RWNEFE -Chapter 410 It Was Not Her Mother Who Poisoned Her, But Zhou Yunshang!

The next day, Shen Lanxi went with Wei Dongzhu and Ban Sicao to the Grand Princess’ residence to conduct a search and confiscation.

It was evident that much of the Grand Princess’ belongings had been rearranged, and the weapons and armor were nowhere to be found.

Here, except for Emperor Renxiao, no one dared to touch anything.

“Che Mingyuan, record the valuables. Wei Dongzhu, Ban Sicao, you two follow me to the secret chamber.”

Beneath the Grand Princess’ room was a large secret chamber. Previously, she had only been told of it by the dark guards and did not know what it contained.

Wei Dongzhu and Ban Sicao followed her in, and the sights of the underground chamber slowly came into view.

“Record the gold and silver, then turn it over to the national treasury.”

“Record the jewelry and ceramics, then send them to the Imperial Household Department.”

The ceramics and large jewelry pieces were displayed on shelves, while the gold and silver were stored in boxes. Besides these, Ban Sicao even found a small box hidden in a secret compartment.

“Whatever is in here must be more precious; otherwise, it wouldn’t be stored separately.”

Shen Lanxi: “Open it and see.”

Ban Sicao fumbled with it a few times and then opened the box.

Unexpectedly, it wasn’t gold, silver, or valuable items—it was filled with bottles and jars.

As Ban Sicao moved closer, sniffing them, his expression immediately turned strange.

“Poison?” Shen Lanxi had already guessed when the box was opened.

What puzzled Ban Sicao was: “This medicine… it seems to be Bimei poison.”

Shen Lanxi’s gaze froze on the chamber, then fell to the bottles in Ban Sicao’s hands.

“What do you mean?”

Ban Sicao remembered something she had asked before and said: “This poison is similar to what you mentioned earlier. All of it has been improved by Bimei, but the exact effect can only be known after use.”

Shen Lanxi’s expression darkened.

“And the rest of the medicines?”

Ban Sicao opened each one, frowned, thought for a moment, and then spoke: “Several bottles here—I have no idea what their effects are. Together with these poisons, they are definitely poisons. But what exactly they do is unknown.”

Shen Lanxi: “Looks like our earlier suspicion was correct. There really are people from the old Wandu Sect in the capital.”

Ban Sicao said angrily: “This is definitely the person who caused our Wandu Sect to be expelled from the Central Plains. I must catch him and cleanse the Wandu Sect of this threat.”

Shen Lanxi: “I’ll leave the poisons in your hands.”

A small storm stirred in Shen Lanxi’s heart. From her observations of her mother, it seemed there might have been some expectation of her.

If her mother truly had expectation, she would never have tried to poison her.

Could it be that she had been mistaken from the very beginning? The one who tried to poison her was not her mother, but Zhou Yunshang.

If she asked Zhou Yunshang, she would know for sure.

Now Zhou Yunshang was locked in the Celestial Prison. Without Emperor Renxiao’s order, no one could see her.

At night, Shen Lanxi and Ban Sicao quietly snuck into the prison.

Zhou Yunshang was groggily awakened. Though her mind was alert, she couldn’t open her eyes properly or make out who was in front of her.

She could only respond mechanically, answering whatever was asked.

“Did you poison Shen Lanxi on her wedding night with Zhou Ruyuan?”

Shen Lanxi clearly heard Zhou Yunshang say: “Yes.”

“How did you administer the poison?”

Zhou Yunshang: “I bribed the cooks and maids in the prince’s mansion.”

“Why poison her?”

“To hate her, hate her to the bone. I am the most honorable Grand Princess in the palace. Every time the Empress Dowager and Father saw Shen Lanxi instead of me, and she repeatedly forced me to act, I hated her so much I wished I could have dealt with her personally.”

Shen Lanxi: “Where did the poison come from?”

Zhou Yunshang: “The princess mansion’s pharmacist made it by hand.”

Shen Lanxi’s eyes flickered—this pharmacist reminded her of the one from Zhou Qiwou’s mansion.

“Why not use lethal poison?”

Zhou Yunshang laughed mockingly, her tone full of pride: “How could I let her die so easily? She must suffer before she dies.”

Shen Lanxi asked another question: “Does this relate to the Wei family army case?”

Ban Sicao’s eyes flickered in surprise. Wasn’t that case already closed?

“No relation.”

Shen Lanxi: “Besides the Fifth Prince, who else in the palace is on your side?”

Suddenly, Zhou Yunshang stopped moving, and blood began to flow from her nose, eyes, and mouth.

Ban Sicao’s expression changed drastically.

“Not good, she’s been poisoned.”

Ban Sicao leaned closer and sniffed, detecting a rotting smell. He had noticed it when they first entered the prison but had attributed it to the damp, dark air.

Now he realized it was something else.

“Sir, something’s wrong here. We should leave immediately!” Ban Sicao felt a strong sense of danger and urgently wanted to exit.

Shen Lanxi looked around and touched under Zhou Yunshang’s nose.

“Dead.”

“Go!”

…

“Someone got here before us,” Shen Lanxi said grimly.

Ban Sicao speculated: “Could it be the Fifth Prince’s people, trying to silence her?”

Shen Lanxi: “We’ll discuss that later. For now, what I needed to know, I know. Zhou Yunshang’s death is no great loss.”

“Sir, the Princess’ people have gone to the palace again.” Upon returning to the residence, someone immediately reported.

Shen Lanxi pondered another question: the poison wasn’t her mother’s, so does that mean she has no blood relation to Zhou Ruyuan?

That would explain a lot.

If she were Emperor Renxiao’s daughter, he would never have been so wary of her controlling military power.

But she couldn’t say that for certain; after all, Emperor Renxiao wasn’t particularly good to his children either. Especially the princess, who could always be used as a tool to balance ministers and exchange favors.

Finding the truth was simple, but… after all, it was still her mother!

The next day at court, Zhou Ruyuan also arrived.

“Is the Southern Protector feeling better?” Wu Yanzhi asked casually.

Zhou Ruyuan said coldly: “Better. I heard Father was in the palace, so I specially returned to check.”

“Why is Shen Lanxi not here?”

Wasn’t she supposed to handle state affairs along with the other three ministers?

Wu Yanzhi smiled: “Lord Shen is in charge of palace security; naturally, she cannot come to the main hall often.”

This was a place for discussing major state affairs, not somewhere a woman could attend.

Zhou Ruyuan noticed Wu Yanzhi’s contemptuous expression and frowned.

“I heard she repelled the Grand Princess’ coup attempt and protected the safety of the palace—truly meritorious work.”

Wu Yanzhi inwardly scoffed at Zhou Ruyuan’s words.

Everyone knew what had happened between Zhou Ruyuan and Shen Lanxi in the past. Now, Zhou Ruyuan’s words were nothing more than hypocritical pity.

Wu Yanzhi: “Shen Lanxi commands the Capital Guard and Imperial Guards. Defending the capital and the palace is her responsibility. To call it meritorious work is overstated; it is merely her duty.”

Zhou Ruyuan remained silent, leaving state affairs aside. After leaving, he headed straight to Emperor Renxiao’s residence.

“Your Highness arrived at the right time; His Majesty wanted to see you.” The eunuch holding the imperial edict opened it and began reading.