Chapter 766: Prepared by my Mother
Nianzu woke up in the evening and felt weak. He heard the whispers and then the deep voice of the Royal Physician.
"Empress Dowager, the Prince is awake. The poison is removed from the body. However, the Fourth Prince will feel the weakness until he fully recovers."
Nianzu heard the Royal Physician talking to his mother. He tilted his head and found everyone from the family was present in the chamber. His eyes fell on Chuntao, who was seated on the chaise along with the Empress. His heart sank seeing the tears in her eyes.
He felt his head getting heavy and the figure of his mother appeared before him.
The sweets.
Something was weird in them. He wanted to speak, but the weakness was so much that he was unable to speak. He felt his throat getting drier with each second and somehow he managed to ask for water.
"His Highness shall not drink water for a few hours. It can harm his body," the Royal Physician refused to give water to Nianzu. Chuntao immediately asked about it.
"My Lady, it"s for medical purposes. The poison was mild though, but if there are any more parts of the poison left in the body, then with water its effect can increase, leading to severe poisoning. I need to perform the acupuncture one more time, after two hours. After that, maybe His Highness can drink water," the Royal Physician explained to Chuntao.
"Brother Nianzu scared us all," Lei Wanxi said. "But who can poison him. According to the Royal Physician, the poison is mild. Who"s this enemy who used a mild poison?" Lei Wanxi was curious to know the answer.
Ying Lili looked at Deng Hui, who had brought the sweets for her. Nianzu was the only one who ate them in her place.
Deng Hui scolded Lei Wanxi for speaking such rubbish. "Prince Nianzu is still recovering from it. Prince Wanxi shall refrain from talking in front of him. Everyone may leave except the Royal Physician, the Prince"s wife, and the servants," Deng Hui ordered.
The Consort Dowagers left first, followed by the n.o.ble Princesses. However, the Empress and the Princes stayed behind.
"I need to ask the Fourth Brother if he ate anything after breakfast," Rong Zemin said and walked to him. Nianzu shifted his gaze at her mother, who was standing calmly.
Ying Lili understood that Nianzu did not want to tell them that his own mother poisoned him.
"I ate the sweets prepared by my Mother," Nianzu confessed. "I started to feel pain in my abdomen after consuming a sweet," he a.s.serted.
Every eye turned to Deng Hui, who was not troubled by the accusation. Instead, she smiled and said, "if the Prince thinks that his own mother would try to kill him, then he is wrong."
At that moment, the Court Lady from the Queen"s manor arrived in the chamber.
"The culprit is here," General w.a.n.g announced, who came in with the Court Lady. She tilted her head when a servant, who belonged to the royal kitchen, came forward. He got on his knees and admitted that he was the one who mixed the small quant.i.ty of poisonous root mixture while Empress Dowager was preparing the sweets.
Nianzu tried to sit up when Eunuch Chung helped him. He tied the knot on the upper garment for Nianzu, who looked at the servant.
"Why did you do it?" Rong Zemin asked him. "Why are you still in the Palace instead of running away?" He doubted the servant.
"You may leave," Nianzu told the servant, shocking them.
"Prince Nianzu, this lowly servant tried to kill you," Deng Hui said. "He must be punished," she stated and ordered to behead the servant.
Nianzu got infuriated. "He did not mix the poison in the sweet. So, stop accusing an innocent person, Mother. You are the one who prepared the sweets for the Empress and my wife. Yet, you brought an innocent to take the blame," he shouted at her.
"Son, I did not—"
"Don"t say anything, Mother!" He interrupted her in the middle.
Chuntao went towards Nianzu and told him to calm down. "Prince Nianzu is still recovering. Please do not stress yourself out," Chuntao requested him.
"General w.a.n.g, it"s my mother who tried to poison the Empress. According to the law, she should get imprisoned," Nianzu stated. His face was burning with anger. He couldn"t believe that his mother again tried to do something which she should not have.
"I did not try to poison the Empress. Why is my son behaving this way without looking at the evidence?" Deng Hui started to shed tears.
"I put the poison in the sweet because of the Emperor," the servant finally spoke, grabbing everyone"s attention towards him. "His Majesty punished my wife, so I thought to commit such a grave crime. Please punish me to death," he begged and bowed such that his forehead touched the cold floor beneath him.
"Since he has accepted his crime, then General w.a.n.g shall take him to prison," Ying Lili ordered him.
w.a.n.g Hao bowed and gestured to the two soldiers behind him to take the servant away. "I will investigate the servant myself. It"s strange that he tried to poison me but not with a strong poison," Ying Lili remarked and looked at Deng Hui, who was still crying.
"Her Majesty must not bother herself with this matter. I will look into this," Rong Zemin advised her and gestured to Court Lady Xu to take the Empress back to the Northern Palace.
Court Lady Xu came forward and told Ying Lili that they should
return, who agreed with her.
"Brother Nianzu, I will see you later. Please take a good rest. General w.a.n.g, please come with me," Ying Lili said and left the chamber.
Lei Wanxi stayed behind in Nianzu"s chamber while Weng Yu walked behind w.a.n.g Hao.
"Increase the security in my son"s manor," Deng Hui instructed Eunuch Chung, who bowed.
"Please get out of my sight," Nianzu furiously said to his mother. "I don"t want the Empress Dowager to come here unannounced," he said in a fit of rage.
Deng Hui didn"t say anything and left the chamber. She was hurt because her son once again turned against her.