“According to the information uncovered by the Marquis Guanjun’s subordinates, my aunt has been very close to Lady Lan, the wife of Earl Mu’en. Last winter, the eldest daughter of Earl Mu’en’s residence died of illness, and her symptoms were very similar to those when Zero Fragrance poison takes effect.”

“Is Earl Mu’en’s eldest daughter surnamed Cheng?” Qiao Zhao asked.

Qiao Mo nodded: “Does little sister know Miss Cheng?”

“I’ve heard of her. Miss Cheng used to be the president of the Fushan Society.”

At the time, she had wanted to join the Fushan Society and had specifically inquired about the main members of the society. The first person she learned about was the society’s president.

Miss Cheng was the legitimate eldest daughter of Earl Mu’en’s residence. Although her birth mother died early, she had grown up to be as beautiful as a flower and exceptionally talented. Setting everything else aside, just the fact that among so many outstanding young ladies in the capital, she could become president of the Fushan Society was enough to prove everything. Unfortunately, beauties are often ill-fated, and Miss Cheng passed away before she could even marry.

The current Lady Lan of Earl Mu’en’s residence was a second wife, the younger daughter of Chief Minister Lanshan.

“Could it be that just because the Mao family was close to Earl Mu’en’s wife, and Miss Cheng’s illness symptoms were similar to Zero Fragrance poison symptoms, we can confirm that the Mao family’s Zero Fragrance poison was provided by Earl Mu’en’s wife? You should know that Zero Fragrance poison symptoms are originally quite similar to those of a cold.” Although Qiao Zhao trusted Shao Mingyuan’s investigation, she still raised this doubt.

“Zhaozhao, no matter what, she’s still our great aunt. Calling her ‘the Mao family’ repeatedly—”

“Big Brother has forgotten that I’m Li Zhao now. She’s not my great aunt anymore.”

Without the bonds of blood relation, she only looked at feelings toward former relatives and friends. If there were no feelings, or even someone who harmed her brother, what kind of great aunt was that?

“You.” Qiao Mo reached out to rub Qiao Zhao’s head and continued the previous topic. “Of course, it’s not just that. Does little sister know what Earl Mu’en’s residence is most famous for?”

“Please enlighten me, Big Brother.” Seeing that her brother wasn’t fixated on how she addressed the Mao family, Qiao Zhao was in quite a good mood and smiled brightly.

“Earl Mu’en’s residence is most famous for the medical clinic Jisheng Hall, which has been passed down for hundreds of years. During this time, the Cheng family experienced ups and downs, and it wasn’t until this dynasty produced an empress that they finally stepped back into noble circles. Only Jisheng Hall has stood firm throughout.”

“I’ve heard some of these things, too.” Qiao Zhao pondered for a moment and asked, “Is it related to Jisheng Hall?”

Qiao Mo nodded: “As little sister knows, Zero Fragrance poison is very rare—ordinary medical clinics don’t have it. The Marquis Guanjun’s subordinates traced it to Jisheng Hall and discovered there was a physician surnamed Han who came from the south. This Physician Han had taken refuge with a relative’s family, but within a year, that relative’s entire family died one after another from colds…”

Qiao Zhao shook her head upon hearing this.

Colds could indeed kill people, but an entire family dying one after another from colds—that was uncommon.

“After Physician Han inherited his relative’s family property, he opened a medical clinic. Unfortunately, his luck was poor. After only two years, he accidentally killed a patient with connections during treatment. His clinic was smashed by people, and he had a leg broken. It was Earl Mu’en’s wife who arranged for him to enter Jisheng Hall…” Qiao Mo told Qiao Zhao the details of the investigation. Currently, we can almost confirm that my aunt’s Zero Fragrance poison came from Earl Mu’en’s wife, but we don’t have solid evidence yet. To avoid alerting our targets, that physician hasn’t been touched either.”

“Being able to investigate this much in such a short time is already quite remarkable.”

With recent events happening one after another, she hadn’t expected Shao Mingyuan to find leads so quickly.

