Chapter 27 The Fight Between Two Tigers


    Hearing this, Yun Shang''s eyes widened. She turned to Emperor Ning and said, "Father, there is no


    need to kill them if these packets are harmless."


    Emperor Ning looked at his young daughter. He contemted for a while before asking, "Who


    prescribed these herbs to you? Go check the records at the Imperial Medical College."


    The maid kowtowed and said, "Oh it was physician Shang who prescribed these herbs. Thank you for


    your mercy. Thank you so much, Your Highness."


    Realizing Qing Xin would no longer be treated as a suspect, Yan''er, the maid who went to retrieve the


    cushion cried out, "It wasn''t me! I don''t even know what those herbs are or where they came from!


    Were it not for Qin Yi asking me to fetch the cushion for the Princess today, I wouldn''t even have had


    the chance to enter the Princess''s chamber. Please trust me, Your Majesty!"


    "You are in charge of cleaning the Princess''s Pce. So even without Qin Yi asking you to fetch the


    cushion, you could have still found a way to tamper with the medicine." Lord Cui snapped, "Besides,


    those herbs have already been given to an Imperial Physician. We will soon find out whether they are


    poisonous."


    "Oh I am innocent! I truly do not know how those herbs came to be under my pillow!" Yan''er paused as


    she thought of something. Then her eyes filled with resentment. "It has to be Jing Rong. She lives in


    the same room as me, and we have always been ipatible with each other. It must be Jing Rong


    who put those herbs under my pillow."


    Qin Meng frowned, she bowed towards Yun Shang and Emperor Ning, and said, "Jing Rong is a maid


    in the kitchen. She was ill today and stayed indoors. How did she get the chance to poison the


    Princess?"


    Yan''er copsed on the ground, "I didn''t do it. I''m innocent..."


    While she was iming her innocence, an Imperial bodyguard hurried in. "Your majesty, I have the


    result of the herb tests. Qing Xin''s package contains licorice powder indeed, but Yan''er''s herb package


    contains poison."


    "Take her away. Decapitate her." Emperor Ning frowned, and shouted at the guards.


    Two guards stepped forward and dragged Yan''er away. No one in the Hall spoke for a long while. The


    only sound that disturbed the silence was the faint screams of Yan''er as she was carried away by the


    guards. Yun Shang closed her eyes, and murmured "Amitabha Buddha." (*TN: Amitabha Buddha,


    single-minded recitation of Amitabha''s name, showing faith in, and eptance of Amitabha''s


    deliverance)


    "Father, I''m a bit tired. I will take your leave and return to my Pce and get some rest." Yun Shang


    sighed, stood up, and bowed towards Emperor Ning. Then with Qin Yi''s help, she left for the inner hall.


    Gradually, the Pce fell silent. Qin Yi walked to the door, lifted the curtain, and peeked outside. "They


    are gone."


    Yun Shang smiled, "What a scene! I put the poison in the medicine bowl. I didn''t expect someone else


    to be scheming to poison me."


    Qin Yi frowned and said, "We still don''t know who sent Yan''er to us. It couldn''t be the Queen, otherwise


    Qin Meng wouldn''t stab the maid like that."


    Yun Shang shook her head, "You''ve only see a part of the conspiracy. In my opinion, the herb package


    might not have been hers at all. It doesn''t matter who sent Yan''er. She wouldn''t be stupid enough to put


    the package in such a conspicuous ce. As for Jing Rong, it cannot be a coincidence that she


    happened to be sick today. Qing Xin''s behavior also left me with some doubts."


    "I have the same doubts about Jing Rong. Like Yan''er said, it is possible that Jing Rong deliberately put


    the herb package under her pillow to avoid suspicion. As for Qing Xin, I don''t understand why you didn''t


    believe her. Wasn''t she carrying licorice powder?" Qin Yi was confused.


    Yun Shang smiled, "There are certain things in this world that seem harmless on their own, but they are


    actually quite dangerous. Licorice is amon herb indeed, but few people know that if consumed with


    carp, licorice can be fatal."


    "Carp? Everyone knows that Your Highness loves eating fish. If you were served fish, you will certainly


    eat it. I didn''t know these bastards could be this evil! Had you not learned so much from the intelligent


    people around the Master, you would be an easy victim. Besides, food poison is hard to trace. Even if


    someone realizes poison was being used, their first suspicion would not be the food that you


    consumed." Still frightened, Qin Yi suggested, "How about we pretend to take a walk outside tomorrow


    and examine some of the things stored in this Pce throughly, eliminate potential risk, in case the


    same things happen again?"


