Chapter 398: 409

Baili Qingcang looked at the Third Prince and a few officials. The corners of his eyes twitched. “Do you all think that Fifth Prince is really behind this?”

The officials who came out to make their statement were holding a wolf by the ears. They were the ones who make the fuss the most when Baili Junyi lost his power. If they chose to remain silent at this moment, Baili Junyi would probably go after them. Therefore, they bit the bullet and said, “Your Majesty, for your safety, you must investigate this matter thoroughly.”

Baili Junyi casually sat in his seat and sized up the kneeling officials with his cold glare. Some of them were Second Prince’s associates, and some were the Third Prince’s. But now, they had come together and joined forces in order to attack him. Baili Junyi was impressed by his own charisma. However, the ignorant were fearless! This group of people who did not know the whole truth dared to come forward to expose him. At the thought of this, Baili Junyi took his wine glass and slowly took a sip while mocking the Third Prince.

The Third Prince’s heart skipped a beat when he took a glimpse at Baili Junyi. What did his expression mean? Was he mocking him? Originally, the scheme was foolproof, he was certain of a triumphant victory, but now, uneasiness suddenly surged inside him.

Hearing the reply of the officials, Baili Qingcang smiled coldly. “Do you all think so?”

The Crown Prince was the first to step forward. “Father Emperor, I disagree with the excuses of the ministers. Fifth Brother’s background has already been investigated very clearly. His birth mother is Noble Consort Xian. How could he have a connection with the royal family of the Great Yue Kingdom? Also, they accused him of revenge, but it was impossible. Fifth Brother is a prince, so he did not have to go through so much trouble to kill an Assistant Minister of Rites. Besides, he has been grounded for days, and his punishment was only lifted a few days ago. He did not have the time to plot anything at the banquet. Father Emperor, please investigate the matter thoroughly.”

As soon as the Crown Prince finished speaking, the Third Prince and Noble Consort Li almost couldn’t believe their ears. In their plan, even if the Crown Prince didn’t add insult to injury, he would stay quiet to protect himself. Why would he suddenly speak up for Baili Junyi?

The Crown Prince lowered his head, his eyes full of shrewdness. Of course, he wished that all of his younger brothers were killed. How could he speak up for Baili Junyi? However, when Baili Junyi and Bu Yunqing returned, he was at the scene and knew the truth behind Bu Yunqing’s scheme. The mastermind was Zhao Huiying, his mother. At that time, Baili Qingcang decided not to directly execute Zhao Huiying because of his concern for the Crown Prince and the Zhao Family. Now that everyone was attacking Baili Junyi, if he didn’t stand up and speak up for him, Baili Qingcang would think that he was cold-blooded and ungrateful.

Hearing the Crown Prince’s words, Baili Qingcang showed a satisfied expression. He was not in the palace when Bu Yunqing was disfigured and left the palace, so he didn’t know that the culprit was Zhao Huiying. Now that Zhao Huiying was dead, even if Baili Junyi was resentful, he would move on since Baili Qingcang had avenged Bu Yunqing. Baili Junyi would not have made a move against him. Moreover, his trust in Baili Junyi was extremely deep now, and he was increasingly angry with these officials who would do anything to frame Baili Junyi!

“The Crown Prince is right.” Baili Qingcang’s voice stirred a ripple among the crowd, and the officials’ expressions changed drastically. He turned to the officials and bellowed, “Imbeciles! You don’t help me solve the problems among my people accordingly, but you have repeatedly framed my son! You’re so sinister and cunning.”

Baili Junyi, who had been watching from the side, stood up. “Father Emperor, these people are clearly deliberately framing me. I just took a closer look. When I investigated and found evidence of corruption back then, these officials had the most serious charges. At that time, I suggested that Your Majesty could pardon them if they seriously did their jobs, and if they did anything wrong again, they should be punished. Father Emperor, please fire them and send them to the Supreme Court for trial.”

“No, Your Majesty, please don’t! We do nothing wrong. We are worried about your safety, that’s all.”

“Your Majesty, the existence of poison wine at the banquet is a serious breach of security issue. We just want to protect you. Please forgive us, Your Majesty.”

Baili Junyi looked at them in agitation. “Father Emperor, these people still refuse to admit their mistakes. They don’t even know what they have done wrong. Back then, you personally issued an imperial edict, announcing that I am Noble Consort Xian’s son, yet these people publicly questioned your edict. Don’t you think they have a great sense of disrespect? Ministers, you say that you are worried about Father Emperor, but what you are doing is questioning his dignity. Isn’t this contradictory?”

“No, Your Majesty. Please forgive us. We don’t mean to do that!”

Baili Qingcang looked at the ministers with disgust and waved his hand to let the guards in. “Take off the official caps of these ministers and send them to the Ministry of Justice’s prison. They will be charged and punished.” He was tired of listening to them as they kept repeating the same old thing.

The Third Prince sat in his seat, feeling utterly dejected. Why did Father Emperor not doubt Baili Junyi at all? It was not supposed to be like this…

Baili Junyi coldly swept his gaze over the people who were sitting. “Father Emperor, those sinners are hateful, but what they said made sense. There was poisonous wine at the banquet you organized, and that person used arsenic, the most toxic poison that does not have an antidote. You can imagine how sinister the mastermind behind this is. We must thoroughly investigate this matter and capture the mastermind!”

