After hearing Yu Jin’s analysis, everyone felt a chill run down their spine.
The culprit’s meticulous and bold plan was beyond anyone’s expectations.
This was a royal family banquet, with the most noble people in the world present. Who could be so daring?
Prince Yan said the real culprit was among those in the hall… At this thought, many people couldn’t help but shudder.
The ice basins in the great hall seemed suddenly too numerous.
Yu Jin bowed to Emperor Jingming. “Father, with so many people in the hall, it’s best to start with this palace maid. We need to determine whether she was instructed to poison or if someone took advantage of her carelessness.”
Emperor Jingming nodded and said coolly, “Pan Hai, make this palace maid talk.”
Pan Hai immediately complied, gesturing for two eunuchs to drag the maid away.
Both eunuchs belonged to the Eastern Depot.
The atmosphere in the great hall grew heavy and oppressive, making it difficult to breathe.
Yu Jin looked around and announced loudly, “Until we receive news, no one should move about freely, and no one can leave the great hall.”
The atmosphere grew even more tense.
After a long wait, Pan Hai finally returned. “Your Majesty, after questioning, it’s clear the palace maid was indeed unaware.”
The palace maid did not reappear.
The questioning, of course, involved more than just verbal interrogation. Torture was used, and those who underwent such treatment were in no condition to be brought back into the presence of the nobility without specific orders.
Emperor Jingming looked at Yu Jin.
With so many people in the hall and the possibility of the maid being instructed ruled out, finding the poisoner seemed like searching for a needle in a haystack. He was very curious about what other methods his son might have.
Yu Jin calmly scanned the crowd. “Today is a family banquet. Although we didn’t separate male and female guests with screens, the princesses are young ladies. If any man had approached them, it would have drawn attention. Therefore, I believe we can rule out the possibility of the culprit being male. Does anyone disagree?”
People nodded silently in agreement.
At the start of the banquet, seating arrangements were carefully planned. The women’s side had tables for consorts, unmarried princesses, married princesses, royal consorts, noble ladies, and so on.
Only palace maids moved about in this area, not eunuchs.
Given this, Prince Yan’s analysis seemed very reasonable. The culprit was undoubtedly female.
Seeing that everyone agreed with his words, Yu Jin’s gaze swept across the tables one by one. He continued unhurriedly, “There are nine tables in total. To find the culprit, we can use the same method as before.”
The same method as before?
For a moment, no one understood what he meant.
Jiang Si looked at the man speaking so confidently, her eyes soft with affection.
This was just like Ah Jin. He might seem carefree and willful in daily life, but when it truly mattered, he was always reliable.
Yu Jin’s eyes flickered, meeting Jiang Si’s gaze for an instant, before he continued, “Starting from the first table, everyone should try to recall if anyone left their seat before the incident occurred.”
The first table seated Consort Xian and others. Immediately, one of the ladies spoke up with difficulty, “At the time, I was chatting with the sisters beside me. How could I have noticed if anyone left their seat?”
Yu Jin smiled. “That’s easy to solve. You only need to recall if the people to your left and right were absent at any point.”
Everyone suddenly understood.
This method was indeed excellent.
In a lively setting, attention is easily scattered, and few people would constantly monitor the movements of an entire table. However, recalling what the people immediately to one’s left and right were doing would be much easier.
This method had another advantage. Since people were seated in a circle, each person was both to the left of one person and to the right of another, meaning they could be noticed by two people. This way, even if one person wasn’t paying attention, it wouldn’t matter much.
With Emperor Jingming present, despite their reluctance, the dozen or so consorts cooperated with Yu Jin’s request and began to recall.
When it was Consort Xian’s turn to speak, she looked deeply at Yu Jin, her expression composed as she said, “I don’t know what the two people to my left and right were doing at the time because I had left.”
The expressions of those present immediately became subtle.
No one had expected that the first person confirmed to have left their seat at that time would be Prince Yan’s birth mother. Consort Xian knew she couldn’t escape detection using Prince Yan’s method, so she admitted it directly.
Yu Jin’s expression didn’t change at all as he asked calmly, “Where did you go at that time, Mother?”
“I went to change my clothes.”
In this context, “changing clothes” was a euphemism for using the restroom.
Yu Jin asked again, “The banquet had just begun. Why did you need to change so soon?”
As he asked this, the expressions of those present became strange, and they exchanged glances.
Prince Yan was truly direct, pressing his mother so relentlessly, showing no mercy.
Some people thought: It seemed the rumors of Prince Yan’s poor relationship with Consort Xian were true.
Being questioned by her son in front of everyone made Consort Xian feel extremely uncomfortable.
This beast had the nerve to ask!
Why did she need to use the restroom? It was because this unfilial son had angered her.
She had been watching this couple with growing anger, but couldn’t show it at all. She could only keep drinking tea to suppress her anger. After drinking so much tea, of course, her stomach became bloated and she needed to relieve herself.
“I was feeling unwell,” Consort Xian said calmly, her tone devoid of any anger. “My palace maids and the eunuchs attending the changing room can testify.”
Consort Xian’s words were quickly confirmed.
“Does Prince Yan have any more questions?” Consort Xian asked flatly.
Yu Jin smiled, showing his white teeth. “No more questions. I asked in detail to avoid any misunderstandings about you, Mother. I hope you won’t blame me?”
Before Consort Xian could respond, Emperor Jingming said, “Seventh Son, continue with your questions. Your mother is a reasonable person; how could she blame you?”
Consort Xian smiled and agreed with Emperor Jingming’s words. “Your father speaks the truth. Of course, I won’t blame you.”
“That’s good,” Yu Jin replied neutrally and began questioning the next table.
The second table seated Princess Rongyang and other royal relatives of Emperor Jingming’s generation. After the banquet began, Cui Mingyue, who had been accompanying Princess Rongyang, went to her seat.
At this table, there was also one person who had left her seat before the incident—Princess Rongyang.
Seeing everyone look her way, Princess Rongyang raised her eyebrows, saying with slight impatience, “I was toasting to the Emperor at that time.”
Emperor Jingming nodded. “That’s right, Rongyang was indeed toasting to me and the Empress then.”
He hadn’t mentioned it earlier because he understood that only by taking the lead in cooperating with his seventh son would the other royal relatives behave themselves.
Having cleared her name, Princess Rongyang glanced coldly at Yu Jin.
Yu Jin pretended not to notice and continued questioning the next table.
It didn’t take long to question all eight tables of female guests, and several more people were identified as having left their seats at that time. However, all of them had witnesses to confirm what they were doing.
For a moment, the investigation seemed to have reached an impasse.
Princess Rongyang spoke coolly, “Brother, it seems Prince Yan’s method isn’t working. We’ve questioned so many people, causing quite a commotion, yet we haven’t uncovered anything substantial.”
An elderly prince also spoke up, “Prince Yan is still young after all. Your Majesty, perhaps we should order the Three Judicial Offices to cooperate with the Imperial Clan Court for a thorough investigation.”
Emperor Jingming stared steadily at Yu Jin and asked slowly, “Seventh Son, do you have any other ideas?”
Yu Jin smiled. “Father there’s still a group of people we haven’t investigated.”