    Yun Shang nodded, "We really do need to examine the Pce..." While speaking, something came up


    her mind. She smiled, "There are people from all forces hiding in Qinxin Hall, after this event, suspicion


    will surely spread among them. Qin Meng works for the Queen. But she never got the opportunity to


    make a move. Now that someone made trouble, I''m sure they will soon suffer."


    Qin Yi was about to respond, when Yun Shang stopped her. Yun Shang opened her mouth and


    whispered. "Someone is approaching."


    Qin Yi understood Yun Shang''s gesture. She began whimpering, "I told you it wouldn''t be easy to settle


    here, but you didn''t listen and insisted on returning. Now look at what happened! There was an attempt


    on your life the day you came back. Your highness, if you had actually been poisoned, I wouldn''t even


    know what to do..."


    Yun Shang sighed, "After all these years of living in the temple, I''m used to it''s peaceful surroundings.


    Moving back here seems inappropriate to me now. Never mind. I came back only because I miss Lord


    Father too much. Now that he''s getting better, I''m also relieved. I''ll just go back to Ning''guo Temple


    after my Coming-of-age Ceremony. I''m too weak and staying here would be nothing but a burden to


    Lord Father..."


    A short while after Yun Shang finished her sentences, Qin Meng''s voice came from outside the door,


    "Your highness, dinner is ready. Please eat before it gets cold."


    Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.


    Yun Shang sneered but responded in a gentle tone. "Alright, I''ll have my dinner now."


    Qin Yi quickly stepped forward and supported Yun Shang as she rose from her bed. Dinner had been


    served on the table. As Yun Shang approached the table, she spotted a te of fish. Her eyes turned


    cold as she remembered the licorice. Yun Shang sat at the table and smiled. "Well well well, we have


    fish today. Living with the monks in Ning''guo Temple meant giving up meat. I haven''t had fish in such a


    long time. This fish smells so good and I''m sure it tastes as good as it smells."


    Qin Meng handed a pair of chopsticks to Yun Shang with a smile. "I know Your Highness is fond of fish.


    I instructed the kitchen to prepare fish for you. Since this is the season of Osmanthus fragrans, I took


    some fresh flowers from the tree and steamed them with this crucian carp for you. Please taste it and


    tell me if you like it." (*FN: Osmanthus fragrans flowers can be white, pale yellow, yellow, or orange-


    yellow. They are small, about 1 cm long, with a four-lobed coro, 5 mm in diameter. These flowers


    have a strong fragrance.)


    Yun Shang smiled as she took a bite. "Adding flowers while steaming the carp is a nice touch. It makes


    the fish smell just like the flower. This is indeed a rare gourmet."


    "Your Highness, even though the carp tasted good, you shouldn''t eat too much. The physician has


    warned you about that." Qin Yi frowned and added. She was disturbed that the Princess would eat fish


    considering their earlier discussion.


    Qin Meng responded in a hurry, "My fellow maid, Qin Yi, you worry too much. Fish is nutritious. Eating


    fish every once in a while benefits one''s health."


    Yun Shang smiled, "It''s not a big deal. I know my body well. It won''t hurt to eat such a small amount of


    fish."


    The maids kept quiet and watched as Yun Shang tried some of the other dishes. She didn''t touch the


    fish again. After a short while, a loud noise came from outside.


    Yun Shang frowned and said to Qin Yi, "Go see what''s happening out there."


    Qin Yi nodded and left. She returned a few minutester and reported, "Your Highness, I heard that the


    Queen lost her hairpin. ording to the maid from Qiwu Pce, Lady Shu had given her an ingot of


    silver and asked her to steal the hairpin out and hand it to one of Lady Shu''s maids. The Queen took


    some maids with her, searched Lady Shu''s Pce and found the lost hairpin. But Lady Shu says the


    Queen is merely scheming and setting her up. Now Lady Shu is taking someone with her to argue with


    the Queen in Qiwu Pce. The noise we heard just now was made by the Queen'' maids. They were


    dragging Lady Shu''s closest maid to Qiwu Pce..."