An Eight-year-old Princess novel Chapter 27

Hearing this, Yun Shang's eyes widened. She turned to Emperor Ning and said, "Father, there is no need to kill them if these packets are harmless."

Emperor Ning looked at his young daughter. He contemplated for a while before asking, "Who prescribed these herbs to you? Go check the records at the Imperial Medical College."

The maid kowtowed and said, "Oh it was physician Shang who prescribed these herbs. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you so much, Your Highness."

Realizing Qing Xin would no longer be treated as a suspect, Yan'er, the maid who went to retrieve the cushion cried out, "It wasn't me! I don't even know what those herbs are or where they came from! Were it not for Qin Yi asking me to fetch the cushion for the Princess today, I wouldn't even have had the chance to enter the Princess's chamber. Please trust me, Your Majesty!"

"You are in charge of cleaning the Princess's Palace. So even without Qin Yi asking you to fetch the cushion, you could have still found a way to tamper with the medicine." Lord Cui snapped, "Besides, those herbs have already been given to an Imperial Physician. We will soon find out whether they are poisonous."

"Oh I am innocent! I truly do not know how those herbs came to be under my pillow!" Yan'er paused as she thought of something. Then her eyes filled with resentment. "It has to be Jing Rong. She lives in the same room as me, and we have always been incompatible with each other. It must be Jing Rong who put those herbs under my pillow."

Qin Meng frowned, she bowed towards Yun Shang and Emperor Ning, and said, "Jing Rong is a maid in the kitchen. She was ill today and stayed indoors. How did she get the chance to poison the Princess?"

Yan'er collapsed on the ground, "I didn't do it. I'm innocent..."

While she was claiming her innocence, an Imperial bodyguard hurried in. "Your majesty, I have the result of the herb tests. Qing Xin's package contains licorice powder indeed, but Yan'er's herb package contains poison."

"Take her away. Decapitate her." Emperor Ning frowned, and shouted at the guards.

Two guards stepped forward and dragged Yan'er away. No one in the Hall spoke for a long while. The only sound that disturbed the silence was the faint screams of Yan'er as she was carried away by the guards. Yun Shang closed her eyes, and murmured "Amitabha Buddha." (*TN: Amitabha Buddha, single-minded recitation of Amitabha's name, showing faith in, and acceptance of Amitabha's deliverance)

"Father, I'm a bit tired. I will take your leave and return to my Palace and get some rest." Yun Shang sighed, stood up, and bowed towards Emperor Ning. Then with Qin Yi's help, she left for the inner hall.

Gradually, the Palace fell silent. Qin Yi walked to the door, lifted the curtain, and peeked outside. "They are gone."

Yun Shang smiled, "What a scene! I put the poison in the medicine bowl. I didn't expect someone else to be scheming to poison me."

Qin Yi frowned and said, "We still don't know who sent Yan'er to us. It couldn't be the Queen, otherwise Qin Meng wouldn't stab the maid like that."

Yun Shang shook her head, "You've only see a part of the conspiracy. In my opinion, the herb package might not have been hers at all. It doesn't matter who sent Yan'er. She wouldn't be stupid enough to put the package in such a conspicuous place. As for Jing Rong, it cannot be a coincidence that she happened to be sick today. Qing Xin's behavior also left me with some doubts."

"I have the same doubts about Jing Rong. Like Yan'er said, it is possible that Jing Rong deliberately put the herb package under her pillow to avoid suspicion. As for Qing Xin, I don't understand why you didn't believe her. Wasn't she carrying licorice powder?" Qin Yi was confused.

Qin Meng handed a pair of chopsticks to Yun Shang with a smile. "I know Your Highness is fond of fish. I instructed the kitchen to prepare fish for you. Since this is the season of Osmanthus fragrans, I took some fresh flowers from the tree and steamed them with this crucian carp for you. Please taste it and tell me if you like it." (*FN: Osmanthus fragrans flowers can be white, pale yellow, yellow, or orange-yellow. They are small, about 1 cm long, with a four-lobed corolla, 5 mm in diameter. These flowers have a strong fragrance.)

Yun Shang smiled as she took a bite. "Adding flowers while steaming the carp is a nice touch. It makes the fish smell just like the flower. This is indeed a rare gourmet."

"Your Highness, even though the carp tasted good, you shouldn't eat too much. The physician has warned you about that." Qin Yi frowned and added. She was disturbed that the Princess would eat fish considering their earlier discussion.

Qin Meng responded in a hurry, "My fellow maid, Qin Yi, you worry too much. Fish is nutritious. Eating fish every once in a while benefits one's health."

Yun Shang smiled, "It's not a big deal. I know my body well. It won't hurt to eat such a small amount of fish."

The maids kept quiet and watched as Yun Shang tried some of the other dishes. She didn't touch the fish again. After a short while, a loud noise came from outside.

Yun Shang frowned and said to Qin Yi, "Go see what's happening out there."

Qin Yi nodded and left. She returned a few minutes later and reported, "Your Highness, I heard that the Queen lost her hairpin. According to the maid from Qiwu Palace, Lady Shu had given her an ingot of silver and asked her to steal the hairpin out and hand it to one of Lady Shu's maids. The Queen took some maids with her, searched Lady Shu's Palace and found the lost hairpin. But Lady Shu says the Queen is merely scheming and setting her up. Now Lady Shu is taking someone with her to argue with the Queen in Qiwu Palace. The noise we heard just now was made by the Queen' maids. They were dragging Lady Shu's closest maid to Qiwu Palace..."