chapter 13
I recounted the past between Gu Yan and Noble Consort Rong.
The Emperor was shocked and suspicious, and dispatched the Secret Guard to investigate.
Once the most difficult conclusion was known, it was easy to deduce the process in reverse; soon, the truth came to light.
The Emperor was furious.
“Grand Tutor, you are far too impatient!”
“Forming factions for personal gain, colluding with the princes, poisoning both me and the Crown Prince.”
“Are you so tired of being Grand Tutor that you wish to become Regent?!”
The evidence was irrefutable.
Gu Yan’s face turned deathly pale.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
His poison was exceedingly rare; he could not believe that the Imperial Medical Bureau had discovered it so quickly.
Until he realized-the poison identified by the Imperial Physician was Green Datura.
“…Green Datura?”
Gu Yan seemed to awaken from a dream, seizing a glimmer of hope.
“I have never used Green Datura!”
He quickly pieced together the cause and effect.
“Your Majesty, though the medicinal tea was prepared by the Second Prince under my instruction, I harbored no intent to harm!”
“Why not summon all the Palace Maids and Eunuchs of the Eastern Palace to see who else might have touched this tea!”
He pointed at me, trembling with rage.
“Someone must be trying to frame me for attempted murder!”
“Your Majesty, listen to both sides and you will be enlightened; trust only one and you will be misled!”
The Emperor hesitated and glanced at me.
At this point, I could only force a smile and nod.
A thin layer of sweat formed on the hand hidden in my sleeve.
It was indeed I who had added the Green Datura.
Gu Yan had acted with great secrecy.
In my previous life, only that Nanzhao Itinerant Doctor had ever recognized such a poison.
The Imperial Medical Bureau, a group of useless drunkards, would never have detected it.
But I was out of time.
In this vast sea of people, where could I find a mere itinerant doctor?
Still, as long as the act of poisoning was established,
did the specific type of poison really matter?
I had to try.
Just for the chance to bring down both the Grand Tutor and the Second Prince in one stroke, I would take this risk.
That night, I acted with utmost caution.
Yet, with a hundred careful moves, there was still one slip-a single person saw me.
That person was Yanyu, the senior Palace Maid assigned to Xiao Qi by the Empress.
Now, everyone from the Eastern Palace was brought before the hall one by one.
“These days, have any of you seen anyone enter the Eastern Palace?”
My gaze met Yanyu’s in midair.
She looked away.
“There was indeed someone, this servant dares not conceal it.”
Gu Yan pressed anxiously, “Who?!”
Yanyu raised her eyes. “Grand Tutor Gu Yan.”