Chapter 567: Help

Chapter 567: Chapter 567: Help

「In the Imperial Study Room.」

Mo Lingwei, dressed in the Crown Prince’s Robe, was seated in the place of honor, conversing with seven or eight key ministers.

These ministers were all trusted confidants whom the Emperor had left for the Crown Prince to carefully cultivate.

They were all around thirty-five years old. In the future, when the Crown Prince ascended the throne, they would form the new circle of powerful ministers in Cangyun Country.

Thus, old-school loyalists like Chancellor Xie and General Chen were not among them.

In today’s meeting, aside from discussing routine matters, Mo Lingwei was also to make his customary inquiries into their views on political affairs.

The group sat in a circle discussing politics, with the Crown Prince as the central figure.

A eunuch brought in trays of fine Longjing tea, placing a cup beside each person.

Mo Lingwei was listening to the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue report on key political matters. He picked up his teacup, and had just skimmed the foam from the surface, but before he could take a sip... 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

A sweet, urgent cry came from the doorway. "Don’t drink it!"

Mo Lingwei froze. Shen Ningning had already burst in, ignoring the eunuchs and imperial guards trying to block her way.

The ministers put down their teacups and rose to greet the Princess, confusion evident on all their faces.

The Imperial Study Room was the center of state affairs. Barging in without permission was a punishable offense.

However, the intruder was Princess Funing.

The imperial guards at the door were caught in a dilemma, but then Mo Lingwei raised a hand, signaling them not to make any rash moves.

He watched as Shen Ningning rushed right up to him and snatched the teacup from his hand.

She then dumped all the tea onto a lush, beautiful Jade Hosta plant potted on the nearby windowsill, drenching it in a tea-shower.

"Your Highness, what is..." the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue began, astonished.

Shen Ningning had run all the way here. She was panting, and her fair, smooth forehead was beaded with sweat.

Her beautiful, dark, round eyes were shimmering with tension.

She stood to the side, staring intently at the potted plant.

Mo Lingwei walked over and, producing a handkerchief from somewhere, said, "Wipe your face."

Shen Ningning didn’t take it. The ministers, curious, gathered around to stare at the potted plant as well.

After a long moment, the Jade Hosta began to visibly wither, its color rapidly turning a sickly yellow.

Shen Ningning’s heart sank. "The tea really is poisoned!"

The ministers were horrified. They all turned to look at their own untouched cups of tea. "Poisoned?!"

Mo Lingwei’s sharp eyebrows knitted together grimly.

The most frightened of all was the Historian, who clutched his neck in a panic.

"I’m done for! It’s over! I was so thirsty just now, I drank two sips."

The other ministers, even more startled, scrambled away from him as a group.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue quickly asked, "Historian, how do you feel right now?"

The Historian clutched his stomach. "My stomach was already aching faintly before, but now... the feeling seems much more intense."

As he spoke, a sharp, twisting pain seized his gut, and he collapsed to the floor.

Shen Ningning cried out in alarm. Mo Lingwei pulled her behind him and barked a cold order, "Summon the Imperial Physician! And bring me the person who was responsible for the tea."

The imperial guards helped carry the Historian, his face pale with pain, to a soft couch beneath the window.

Listening to his agonized cries, the other ministers were all deeply shaken.

This was the Imperial Study Room. For someone to dare use poison here... they must have a death wish.

While they waited for the Imperial Physician, Shen Ningning kept tugging on Mo Lingwei’s sleeve. "You didn’t drink it, right? Not even a single sip?"

Seeing how concerned she was, her usual icy demeanor had finally vanished.

Mo Lingwei actually found it in himself to offer a gentle smile. He repeatedly reassured her, "I didn’t have a single sip. You arrived just in time. Don’t worry."

With that, he reached out and wiped a bead of sweat from Shen Ningning’s cheek. The girl seemed startled, but for a moment, she didn’t resist his touch.

After a short while, the Imperial Physician arrived. Mo Lingwei had him examine the Historian first.

At the same time, the little eunuch in charge of serving the tea and two Palace Attendants were brought in for questioning.

The little eunuch’s name was Blind Student, presumably because his mother was a blind woman. After entering the palace, he was assigned to serve in Zichen Palace due to being clever, intelligent, and utterly loyal.

He could even be considered a semi-confidant of Mo Lingwei’s.

When Blind Student was brought forward, even Mo Lingwei’s cold brows furrowed in disbelief.

Blind Student was terrified, his whole body trembling.

The two Palace Attendants scrambled to distance themselves from him.

"Your Highness must see the truth! The tea service in the Imperial Study Room has always been Blind Student’s sole responsibility. We only help with the firewood and boiling the water."

"That’s right, Your Highness. Just now, Blind Student was the only one by the tea stove. We truly don’t know what he did."

Mo Lingwei’s stern gaze swept over Blind Student. "What they say is true, is it not? I recall that you alone are responsible for the tea every time it is served."

This very arrangement was a precaution against assassination attempts.

No matter how clever Blind Student usually was, right now he was so frightened his eyes were red, his body trembling like a leaf in the wind.

"Your Highness, even if you gave me a thousand times the courage, I would never dare to use poison! It’s true that I prepared the tea by myself, but I watched over it the entire time, from brewing to serving. It never left my sight! How could I dare poison you and the great ministers!"

’This is the Crown Prince and seven or eight of the most important ministers!’

’If I really had poisoned them, I would have destroyed the future of Cangyun Country. My entire clan, all my living relatives, would be exterminated because of me!’

Blind Student was so frantic he was stumbling over his words.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue said angrily, "You deceitful slave, you’re obviously lying! Your Highness, I believe if we send him to the torture room, he will surely confess under interrogation."

Mo Lingwei’s thin lips pressed into a firm line, an intense chill radiating from his dark gaze.

Blind Student kowtowed ceaselessly. "Your Highness, I speak the truth! I will swear an oath, right here in front of the Princess, the blessed girl! If I was the one who poisoned you, may I be struck by lightning!"

The ministers exchanged a look.

Ever since witnessing Shen Ningning’s abilities, no one in Cangyun Country dared deny that she was a blessed girl.

’She is the representative of the immortals in the mortal realm,’ they thought. ’To dare make such a terrible oath in her presence... could it be he really didn’t do it?’

Shen Ningning took a step forward, her clear voice laced with gravity. "Did you add anything to the tea?" she asked.

"No, of course not!" Blind Student denied frantically.

Then, he seemed to realize something. "I didn’t add poison, but if the Princess is asking about something else, I... I..."

Blind Student looked toward the Crown Prince.

Mo Lingwei frowned slightly as Shen Ningning’s gaze shifted to him.

A look of confusion crossed the girl’s face. "You’re afraid to speak?"

Blind Student stammered. A moment ago, he had been righteously indignant, but now he kept darting glances at Mo Lingwei, unsure if he should speak.

A sudden suspicion bloomed in Shen Ningning’s mind.

She whirled to look at Mo Lingwei, suspicion clouding her clear, shimmering eyes.

Seeing her expression, Mo Lingwei knew that if he didn’t explain, she would suspect him of ordering the Palace Attendant to poison the tea as part of some elaborate ruse.

He frowned and sighed. "Fine. You can tell them."

’It wasn’t anything that had to be hidden, after all.’

Mo Lingwei had only forbidden it to avoid worrying the ministers and the Emperor.

Kneeling on the floor, Blind Student said quickly, "I did add one ingredient to His Highness’s cup, and his alone. But it wasn’t poison."