C25

In the time it took to make half a cup of tea, the imperial physicians and chefs had hurried over.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." The two of them spoke at the same time.

"Rise." Nangong Lin raised his hand, indicating that there was no need for the two of them to be so polite.

Both of them stood up and looked around. They looked at each other, but neither of them could understand what was happening.

Had he done something wrong? Why was the atmosphere in front of him so strange?

"Excuse me, did you fry the soup that Miss Liu drank tonight?" While she was questioning, Yan Xiaoxi even handed the soup over to the imperial physician by her side.

The imperial physician took it and sniffed it, answering, "Yes, but there's an additional herb inside.

Indeed, there was an additional herb inside, and adding it into the mix was not a conflict. It could be that an ingredient boy had no intention of putting the herb in here.

When he thought of this, the imperial physician felt that it was extremely frightening. Someone who had been stealing Imperial Institute of Medicine all this time had to be extremely careful in their actions.

This time, the medicine wasn't too bad. What if, accidentally, the poison fell into the medicine for the imperial concubine? They wouldn't even have enough lives to cut it off.

"Thank you, Imperial Physician." Yan Xiaoxi had long since noticed this.

After receiving a satisfactory answer, Yan Xiaoxi's lips curved up in a brilliant smile. She then turned to the imperial chef on the other side and said, "This consort wants to ask, didn't Prince Lin tell you to prepare a cup of chicken soup?"

"Yes." The chef nodded.

"Then why is there chicken soup at every table?" As she said this, Yan Xiaoxi's voice became colder. This sudden change was a shock to the chef.

Having been a servant in the palace for so many years, he had seen countless female members of the harem, but none of them had given him the feeling of terror.

Princess Lin was not as easily bullied as she appeared on the surface. She was like a swamp, and the more she struggled, the deeper she sunk. If she stayed still, perhaps she would be able to retreat unscathed.

"It was a palace maid who sent the message saying that Prince Lin ordered everyone to serve chicken soup." The imperial physician was stunned for a moment before quickly answering Yan Xiaoxi's question.

"Oh, that Linlin, did you send someone to deliver the message?" Yan Xiaoxi's question seemed so firm as if she already knew the answer.

Nangong Lin raised his eyebrows and exchanged a glance with Yan Xiaoxi. At this moment, the two of them seemed to know each other's minds.

"Nope." Nangong Lin spat out these two words in a relaxed manner.

"This …" The imperial chef was shocked. Who in the palace had the guts to pretend to be Prince Lin? Did they not want to live?

"Does the imperial chef still remember the appearance of that palace maid?" The chef's answer was crucial to Yan Xiaoxi.

The imperial chef recalled the scene and hesitated for a long time. Finally, he replied, "I have an impression of him."

Good. As long as you have an impression, then that's good.

Suddenly, the smile on Yan Xiaoxi's face became even wider.

At this moment, a smile appeared on Yan Xiaoxi's face, causing Liu Zhixue to become nervous.

Did she discover something?

Impossible, everything had been arranged in such an ingenious manner. There were tens of thousands of palace maids in the huge palace, how could Yan Xiaoxi find that palace maid among so many people?

"Chef, take a look and see if this person is the messenger palace maid." With that, Yan Xiaoxi pointed at the palace maids beside Liu Zhixue.

Seeing this, Liu Zhixue's expression changed drastically. Her forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, and her fingers were intertwined with each other. At this moment, she was extremely anxious.

Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought that Yan Xiaoxi's casual poke would hit the heart.

However, how could she know that Yan Xiaoxi didn't rely on wild guesses? Everything was based on evidence.

The imperial chef widened his eyes in disbelief as he said, "It's her! It's her!"

When he saw the palace maid, the imperial physician on the side also reacted. Why did he feel that this palace maid looked so familiar? Did he see her somewhere before?

"This servant has never been to the royal kitchen." The palace maid immediately knelt on the ground and immediately refuted.

"It can't be that Princess Lin wants to find someone to frame her, right?" Nangong Zhen did not believe a single word Yan Xiaoxi said.

"Whether or not this wangfei is spouting nonsense, everyone can just ask the imperial physician." With a single sentence, he once again directed all of his attention back to the imperial physician.

The imperial physician looked at Yan Xiaoxi with a dull expression. He truly didn't understand what this matter had to do with him.

Although they made a mistake with the soup, the responsibility didn't lie with their entire Imperial Institute of Medicine!

"Imperial Physician Gu, why don't you take a good look at the palace maids?" Yan Xiaoxi reminded the imperial physician. There seemed to be a deeper meaning behind her words.

The imperial physician frowned as he looked at the palace maid. He examined her thoroughly from head to toe several times, but still didn't find anything out of the ordinary.

He could not help but sigh, as he lowered his head to think about how he should answer Yan Xiaoxi's question. Right at this moment, he saw the jade pendant at the palace maid's waist.

Because the shape was similar to General Liu's family jade pendant, he had a deep impression of it.

When the imperial physician realized this, he finally understood the meaning of Yan Xiaoxi's words. He said in realization, "This official saw her at Imperial Institute of Medicine today. She was sneaking around Miss Liu's medicine pot at that time, not knowing what she was doing."

On the same day, the imperial chef and the imperial physician met up with this ordinary palace maid. The most important matter was that she had not only come in contact with the soup, but had also faked it, giving Liu Zhixue extra chicken soup on her table.

The conclusion could be imagined.

"I believe everyone understands. She's the one who poisoned Miss Liu." After the confirmation just now, everyone was very clear of this fact.

"Your servant is wronged, your servant did not do it." Even now, the palace maids were still vowing to fight to the death.

"Indeed, she is not the real culprit behind this. She is only following orders." These words once again caused a huge uproar.

So someone had planned everything, and who was the real murderer?

Everyone present was looking at Yan Xiaoxi with curious gazes, except for Liu Zhixue.

Hearing this, Liu Zhixue froze on the spot. Her expression was even more nervous than before, showing signs of a guilty conscience.

Liu Zhitian glanced at Liu Zhixue beside him and noticed that something was wrong.

Suddenly, his gaze shifted to the palace maid's body. After pausing for a few seconds, he saw the jade pendant on her body.

"Who is the murderer?" Nangong Zhen had always thought that Yan Xiaoxi was the culprit, so he didn't expect it to cause so much trouble.

Yan Xiaoxi smiled, pointed her finger and said solemnly, "That's her."

Everyone followed the voice and looked over. They realized that the person Yan Xiaoxi was referring to was none other than the victim, Liu Zhixue!

How was this possible?

Was Princess Lin confused?

Why would Miss Liu poison him?

"How laughable. Princess Lin, are you sure you didn't point the wrong person out?" The entire Nanshui Kingdom knew that Liu Zhixue was gentle, kind, and innocent. How could she have such a great shrewd and shrewd plan?

However, people change.

Especially in the face of love, once the desire, will become the devil, uncontrollable.

"This consort is referring to Miss Liu." Saying that, Yan Xiaoxi couldn't help but glance at Nangong Lin, who was a few steps away. She originally thought that he would also look at her with suspicion.

However, at this moment, he was already standing on the spot. The expression on his face was the same as before, and his eyes were deep, making it impossible for others to understand what he was thinking.