in2ebook Chapter 138 The Prime Minister is actually a woman, and His Majesty the Emperor drools over her.
Chapter 138 The Prime Minister is actually a woman, and His Majesty the Emperor drools over her.
"Cui'er? Go and see what's going on?"
After checking, Cui'er panicked, "Master, the cat is dead."
Seeing this, Mu Chenfeng stood up angrily. This plate of fish was a gift from him to Mu Wanwan.
"Who is it? Who dares to poison me in front of me?"
Eunuch Qian immediately took out the chopsticks for testing poison. The silver chopsticks visibly turned black. Eunuch Qian then slid down to kneel in front of Mu Chenfeng.
"Your Majesty, this plate of fish is poisoned!!!"
Mu Wanwan quickly chimed in, "Your Majesty, someone is trying to poison you. This was a gift you bestowed upon me."
Mu Chenfeng's chest heaved, and with a flick of his sleeve, he sat down. "Test all the dishes for me."
A few minutes later, poison was detected in the dishes of the Emperor and Mu Wanwan, while it was not found in the dishes of Grand Commandant Zhao and Consort Xiao.
Zhao Yihan quickly knelt down, "Your Majesty, this humble subject does not know who dares to be so bold as to poison the Emperor."
Mu Chenfeng tilted his head slightly, looking at Zhao Taiwei with an unreadable expression. "My dear minister, please rise. I believe this matter has nothing to do with you. Go and bring up everyone who has been in contact with the dishes."
Before long, more than a dozen people were kneeling on the ground. Faced with the emperor's majesty, no one dared to raise their heads. However, one palace maid was trembling, standing out from the others.
Eunuch Qian dragged the trembling palace maid in front of Mu Chenfeng. "You lowly servant, you speak!"
The palace maid kept kowtowing, "Your Majesty, spare my life! I, I, it wasn't me!"
Eunuch Qian kicked the palace maid in the stomach. "Are you feeling guilty? Then why are you trembling?"
Someone in the crowd pointed at the palace maid and said, "Your Majesty, she was in charge of serving all the dishes for you and Prime Minister Mu. It must have been her."
The palace maid panicked immediately, prostrated herself on the ground, and begged for mercy while crying.
"Your Majesty, spare my life! I was only acting under orders."
"Being instructed by someone? Is the person who instructed you here? Quickly identify them!" Consort Xiao asked the palace maid coldly and fiercely.
The palace maid timidly looked up and around, then lowered her head again, not daring to speak.
"Speak, and I will take care of it for you, sparing your life." Mu Chenfeng was furious. How dare someone poison his and Mu Mu's food? They deserved to die.
The palace maid, her hand trembling, slowly pointed to Mu Wanwan, who stood to the side, still shaken.
Before Mu Wanwan could react, Cui'er anxiously stepped forward to defend her, "Sister! My master has never met you before, how could he possibly allow you to poison and plot against the Emperor?"
The palace maid burst into tears and kept kowtowing, her forehead hitting the ground with a thud.
"Your Majesty is wise. The person who came to see me said he was from Prime Minister Mu's faction, which is absolutely true. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to speak so carelessly."
Mu Wanwan wasn't flustered at all. After all, this kind of framing was common in palace dramas. Besides, Mu Chenfeng was her source of confidence; he wouldn't believe she would poison him.
"Can you identify who from my residence is looking for you?" Mu Wanwan could only respond to each move and defuse the situation step by step.
“Last night, the man's face was covered, and I didn't know what he looked like. He said it was the Prime Minister's order, and I dared not disobey. In the end, he nimbly climbed out the window and ran away.”
This palace intrigue isn't sophisticated enough! They're framing someone, but there's no concrete evidence. Sigh, you're still too green.
"Then why would I poison myself? Why not just poison the Emperor directly? Do I have to be buried with him?"
The palace maid raised her tear-streaked face and stared at Mu Wanwan with resentful eyes, "Because if the truth comes out and you are also poisoned, you will be the first to be cleared of suspicion."
"You, Prime Minister Mu, how could you come up with such a vicious idea? The Emperor has treated you well, yet you want him dead."
Mu Wanwan pondered to herself: The mastermind behind this was trying to kill two birds with one stone. Knowing that she was on the emperor's side, if the poisoning plan succeeded, Mu Chenfeng and she would surely die, and the throne would definitely change hands. If it failed, she would be their primary target, and they would directly sever Mu Chenfeng's left arm.
She looked at Zhao Yihan across from her. Could it be him? He was so restless, but hadn't he promised her the position of empress? Could he have been lying?
Zhao Yihan and Mu Wanwan locked eyes. He shook his head at Mu Wanwan, indicating that it wasn't him.
Consort Xiao immediately stood up, walked to Prime Minister Mu, and angrily pointed at Mu Wanwan, "Guards! Prime Minister Mu dared to poison the Emperor! Seize Prime Minister Mu, strip her of her official robes, and drag her out to be executed."
Zhao Yihan quickly stepped forward to plead for Mu Wanwan, "Your Majesty, I believe there is something fishy about this matter, and I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly."
Consort Xiao angrily pointed at Zhao Yihan, "Grand Commandant Zhao, could it be that you're in cahoots with her?"
"I am merely stating the facts, Your Majesty, please understand." Zhao Yihan pleaded for Mu Wanwan, leaving Consort Xiao completely bewildered.
"Prime Minister Mu, I'll give you a chance to prove yourself."
Mu Chenfeng was insanely jealous. Who did Zhao Yihan think he was? He could protect his own woman; did he need someone else to play the hero?
Zhao Yihan indeed had designs on Mu Mu; even though poisoning was such a dangerous act, he still pleaded for her.
"Your Majesty, the witness is already there; it is clearly Prime Minister Mu. Why do you still want her to testify?" Consort Xiao wished she could beat Mu Wanwan to death on the spot, but the emperor had a way of making her furious but dare not retaliate.
"Prime Minister Mu grew up with me since childhood. I trust her character and she would never harm me."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
She quickly replied with thanks, for he truly was her good husband, unconditionally believing in her, and even if it couldn't be proven in the end, she wasn't afraid.
Mu Wanwan approached the palace maid with a smile, then slapped her hard across the face. "How dare you try to pin this on me!"
Wow, that feels so good! So this is what it feels like to slap someone hard.
Mu Wanwan had lost her former kindness and approachability; her eyes were filled with danger. "In that case, let's find the murderer together."
The palace maid didn't understand what Mu Wanwan was trying to do. Covering her swollen face, she looked up at her with a blank expression. "The person who came to find you covered their face so we couldn't recognize their appearance, but we could still recognize their voice, right?"
Before long, Eunuch Qian led everyone from the Prime Minister's residence to the Emperor's presence, and everyone covered their faces.
Mu Wanwan pulled the palace maid off the ground to her feet. "You only need to recognize people by their voices."
The palace maid hadn't expected her to summon everyone. After listening to everyone's conversation, she frantically pointed at one person.
Are you sure it's this father-in-law?
Seeing the palace maid nod in fear to confirm, Mu Wanwan confidently removed her veil, revealing a delicate face. She was clearly a palace maid, not an eunuch.
"Didn't you say you were a father-in-law?"
"You actually cheated!" the palace maid exclaimed angrily. She never expected that the people in her residence would change her clothes and headdress.
Mu Wanwan smiled disdainfully, "Judging by voice, you're the one you pointed out yourself? You can't explain yourself and you're blaming me? You really think I'm an easy target."
"Prime Minister Mu, perhaps this palace maid was so nervous that she mistook her gender? Anyway, it's her voice, she's your person, so the outcome is the same."