There is a god in the sky

Chapter 188 Sowing Discord 5

It was quite normal for someone close to Consort Li to visit her mother at the Marquis's residence.

But considering that the poison might have originated from within the palace, Shen Lan had no choice but to investigate.

"Let's go back to sleep first, we'll talk about it tomorrow." Shen Lan took the cloth bag back without explaining much to Fu Qingyan.

The next morning, Physician Lan knocked on Shen Lan's door early in the morning.

Shen Lan got dressed and opened the door. Without waiting for a greeting, she barged into the house, her nose twitching as she looked for something.

"I smell that scent. Did you hide it?"

Shen Lan placed the cloth bag she had dug out last night in front of him. "Physician Lan, take a look. Is there any poison in this?"

The other person first covered their nose and opened the dirty outer cloth, then their eyes lit up.

He picked up a medicinal herb with his chopsticks, examined it against the light for a while, smelled it, and then burst into laughter: "Haha... I found it!"

"what is this?"

Do you know about Thunder Vine?

Shen Lan nodded. This plant is both a medicine and a poison, and most doctors dare not use it casually.

"This is it, but it looks like it after being dried and boiled, so it's normal that you can't recognize it."

This stuff is usually only found in the south. The other ingredients in this medicinal residue are also quite rare; it's not something ordinary people can buy.

The imperial physician, Lan, sorted through the items and then pulled Shen Lan outside.

"Come on, come on, I'll take you to see a good show."

In the main courtyard, all the servants stood in rows.

Marquis Pingyang sat in a chair, while his wife sat beside him, taking small sips of medicine.

She was wrapped in a cloak, with charcoal burning at her feet, and looked somewhat haggard, still recovering from a serious illness.

"Your Excellency doesn't need to stay here. You should go to the yamen," the Lady Hou said, urging him to leave.

Marquis Pingyang remained seated.

"My esteemed Marquis's mansion has produced a servant who dared to plot against his mistress! I, the Marquis, also wish to know who it is and who gave him the audacity!"

To put it bluntly, a servant wouldn't harm his mistress without a reason, unless someone was behind it.

He said loudly, "You don't need to doubt Aokiji either; she couldn't have done something so amazing."

Lady Hou rolled her eyes. "I didn't think highly of her."

She handed the empty bowl to Yonghe, coughed, and asked, "Everyone who was in my room three days ago, please step forward."

She had four head maids, eight second-class maids, and four maids who accompanied her in her quarters; all of them were her trusted confidantes.

These people would take turns serving her on a daily basis.

Besides her, the only people who could enter her room were those who came out from her daughter's side.

Lady Hou didn't think anyone would harm her, but she was indeed poisoned. Apart from those around her, no one else had the opportunity to poison her.

Shen Lan walked up to her and whispered something in her ear.

Lady Hou remained calm, nodded, and said to the people who stepped forward, "Go back to your rooms and list out everything I ate and drank that day, without missing anything."

"Yes."

The ten people, including Yonghe, entered the rooms. The head maids had single rooms, while the second-class maids had two rooms each, with one person on duty for each day.

While waiting, Lady Hou rested for a while and listened to Marquis Pingyang scolding his servants.

Normally, she wouldn't listen, after all, it's not up to others to discipline her servants.

But now her body is weak, and she gets tired after saying just a few words. She really doesn't want to argue with him.

Shen Lan could also tell that the couple were only superficially harmonious.

Having gone this far as a couple, one wonders if Mrs. Xiao harbors any regrets.

The Imperial Physician Lan had climbed up the tree at some point and was now sitting on a branch drinking wine.

Shen Lan took out the piece of cloth and asked the nanny standing next to Madam Xiao, "Do you know who in the manor has a piece of cloth like this?"

The edges of the cloth were neat, not like it had been torn off somewhere temporarily, and the fabric was the kind of floral cotton cloth that women often used to make small garments.

The old woman recognized it at a glance and said, "This is the fabric that was just distributed in the manor for winter. Each maid received three feet."

"Is this color pattern only available this year?"

"Yes, I ordered this from a cloth merchant in Jiangnan. He said it was the freshest pattern, one that hadn't been seen before."

"In that case, I'll have to trouble you, Madam, to check and see who is missing this piece of cloth."

Three feet of cloth is only enough to make one small garment; the remaining cloth could not possibly be such a flat and large piece.

The old women who searched the house this time were from the Marquis of Pingyang's men; they were all broad-shouldered and plump, quite burly.

The maids inside the room also came out with slips of paper and handed the contents to Shen Lan.

Shen Lan didn't rush to look, but instead observed their expressions.

Most of them were uneasy, but Yonghe was the most composed, with her head slightly lowered, looking calm and collected.

Fu Qingyan stood anxiously to the side and asked in a low voice, "Miss Shen, aren't you going to look at what they wrote?"

Shen Lan turned to him and asked, "What kind of food do you think might be the problem?"

"This... I don't know either." If poison is colorless and odorless, it's impossible to guard against.

However, judging from the dregs that Shen Lan dug out, they were clearly not colorless and odorless.

Therefore, the only way to get Lady Hou to drink it was to add it to her medicine.

Shen Lan casually opened one of the papers, which had a signature at the bottom; it was written by the maid, Yong Liu.

Starting with a cup of honey water in the morning, the records meticulously documented Lady Hou's diet throughout the day, including the herbal soup she drank before bed.

"Why did you take the medicine that day, Madam?" Shen Lan asked.

Lady Hou's expression was somewhat strange, as if she found it difficult to speak.

Shen Lan assumed it was an illness that was inconvenient for outsiders to know, so she leaned closer to listen.

Lady Hou shook her head and said, "That medicine was specially sent by Consort Li. It is taken once a month and has never been taken wrong."

The Marquis of Pingyang looked surprised. "My daughter sends someone to deliver things every month, is it just to bring you medicine?"

"Yes."

"you are sick?"

Lady Hou sneered at his question, "Whether I'm sick or not, when has the Marquis ever cared?"

"Can't you just talk properly?"

"That depends on whether the Marquis is willing to listen."

The two would always end up arguing after only a few words, resulting in a lack of trust and common ground between them.

"When you took your medicine, did you notice that it tasted different from usual?"

"No, they all know I hate bitterness, so they'll add a spoonful of brown sugar to the herbal medicine. Otherwise, it tastes pretty much the same."

"Who handed you the medicine that night?"

Yonghe stepped forward and said, "It was this servant who served the madam the medicine; that bowl of medicine only passed through this servant's hands."

At this moment, several old women who had gone to search the house returned, bringing back a few items.

After the fabric was distributed, some maids had already made their own clothes and were wearing them, some were still half-finished, and some were still intact. But there was one piece of fabric that had obviously been cut and was missing a piece.

"This piece of cloth was found in Yonghe's room."

Shen Lan stitched the two pieces of cloth together, and they fit together perfectly.

When she looked at Yonghe again, her eyes were filled with scrutiny and a sense of bewilderment.

Logically speaking, she shouldn't be the one.