Five Years To Ascend The Throne, Three Years Of Mock Simulations - Chapter 2

Ming Tan sat below the emperor and empress. She accepted the medicine a palace maid presented, took a small sip, and wore an expression that was almost a smile, yet not quite.

A mere sweeping palace maid from the imperial garden had somehow been able to sneak into Kunning Palace, where the empress lived, lie in wait for an opportunity, and nearly poison a princess of the empire to death?

If anyone said there was no mastermind deliberately arranging things behind the scenes… she would not believe a single word of it.

“Simply appalling!”

The emperor sat in the seat of honor, the anger on his face not lessening but growing stronger, displaying the full majesty of the imperial family. “Sheng An, repeat it to the empress.”

Sheng An knelt below the hall, answered, “Yes,” then turned and bowed to the weary-looking empress, saying respectfully, “Reporting to Your Majesty the Empress, last night His Majesty ordered this servant to investigate the matter of the Ninth Princess’s poisoning. This servant immediately joined with the Imperial Medical Institute and the palace guards to begin the investigation. Earlier today, the person who administered the poison was seized. She is a palace maid named Xia Tao, assigned to sweeping duties in the imperial garden. At present, she is being held by the guards and waiting outside the hall. Does Your Majesty wish for this servant to bring her in?”

“A sweeping palace maid from the imperial garden?” The empress was startled. “But Tan’er was clearly poisoned here in Kunning Palace…”

“Imperial Physician Jiang from the Imperial Medical Institute examined the sweet porridge the princess ate yesterday and found sliced bulbs of crinum lily inside it,” Sheng An said. “Crinum lilies are elegant and fragrant, and many are planted in the imperial garden. However, the entire plant is highly poisonous, with the bulb being the most toxic. Imperial Physician Jiang said that although this item can be used medicinally, if it is eaten by mistake without being properly processed, it may cause the person who takes it to suffer abdominal pain and a persistent high fever. In severe cases… it may even lead to death by poisoning.”

The empress lowered her head and murmured, “Exactly the same as Longlin’s symptoms.”

“Since we traced the source to the sweet porridge, this servant and the guards searched the small kitchen of Kunning Palace. But the kitchen attendants on duty yesterday were all familiar faces and old servants of Your Majesty’s palace. They would never harbor ill intentions toward the princess.” Sheng An described the details of their investigation as concisely as he could. “So this servant then began investigating the ingredients sent to Kunning Palace, and indeed found a flaw there. It was precisely that sweeping palace maid named Xia Tao.”

Ming Tan finally managed to force down that bowl of fishy, bitter Chinese medicine. After chewing the candied fruit Du Ye presented to her for a long while, she was finally able to speak and ask, “Could it be that yesterday’s ingredients were delivered to Kunning Palace by this Xia Tao?”

The emperor glanced at her, then suddenly raised a hand to stop Sheng An from speaking. Turning slightly, he instead began asking Ming Tan, “Tell Us what you think.”

“It’s very simple.” Ming Tan swallowed the candied fruit and smiled at the emperor. “Yesterday afternoon, I was tired and hungry from copying scriptures, so I pestered Mother Empress to have dinner served. But at the time, it had only just passed three… ahem, just passed the Shen hour. It was still too early for dinner, so Mother Empress ordered the small kitchen to cook me a bowl of Hundred-Flower Porridge. Supposedly, it ‘gathers a hundred flowers from the imperial garden into one bowl.’ It is both elegant and satisfying, and the consorts in every palace love it terribly!”

The empress nodded lightly, unable to hide her self-reproach as she said, “That Hundred-Flower Porridge is a new dish from the imperial kitchen. It has recently become popular throughout the inner palace. This consort wanted Tan’er to try something fresh, but unexpectedly… instead, it gave the evildoer an opportunity to strike…”

The emperor patted her hand and comforted her. “This matter is not your fault. Do not blame yourself.”

After saying that, he looked at Ming Tan again and gave his youngest daughter a loving smile. “Longlin is rather sharp.”

Ming Tan made a face and huffed at the emperor. “It was obviously so easy to think of. Father Emperor, stop teasing me!”

The emperor patted her head, then lifted his chin, signaling for Sheng An to continue.

“The Ninth Princess is indeed exceptionally clever!” Sheng An said with a beaming smile, the folds on his plump face creasing deeply. “The flowers used in this Hundred-Flower Porridge all come from the imperial garden, and they have always been delivered to the various palaces by palace maids sent by the imperial garden.”

“And today, out of respect for Her Majesty the Empress, the flowers should have been personally delivered to Kunning Palace by the managing auntie of the imperial garden. Unexpectedly, several tribute shrubs suddenly became infested with insects. The managing auntie was busy removing the pests and had no time to spare. Xia Tao took the opportunity to seek her out and naturally obtained the errand of delivering flowers to Kunning Palace.”

