Chapter 1103 - Chapter 1103 Concealing Something, Excessively Fragrant Soup
Chapter 1103 Concealing Something, Excessively Fragrant Soup
When Shao Wanru returned to the small tent, she was almost exhausted. Going back step by step had used up every ounce of her energy. Finally, she collapsed on the couch feebly and closed her eyes. Rui’an Great Elder Princess covered her gently with a soft cloak and gave Yujie and Qu Le some instructions in a low voice.
She carefully told them not to go back in a hurry and let Shao Wanru sleep for a while. If she was in good spirits, she could go back and even come to watch the performance in the afternoon. In any case, she wouldn’t have to run around like this.
Though this tent was small and was at the back, it was still in the middle. As long as the tent’s curtain was lifted, Shao Wanru could see the performance on the high flower platform. There was no need for her to go outside to watch the show.
“Your Grace, should Her Highness attend the banquet later?” Yujie asked.
Rui’an Great Elder Princess shook her head and said, “She doesn’t have to go to the banquet. If she doesn’t want to return when she wakes up later, tell Nanny Gao to ask the people from the imperial kitchen for lunch. She can have lunch in this tent. After that, ask some people to clean it up. Then she can wait here for the afternoon performance!”
“No… I’ll go back!” A weak voice came from the bed. Shao Wanru felt dizzy. After she struggled to offer her gift, she could no longer hang in there.
She had told Yujie that she wanted to see the performance in the afternoon, but now she was too listless to do that.
“Yes, you’d better go back to rest. You can watch this kind of performance at any time. Your health is the most important thing.” Rui’an Great Elder Princess breathed a sigh of relief. She was really afraid that Shao Wanru would insist on watching the fun. After all, she was a young girl. At this time, she might choose to stay.
It was the best thing that Shao Wanru brought it up herself.
Rui’an Great Elder Princess came over and tucked the cloak in firmly. She sighed heavily and said, “Alas, you…”
Rui’an Great Elder Princess was at a loss for words when seeing her coming over with terrible injuries. Her eyes fell on Shao Wanru’s pale, almost transparent face, and her nose twitched. If her parents had been alive, she could have lived a carefree life under the protection of her parents. How could she become so sensible?
Even though she was seriously injured, she still struggled to come over to celebrate the Empress Dowager’s birthday.
The more Rui’an Great Elder Princess thought about it, the more she felt sorry for the overly considerate child.
“Grandma, I’m fine!” Shao Wanru couldn’t open her eyes but whispered. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to open her eyes but that she didn’t have the strength to do so. She had used up all her strength at the Empress Dowager’s place. She didn’t even hear the footsteps when Rui’an Great Elder Princess left. Slowly, she fell asleep.
When she woke up again, she reached out to touch her head and felt it didn’t hurt as much. Then, she opened her eyes.
“My Lady, you’ve woken up!” Yujie said joyfully with surprise. Then Shao Wanru saw her appear in her sight. “What ails you?”
Shao Wanru shook her head and replied, “I’m fine!”
“My Lady, you’ve slept for four hours!” Qu Le said with red-rimmed eyes and hurried over to check Shao Wanru’s complexion. Seeing that her master looked much better than before despite her pale face, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The longer they waited, the more flustered and scared they became. They even disturbed the Empress Dowager, who had sent the imperial physician to check on her. Luckily, the imperial physician said she had just fainted because of her severe injuries. Upon hearing that it was not a matter of life and death, the two servant girls felt slightly relieved but were still very worried. When they saw that Shao Wanru had woken up, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’ve slept for four hours?” Shao Wanru asked with her long eyelashes fluttering a few times and reached out to touch her head, which was still a little dull.
She had thought that she would be fine after a short rest, but she didn’t expect that she would have slept for four hours. The banquet should have begun by now.
She listened carefully. Sure enough, it was quiet outside.
“Did all the people outside go to the banquet?” Shao Wanru asked.
“Yes, they all left. Great Elder Princess specially came to see you and left when making sure that you were fine!” Yujie said.
Qu Le walked back to the table, where there was a food basket. “My Lady, it’s getting late. Please eat something. We’ll stay and watch the show if you’re in good spirits later. If not, we’ll go back. Great Elder Princess said that there was nothing interesting to see. It was just that some Misses wanted to marry the princes by taking this chance.”
Yujie went over to help and pulled the table to Shao Wanru’s couch. Then she opened the food basket and took out the dishes one by one. It was actually a sumptuous feast.
There were eight dishes, one soup, and a large bowl of rice.
The big food basket was almost full.
The dishes were still hot. It seemed that when they had just been served, Shao Wanru happened to wake up. It was just the right time to eat them when they were neither hot nor cold!
Shao Wanru’s eyes fell on a bowl of soup with pork ribs and yam in the middle. A few pork ribs were added to flavor the soup. There were some yams in it, but when she took a closer look, she saw mushrooms and the like. The aroma of meat with the rich fragrance of mushrooms smelled delicious.
“The eunuch delivering the meal said that the Empress Dowager specially ordered the imperial kitchen to make this soup for you. Besides yams and mushrooms, they added some nourishing seasonings, which are very suitable for you to drink. Great Elder Princess also sent someone to emphasize that you should take good care of your health and drink it as much as possible!”
