An Eight-year-old Princess

Chapter 27 The Fight Between Two Tigers

Hearing this, Yun Shang's eyes widened. She turned to Emperor Ning and said, "Father, there is no

need to kill them if these packets are harmless."

Emperor Ning looked at his young daughter. He contemplated for a while before asking, "Who

prescribed these herbs to you? Go check the records at the Imperial Medical College."

The maid kowtowed and said, "Oh it was physician Shang who prescribed these herbs. Thank you for

your mercy. Thank you so much, Your Highness."

Realizing Qing Xin would no longer be treated as a suspect, Yan'er, the maid who went to retrieve the

cushion cried out, "It wasn't me! I don't even know what those herbs are or where they came from!

Were it not for Qin Yi asking me to fetch the cushion for the Princess today, I wouldn't even have had

the chance to enter the Princess's chamber. Please trust me, Your Majesty!"

"You are in charge of cleaning the Princess's Palace. So even without Qin Yi asking you to fetch the

cushion, you could have still found a way to tamper with the medicine." Lord Cui snapped, "Besides,

those herbs have already been given to an Imperial Physician. We will soon find out whether they are

poisonous."

"Oh I am innocent! I truly do not know how those herbs came to be under my pillow!" Yan'er paused as

she thought of something. Then her eyes filled with resentment. "It has to be Jing Rong. She lives in

the same room as me, and we have always been incompatible with each other. It must be Jing Rong

who put those herbs under my pillow."

Qin Meng frowned, she bowed towards Yun Shang and Emperor Ning, and said, "Jing Rong is a maid

in the kitchen. She was ill today and stayed indoors. How did she get the chance to poison the

Princess?"

Yan'er collapsed on the ground, "I didn't do it. I'm innocent..."

While she was claiming her innocence, an Imperial bodyguard hurried in. "Your majesty, I have the

result of the herb tests. Qing Xin's package contains licorice powder indeed, but Yan'er's herb package

contains poison."

"Take her away. Decapitate her." Emperor Ning frowned, and shouted at the guards.

Two guards stepped forward and dragged Yan'er away. No one in the Hall spoke for a long while. The

only sound that disturbed the silence was the faint screams of Yan'er as she was carried away by the

guards. Yun Shang closed her eyes, and murmured "Amitabha Buddha." (*TN: Amitabha Buddha,

single-minded recitation of Amitabha's name, showing faith in, and acceptance of Amitabha's

deliverance)

"Father, I'm a bit tired. I will take your leave and return to my Palace and get some rest." Yun Shang

sighed, stood up, and bowed towards Emperor Ning. Then with Qin Yi's help, she left for the inner hall.

Gradually, the Palace fell silent. Qin Yi walked to the door, lifted the curtain, and peeked outside. "They

are gone."

Yun Shang smiled, "What a scene! I put the poison in the medicine bowl. I didn't expect someone else

to be scheming to poison me."

Qin Yi frowned and said, "We still don't know who sent Yan'er to us. It couldn't be the Queen, otherwise

Qin Meng wouldn't stab the maid like that."

Yun Shang shook her head, "You've only see a part of the conspiracy. In my opinion, the herb package

might not have been hers at all. It doesn't matter who sent Yan'er. She wouldn't be stupid enough to put

the package in such a conspicuous place. As for Jing Rong, it cannot be a coincidence that she

happened to be sick today. Qing Xin's behavior also left me with some doubts."

"I have the same doubts about Jing Rong. Like Yan'er said, it is possible that Jing Rong deliberately put

the herb package under her pillow to avoid suspicion. As for Qing Xin, I don't understand why you didn't

believe her. Wasn't she carrying licorice powder?" Qin Yi was confused.

Yun Shang smiled, "There are certain things in this world that seem harmless on their own, but they are

actually quite dangerous. Licorice is a common herb indeed, but few people know that if consumed with

carp, licorice can be fatal."