“The crinum lily bulbs were among the flowers Xia Tao delivered, correct?” Ming Tan smiled coldly. “The kitchen attendants in the small kitchen did not understand flowers and plants. They only treated them as ingredients for cooking porridge, never knowing that they were actually poisonous things meant to harm someone.”

“Just as the princess says,” Sheng An said, knocking his head against the floor. “Xia Tao has already confessed. She found a way to sneak into the small kitchen of Kunning Palace, and while the kitchen attendant was cooking porridge for the princess, she took the chance to direct him to put the crinum lily bulbs into the pot. That was what caused the princess to be poisoned.”

That was the whole sequence of events.

The empress was so angry her body began to tremble. Hatred and fury surged through her, and she nearly began crying again. “Why… why exactly did she want to harm this consort’s Tan’er?”

She had always been weak. Ming Tan was afraid the empress would become so angry it would damage her health, so she quickly jumped down from her seat, went up to the empress, hugged her arm, and acted spoiled. “Mother Empress, don’t be angry. Wasn’t Tan’er unharmed in the end? Drink some tea and cool your temper. You mustn’t let those petty villains anger you into ruining your health!”

The emperor glanced at the arm his daughter was hugging, then looked at Ming Tan, who was speaking in such a soft and gentle voice, and felt a little envious.

But he did not reveal the slightest trace of it. Instead, he quickly withdrew his gaze, his face darkening as he ordered coldly, “Bring that palace maid in for Us!”

Sheng An bowed and answered in the affirmative, then withdrew from the hall. Before long, he led in two guards who were dragging someone between them.

Ming Tan released the empress’s arm and turned to look. She saw a figure being thrown mercilessly onto the floor by the guards.

Perhaps her wounds had scraped against the ground, because she let out a weak, pained groan. Her hair was disheveled, her face filthy, and she looked utterly wretched. Even the clothes on her body had already been soaked through with blood.

Clearly, she had just been tortured.

The empress let out a low cry and was about to reach out to cover Ming Tan’s eyes, but the emperor suddenly spoke from beside her, immediately interrupting her movement.

“Longlin, are you afraid?”

Ming Tan lowered her eyes and stared at the palace maid’s miserable state, saying blandly, “Longlin is not afraid. Longlin only feels that justice has been served.”

The emperor raised a brow and watched as his daughter lifted the hem of her skirt and walked down the steps one by one. She stood in front of the palace maid kneeling and sprawled on the floor. After a moment of silence, she finally looked down from above and asked, “Tell me, Xia Tao. Why did you want to kill me?”

The palace maid named Xia Tao trembled, her head lowered darkly. Hearing this, she ignored the pain all over her body and let out a clear cold laugh from her throat.

“Why did I want to kill you?”

She suddenly raised her head. A look of hatred appeared on her bloodstained face as she gritted her teeth and stared fixedly at Ming Tan. “Even five-year-old children among the common folk know that Princess Yonghui in the palace is arrogant, tyrannical, and commits every evil imaginable—yet have you already forgotten how you once abused your power and did wicked things?”

Xia Tao’s voice was sharp and piercing. Sheng An was startled and immediately wanted to step forward to protect the Ninth Princess, but the small hand Ming Tan raised stopped him.

“Did wicked things?”

Ming Tan smiled. She actually crouched down halfway, propped her cheek in her hand, and revealed an adorable smile at her.

“Xia Tao,” Ming Tan said with a smile, “your methods were cruel. You secretly poisoned someone, intending to make an eight-year-old child burn to death from a high fever… With conduct as vicious as this, could there still be anyone in the palace who does more wicked things than you?”

With every word she said, her smile grew even happier, like a little girl who had tasted honey, innocent and guileless. Yet for no reason, Xia Tao felt a chill rise in her heart, and her entire body began trembling uncontrollably.

“Murdering an imperial child,” Ming Tan tilted her head, stood up, and looked at her with eyes that were half pity and half mockery, “is punishable by the execution of nine generations according to the law.”

As soon as the words fell, Xia Tao seemed to be provoked. She suddenly pushed herself up, her eyes filled with unconcealed hatred, and reached out to grab Ming Tan—

However, the guards behind her, who had long been prepared, pressed her down firmly. Unable to break free, she could only let out a shrill laugh filled with resentment. “Hahahaha! Nine generations—nine generations!”

Ming Tan took a step back, frowned slightly, and looked coldly at this prisoner beneath the steps.

Xia Tao’s fingertips scraped long bloody marks into the floor. The filth on her face was washed into even messier streaks by her tears. She cried and laughed, as if she had suddenly gone mad, her voice brimming with hatred.

