Chapter 494 Fishy

Chapter 494: Something Fishy

Seeing Ming Xia step down from the carriage, Zhong Xinyu quickly hurried over to greet her.

"Ming Xia, are you alright?"

Ming Xia shook her head, her eyes rimmed with red. "Miss, I'm fine. Princess Ye saved me and helped me fake my death to escape. From now on, I can stay by your side forever."

Zhong Xinyu turned to look at Pei Zhiyi and Chen Hu, and bowed to them.

"Thank you, Miss Pei, and Princess Ye for saving our lives. Thank you, brave sir, for safely escorting Ming Xia out. I am deeply grateful."

Pei Zhiyi pulled her up and said, "No need for thanks. Seeing you and Young Master He finally being together as a couple, Tangtang and I are also very happy."

"It's getting late. You two should get going now. I've already got a carriage ready for you!"

Just then, another carriage arrived. Everyone turned to look and saw that it was Ji Yuntang.

Pei Zhiyi was full of surprise. "Tangtang, what are you doing here?"

Ji Yuntang looked at them with a slight smile. "I nearly forgot something important. I came to give Miss Zhong some silver."

She took the box from Wang Sheng's hands. "Please accept these eighty thousand taels in silver notes, Miss Zhong."

Without a second thought, Zhong Xinyu quickly refused, saying, "Please, Your Highness, I can't accept this. You've already helped us so much. How could I possibly take your silver?"

Ji Yuntang said, "This isn't my silver—it's your dowry, Miss Zhong. Today, the Zhong household sent your dowry over. Since I figured it would be a hassle for you to carry so much stuff on your trip, I took the liberty of converting it into silver notes."

After speaking, she had Wang Sheng bring out a small box from the carriage.

"And these medicines—take these too. If you get headaches, fevers, or injuries from falls on the road, they might come in handy. I've written the effects and how to use them on the labels, so you can just read them when needed."

Pei Zhiyi stepped forward and said with a smile, "Tangtang's so thoughtful."

Zhong Xinyu and He Wei both thanked Ji Yuntang profusely as well.

Just then, a small porcelain bottle fell out from Ming Xia's clothes and rolled right to Ji Yuntang's feet.

She picked it up and asked, curious, "What's this?"

Ming Xia suddenly remembered an important matter. She slapped her forehead and said, "Silly me! How could I forget something so important!"

"This was given to me by Madam Xu before I was married off. She didn't say what it was, just told me to keep it on me at all times, and that she'd let me know when to use it."

"I thought it looked like some kind of medicine, so I planned to show it to you after meeting you. I almost forgot all about it!"

Ji Yuntang uncorked the porcelain bottle, and a strange fragrance hit her nose. She immediately sensed something was off and put the cork back in.

Pei Zhiyi saw her reaction and asked in confusion, "Tangtang, what's wrong?"

Ji Yuntang's gaze turned slightly cold as she explained to them, "What's inside is a deadly poison called Wudanxiang. If sprinkled around, it attracts poisonous insects, snakes, and scorpions. If poured into water and drunk, it can make a person bleed from all seven orifices and die."

"Xu giving you this is definitely meant to harm the Prince and me."

When Ming Xia heard this, her face went completely pale. Besides feeling scared, she took a deep breath.

"Thank goodness I thought Xu had bad intentions and stayed on guard. Otherwise, who knows how she'd have tried to harm Prince Ye and Princess Ye."

Pei Zhiyi clenched her fists, fuming, "This Xu is truly vicious. Dying ten thousand times wouldn't be enough."

Ji Yuntang looked at the small porcelain bottle in her hand and let out a mocking laugh.

"If I'm not mistaken, someone else gave her this poison."

It was obvious who.

Zhong Xinyu seemed to think of something. She couldn't help but curl her fingers, looking lost in thought.

After hesitating for a moment, she looked up at Ji Yuntang.

"Princess Ye, there's something I don't know if I should say or not."

Ji Yuntang said calmly, "Miss Zhong, please go ahead."

Zhong Xinyu's lips moved slightly before she spoke, looking uneasy, "I suspect the poison I got wasn't given to me by Xu, but by someone else."

Ji Yuntang quickly asked, "Do you have any evidence, Miss Zhong?"

Zhong Xinyu shook her head and said awkwardly, "I don't have any evidence, but I've already talked it over with He Lang, and we both agree that Xu couldn't have given me this madness poison."

"Xu wanted nothing more than for me to marry out of the Zhong household as soon as possible—to marry a prince with status and position to pave the way for her two sons. How could she poison me and keep me stuck in the house?"

At this point, Zhong Xinyu paused, a sharp glint flashing through her eyes.

She looked up at Ji Yuntang. "Doesn't Your Highness find it suspicious that Prince Ye's first three princesses all died in such strange ways?"

"Although I never knew them, I've heard a bit about how they died—one jumped into a well to commit suicide, one died from poisoning, and another hanged herself. The outside world says they were all scared to death by Prince Ye."

"I don't know martial arts and don't consider myself particularly brave. Even I wasn't frightened by Prince Ye. How could they possibly have been scared to death by him?"

"So I believe they were most likely killed by someone close to Prince Ye, who deliberately framed Prince Ye for it."

"I was relatively fortunate—only poisoned, not killed. I suspect this person will strike again. Your Highness must be extra careful."

Zhong Xinyu's analysis further confirmed Ji Yuntang's inner suspicions—that the deaths of the first three Princess Ye had nothing to do with Luo Junhe, and that Luo Junhe had been deliberately framed.

As for the purpose, it might have been to ruin his reputation, or perhaps to force him to death...

In any case, this person's heart was utterly vicious.

And in Ji Yuntang's heart, she vaguely had a suspect in mind—Consort Li.

After all, Luo Junhe's successive princesses, including Zhong Xinyu and herself, had all been chosen for him by Consort Li.

She had always operated under the guise of being a virtuous wife and loving mother. After being exposed by Ji Yuntang, she stopped pretending and would seize any opportunity to try to kill Ji Yuntang and Luo Junhe.

However, the devil is always one step short. Consort Li had never succeeded.

It was also fortunate that the fifth princess Luo Junhe married was Ji Yuntang herself. If it had been any other woman, she would probably have been killed by Consort Li and Nanny Xu long ago!

But now was not yet the time to settle accounts with Consort Li. She still had more important matters to attend to.

Ji Yuntang smiled at Zhong Xinyu. "Thank you for the reminder, Miss Zhong. I'll be careful. Take care on your journey."

After seeing off Zhong Xinyu, Ming Xia, and the others, Ji Yuntang bid farewell to Pei Zhiyi and returned to the Prince Ye's mansion.

Meanwhile, at the Zhong household.

Xu and Magistrate Zhong had been cursed at by the common folk the entire way. The two of them stumbled and crawled, fleeing back to their residence in utter disgrace.

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