Chapter 211 – Poisoning

Chapter 211 - Poisoning

"What exactly did he make you spread?" Xiao Yin asked.

"He made us say that Heaven's will is going to punish the Beidi people, that the Emperor of Great Wei cannot preside over Beiling, and that the Beidi prince is incompetent!"

"If the Beidi prince is incompetent, then who is?" Xiao Yue asked.

"It's the Chengyi Prince, who has long been unmentioned in Beiling," someone suddenly said.

Xiao Yin turned to look and saw it was one of the scholars.

"The Chengyi Prince?" Xiao Yin raised his eyebrows. He had heard of this person more than once. "This person is currently in Xiyue, preparing to raise an army against Beiling."

"Your Majesty, please spare us! We realized our mistake as soon as we spread the message. So, we didn’t continue spreading the part about the Chengyi Prince," the two commoners kept kowtowing.

"You think I won't punish you?" Xiao Yin looked at the two commoners with narrowed eyes.

"Your Majesty, we were wrong. Please forgive us!"

"I will not forgive you!" Xiao Yin said coldly. "Words can drown a person! The will of the people is the foundation of a nation. Your actions have pushed me and the people of Beiling into the abyss again!"

"Your Majesty, is it really that bad?" The commoner protested.

"With a loud slap!"

Xiao Yin raised his hand and sent the person flying out with a single strike.

The person spat out blood upon landing and lay still.

The entire examination ground fell silent. Everyone shrank back, looking at each other with fear in their eyes.

"I despise those who spread lies and disrupt the state!" Xiao Yin stood up, holding Xiao Xi'er. He walked over to the commoner who was trembling on the ground. "By nightfall, I need the entire town to know that you were bribed to spread lies. If there are still rumors among the people, I will chop you up and feed you to the dogs!"

"Yes, I'll go explain everything right away," the commoner quickly kowtowed, explaining.

"Get out!" Xiao Yue kicked him as well. "My royal brother saved you from dire circumstances, yet for a mere ten taels of silver, you caused unrest among the people. Do you even have a conscience?!"

"Please calm your anger, Your Majesty!" All the scholars stood up and knelt on the ground.

The emperor, tall and handsome, had spoken to them in a calm voice earlier. Although there was no sign of anger, he was still the tyrannical emperor of legends.

But now, they understood. This emperor was indeed the tyrannical emperor of the legends.

"Hmm, Uncle is mighty. Those who stir up trouble and don't know right from wrong should be executed immediately to establish authority!"

"Heavy punishment is necessary in turbulent times!"

"Xier, shall we continue?" Xiao Yin asked, looking down at the little girl in his arms.

"Yes!" Xiao Xi'er responded.

"Alright, you may all stand up and tell us everything you know," Xiao Yin said, returning to his chair.

The scholars looked at each other.

They were curious about the little princess the emperor was holding, who had actually interacted with him.

"I think I heard the little princess hum in agreement."

"I heard it too. Is this little princess really a little goddess?"

Nurse Jin arrived with a food box, and Mo Jingyu followed her. He had a warm cloth in his hand, which he used to carefully wipe Xiao Xi'er's little hands and mouth before deftly sitting the child down beside him.

The candidates looked at each other, observing the scene.

"This... this is the seventh prince of West Yue, right? How is he so good with kids?"

"And he feeds her so well too!"

Many of the candidates were in their thirties, had earned some academic honors, and were married with older children at home.

They had never seen a man take care of a child so meticulously and so well.

Even they themselves probably couldn't do it as well.

Most importantly, even Nurse Jin and Dong Ju were only helping from the side.

"Little princess, only when Elder Brother Jingyu feeds her can she eat so quickly and well," Dong Ju said with a smile.

*'It's because when you feed me, you always talk and distract me from eating. Elder Brother Jingyu feeds me wholeheartedly!'*

Hearing Xiao Xi'er's inner thoughts, even Xiao Yue smiled.

Indeed, even as her mother, she wasn't as attentive and serious as Jingyu.

Sometimes, when something happened, she would feed the child while talking with Nurse Jin and the others, just like them.

"Alright, tell me what you know about the incident between Lin Er and Chen Wenbing," the emperor said to the candidates.

"You can also use your imagination and tell Emperor Jingyu your speculations about what happened," Xiao Yue added.

"Your Majesty, I saw Lin Er and Chen Wenbing arguing last night," a young candidate stood up and said. "I went out to use the bathroom and overheard Lin Er scolding Chen Wenbing, saying that he was inferior to Chen Wensheng."

"Lin Er was found dead in the restroom," Xiao Yue said.

"Lin Er might have eaten something wrong last night. He went to the restroom several times, and when he returned to his room in the morning, he said he was going to kill that son of a gun," said Lin Er's roommate. "I don't know who he meant, and since he kept me up all night, I ignored him."

"Yue'er, what do you think?" Xiao Yin asked Xiao Yue.

"The murderer is likely here in this family temple and may have been at the scene," Xiao Yue speculated, looking around.

Finally, Xiao Yue glanced at Xiao Yin, and both of them looked at Xiao Xi'er, who was eating her rice paste.

Beside them, Bai Cangming, who had just finished a cup of tea, shook his head. "Not necessarily. The murderer might not be among these people."

"Master, let's go take a look," Xiao Yue said.

"We’ll go once Xi'er finishes eating, and I’ll take her along," Bai Cangming said patiently.

"Xi'er isn’t your disciple, and she won’t be apprenticing under you," Xiao Yue reiterated.

"Carry on!" Xiao Yin urged the candidates to continue.

The forensic examiner finished the examination and came to report.

"Your Majesty, Princess, Lin Er died from poisoning, which caused multiple episodes of diarrhea. He became weak and slipped in the restroom, hitting his head on a protruding brick on the wall, and died from blood loss," the forensic examiner explained.

"Poisoned and then fell to his death?" Xiao Yue asked curiously.

"Yes, the poisoning wasn't severe, but after multiple episodes of diarrhea, he became weak and lost his footing. His head hit a protruding brick in the restroom, causing him to bleed to death," the forensic examiner said.

"What did he eat last night?" Xiao Yin asked.

"Your Majesty, the meals were prepared by the cook, and everyone ate together," the caretaker of the family temple replied.

"Everyone ate the same food, but only he was poisoned?" Xiao Yin frowned and thought for a moment. "Besides Chen Wenbing, did he have any other enemies?"