“My mother died in a difficult childbirth after giving birth to me. My father was addicted to gambling, beat and cursed us at every turn, and squandered all the family’s money. I could only depend on my elder sister for survival. Later, the two of us were sold into the palace, where we suffered endless cold eyes and tasted every kind of hardship. Only my sister was still willing to treat me well… She worked in my place, shared her food with me, and was punished alongside me—in this deep palace, we only had each other left. What nine generations are there to execute?”

Her wounds seemed to tear open because of her agitation. Blood dripped from her sleeve onto the floor, scattering into tiny droplets.

Yet Xia Tao seemed not to feel the slightest pain. She continued staring fixedly at Ming Tan, her gaze so fierce it was frightening.

“But that wonderful sister of mine,” she said in a trembling voice, “was beaten to death by you—Ming Tan—right there in the imperial garden!”

As soon as these words came out, the entire hall was shocked.

Beaten to death alive…

Even if she had only been a palace maid, this method of punishment was far too cruel.

The empress sucked in a sharp breath and hurriedly knelt before the emperor, knocking her head against the floor as she said, “Your Majesty! Do not listen to her nonsense! Although Tan’er is usually somewhat willful, she has always known her limits. She rarely even punishes palace servants, so how could she take someone’s life for no reason?”

The emperor frowned and had just been about to say something when Xia Tao screamed again, “Not half a word this servant has said is false! The Shanggong Bureau recorded this matter clearly. It has both my sister Qiu Bai’s birth date and time, as well as the full sequence of events of how she offended the Ninth Princess in the imperial garden and was ordered by her to be beaten to death with rods! I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!”

After she shouted this, a resolute light flashed through her eyes. She reached behind herself, and astonishingly drew a gleaming short blade from her waist!

Sheng An reacted extremely quickly and pulled Ming Tan behind him in one motion, shouting, “Protect His Majesty! Protect His Majesty!”

But Xia Tao had no intention of attacking anyone else. Instead, she laughed loudly three times, gripped the knife in reverse, and with a wet puchi sound, stabbed it into her own chest.

“Ming… Tan…”

Blood flowed from the corner of Xia Tao’s lips. She stared fixedly at Ming Tan behind Sheng An and said in a shrill voice, “Even if I become a ghost, I will avenge my sister… and wash away this hatred!”

After saying this, she collapsed back onto the floor and died.

“…”

The fingers Ming Tan had hidden beneath her sleeves slowly tightened. She turned her head and looked toward the emperor, whose expression on the dais was unreadable.

Her heart sank.

As expected, the moment Ming Tan looked over, the emperor stood and walked toward her step by step. His tone was no longer as gentle as before as he asked with authority, “Were that palace maid’s words true or false?”

“Naturally, they were false.”

Ming Tan glanced at the corpse, lifted the hem of her skirt, and knelt on the ground. She knocked her head firmly before the emperor and said calmly, “Every word she said just now was clear and orderly, and her hatred was obvious. It was clearly prepared in advance so she could pour this basin of dirty water onto Longlin. How could that be the behavior of a revenge-seeking palace maid truly grieving over the loss of her sister?”

“Furthermore, the flowers, plants, fruits, and trees in the imperial garden are all looked after by designated people. Even picking a single flower would be recorded in the books. There is absolutely no possibility of secretly hiding any for private use, much less a highly poisonous plant like crinum lily. Xia Tao was only a sweeping palace maid. No matter how capable she was, she could at most handle small errands like delivering items for the managing auntie… The ingredients used to cook Hundred-Flower Porridge for the various palaces should have been prepared long beforehand. In that case, where did her crinum lily come from? In Longlin’s view, there must be something suspicious about this matter. It is far from that simple.”

The emperor looked at her small figure and fell silent for a moment. Instead of answering, he asked, “Tell Us. Have you ever had a palace maid beaten to death with rods?”

“Never.”

Ming Tan smiled, raised her head, and met the emperor’s eyes openly.

“Father Emperor should understand Longlin best… Even though Longlin has always been arrogant and overbearing, she would never be so cruel as to beat a living girl to death in the imperial garden merely because of the words ‘offended me.’”

“…”

Another long silence followed.

Behind them, the empress’s heart had risen to her throat.

She bit her lower lip, terrified that the emperor would not believe Ming Tan’s words. Just as she was about to continue arguing logically for her daughter, she heard the emperor let out a low laugh. With a broad wave of his hand, he said, “Rise.”

The fingernails Ming Tan had dug into her palm instantly loosened. Her face, however, remained perfectly calm as she stood and looked toward the emperor, whose expression had already gradually softened.

The emperor smiled peacefully. He took a step forward and rubbed the top of Ming Tan’s head, not even sparing half a glance for Xia Tao’s corpse on the floor.

“Unstartled in the face of events, calm and composed, and able to discover the many suspicious points in this matter at once… Good. As expected of Our Longlin.”

He looked at Ming Tan lovingly, his tone gentle and proud.

“We are your father. How could We not believe Our own daughter, and instead believe only the one-sided words of a palace maid?”