The Emperor didn't have the mood to chat today, he pointed at Lin Yu and said: "The matter of Hui Bin's fetal movement, I've already investigated it clearly." He turned his head and ordered: "Wu Imperial Physician, you come and tell them."

  Wu Yu Yi stepped out from among the attendants beside the Empress Dowager, bowed his head and greeted the consorts, saying in a low voice: "The reason why Consort Hui fainted and had a miscarriage was because she inhaled a mixture of Anxi Xiang, Li Lu, and Zi Zhu Hua Fen near Changle Palace. Anxi Xiang has a slightly bitter smell and is not liked by many people, but due to its calming effect, some people in the palace also use it. Li Lu is slightly toxic and is often used as medicine, but it's expensive. Zi Zhu blooms flowers and produces pollen in spring, and only Changle Palace has Zi Zhu planted nearby."

  The imperial consorts listened to him talking endlessly, but most of them didn't understand, looking at him with puzzled faces. Wu Yu continued to explain: "Anxi Xiang, Li Lu, and Zi Zhu these three things, if separated, won't have any problems. But if mixed together... the pollen of Zi Zhu will cause the toxicity contained in Li Lu to evaporate massively, becoming a deadly poison like arsenic. However, this toxin is only solid, and to harm someone with it, it needs to be put into food like arsenic. If Anxi Xiang is mixed with these two, the toxin will penetrate the spice, and the fragrance emitted by Anxi Xiang will carry the toxin."

  "Compared to poisoning food, using fragrance is a far more ingenious method. In my early years studying outside the palace, I once saw a family of toxic doctors use similar methods to make highly toxic fragrances that could kill people without leaving any evidence."

  "I, your humble servant, found only a few things in the purple bamboo forest, all of which were buried in the mud. It seems that the villain was afraid of being discovered and did not dare to use too much poison. However, the amount used was just right, neither too much nor too little. Those things were buried near the Changle Palace, and over time, people nearby would be poisoned. The symptoms are increasing drowsiness, weakness throughout the body, rapid heartbeat, and eventually sudden death from fainting. These symptoms are very similar to some heart and lung diseases, so even if the poison is detected, many imperial physicians cannot find the root of the disease in a short period of time."

  "As for Consort Hui, she didn't stay in the purple bamboo forest for long, but it still caused her to have a miscarriage and faint. This was because she was pregnant and had a special physical condition, making her more susceptible to poisoning. Additionally, elderly or weak people would also suffer more severe harm than ordinary people."

  The Emperor had indeed heard these reports long ago, but today, when Wu, the imperial physician, spoke them out again, he was still enraged to the point where his forehead bulged with blue veins. He slapped the armrest of his chair and coldly said to the crowd: "You have all heard it! Such a vicious plot, this is an attempt to harm the Empress Dowager of Great Qin, my mother!"

  The concubines below were all frightened pale, and many people couldn't come back to their senses, wondering how this matter could be upgraded from harming the crown prince to harming the empress dowager. The emperor's eyes scanned the lower part fiercely: "Today you are all here, tell me who has the three things Wu Yuanyi said!" He raised his hand and ordered: "Yao Fusheng, take people down to search the six palaces, don't let any place go unchecked."

  In an instant, it was a scene of people and horses overturned. The crime of poisoning the Empress Dowager was so serious that if anyone was implicated, they would be executed along with their entire clan. Many concubines immediately knelt down and cried out: "It's not me, I'm not involved! Your Majesty can go to my palace to search, there are absolutely no such things..." Meanwhile, those who were a bit clever just sat quietly, saying nothing.

  Searching the palace is a humiliating thing, but at this time, all the concubines were too frightened to prove their innocence, they were willing to turn their houses upside down.

  The emperor looked at the concubines' fear, and a cruel bloodthirsty expression floated on his face. Yao Fusheng had already led a large number of Imperial Guards and eunuchs to search each palace, and the concubines who stayed in the Changle Palace were also uneasy. Several old women started searching from the low-ranking concubines, one by one, and moved forward. The maids and eunuchs of the various masters were directly dragged out and stripped of their clothes, while the masters themselves could not be offended but were required to remove all decorations from their bodies. An elderly old woman sniffed them with her nose in front of them.

  It's not hard to investigate this matter, nor is it difficult. Aurantii may be more difficult to find, this thing is often used to treat "beriberi", which in modern times is vitamin B1 deficiency, a typical rich and noble disease caused by not eating coarse grains. The palace ladies who got this disease were not few, and they used it a lot. But Anxiang Xiang was much rarer, its smell was bad, it was unpopular in the aristocratic circle, only those who really couldn't sleep well or had a strange personality and liked bitter taste would use it.

  The emperor had searched for a long time but couldn't find out, mainly because Lin Wan didn't cooperate.

  Lin Wan is now cooperating, and it's not difficult to find out who has the Anxiang incense. Just check again who has been to the Zizhulin in Changle Palace recently, and the result will be out soon.

  During the search, a little palace maid suddenly knelt down with a thud in the crowd, her knee bent by two eunuchs.

