The concubine is extremely cautious

Seeing that he understood what she meant, Ning Wanyin took Lianrui to the small kitchen.

This is the reason given to outsiders.

Actually, she wanted to check...

Where does this strange fragrance come from and what is it?

Because of Ning Wanyin's sincerity in wanting to do it herself, the palace maids did not follow her. Only Lian Rui followed her into the small kitchen.

The small kitchen is located in a corner of the backyard of Lingxue Pavilion.

The kitchen was clean and tidy, with a mixture of smells of sesame oil, chili pepper, live fish and pork. The strange aroma was not too obvious. Ning Wanyin followed the smell and walked straight to the stove.

After staring at the big pot on the stove for a while, Ning Wanyin reached out and took the pot down.

"Master!" Lian Rui was stunned.

Ning Wanyin whispered, "There's something in this stove..."

There was a pile of ashes in the stove.

Ning Wanyin took a piece of firewood from a pile of dry firewood in the corner and dug out the ashes. The strange fragrance spread a little. In the normal firewood pile, there was a little ashes from the burning of herbs.

"Master, what kind of firewood is this? It also has a faint scent of grass and wood?" Lian Rui asked in surprise.

Some trees also have a faint fragrance when burned.

As long as there was no one in the small kitchen who was proficient in medicine, no one would notice that someone had thrown something into the stove.

Apart from Lianrui and Luju, no one comes to the small kitchen on weekdays.

It’s rarely noticed.

"This is the ash from the burning of Tianzhu grass. Tianzhu grass is a medicine and also a spice. If you burn it with incense frequently, it can cause infertility." Ning Wanyin stared at the ashes for a moment, her eyes grim.

Lian Rui almost cried out in shock, and quickly covered her mouth with both hands, whispering, "Master, is someone trying to make you infertile? Stay away from these dirty things!"

"It won't have much impact for the time being." Various clues emerged in Ning Wanyin's mind.

She didn't usually come to the small kitchen, so she could hardly smell anything, so of course it couldn't harm her.

If someone really wanted to harm her, he would throw her into the incense burner in the bedroom.

But Ning Wanyin's inner room was always guarded carefully, and Lingxue Pavilion was cleaned twice a day. Even if the medicine ash was really placed in the incense burner in the middle of the night, it would be cleaned up early the next morning.

As for the ash on the stove, it is usually cleaned once every seven or eight days and does not usually attract attention.

The person who could hide the thing on the stove must be very clever.

In addition to causing infertility, Tianzhucao can also cause pregnant women to miscarry...

Could it be...

However, there is currently no news of any concubine in the harem being pregnant.

Otherwise she would know who to start guarding against.

Now the fog is thick, and based on the current clues, she can only roughly guess that one, someone in the harem may be pregnant, and two, someone wants to frame her.

This medicine ash is the evidence of the crime.

Moreover, the opponent's method was very clever. What was hidden was not the Tianzhu grass, but the herb ash.

Who would harm others and leave unused herbs in his or her palace?

It must be destroyed.

Who would have known that the imperial physician could find clues from the inconspicuous pot ash?

It seems that she is the mastermind behind the murder, which is why the evidence needs to be destroyed.

One thing leads to another, leaving her no room for argument!

There was a hint of coldness in Ning Wanyin's eyes. She had long suspected that there was a traitor in Lingxue Pavilion. It was useless to change the person, because she would still find the same person even if she replaced another batch.

Because the Ning family was in decline, she had no foundation in the palace and no one who knew her well could be used.

"Lianrui, I will gather everyone together for a lecture later. Wrap these ashes with straw paper and throw them into the lotus pond when the opportunity arises."

Both ashes and papyrus dissolve in water.

Completely destroy the body and eliminate all traces.

"And this piece of firewood is also stained with traces. Throw it in as well." Ning Wanyin handed the firewood in her hand to Lian Rui.

"I understand." Lian Rui nodded.

No matter how ingenious the other party's plan was, she directly destroyed the "evidence", which was to cut off the source of the problem.

……

Ning Wanyin picked some honey beans and soaked them in clean water.

