“What’s happening?” Wen Dabao instinctively turned to see the source of the noise. His eyes widened when he saw what happened.
Because…
That sound came from someone fainting.
Most importantly, the person who fainted was one of the six ministers, Minister Yue.
As one of the six ministers, Yue Hu was one of the first to receive the slice of meat. As such, he was also one of the first to finish devouring it.
However, he was now lying prone on the ground. His feet were spread out and the whites of his eyes were showing. There was a red mark on the side of his head.
He looked extremely forlorn.
“Official Yue has fainted!” One of the official’s voice echoed through the air.
“What happened to Official Yue? Is he suffering from heatstroke? But…” another official looked at the sun above them. He had never heard of anyone suffering from heatstroke in spring.
Crown Prince Lin Tianrong’s expression changed when he saw Yue Hu faint. He began to shiver.
Just as he was about to speak, another sound pierced through the air.
“Dong!”
Yet another official crumpled to the ground, unconscious. No matter how hard he was shaken by the others, he did not show any signs of regaining consciousness.
“Official Li, Official Li, what happened to you?!” The officials were all stunned. This was also a rank two minister.
Two in a row…
Furthermore, these were both high ranking ministers! The officials started to panic.
However, it was far from over.
“Dong!”
“Official Wang! What happened to you? Official Wang fainted?”
“Dong!”
“Official Zhang… aish… I feel like my body has been drained of energy.”
“Dong!”
“…”
The expressions of the other officials changed drastically when they saw more and more officials fainting. One thought flashed through their minds.
“Could it be… that the meat was poisoned?!”
Just as they were thinking about it, more officials paled. Some officials even stuck their fingers down their throats in an attempt to make themselves vomit.
However, it was too late. The meat had been ingested.
“Dong, dong, dong…”
More and more officials began to faint and crumple to the ground. It was almost as if the breeze had toppled them all.
The officials who had eaten the meat all turned green when they saw the others fainting.
They never expected that…
Shan Yu would have poisoned the meat! Why would she do it on such an occasion? What was she planning?
Ping Yang was stunned as well.
She stared at all the officials who fainted, her mouth agape.
“Wow?! They’re all dead?!” Ping Yang exclaimed. Then, she added, “Oh, they’ve all fainted?!”
“Dead?” Fang Zhengzhi turned to look at Ping Yang. What’s wrong with this woman? What is she even thinking? How could she probably be a princess?
How could she be happy about these officials dying?
Yan Xiu was also slightly perturbed by this. However, he recovered quickly and an iciness filled his face once again.
Xing Yuanguo and Chi Hong didn’t eat the roasted meat. As the leaders of the 13 Constabularies, they had better discipline and awareness than the other officials.
The 13 Constabularies had helped to build this empire.
Even though the Emperor had asked the officials to enjoy the delicacy first, they wouldn’t actually try it before the Emperor.
When the two of them saw the officials crumple to the ground, they frowned and looked at Shan Yu.
The two of them clenched their fists and prepared to strike.
The crowd was stunned.
As citizens of the capital, they were used to seeing some scheming and plotting but this… this was on another level.
Poisoning hundreds of officials in broad daylight?!
“Poison?!”
“Shan Yu poisoned the meat?!”
“How is that possible?”
“That is impossible! She is the Queen of the Southern Region!”
Everyone refused to believe what they were saying. However, it was an irrefutable fact that the officials had fainted.
Bai Qi’s eyes widened. Poison? The Queen of the Southern Region poisoned the meat?
He was a seasoned veteran who had been through countless incidents. However, even he was taken aback by this. He never imagined that this was possible.
King Duan was equally shocked.
He too didn’t understand what Fang Zhengzhi meant when he said he was unable to kill. But now, King Duan was beginning to understand.
He instinctively turned to look at Crown Prince Lin Tianrong. He smirked when he saw the dark and solemn expression on the Crown Prince’s face.
At that moment…
A shocked voice pierced through the air.
“What’s happening? How did this happen?” Shan Yu was shocked by what she saw.
Panic and helplessness filled her eyes as her jaw dropped. She sounded like she was gasping for air.
Everyone could see how shocked and panicked Shan Yu was.
Fang Zhengzhi was initially shocked to see what happened. However, he quickly recovered and sighed to himself
“They are all great actors!”
Fang Zhengzhi thought that Shan Yu would have acted stunned.
But now…
It was obvious that she had chosen to take the panic route. If not for the fact that he knew this would happen, he would have been taken in as well.
It would seem…
Shan Yu had matured a lot over the past year. Her acting skills were significantly better now.
When everyone saw that Shan Yu was panicking…
Everyone began to doubt their initial hypothesis that Shan Yu was the one who had administered the poison.
“Could it be that she wasn’t the one who administered the poison?”