  Tuoba Hong heard the voice and immediately looked over, a eunuch held a handkerchief with both hands, came forward and knelt in front of the emperor, reported: "This is Anxi Xiang, found on this palace maid's body."

  Tuoba Hong nodded and said coldly, "Take her away first." Immediately, several sword-bearing attendants came forward, twisted the palace maid's arm, stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth, and dragged her to kneel outside the crowd. The little palace maid was already trembling with fear, her mouth gagged so she couldn't even cry out for injustice, and she collapsed to the ground with a whimper.

  Having only incense was not enough to convict her, so the Emperor did not immediately send her to the Ministry of Justice. After this little palace maid, several more people were searched and found with incense, all tied up and kneeling together. Among them were two concubines, one Mu Mei Ren and one Liu Biyu, who were also frightened but fortunately not bound.

  After a while, the people beside Yao Fusheng also returned to report. Every word spoken by the eunuch made the concubines tremble with fear - Wan Chun Palace's side hall searched out Anxi Xiang, Yan Qing Palace's back hall searched out Anxi Xiang, and Zhao Shu Ji from Xian Fu Palace had been to Zi Zhu Lin...

  In the named palace, all the concubines and madams knelt down. Liang Cairen, who lived in Yanqing Palace, couldn't bear it and burst into tears, shouting "It wasn't me!" Tuoba Hong looked at her with some annoyance. Zhao Shuyuan, who was also kneeling, quickly went over to pull Liang Cairen back and scolded: "In front of the imperial carriage, how can you lose your manners! Just kneel honestly and don't worry, if we're innocent, we won't be wronged! The emperor is wise and just, would he wrongly accuse you?"

  Liang Cairen barely held back her tears, just as the sound on this side had stopped, another concubine fainted with a "thud" from that side.

  The harem of Qin is in complete chaos.

  Such a large-scale search will not yield results in a short period of time. The emperor summoned all the concubines to Changle Palace, just for the convenience of searching the palace, fearing that they would prepare and deceive heaven and earth in their own palaces.

  After searching all six palaces, Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei ordered that the concubines and servants who had been implicated be placed under house arrest. They would be interrogated again by the Ministry of Justice the next day. Those who were not implicated breathed a sigh of relief, while those who were under house arrest were anxious and restless.

  The palace is no different from other places; it's not like you'll be given a clean slate just because you haven't done anything.

  Most of those who were killed were inexplicably implicated.

  The empress dowager's face did not show much expression, looking at the concubines struggling to survive like ants under her eyes, with a dead calmness in her eyes. After a while, she said to everyone: "Those who have not been banned from leaving can all disperse now, it is not decent to make trouble here."

  The concubines were overjoyed as if they had received a great amnesty, and they scattered like birds and beasts. Those who had been confined to their quarters looked as pale as death and cried out incessantly.

  A terrible storm of blood and rain once again unfolds.

  ***

  After the crowd of concubines left, Lin Wan and Tuoba Hong also didn't stay for long, soon the two of them walked out together.

  After such a big thing as harming the Empress Dowager, Tuoba Hong's mind was uneasy, and he took Lin Xuan to Jianzhang Palace for dinner together. During the meal, he said to Lin Xuan with great emotion:

  "Perhaps you are indeed the lucky star of our Tuoba family. If it weren't for your pregnancy and coincidentally going to Chang Le Palace, Her Majesty and others would not have been able to discover the existence of poison, and who knows what kind of disaster might have occurred."

  Tuoba Hong was not a fatalist; otherwise, he would not have committed the unforgivable crime of usurping the throne.

  But now he really feels that Lin Yan is an immortal maiden.

  Yes, it's the blessing of heaven that there is a woman by his side.

  Lin Yan looked at him with a devout expression and silently said two words in her heart: "Hehe."

  The gains from this matter were so great that even Lin Wan was somewhat unexpected. Framing the Empress Dowager, this is a big deal, and it's not on the same level as framing the Crown Prince. Using the power of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager to thoroughly investigate this matter, even if the real culprit had the ability, they would be unable to escape. And once that person was found out, based on this heinous crime, being executed by being sliced into nine pieces, being slowly tortured to death, and being torn apart by five horses, the most brutal punishments in the world were all waiting for her.

  Dare to harm Lin Yuan's child, and you will have to pay this price!

  Moreover, in this way, since the matter was directed at the Empress Dowager, Lin Wan inadvertently became a shield for the Empress Dowager. The crisis of offending the Empress Dowager was quietly resolved, and the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, these two big BOSSes, would still pamper her to the sky.

  As for how she moved her hands and feet—

  The thing Wu Yuetai scattered in the purple bamboo forest was just a package of leek.

  That's all Zhen Jiang buried in the purple bamboo forest, just a Anxiang incense. Bamboo is cold in nature, and Anxiang incense is similar to modern catalysts. Burying it in the soil with purple bamboo pollen releases a fragrance that, when smelled by people, is like eating horse toothwort, which is a taboo for pregnant women.

  But add another radish...

  This medicine is similar in efficacy to arsenic.

  Adding one thing changes the nature of this matter fundamentally.

  Lin Yan now just needs to set up a stage at her own door, and watch the play leisurely, to see which poor guy will be punished by exterminating his whole clan.

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