He walked out leisurely.

Xiao Guizi was standing guard not far away. Ning Wanyin looked at him and said, "Gather all the palace people to the courtyard. I have something to say."

"Yes!" Xiao Guizi accepted the order respectfully.

The twenty lashes last time let everyone know that Ning Wanyin was a very strict person and she never neglected her orders.

Just a moment.

Two eunuchs and four palace maids stood together in the courtyard.

Lu Ju was the first second-class palace maid assigned to Lingxue Pavilion. She was good at making tea and snacks, so she often went to the small kitchen.

After Danli left, the Ministry of Internal Affairs filled another vacancy, named Dantao.

Second-class palace maids mostly learned skills for close-range service. Dantao also served in her room and was good at needlework and makeup.

The other two palace maids were third-class cleaning maids added by the Ministry of Internal Affairs when she was promoted to Concubine. Their names were Caisang and Caiye. They were mainly responsible for cleaning the courtyard and pruning the flower beds.

As for the two eunuchs Xiao Guizi and Xiao Yuanzi, they were originally in charge of cleaning the outer room and running errands.

Ning Wanyin looked at them one by one without saying a word, just leaving them alone.

Everyone was very calm, and from the outside, it was hard to tell who the traitor was.

Until Lianrui came back and nodded quietly, everything was done.

Ning Wanyin then slowly spoke:

"I lost a bracelet."

Lian Rui understood what was going on, and shouted at the palace servants, "Who among you stole the master's bracelet? Hand it over immediately!"

"Master, I didn't steal!" Xiao Guizi thought he understood why his master punished him to stand, and was the first to stand up and show his loyalty:

"Please search my body, Miss Lianrui! Search my residence to prove my innocence. I am loyal to my master!"

"I didn't steal it!" The palace maids rushed to deny it.

Last time, she gave her servants twenty lashes. Everyone in Lingxue Pavilion knew that Ning Wanyin was ruthless in punishing her servants.

But the rewards they received were also high, so they were reluctant to leave. As long as they did not make mistakes, the master was usually very good-tempered and did not treat the servants harshly.

With this excuse, Lian Rui immediately checked everyone one by one, searching their bodies and servants' rooms...

After a while, he came back and reported, "Master, your bracelet is not found."

No clues were found about their whereabouts.

This was also what Ning Wanyin expected.

The other party has already hidden the ashes, so there is no need to do anything unnecessary.

However, in order to eliminate any hidden dangers, she naturally had to check it again.

"It seems that the bracelet may have been lost outside." Ning Wanyin looked at the palace servants and said, "I almost misunderstood you. You are all loyal to me. I will reward each of you with twenty taels of silver."

"Thank you, my lord!" The palace servants happily accepted the reward.

"Lianrui will stay behind today, Xiaoguizi and Luju will come with me." Ning Wanyin ordered.

Lian Rui was a little worried, but she also understood that her master kept her here because something big was obviously going to happen today and she needed to guard the house.

She will keep a close eye on Lingxue Pavilion!

Never let anyone harm the master.

……

Ning Wanyin left Yonghe Palace and said to Xiao Guizi beside her in a low voice:

"Go ask the granddaughter doctor to come. I don't know why my knee hurts. Maybe it's because I didn't treat it before and the old pain has recurred."

Xiao Guizi was stunned. The master's leg was only a superficial wound and had healed long ago.

But on second thought, if the master's old illness relapsed, the empress dowager would not be able to force the master to stay.

First there was the sweet soup, then there was the old illness.

In order to deal with the Queen Mother, the master's moves are more clever than the last.

With Empress Dowager Xue making things difficult for Ning Wanyin before, it was completely reasonable for Ning Wanyin to pretend to be sick on the day of paying her respects.

Xiao Guizi took the order and went to the Imperial Hospital immediately.

Ning Wanyin had a smooth journey to Jingxi Palace.

She looked around from afar, keeping a distance from every concubine on the road, and resolutely not giving herself the opportunity to commit a crime.

After thinking carefully three times and making sure that everything was correct, Ning Wanyin stepped into the gate of Jingxi Palace.