“But… she was the one who had roasted the lamb!”
“Even though she was the one who roasted the lamb, she may not be the one who poisoned the officials! Would she really poison half the court in front of the Emperor? You must be mad!”
“That’s true!”
The crowd began to guess and discuss amongst themselves.
Crown Prince Lin Tianrong swallowed the words at the tip of his tongue. He began to grind his teeth as he glared at Shan Yu.
He knew exactly what Shan Yu was thinking…
He had already thought of a plan to turn things back into his favor.
However, he never got the chance to implement his plan. He didn’t manage to strike before the episode…
And whilst that was unfolding…
Shan Yu had taken the initiative and made her stand clear.
He couldn’t speak now!
“Why would this happen? Ah… who was the one who set me up?!” Shan Yu showed no signs of slowing down. “These are the exact ingredients I used last year! I’ve kept these by my side all this while! These couldn’t have been compromised!”
“What happened?!”
“How could this happen?”
Shan Yu kept screaming at the top of her lungs.
The officials who hadn’t eaten the meat were busy trying to wake the unconscious officials. They frowned when they heard what Shan Yu said.
They thought of a few possibilities.
For example…
The spices may have changed over the past year? Could someone have sabotaged or compromised the spices?
However, they rejected all these reasons almost instantly.
Ordinarily, spices could be stored for an extremely long time. Even half a decade was not a problem.
Furthermore, the aroma the meat gave off when it was roasted was testament to the freshness of the spices.
Secondly, it was unlikely that anyone would have sabotaged the spices. After all, no one could have predicted today’s events.
Most importantly, the officials who had lost consciousness were in stable condition. It was almost as though they were all drunk.
…
Wait a minute!
Drunk?!
When the officials thought about this, they felt a chill down their spine. They all felt extremely uncomfortable at that moment.
Then, a voice pierced through the air.
“Shan Yu, you’ve kept the spices in great condition!”
“Great condition?!” Shan Yu turned around and looked at a figure close by. “Fang Zhengzhi, what are you talking about?!”
“What I mean is, no one has compromised or changed the spices from a year ago.” Fang Zhengzhi added as he pointed to the leftover spices.
“No one sabotaged it?” The crowd looked at each other in shock and confusion.
If the spices hadn’t been sabotaged…
That would mean that… Shan Yu was responsible for the poison!
“You’re saying that I poisoned the spices myself?” Shan Yu’s eyes glittered icily.
“Of course not.” Fang Zhengzhi shook his head.
“Then what are you saying?” Shan Yu seemed slightly angered.
“Your Highness, there is no need to get angry. What I am saying is someone had already added the poison to the spices before the banquet a year ago!” Fang Zhengzhi chuckled and explained.
“The banquet a year ago? How do you know this?” Shan Yu’s gaze was icy and flames began dancing on her body.
Fang Zhengzhi had to admire this lady’s acting skills. She had matured greatly over the past year.
However…
He knew exactly where to go with this anger.
“Of course I know! I was the victim of this same poison!” Fang Zhengzhi nodded as he pointed at the Crown Prince. “He was the one who administered the poison!”
“The Crown Prince?!”
“He administered the poison?”
“What is happening?”
The other officials stared at Fang Zhengzhi in confusion when they heard this.
The crowd was in uproar when they heard this. Countless eyes stared at Crown Prince Lin Tianrong in disbelief.
“Rubbish! Fang Zhengzhi, how dare you slander me?! The person who administered the poison was…” Crown Prince Lin Tianrong never expected Fang Zhengzhi to turn the case on him now.
Why would Fang Zhengzhi point the finger at him?
That was ridiculous.
He immediately hit back.
However, when he said the last few words, he felt a chill down his spine and shut his mouth.
It was so close…
If he was just a tad more enraged or impulsive, that sentence alone would have given Fang Zhengzhi the victory.
“Who was it?” Fang Zhengzhi asked.
“How would I know? I was wining and dining with the King of the Southern Region and never left the banquet. Everyone can testify! How would I know who administered the poison?” The Crown Prince replied calmly.
“Is that so?” Fang Zhengzhi’s mouth twitched.
He had wanted to bait the Crown Prince into revealing the truth. However, the Crown Prince had saved himself in time. It was a pity, but it was not a deal breaker.
“Fang Zhengzhi, do you know that it is a crime to slander the Crown Prince?” Lin Tianrong wiped the sweat off his forehead.
“I was merely guessing. Since you denied it, then there is only one person who could have administered the poison!” Fang Zhengzhi added, virtually ignoring the Crown Prince’s question.
“Who?!” Crown Prince Lin Tianrong’s heart tightened. He had no idea where Fang Zhengzhi was going with this. He just wanted this nightmare to end.