen Lixue frowned deeply. Although she had long suspected that Shen Minghui and Lei Shi had been having an affair, hearing Lei Hong's account still disgusted her. Taking advantage of his wife's pregnancy to have an affair with another woman, Shen Minghui was truly a womanizer: "What exactly happened?"
Outside the courtyard, the fierce fighting continued. The guards were retreating step by step, and one after another, the guards of the Prime Minister's residence were stabbed to death, wounded, and fell to the ground. The maids, nannies, and servants wailed and screamed as they fled in all directions. Before they could run a few steps, they were stabbed through the heart by a sword from a man in black.
Looking at Shen Lixue's bewildered eyes, Lei Hong said arrogantly, "It seems Shen Minghui didn't tell you anything. Tsk tsk, he's really good at keeping his mouth shut. No, maybe he feels ashamed and is too embarrassed to tell you these things!"
"Lei Hong!" Shen Minghui roared, grabbing the last teacup and smashing it at him.
Lei Hong subtly turned aside, dodging the teacup, a mocking glint flashing in his cold eyes: "What, are you getting angry?"
Shen Minghui told him not to speak, but he insisted on speaking anyway. He wanted Shen Minghui's own daughter to hear with her own ears how despicable, insidious, despicable, and shameless her father, the Qingyan Prime Minister who was the head of all officials, was back then.
"After Shen Minghui married your mother, the Duke of Wu didn't help him get promoted or make money. Instead, he cleverly used banquets to befriend many officials in the court. That's how my father and I got to know him. He came to the Grand Commandant's mansion to curry favor with my father, but he was tricked by my sister and had a relationship with her. Afterwards, fearing that the matter would reach the Duke of Wu's ears, he became obedient to us. At the same time, he was still thinking about getting promoted and making money. So, my father gave him an opportunity..."
"Lei Hong, shut up!" Shen Minghui's most hidden secret was exposed, and his carefully maintained glamorous exterior was ruthlessly torn away, revealing the bloody truth. He was furious, picked up a chair, and smashed it hard at Lei Hong.
Lei Hong casually swung his hand, smashing the sturdy chair to pieces. His gaze towards Shen Minghui was full of mockery: "After being prime minister for so many years, you've certainly grown arrogant. Back then, when you were groveling and begging my father for poison, you were as humble as a dog..."
Shen Lixue's gaze sharpened: "Poison? What poison?"