At night, in the study room of the Fifth Prince's mansion.
Shang Xiaomin bent over the desk, writing furiously.
Finally, he put down the brush, looked at the dense handwriting on the memorial, and let out a long breath.
Finally finished writing it.
Seeing him stop, Aoki walked up and handed him a soup bowl.
"Your Highness, you have been busy for two hours and have not even had dinner. Here is some old hen soup being heated up in the kitchen. Would you like to have some?"
Smelling the aroma of chicken soup, Shang Xiaomin, who had been busy for a long time and had forgotten how hungry he was, suddenly felt hungry.
He picked up the spoon and took a sip, then suddenly remembered something.
"Is there any news from Chen Ying?"
Aoki shook his head.
"not yet."
Hearing this, Shang Xiaomin frowned slightly and stirred the chicken soup in the bowl with the spoon in his hand.
The two places are far apart, and letters should not be transmitted that quickly. However, he would feel uneasy until he received the news that the matter was accomplished.
Seeing his worried expression, Aoki said something comforting.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. With the smallpox scab and Qingye's covert actions, the little kid from the Cheng family will definitely die!"
"As long as the Cheng family kid gets into trouble in the Chen family, the two families will definitely turn against each other."
Shang Xiaomin narrowed his eyes slightly and gave an order in a cold voice.
"During this period of time, you must keep a close eye on Cheng Shengxuan, especially the beverage shop. If there are any letters or messages trying to be sent to Cheng Shengxuan, they must be intercepted!"
"Our plan has reached a critical stage, and there can be no mistakes!"
Aoki bowed his head respectfully and responded.
"I understand."
Then he looked hesitant.
Seeing him like this, Shang Xiaomin frowned slightly.
"What's wrong? Just say it if you have something to say!"
"Your Highness, the monthly antidote..."
"Yes! Speaking of the antidote."
Shang Xiaomin interrupted him.
"Have you delivered the portion I asked you to give to Qingye?"
"He was taken out of the city in the afternoon."
Shang Xiaomin nodded slightly, drank the warm chicken soup, and then wiped the corners of his mouth.
"What did you want to say just now?"
"Your Highness, Qingzhu's antidote..."
"This matter!"
Shang Xiaomin interrupted him harshly.
"Your Highness will make the decision. Please leave first!"
Neither of the two people talking noticed that there was a figure outside, quietly approaching, and then quietly leaving...
In the study, Aoki still didn't give up.
"But..."
"alright!"
Shang Xiaomin became more and more impatient.
"Your Highness said, get out!"
Aoki lowered his head helplessly.
"Yes, I will take my leave."
…
And in a room in the guest house of the mansion.
Chu Yuan sat on a chair, crossing his legs lazily, and watched Cheng Shengxuan shaking a few small porcelain bottles with a lack of interest.
"Why did you crush the pills?"
Cheng Shengxuan paused while adding water to the porcelain bottle, looked up at him, and continued pouring water while speaking.
"Of course it is useful."
Cheng Shengxuan dissolved one-third of the Baijie Pills in water, shook it a few times to mix it evenly, and then divided it into two portions.
Chu Yuan walked over, picked up a bottle, opened it, smelled it, and raised his eyebrows.
"Don't mention it, it smells pretty good, but there are a few medicinal herbs that I can't smell."
"It seems that Master's medical skills have improved a lot, but what is the use of this medicine?"
Hearing this, Cheng Shengxuan lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Since he thought the medicine was made by his aunt, he didn't have to bother finding excuses.
"It's for detoxification."
Detoxification?
"Who was poisoned? What poison?"
Chu Yuan widened his eyes, placed his hands heavily on the table, and looked at him carefully.
"Could it be that Shang Xiaomin, that hypocrite, poisoned you in order to control you?!"
Cheng Shengxuan looked at him with disdain.
"Not me."
His vigilance wasn't that low, so how could he have fallen into Shang Xiaomin's trap?
Chu Yuan grabbed his arm and felt his pulse, and found nothing unusual, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good."
"But what poison does this medicine cure?"
Cheng Shengxuan's lips moved slightly and he said a few words.
"It can cure all kinds of poisons."
"What?!"
