Mu Yunjin pressed herself against the doorway, and soon Yang Qingning’s voice came from within the imperial study—
“Your Majesty, take a rest and have something to eat.” Yang Qingning reached out and placed a bowl of white fungus soup from a nearby tray in front of Bei Tang Wenfeng.
“No need,” Bei Tang Wenfeng replied lazily.
Upon hearing this, the smile on Yang Qingning’s face froze. She then gave Jingyang beside her a meaningful look.
Jingyang caught Yang Qingning’s glance, frowned slightly, and bit her lower lip. She stood motionless for a moment without speaking.
Seeing her inaction, Yang Qingning glared at Jingyang, then turned her head and smiled at Bei Tang Wenfeng. “Your Majesty, this child Jingyang has been pestering me since early morning, saying she has something to tell Your Majesty. I don’t know what this child wants to say.”
“Oh? What does Jingyang wish to tell Imperial Father?” Bei Tang Wenfeng put down the memorial in his hand and spared some patience to look at Jingyang.
Under the gaze of both Bei Tang Wenfeng and Yang Qingning, Jingyang didn’t know where to look. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Seeing this, Yang Qingning was furious, but she still maintained a smiling face as she looked at Jingyang. “Jingyang, tell your father quickly!”
…
…
“Imperial Father, I… I…” Jingyang barely managed a few words before stopping again. She closed her mouth, lowered her gaze, looking somewhat dejected.
“Jingyang, what’s the matter? Are you feeling unwell?” Bei Tang Wenfeng was about to stand up but felt his body was somewhat weak.
Sigh, too many worrisome matters had caused his body to deteriorate day by day.
Yang Qingning walked to Jingyang’s side, gave her a vicious glare, and grabbed her wrist, squeezing it tightly.
Jingyang was frightened by Yang Qingning’s gaze. She shrank her neck and said, “Imperial Father, it has been a long time since I’ve dined with you. I wish to ask Imperial Father to accompany me for lunch.”
After speaking, Jingyang quickly glanced at Yang Qingning.
“So that’s it. For such a small matter, you can just tell Imperial Father directly, and Imperial Father will naturally agree.” Bei Tang Wenfeng chuckled lightly.
“Then… then I’ll wait for Imperial Father at lunch,” Jingyang said cautiously.
Bei Tang Wenfeng nodded.
Beside them, Yang Qingning smiled and said, “This child, you scared me. I thought it was some urgent matter!”
“Mother…” Jingyang looked at Yang Qingning, drawing out the last syllable.
“All right, Jingyang, let’s go back first. Your father is busy reviewing memorials. Let’s not disturb him.” Yang Qingning smiled as she spoke.
Jingyang nodded.
The mother and daughter then bowed to Bei Tang Wenfeng to bid farewell.
Outside the door, Mu Yunjin heard movement inside and immediately slipped away to hide behind a nearby pillar.
The moment Yang Qingning stepped out the door, Mu Yunjin saw the fleeting look of triumph and disdain on her face. Beside her, Jingyang hung her head, obviously unhappy.
Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together, secretly sensing that the lunch Jingyang had invited Bei Tang Wenfeng to must be no simple matter.
Otherwise, why would Jingyang be so hesitant about a mere lunch?
A moment later, after Yang Qingning and Jingyang had left, Mu Yunjin, leaning against the pillar, suddenly heard a secret message in her ear—
“My Lady, after the Empress left, many hidden agents emerged around the hall. It seems the Bei Ming Emperor is surrounded by Yang Qingning’s spies.”
Mu Yunjin was slightly startled. Yang Qingning? Spies?
Involuntarily, Mu Yunjin gradually clenched her fists.
At this moment, Huang Yan transmitted another secret message, “I’ve set up a formation around the hall entrance. My Lady can now go see the Emperor; those spies won’t discover you.”
After Huang Yan finished speaking, Mu Yunjin walked toward the imperial study without hesitation. Before leaving, she glanced at Qiqi beside her, “Wait for me here.”
Qiqi nodded.
Mu Yunjin didn’t knock but pushed the door open and entered the imperial study directly.
Upon seeing the person inside, Mu Yunjin was stunned and frowned, as if she thought she had seen something wrong.
In just a few months, Bei Tang Wenfeng had become much thinner. The hair at his temples had turned gray, and there were many more wrinkles on his face. His complexion looked very poor, and the hand holding the memorial was trembling slightly.
“Who goes there?” Bei Tang Wenfeng almost shouted in anger when he saw a palace maid enter by pushing the door.
Mu Yunjin made a “shh” gesture toward him, approached Bei Tang Wenfeng, and crouched beside him, lowering her voice, “Father, it’s me, Yunjin.”
Upon hearing the name Yunjin, Bei Tang Wenfeng’s pupils dilated, and his eyes showed joy. “Jinhwa, is it you?”
Mu Yunjin nodded, looked around, and asked softly, “Father, where is my mother?”
“She…” Mentioning Jiang Qingxue, Bei Tang Wenfeng’s eyes revealed a hint of pain. He sighed lightly, “She left.”
“Where did she go?” Mu Yunjin was surprised.
Bei Tang Wenfeng shook his head, “I don’t know.”
Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together and carefully examined Bei Tang Wenfeng’s face. Seeing the dark purple color under his eyelids, her heart gradually sank.
“Father, when did your health start deteriorating?” Mu Yunjin looked at Bei Tang Wenfeng.