"Carp? Everyone knows that Your Highness loves eating fish. If you were served fish, you will certainly

eat it. I didn't know these bastards could be this evil! Had you not learned so much from the intelligent

people around the Master, you would be an easy victim. Besides, food poison is hard to trace. Even if

someone realizes poison was being used, their first suspicion would not be the food that you

consumed." Still frightened, Qin Yi suggested, "How about we pretend to take a walk outside tomorrow

and examine some of the things stored in this Palace throughly, eliminate potential risk, in case the

same things happen again?"

Yun Shang nodded, "We really do need to examine the Palace..." While speaking, something came up

her mind. She smiled, "There are people from all forces hiding in Qinxin Hall, after this event, suspicion

will surely spread among them. Qin Meng works for the Queen. But she never got the opportunity to

make a move. Now that someone made trouble, I'm sure they will soon suffer."

Qin Yi was about to respond, when Yun Shang stopped her. Yun Shang opened her mouth and

whispered. "Someone is approaching."

Qin Yi understood Yun Shang's gesture. She began whimpering, "I told you it wouldn't be easy to settle

here, but you didn't listen and insisted on returning. Now look at what happened! There was an attempt

on your life the day you came back. Your highness, if you had actually been poisoned, I wouldn't even

know what to do..."

Yun Shang sighed, "After all these years of living in the temple, I'm used to it's peaceful surroundings.

Moving back here seems inappropriate to me now. Never mind. I came back only because I miss Lord

Father too much. Now that he's getting better, I'm also relieved. I'll just go back to Ning'guo Temple

after my Coming-of-age Ceremony. I'm too weak and staying here would be nothing but a burden to

Lord Father..."

A short while after Yun Shang finished her sentences, Qin Meng's voice came from outside the door,

"Your highness, dinner is ready. Please eat before it gets cold."

Yun Shang sneered but responded in a gentle tone. "Alright, I'll have my dinner now."

Qin Yi quickly stepped forward and supported Yun Shang as she rose from her bed. Dinner had been

served on the table. As Yun Shang approached the table, she spotted a plate of fish. Her eyes turned

cold as she remembered the licorice. Yun Shang sat at the table and smiled. "Well well well, we have

fish today. Living with the monks in Ning'guo Temple meant giving up meat. I haven't had fish in such a

long time. This fish smells so good and I'm sure it tastes as good as it smells." All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Qin Meng handed a pair of chopsticks to Yun Shang with a smile. "I know Your Highness is fond of fish.

I instructed the kitchen to prepare fish for you. Since this is the season of Osmanthus fragrans, I took

some fresh flowers from the tree and steamed them with this crucian carp for you. Please taste it and

tell me if you like it." (*FN: Osmanthus fragrans flowers can be white, pale yellow, yellow, or orange-

yellow. They are small, about 1 cm long, with a four-lobed corolla, 5 mm in diameter. These flowers

have a strong fragrance.)

Yun Shang smiled as she took a bite. "Adding flowers while steaming the carp is a nice touch. It makes

the fish smell just like the flower. This is indeed a rare gourmet."

"Your Highness, even though the carp tasted good, you shouldn't eat too much. The physician has

warned you about that." Qin Yi frowned and added. She was disturbed that the Princess would eat fish

considering their earlier discussion.

Qin Meng responded in a hurry, "My fellow maid, Qin Yi, you worry too much. Fish is nutritious. Eating

fish every once in a while benefits one's health."

Yun Shang smiled, "It's not a big deal. I know my body well. It won't hurt to eat such a small amount of

fish."

The maids kept quiet and watched as Yun Shang tried some of the other dishes. She didn't touch the

fish again. After a short while, a loud noise came from outside.

Yun Shang frowned and said to Qin Yi, "Go see what's happening out there."

Qin Yi nodded and left. She returned a few minutes later and reported, "Your Highness, I heard that the

Queen lost her hairpin. According to the maid from Qiwu Palace, Lady Shu had given her an ingot of

silver and asked her to steal the hairpin out and hand it to one of Lady Shu's maids. The Queen took

some maids with her, searched Lady Shu's Palace and found the lost hairpin. But Lady Shu says the

Queen is merely scheming and setting her up. Now Lady Shu is taking someone with her to argue with

the Queen in Qiwu Palace. The noise we heard just now was made by the Queen' maids. They were

dragging Lady Shu's closest maid to Qiwu Palace..."