Chapter 167

Chapter 167 Tinghe went straight in and bowed to the Princess Consort, holding up a small embroidered pouch with both hands—it was even embroidered with a mandarin duck pattern. "Reporting to the Princess Consort, we searched Qiu Lu's room and found this pouch containing black medicinal powder." The Princess Consort said, "Take it to Doctor Zhao for examination." Soon, the test results came back—it was indeed Polygonum multiflorum. The Princess Consort asked in a calm voice, "Qiu Lu, is this pouch yours?" Qiu Lu was completely stunned, shock written all over her face. "It is mine, but... but I didn't put anything in it. I beg the Princess Consort to investigate thoroughly..." Once Qiu Lu admitted the pouch was hers, the Princess Consort couldn't be bothered to listen to her excuses. She only asked Fang Yuan'er, "Side Consort Fang, do you have anything else to explain?" Fang Yuan'er glanced at Qiu Lu with irritation in her eyes. This useless thing—she'd been framed, and now she was dragging her down with her. Qiu Lu's face turned pale with fright as she knelt on the ground begging for mercy: "I didn't administer any medicine! I truly didn't!" "Someone must be framing me!" "Sisters from the same courtyard come and go all the time—anyone could have had the chance to set me up, especially Qiu Shuang, who shares a room with me." Fang Yuan'er could no longer contain herself. "You fool, shut your mouth!" She'd seen people shift blame onto outsiders, but never onto their own people. The "sisters" she kept mentioning—weren't they all Fang Yuan'er's people? Qiu Shuang was even Fang Yuan'er's senior maidservant. With such arguments, not only did she fail to deflect blame from herself, but she actually confirmed that Fang Yuan'er was involved in something unclean. The Princess Consort smiled indeed. "By your reasoning, it's simply that one of Side Consort Fang's people has a problem, which would make it hard for Side Consort Fang to be uninvolved, wouldn't it?" Qiu Lu fell silent, finally realizing what a foolish thing she had done. Fang Yuan'er had no choice but to rise and bow. "I do not accept the charge of harming the Prince's offspring! I have been framed!" The Princess Consort asked only one question: "Where is your evidence?" Fang Yuan'er's throat tightened with difficulty. "I will find evidence." "When? And what if you never do?" Pushed back step by step, Fang Yuan'er gritted her teeth and said, "Since the Princess Consort trusts me so little, why not wait until the Prince arrives and let him decide?" The Princess Consort's gaze darkened. "Are you using the Prince to pressure me?" Fang Yuan'er's expression shifted slightly. "I wouldn't dare! It's just that the Prince knows my character best." "He will surely give me a chance to clear my name of this injustice." The Princess Consort could have simply found the matter troublesome and sent someone to invite Prince Jing to arbitrate, but she could not tolerate a Side Consort who refused to admit her mistakes and used Prince Jing to pressure her! By saying those words, Fang Yuan'er was challenging the Princess Consort's authority. The Princess Consort said coldly, "In that case, Side Consort Fang shall be placed under house arrest. Only when she can prove her innocence shall the house arrest be lifted." Fang Yuan'er's heart sank slightly, knowing she had incurred the Princess Consort's displeasure. The house arrest seemed light, but first, it slapped her in the face and extinguished the arrogance she had been showing lately. Second, it only mentioned house arrest without specifying a duration—only that Fang Yuan'er could be released once she proved her innocence. What if she could never prove it? Even so, Fang Yuan'er was not overly fearful. She was currently raising the Prince's son and managing several shops whose interests aligned with the Prince's. There was no way the Prince wouldn't protect her. No matter how capable the Princess Consort was, she couldn't overstep the Prince. Fang Yuan'er's only worry was that this might mean a direct confrontation with the Princess Consort from now on! She flicked her sleeve and bowed to the Princess Consort, her back straight as a rod, her bearing undiminished. "If that's the case, I shall return and accept my punishment!" The Princess Consort said calmly, "Side Consort Fang may leave, but this maidservant who harmed Fifth Young Master cannot be let off lightly." Fang Yuan'er paused. "Since no verdict has been reached, how can there be punishment?" "Once the Prince convicts me, is the Princess Consort free to punish my