“Big Brother, does this mean the one who really wanted to harm you is Chief Minister Lanshan?”

Qiao Mo sighed softly: “Perhaps. Anti-Japanese General Xing Wuyang was already close to Lanshan, so it’s not surprising that Lanshan would want to harm me. I’m thinking that even if we get solid evidence and present it to His Majesty, there may ultimately be no results.”

Chief Minister Lanshan had dominated the court for nearly twenty years. If before he had thought the Emperor was being deceived by a treacherous minister, then after close contact with this Son of Heaven and experiencing imprisonment, he had gradually come to understand that without Emperor Mingkang’s indulgence, how could Lanshan have monopolized power?

“Getting solid evidence would be very difficult.” Qiao Zhao spoke up.

That Physician Han was originally Earl Mu’en’s wife’s person, so he certainly wouldn’t leave any written evidence. Even if he confessed, based on one-sided testimony alone, forget about shaking Chief Minister Lanshan—there would be no way to touch Earl Mu’en’s wife Lady Lan either.

Moreover, even if there were solid evidence, as Big Brother worried, whether the Emperor would be willing to move against Lanshan was still very questionable.

“It’s good that you understand these things. Zhaozhao, tell me about your situation in the mountains these past days.”

“Didn’t he tell Big Brother?”

Qiao Mo smiled slightly: “Who is ‘he’?”

Qiao Zhao glared at him: “Big Brother, let’s talk about serious matters!”

“Of course, he wouldn’t say much. After all, in his view, you’re Li Zhao, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to tell me too much about your affairs.”

Although Qiao Mo spoke in a matter-of-fact tone about the situation, Qiao Zhao inexplicably felt her brother was teasing her, so she said with a stern face: “Does Big Brother want to know about what happened in the mountains or not?”

“I want to know. Little sister, don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry.”

“Good, you’re not angry. Zhaozhao, please tell me quickly.”

Qiao Zhao selected what she could tell and recounted it to Qiao Mo. Seeing that it was almost noon and Shao Mingyuan still hadn’t returned, she instructed Binglu: “You go back to the residence first and have A’Zhu deliver the scar-removing medicine to the Jiang Residence.”

After Qiao Zhao left, Jiang Shiran had been waiting eagerly. She waited left and right, but nothing came. She was ready to grab her whip and go settle accounts with Qiao Zhao when, finally, something arrived from the Li residence.

Jiang Shiran took the scar-removing medicine and entered the palace.

When Princess Zhenzhen heard that Jiang Shiran had come, she impatiently invited her in.

“Shiran, is there news about Physician Li?”

Jiang Shiran was somewhat embarrassed: “There’s no news about Physician Li yet, but I brought you this.”

Princess Zhenzhen examined the small jade box Jiang Shiran handed her: “What is this?”

“Medicine from Physician Li—it can remove scars.”

Disappointment appeared in Princess Zhenzhen’s eyes, and she gently touched her face with a bitter smile: “This isn’t a scar.”

She shouldn’t have held hope. Jiang Shiran had always been someone raised in the palm of everyone’s hand. When encountering trouble, she still needed others to solve it for her—how could she possibly really help?

“Shiran, I appreciate your good intentions, but I probably can’t use this medicine—”

“You should still try it. This is Physician Li’s medicine—maybe it will be effective for the festering on your face.”

Hearing Jiang Shiran’s persuasion, Princess Zhenzhen hesitated.

Jiang Shiran had swallowed her pride to get this box of medicine from Qiao Zhao, so of course, she hoped it could be useful. She continued persuading: “Zhenzhen, think about it—Physician Li’s medicine is worth a thousand gold pieces and hard to obtain. Anyway, your face is already like this. Even if you use it and it doesn’t work, it surely can’t get any worse, right?”

Two quarters of an hour later, Jiang Shiran looked at Princess Zhenzhen, who had applied the medicine, and was completely dumbfounded.

Oh no, it did get worse!