Baili Qingcang nodded and felt a lingering fear inside him. He couldn’t help but swipe his gaze across the princes and imperial concubines at the banquet. The only people who could jeopardize the banquet were probably these people from the palace…

Noble Consort Qi was the first to speak up. “Your Majesty, I am in charge of this banquet. I must take responsibility now that something horrible happened. Please punish me, Your Majesty, for my negligence.”

Noble Consort Qi was in charge of the banquet. She would be digging her own grave if she jeopardized the banquet. Despite her innocence, Baili Qingcang thought he had to investigate her too.

Baili Qingcang said, “Where is the Dragon Scale Army?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Investigate everyone who has come into contact with food and drinks from the imperial kitchen to the palace banquet. If you find any suspects, bring them to the main hall immediately.”

“Yes!”

Dragon Scale Army moved very quickly. Moreover, the staff in the imperial kitchen had already received the news, and they were so scared that their faces turned ghastly pale. All the team leaders began to take note of their own team, for fear that they would be implicated. The other palace servants looked around to spot any abnormalities. If they could find any fault and report it to the army or the Emperor, they could at least have a narrow escape and survive.

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Not long after, Dragon Scale Army found that one of the palace maids in charge of serving the dishes was missing. They quickly sent people to look around, and finally, they found her in a storeroom. However, she had already committed suicide by hanging.

The Chief of the Dragon Scale Army reported this news to Baili Qingcang, “Your Majesty, a palace maid was found dead in the storeroom. She committed suicide by hanging.”

Baili Qingcang frowned. “Committed suicide by hanging?”

“Yes. That palace maid has always been in charge of cleaning outside the imperial kitchen. Today, she was assigned to work in the imperial kitchen due to the shortage of staff. I asked around and found that she was a reserved person and had no contact with others.”

Baili Junyi’s eyes moved slightly. “Father Emperor, how can a small-time palace maid obtain something horrible like arsenic and pour it into the wine? Someone must have helped her!”

“You’re right. What do you think we should do about this?”

“Father Emperor, I just asked Ninghua. She said that the arsenic is in liquid form, and it must be kept in a special jade bottle or glass bottle. There are guards and palace servants everywhere because of the banquet, so it must not be easy to get rid of the bottle. So, we can gather all the palace servants and search them. It will be easier to conduct the investigation when we find the evidence, do you think so?”

“Do as the Fifth Prince said.”

The guards of the Dragon Scale Army hurriedly followed the order, and soon, the search was completed. “Your Majesty, we didn’t find anything on the bodies of those palace servants.”

Shen Ninghua glanced at the Third Prince and frowned slightly because he did not look panicked at all. This matter should be planned by the Third Prince, but he was particularly calm. It seemed that he was certain that they would not find any evidence. If that was the case… She looked at the palace maid who was standing at the side. Her eyes suddenly moved. “Father Emperor, may I check something?”

“Oh? What did you see?” Baili Qingcang raised his head. Just now, he had already hinted to the Shadow Guards to investigate. It would take some time to find out the result.

Shen Ninghua stood up and walked to the seat where Zhang Xun was originally sitting. She looked at the remnants of the wine glass and then looked at the palace maid who was standing at the side. “You, come here.”

The palace maid trembled, and her face turned even paler. “Greetings, Princess Zhaohua.”

The Third Prince suddenly clenched his fists, and his expression became a little gloomy.

Shen Ninghua looked at her coldly. “Pull the hairpin off your head and give it to me.”

“Uh… The hairpin that I used is a jade hairpin distributed in the palace. There is nothing special about it.”

Baili Junyi stood beside Shen Ninghua, for fear that the palace maid would offend Shen Ninghua. “Shut up and just do as she says!”

The palace maid trembled and pulled the hairpin out. However, she did not hand it to Shen Ninghua. Instead, she gripped it in her hand and stabbed it toward Shen Ninghua. “Go to hell!”

The Third Prince’s eyelids suddenly jumped. What was she thinking?! Was she crazy?! He didn’t ask her to do this! Noble Consort Li was also shocked. The palace maid did not follow their plan! What was going on?

Baili Junyi reacted in time. He pulled Shen Ninghua and dodged backward. Then, he kicked the palace maid’s arm with a bang. The hairpin flew out, fell to the ground, and directly broke into two. A little liquid flowed out from the broken part.

Baili Qingcang was shocked. “Guards, hold her!”

The guards held the palace maid, and the imperial doctor went forward to check the broken hairpin on the ground. “Your Majesty, the middle of this hairpin was a void, and the liquid is arsenic.”

Baili Qingcang was furious. “Hah! Wonderful! What a perfect plan. You even came up with such a brilliant method. Bitch, who ordered you to do this?”

The palace maid raised her head and looked straight at Noble Consort Qi. “Your Grace, I am Qingyu. Please save me!”

Baili Qingcang suddenly turned his head to look at Noble Consort Qi. “Noble Consort Qi, is this palace maid from your palace?”

Noble Consort Qi nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. She is indeed from my palace. Her name is Qingyu. She was assigned to the imperial kitchen because of the shortage of staff, but I didn’t expect her to have such sinister plots. Your Majesty, I have no knowledge about her plan at all, I swear. Please scrutinize.”

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