maidservant as she pleases?" The Princess Consort chuckled lightly. "No verdict?" Consort Li, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "In this entire rear courtyard, only Qiu Lu frequents the main kitchen daily and had the opportunity to administer poison. Polygonum multiflorum was also found in Qiu Lu's room—isn't that conclusive evidence?" "For Side Consort Fang to now claim no verdict has been reached is treating the rest of us like fools, isn't it? Even if Side Consort Fang enjoys the Prince's favor, she cannot twist right and wrong like this!" "Or does Side Consort Fang think that Fifth Young Master's well-being matters less than a maidservant?" When it came to favor and children, Fang Yuan'er was not the only one who had them. The Fifth Young Master's birth mother, Consort Xie, was in no way inferior to Fang Yuan'er in either favor or offspring! Since Consort Li was the Princess Consort's person, she had to step forward at critical moments to say what the Princess Consort found difficult to say. Fang Yuan'er's heart sank bit by bit. She wasn't afraid of any single person present, but she couldn't face everyone alone. And all for a maidservant. Not worth it! In the blink of an eye, Fang Yuan'er had formed a plan. She smiled and said, "Sister Li's words make sense. With the evidence right before us, Qiu Lu is indeed not innocent." "In that case, I will leave her to the Princess Consort for disposition. I only hope the Princess Consort will spare her life. When my name is cleared in the future, I would not want an innocent person to have died unjustly." The Princess Consort smiled, her expression laden with meaning. "Naturally." Fang Yuan'er finished speaking and turned to leave. Suddenly, Prince Jing strode in with large steps, followed by Eunuch Shian and Jing Wu, his expression inscrutable. Those in the room bowed in succession. Prince Jing walked past everyone and went straight to Xie Run's side. He reached out and helped Xie Run up. "I heard something happened to Taotao. How is she now?" Fang Yuan'er was bowing with her head lowered when she heard this. She could not help but furrow her brows, a sense of foreboding rising within her. Xie Run rose, and instead of seizing the opportunity to weep and complain, she said calmly, "Fortunately, we discovered it in time. Taotao is out of danger." "That's good." No sooner had Prince Jing spoken these words than he shifted his tone, his gaze landing on the Princess Consort. "Where are the proceedings now?" The Princess Consort cast a half-smiling glance at Fang Yuan'er below. "Someone had been adding He Shou Wu powder to Fifth Young Master's wet nurse's meals for several days in a row. The people in the main kitchen said only Qiu Lu, who serves Side Consort Fang, had the opportunity." "Later, Tinghe and her people searched Qiu Lu's room and found a sachet containing He Shou Wu powder—irrefutable evidence." "But Side Consort Fang insists she has been wronged and refuses to admit guilt no matter what." At this point, the Princess Consort paused, then smiled at Prince Jing with a hint of mockery. "She said that Your Highness would surely believe her and would not let her suffer injustice." "Your consort did not know Your Highness's intentions, so I merely confined her to house arrest, waiting for Your Highness to return and pass judgment." "Now that Your Highness has arrived so conveniently, I trust that with your keen perception and meticulous discernment, you will surely be able to restore Side Consort Fang's innocence?" The Princess Consort had never been one to meddle in the struggles of the prince's harem, and rarely did she speak so much in one breath as she did today. Her words appeared to praise Prince Jing, but in truth, they were laced with sarcasm and dissatisfaction, subtly accusing him of having spoiled Side Consort Fang. How could Prince Jing's expression remain pleasant after being hit with such a barrage? But after all these years, the Princess Consort had always been this way. On the surface, she appeared amiable and indifferent to everything, but if one truly provoked her, she would speak with biting sarcasm even before the Emperor himself, let alone Prince Jing. Over the years, every time Noble Consort Rou tried to torment the Princess Consort, she always ended up swallowing a bellyful of anger and never gained the upper hand. It was not without reason that Prince Jing did not favor the Princess Consort. But could he divorce her just because she had spoken a few words? He could not divorce her, so he would simply have to hold his nose and continue on.