"No, no, no..." Shen Yingxue shook her head and waved her hands, her eyes filled with panic: "I cannot harm people, I do not want to harm people..."
Poisoning someone skilled in poisons? What a joke! If she dared to move, her life would be instantly killed by Li Youlan. How could she still be the Princess Consort of Zhan? Consort Li must be deliberately playing a trick on her.
"Shen Yingxue, whether it's the palace or the Zhan Prince's mansion, they're all places where people eat people. If you don't harm others, others will harm you. If you don't want to cooperate with me, that's fine. I'll find someone else. As for you..." Consort Li frowned, feigning difficulty, "Now that you know my secret, of course I can't let you continue to live..."
Shen Yingxue's small face instantly turned deathly pale, her slender body trembled, and her head pounded repeatedly: "Your Highness, I beg you to spare me! I won't say anything, I swear..."
"I only believe in the dead. Guards, drag her away and bury her alive." Consort Li's casual remark sealed Shen Yingxue's fate. She was stunned, unable to recover for a long time. Buried alive—what a cruel punishment! She had only heard of it before, never expecting it to be used on her today.
In shock, two palace maids stepped forward and dragged Shen Yingxue quickly toward a deserted path. Shen Yingxue snapped back to reality, her slender body trembling, crying miserably with tears streaming down her face, pleading desperately, "Your Majesty... please, please... spare me... I really won't say anything."
Consort Li remained unmoved. She had already laid her cards on the table with Shen Yingxue. If Shen Yingxue was not her ally, then she was her enemy, and she would not allow her enemy to live in the world with her secrets.
The surroundings were quiet, with no palace maids or eunuchs in sight. Shen Yingxue couldn't find anyone to ask for help. She struggled desperately, but couldn't break free from the palace maids.
The dark, narrow door was just inches away. Through the half-open crack, she could see the darkness inside and faintly smell the stench emanating from it. In that single glance, she could imagine her miserable fate, and a sudden, inexplicable fear gripped her. She cried out in panic, "I promise... I promise to cooperate with Your Majesty..."
The two palace maids released their grip, and Shen Yingxue's slender body lost its support, collapsing heavily to the ground, panting heavily. Looking at the bright sun in the sky, she could hardly believe that she had just escaped death. A gust of wind blew by, making her feel cold all over. Only then did she realize that the back of her clothes was soaked with sweat.
"That's more like it! A wise person knows when to yield!" Consort Li gracefully walked up to Shen Yingxue, smiling as she reached out to help her up and handed the package to Shen Yingxue: "Don't worry, this really isn't poison. I guarantee it with my integrity. Li Youlan won't notice anything amiss. In six months, you will become the high and mighty Princess Consort of Zhan, just as you wish."
The Prince Zhan's mansion was heavily guarded, and Li Youlan was extremely cautious. Consort Li could not find any other flaws, so she thought of targeting Shen Yingxue.
People die for money, birds die for food. She believed that as long as there was enough profit, Shen Yingxue would definitely agree to cooperate with her. Things went pretty smoothly, just as she had imagined, and she subdued Shen Yingxue very easily.
With a gentle, comforting pat on the back of Shen Yingxue's hand, Consort Li smiled kindly and said, "Yingxue, it's up to you now."
"I will not let Your Majesty down." Shen Yingxue lowered her head, her eyes slightly red, and clutched the small paper package tightly, as if she were holding her future destiny in her hands. Her delicate hands trembled slightly, and she secretly made up her mind: to gamble on her future good life!
---Aside---
(*^__^*) Hehe... Thank you everyone for the flowers, diamonds, votes, and kisses! These three losers will be finished soon... La la la...
Chapter 210: The Fifth Prince Returns to the Capital, Open and Covert Struggles Erupt
As night fell, the maids of the Prince Zhan's mansion bustled about, preparing the evening meal.
Shen Yingxue slowly walked into the restaurant, her anxious gaze sweeping over the seats before settling on the seat below the head of the table.
During festivals and holidays, or on the first and fifteenth of each month, the masters of the Zhanwang Mansion would gather in the dining room for dinner. Today is the fifteenth, a day for their gathering.
The rich aroma of food wafted over, making one's mouth water. Shen Yingxue clutched the small medicine packet in her hand and gracefully walked towards Li Youlan's seat.
The maids were busy serving dishes and porridge, and no one paid any attention to her.
She quietly took out the small medicine packet, opened it with trembling hands, and poured the powder into Li Youlan's porridge with trembling arms, her palms sweating nervously.
