It was also from here that Shen Xihe became more and more certain that he was the same person he had always suspected.
Although he was 80% sure that Xiao Huayong was the man, Shen Xihe still held on to a little bit of luck. It had been some time since Mo Yuan thoroughly investigated the events of eleven years ago. After Shen Xihe once again gave him a solemn instruction, he made every effort to investigate.
That night, Mo Yuan brought someone with him. She was wearing a hooded cloak, and the hood covered her face. One could only tell that she was a slim girl. When she took off her hood and revealed her beautiful face, Shen Xihe was quite surprised: "Ze Xiang, why are you here?"
"Princess." Gu Zexiang bowed.
Shen Xihe helped her up: "Why did you leave the palace?"
Gu Zexiang was a criminal in the Ye Ting Palace and could not leave the palace. If she was discovered, she would be beheaded.
"Princess, thanks to your care, Zexiang has the honor to enter the Shangfu Bureau and become a female official in charge of clothing. Today, I have the honor to go out of the palace to do business with Shangfu Cui. I have come here specially to express my gratitude to you." Gu Zexiang said as she took two steps back and bowed upright.
"You were able to join the clothing bureau because you have the ability to make clothes." Shen Xihe supported her arm, "At least you are free from the crime."
"There are many talented people in the palace, and the Ye Ting Palace is full of official wives. Who doesn't have some skills? Being able to enter the six bureaus and twenty-four departments is not just about having skills. If there is no princess, there will be no way out for Zexiang."
Gu Zexiang spoke earnestly: "I came here today with only one stick of incense. The princess wants to know what happened eleven years ago, and I know a little bit."
"You say." Only then did Shen Xihe know why Gu Zexiang came.
It turned out that not long after she entered the Ye Ting Palace, she met a man who knew a little about what happened in the Ming Zheng Palace back then.
The crown prince was eight years old at the time. He was intelligent and looked down upon all the other kings. His appearance as a child prodigy is probably still remembered by many people today, but back then he was the most popular person. His Majesty loved him like a treasure, and the Queen Mother doted on him even more.
That day, the Crown Prince entered the Mingzheng Hall. His Majesty was discussing matters with the court officials, and he was alone in the side hall. It was like this in the past, every time His Majesty wanted to test the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince ate a bowl of yogurt cherries in the Mingzheng Hall, and suddenly he vomited blood and his face turned purple.
"Is it poison?" Shen Xihe was shocked.
"Yes, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not have a strange disease, but was poisoned. The Imperial Medical Bureau was helpless, and it was the Queen Mother who invited a Taoist priest to come and save His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's life. As a result, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was bedridden for nearly a year, and when he appeared in front of the palace people again, he was as thin as a skeleton."
Gu Zexiang repeated what he had heard to Shen Xihe verbatim: "Afterwards, the doctor of the Imperial Medical Bureau noticed that the pulse of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was not like that of a living person. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince often had bleeding from his ears and nose, and fainting was even more common. The Taoist priest had no antidote, but only said that His Royal Highness should follow him to the Taoist temple, where he could take care of him at all times, and that he might be able to keep His Royal Highness alive for two more rounds."
It turns out that this is where the rumor that Xiao Huayong would not survive two rounds came from.
"The cheese cherries..."
"This is even more bizarre." Gu Zexiang was a little secretive. "According to investigation, His Majesty did not order anyone to make the yogurt cherries that day. When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arrived at the Mingzheng Palace, he saw that no one was eating the yogurt cherries. Such a delicate thing must belong to His Majesty, so he ate it without worry..."
Without waiting for His Majesty to order an investigation, two Shangshi and two Sishen of the Shangshi Bureau committed suicide by taking poison. All clues were cut off. The remaining two Sishen, the Dian Shen and the Zhang Shen were first sent to the Yunting Palace, and then died suddenly one by one.