Yujie explained with a smile when she saw that Shao Wanru was focused on the bowl of soup.
It was very fragrant indeed. When she smelled it carefully, she noticed a faint scent of medicine in the fragrance of meat and mushrooms. It was no longer an ordinary bowl of soup but a medicinal cuisine.
Qu Le poured her a bowl of soup, and Shao Wanru took a sip. The soup tasted fragrant and smooth. With the fresh flavor of the meat, it became more appetizing. The taste of traditional Chinese medicine was mild, which seemed to have made the soup more palatable.
However, as soon as the soup entered her mouth, Shao Wanru’s face changed slightly.
“What’s wrong?” Yujie, who had been paying attention to Shao Wanru’s expression, saw her frown and asked hurriedly.
Shao Wanru put down the bowl, wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, and asked, “Who sent the soup?”
“It was said to be a eunuch from the imperial kitchen. The Empress Dowager specially asked someone to make it, and Great Elder Princess also sent someone to let you drink more. Is there anything wrong?” Yujie asked.
Yujie, imbued for a long time with what she had seen and heard near Shao Wanru, had become more meticulous.
The food from the Palace was delivered by a eunuch she had never seen before, so she was undoubtedly on guard. But when the person sent by Great Elder Princess urged her master to drink the soup, she immediately threw away her doubt. “What’s wrong with the soup?” Yujie’s gaze fell on the bowl of soup.
Among these dishes, this soup was the most fragrant and had a medicinal smell that the other dishes didn’t have. It sent out a strong fragrance.
“The eunuch brought it here. Then my grandma specially dispatched someone to tell us about it. Perhaps, she was afraid we would not believe it, right?” Shao Wanru raised her eyebrows, looked at the soup and the other dishes, and said, “Put this bowl of soup on the other table. Its fragrance covers the flavors of other dishes!”
Although Qu Le and Yujie didn’t know the reason, they still obediently removed the large soup bowl in the middle. The rich fragrance before Shao Wanru immediately faded.
“Cover the lid!” Shao Wanru ordered.
Yujie did as she was told and covered the soup bowl.
“Yujie, come and smell it. Are there any other flavors in the dishes?” Shao Wanru closed her eyes and muttered. Although she had designed her injury, she had lost so much blood. How could she fake her feeble condition? Just now, to show her sincerity, she insisted on walking over step by step to see the Empress Dowager and moved back, inch by inch.
She had used up all her strength. Although she was much better after a nap, she still felt weak all over and couldn’t handle laborious work.
Fortunately, Yujie was here. When it came to traditional Chinese medicine, Yujie knew more herbs and was more familiar with them than Shao Wanru.
Yujie came over, picked up a few dishes before her, and began to identify them one by one. Without the mixed flavor of traditional Chinese medicine and the meat soup, the smell of these dishes that were no longer covered by the strong soup fragrance became apparent.
After smelling them, Yujie took out two of the dishes. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she took out the big bowl of rice and put it together with the two dishes.
Afterward, Yujie suddenly knelt with a thud and apologized, “My Lady, I overlooked this problem!”
“Tell me, what’s the matter?” Shao Wanru was not surprised. With her eyes closed, she slightly raised the corners of her mouth, trying hard not to waste her energy.
“There seems to be a strange smell in these two dishes, but I’m not sure about it. When I smelled it carefully, I found the scent of traditional Chinese medicine in the soup. I don’t know if the two dishes picked up the traditional Chinese medicine smell in the soup. I can confirm that something is in the rice. This bowl of rice has been drugged. I used to have a sensitive nose, but I didn’t find anything unusual this time. After all, Great Elder Princess sent someone to tell me, and the rich scent of the soup concealed the other scents. I almost made you…”
Speaking of this, Yujie showed hatred and anger on her face. Because of her negligence, Princess Chen was nearly murdered. Princess Chen would have been killed this time if she hadn’t kept a calm mind.
The most genius design was that she and Qu Le would be fine even if they also ate this meal.
No one would know how the Princess died. They might think she died because she had braced herself to send the birthday gift. No matter how her death was investigated, no one would doubt the food.
Qu Le didn’t understand these things. At this time, when she heard Yujie’s words, her face also changed greatly. She looked at the rice on the table in horror and asked in astonishment, “Is it… poisoned? Who… who wants to murder you? Didn’t the Empress Dowager specially instruct them to cook the meal? How could even the people in the imperial kitchen be part of this scheme? No way. The imperial kitchen has been under the most stringent regulation, hasn’t it?”
The imperial kitchen was one of the most critical places in the Palace. The royal family had always been afraid that people would poison their food, so the background of anyone working in the imperial kitchen was thoroughly surveyed. Only innocent people who had done anything wrong could enter the imperial kitchen. In addition, the Emperor would send his people to check on the kitchen from time to time to ensure that nothing would go wrong with their food.
This was also why Qu Le and Yujie didn’t doubt much about the food. Now it seemed that it was not the case, so how could the two servant girls not be panic-stricken?
“No, it’s not poison!” Shao Wanru, resting on the bed, said softly and slowly opened her watery eyes, which appeared clear and cold.