Although she wasn’t proficient in poison knowledge, the dark eyelids and bluish-purple lips were obvious signs of poisoning.
“After you and your mother left Bei Ming one after another last time, my health has deteriorated day by day.” Bei Tang Wenfeng sighed, attributing his worsening health to heartache.
Mu Yunjin narrowed her eyes, looking at Bei Tang Wenfeng’s complexion, and suddenly remembered Yang Qingning’s meaningful smile when she left earlier. She couldn’t help but clench her fists.
“Father, you’ve been poisoned, do you know that?” Mu Yunjin spoke directly, looking at Bei Tang Wenfeng.
Bei Tang Wenfeng was first stunned, then chuckled, “How could that be? Imperial Physicians check my pulse and treat me daily.”
“Imperial Physicians?” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow.
Bei Tang Wenfeng nodded.
“But, Imperial Father, this palace is surrounded by the Empress’s spies. If the Imperial Physicians received orders from the Empress, it would be very easy for them to deceive you.” Mu Yunjin frowned as she spoke.
Hearing the word “Empress,” Bei Tang Wenfeng was stunned, remained silent for a while, with disbelief in his eyes. “The Empress? No, that’s impossible.”
Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together without speaking. She looked around and finally fixed her gaze on the still-steaming bowl of white fungus soup on the table.
She then took out a silver needle she carried and inserted it into the bowl.
Unlike ordinary poison-testing needles, this silver needle was specially given to her by Hua Ying and could detect some slow-acting and weak poisons.
After a moment, Mu Yunjin took the silver needle out of the soup, looked at it, and handed it to Bei Tang Wenfeng.
When Bei Tang Wenfeng saw the black tinge on the needle tip, his body slumped, and he leaned back in his chair, slowly clenching his fists with veins bulging on his forehead.
Mu Yunjin put away the needle and crossed her arms. She had always thought Bei Ming Nation was peaceful, but she never expected its internal affairs to be so chaotic.
If it weren’t for suddenly losing contact with Hua Ying and the others, she probably wouldn’t have come to Bei Ming Nation for quite some time.
Bei Tang Wenfeng suddenly began coughing violently, leaning back in his chair with a pained expression. He had truly been negligent…
Mu Yunjin poured a cup of water for Bei Tang Wenfeng, showing concern, “Father, there must be someone supporting Yang Qingning. For the lunch Jingyang invited you to, just go as usual, pretend you know nothing. I’ll be watching in secret; you needn’t worry.”
After taking a sip of water and catching his breath, Bei Tang Wenfeng suddenly seemed to think of something and frowned, “Could your mother be in trouble?”
“Five days ago, after meeting her once, I haven’t seen her again. I thought she was angry and left, but now I think maybe…”
Bei Tang Wenfeng couldn’t continue.
Hearing this, Mu Yunjin thought for a moment and asked softly, “Did she ever ask you about osmanthus-scented ink?”
“Ink…” Bei Tang Wenfeng looked away in thought.
After a while, Bei Tang Wenfeng stood up, walked slowly to a nearby bookshelf, took out a register, and handed it to Mu Yunjin.
“This is the distribution record of various scented inks in the palace over the past few months. Your mother did ask me to investigate, but she only said she was interested in this type of scented ink, nothing else.”
Mu Yunjin took the register and flipped through it casually. She found that the register detailed the distribution records of inks to various palaces, as well as many formulas and methods for blending scented inks.
Turning to the page on osmanthus-scented ink, Mu Yunjin looked for a while and found no mention of Yang Qingning’s palace or Jingyang’s palace.
After looking around, her gaze fixed on an Imperial Physician named Lin Qi from the Imperial Medical Academy.
Mu Yunjin closed the register and heard Huang Yan’s secret message from outside—
“My Lady, time is almost up, come out! We can’t hold much longer!”
Hearing Huang Yan’s voice, Mu Yunjin put down the register, looked at Bei Tang Wenfeng, and said, “Father, there are too many spies here. I’ll leave first, and I’ll find you again at lunch.”
Bei Tang Wenfeng nodded, watching Mu Yunjin’s departing figure with reluctance.
After Mu Yunjin left, Bei Tang Wenfeng felt as if a heavy stone had been placed on his heart. He stared blankly at the ceiling of the imperial study, his mind unable to calm for a long time.
At this moment, he was undoubtedly regretful.
Regretful that he had abandoned what could have been a lifetime of happiness for the position of Crown Prince.
…
“Master, I just tried again, and there’s still no response from Hua Ying and the others. Something must have happened.” After leaving the hall, Qiqi anxiously spoke up.
Mu Yunjin frowned slightly, “Let’s go to the Imperial Medical Academy first.”
“The Imperial Medical Academy? Is it in that direction?” Huang Yan pointed in the direction of the east.
Mu Yunjin nodded.
“After Yang Qingning and Jingyang left, Yang Qingning went east alone with just one palace maid,” Huang Yan said.
Hearing this, Mu Yunjin narrowed her eyes and briefly explained Bei Tang Wenfeng’s poisoning.
“No way! Yang Qingning, that poisonous woman!” Huang Yan cursed angrily.
“Let’s go to the Imperial Medical Academy first,” Mu Yunjin said.
As she spoke, Qiqi directly activated a formless space, “Walking there is too troublesome; let’s flash in directly!”
Soon after, the three landed in a pitch-black place…