The powder sank into the porridge and blended in perfectly, showing no signs of anything amiss. She breathed a long sigh of relief, only then realizing that the back of her clothes was soaked with sweat.
This is my first time doing something like this, I'm so nervous!
She gave a self-deprecating laugh, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, and turned around slightly, meeting Li Youlan's sharp eyes. That ambiguous gaze seemed to see through everything, and her heart skipped a beat: "Your...Your Highness!" When did she arrive? How come I didn't notice?
"Shen Yingxue, what did you put in my porridge?" Li Youlan's sharp voice carried a hidden, overwhelming anger, sending chills down one's spine.
She realized she had drugged him, what should she do? What should she do?
Shen Yingxue was shocked, her whole body went weak, and she staggered, almost falling to the ground. Her eyes flickered slightly, and she stammered, "No...this concubine...didn't put anything in..."
She absolutely could not admit it, otherwise, given Li Youlan's ruthlessness, she would never let her off easily.
"Didn't you put anything down? Then what are you doing standing in front of my seat like that?" Li Youlan's lips curled up slightly, revealing a strong sense of mockery.
"This humble servant..." Shen Yingxue's eyes darted around, "...help set the table..."
"Lying!" Li Youlan raised her hand and slapped her hard across the face. The crisp sound made the concubine and maids behind her tremble. They lowered their heads and didn't dare to breathe. The inner courtyard of the Prince Zhan's mansion was under the jurisdiction of the principal wife. It was only right for her to discipline the concubines. They could not and did not want to interfere.
"Your Highness, spare me! I really didn't lie." Shen Yingxue's fair face was swollen from the beating, revealing bright red five fingers. Her mouth was filled with the strong taste of rust, but she ignored it, knelt on the ground, and kept kowtowing and begging for mercy.
"Stop making excuses!" Li Youlan said coldly, kicking Shen Yingxue aside and picking up the bowl of porridge.
Shen Yingxue is Dongfang Zhan's concubine. She should have been the first to try to please Dongfang Zhan. Instead, she ignored Dongfang Zhan and only served him her porridge. It's like a weasel paying respects to a chicken. She has no good intentions!
This was a bowl of white fungus and lotus seed porridge, sweet and fragrant. Li Youlan smelled it carefully but couldn't detect anything unusual. The smile on her lips deepened. It was a top-grade medicine, colorless and odorless, which she couldn't even smell.
She removed the silver needle from her black hair and inserted it.
Shen Yingxue tumbled to the side in a disheveled state, watching Li Youlan slowly take out the silver needles. Her heart was in her throat. Consort Li had said that the medicine was very special and couldn't be detected with silver needles. What she said had to be true, it had to be true...
As the silver needles left the white fungus and lotus seed porridge, a layer of transparent water floated on their glistening surface, reflecting a faint glow under the candlelight without changing color.
Shen Yingxue's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, instantly relaxed. Thank goodness, Consort Li hadn't lied to her; she could escape this calamity!
Li Youlan raised an eyebrow and handed the bowl of porridge to Shen Yingxue: "Drink it." The fact that the silver needle didn't detect poison didn't mean it wasn't poisonous. It could also be that the poison was too potent to be detected. She didn't want to take the risk herself, so she had to ask Shen Yingxue to do it.
"Your...Your Highness...This is your porridge..." Shen Yingxue was stunned, stammering out a clumsy reason. The porridge had something added to it, how could she drink it?
Li Youlan smiled and said, "You keep saying you're innocent, so drink it and prove it's not poisonous."
The bowl of porridge was brought to Shen Yingxue's lips with an air of determination that would not give up until the goal was achieved. Shen Yingxue had no doubt that if she did not drink the porridge, Li Youlan would have someone force-feed her.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, she took the porridge with trembling hands, her gaze fixed, and with a look of grim determination, she brought it to her lips, tilted her head back, and drank it down. Consort Li said that this medicine wouldn't work after one or two doses; it had to be taken every day to be effective. She should be fine after drinking it once.
He drank it down so decisively!
Li Youlan looked at the empty bowl of porridge, her tightly furrowed brows relaxing slightly. Shen Yingxue had her back to her earlier, so she hadn't seen whether Shen Yingxue had actually done anything underhanded; the poisoning was just her guess.
After drinking the porridge, Shen Yingxue's lips became rosy and her face flushed. Apart from that, she didn't have any other special symptoms.