Chu Yuan's pupils trembled, and he jumped in shock and took several steps back.
"Shh! Keep your voice down!"
Chu Yuan covered his mouth and nodded, then he opened the door lightly and looked around. Seeing no one, he closed the door again.
He turned around and pointed at Cheng Shengxuan, accusing him in a low voice, looking extremely angry and a little aggrieved.
"Okay, I've risked my life for you and spared no effort to help you. You have such a good medicine, but you didn't even ask me to give you one!"
"I..."
Looking at someone who always had a calm face, Chu Yuan felt as if he had punched soft cotton.
How aggrieved!
In the end, he could only utter a cruel word.
"I'm going to tell Master! You bullied me!"
Cheng Shengxuan looked at him quietly for a while, then took out a green porcelain bottle from his arms.
"I was planning on giving it to you later."
Looking at the two pills in the bottle, Chu Yuan felt balanced and satisfied, but he still had a proud look on his face and muttered softly.
"You have some conscience."
He happily put the medicine bottle close to his body and glanced at the small bottle on the table.
"So who are you going to give these scraps to?"
Suddenly, his expression changed, he listened carefully, and then looked sharply at Cheng Shengxuan.
The two looked at each other.
Chu Yuan: Someone is coming!
Cheng Shengxuan: Isn't it coming?
Chu Yuan quickly held his breath and hid in the corner.
Almost as soon as he hid himself, the next moment, a slight knock on the door reached their ears.
Cheng Shengxuan put the bottle away, got up and opened the door.
"Is that you?"
In another place in the capital, at the second prince's residence.
Shang Xiaohui, who was taking a nap in the study, was suddenly awakened by the guards knocking on the door.
"Your Highness, something's happening!"
…
The next morning, in the council hall.
The old king of Muyuan looked tired and gave a look to the eunuch chief beside him.
The other party understood, took a step forward and shouted loudly.
"The king has issued an order. If there is something to report, please report it. If there is nothing to report, please dismiss the court—"
"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
Censor Zhang bowed and stood up.
The old king sat up slightly.
"Yes."
"I want to impeach the Second Prince for having close personal relations with certain ministers and secretly forming a clique for personal gain!"
Hearing this, the old king's eyes became much sharper.
"Oh? Really?"
"Father! I didn't do that. I am innocent. Please investigate!"
The second prince cried out that he was wronged.
At this time, Minister Qin also stood up.
"Your Majesty, I also have something to report."
The old king waved his hand.
"explain!"
"I want to impeach the Second Prince for taking advantage of his position and using the name of official assessment to amass wealth!"
"Master Qin!"
The second prince turned and glared at him.
"Everything requires evidence. You said I accepted bribes during the assessment process. Where is your evidence?!"
Censor Zhang spoke righteously and sternly.
"Is it easy to get evidence? Just search and you'll find it!"
After saying that, he knelt on the ground.
"I beg the Lord to give the order."
The second prince also knelt on the ground and begged earnestly.
"The innocent will be innocent! Search if you want!"
"Father, I beg you to give me justice!"
The old king narrowed his eyes slightly.
"In that case, let Censor Zhang take the people from the Dali Temple to visit the Second Brother's residence!"
After Censor Zhang and his men left, the ministers in the hall looked at each other and talked in low voices.
"What's going on?"
"Imperial Censor Zhang is a fair man who always speaks his mind without fear of the powerful. If he says so, then this is true."
"But the Second Prince's attitude seems to show that he is not afraid of being investigated at all. It doesn't seem like he has something to hide. It's really strange, very strange."
Facing everyone's gazes, Shang Xiaohui remained calm and stood straight. He glanced in the direction of the Fifth Prince.
Just then, Shang Xiaomin was looking at him, and the two brothers' eyes met with murderous intent.
Shang Xiaohui looked away first.
Humph!
He had long been on guard against the fifth brother's mischief!
Not to mention that the number of guards in the mansion had increased significantly these days, and it was like an iron barrel.
Just take what happened last night as an example. The guards accidentally found several boxes of gold, silver and jewelry in the warehouse that were not recorded in the account books. I guess that was Lao Wu's doing.
However, whether it was the property of unknown origin or the traitors, he had already dealt with them secretly.