I was flattered after crossing

In less than half a quarter of an hour, Doctor Xue and his colleagues came running back in a panicked manner.

As soon as he saw Xiao Zhengxuan, he hurried forward to report: "Your Highness, after our inspection, we can confirm that the stamens of six flowers of the oleander in the yard have disappeared without a trace. Not only that, there is a very small amount of pollen inside these petals, but no stamens were found falling in the grass on the ground. I guess they must have been picked by someone."

After saying this, Doctor Xue stretched out his right hand and carefully spread out a handkerchief, revealing a few oleander flowers wrapped inside.

"Your Highness, please look. The oleander over here has lost its stamens and has a small amount of pollen, while this one is intact." Doctor Xue pointed at the oleander and explained in detail to the prince as he spoke.

Xiao Zhengxuan looked at it carefully, and as he looked at it, he couldn't help but want to get closer to smell it.

"Oh, Your Majesty, you must not do that! The whole plant of oleander is poisonous, so don't smell it easily." Upon seeing this, Imperial Doctor Xue hurriedly spoke out to stop him.

"Hmm... It seems that the problem lies in the pollen of oleander. After comparing them like this, the result is indeed obvious." Xiao Zhengxuan nodded thoughtfully and turned to Doctor Xue and said.

"Your Highness is wise!" Doctor Xue echoed.

Following closely came the girl Xiang'er, who was brought from the hot spring villa by the guards.

She walked into the courtyard with a panicked and trembling look. When she saw the servants kneeling on the ground in the courtyard, she felt even more frightened and uneasy. Her legs went weak and she fell to her knees with a thud, her body trembling as she said, "Your servant...your servant greets the prince!"

Xiao Zhengxuan narrowed his eyes slightly, examining the terrified little maid in front of him, and slowly said: "Looking at your appearance, I guess you must know something, right?"

Xiang'er didn't even dare to raise her head, and replied in a trembling voice: "Reply...Reporting to the prince, according to my observation, Lan'er seems to have relatives in the palace to support her."

"Oh? Why do you think so?" Xiao Zhengxuan asked with interest. At the same time, he sat up straight from the armchair, his face full of curiosity.

Xiang'er took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, and then said, "Your Highness, you don't know. Lan'er never stepped out of the hot spring villa before, but she always received new clothes and often showed off her gold and silver jewelry to us.

I want to ask, except for people in the palace, who else could know the exact location of the other courtyard and send these things to her? Moreover, every time Lan'er showed off these to us, it happened to be after our palace's procurement staff delivered them to the other courtyard. "

After Xiang'er finished speaking, she remained silent, quietly waiting for the prince's response. The entire yard fell into a dead silence, with only the rustling sound of the breeze blowing through the leaves.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Xiao Zhengxuan. Some raised their heads and looked at him with curiosity and anticipation, as if they wanted to see how he would handle the matter. Some people lowered their heads, as if they had a guilty conscience and did not dare to look up at him.

At this moment, Xiao Zhengxuan had no expression on his face. He just glanced at Butler Pan calmly, but that glance made Butler Pan shrink his neck as if he had received an electric shock. Then he quickly said, "I will go and call all the servants here."

Before long, more than a hundred people were kneeling in Xiao Zhengxuan's large yard.

At this time, Seventeen came over and reported to the prince, "Your Majesty, we have checked these people and found nothing abnormal on them."

Hearing this, I walked out of the room with the help of the head maid, came to Xiao Zhengxuan and asked the kneeling servant: "In this case, I believe everyone knows that there are some maids in the other courtyard who do not abide by their duties and violate the family rules. Do you have any different opinions on this?"

Xiao Zhengxuan was very surprised by my appearance. He quickly stood up, gave up his seat for me, and asked with concern: "Why did the princess come out? Are you feeling better? Are you feeling unwell?"

I looked at him and consoled him: "It's okay, I'm much better now, I just came out to join in the fun."

"If you answer my question sincerely, you will get one or two taels of silver as a reward as long as you answer it seriously." I sat down slowly, looked at them calmly, and said in a firm and serious tone.

As soon as he finished speaking, the people below began to whisper and talk among themselves.

"Humph, what do you mean by not following the family rules? That's already a special favor to her! The prince didn't even hold her family accountable. She actually did such a dirty and disgusting thing, which is simply a discredit to the family!" Someone said indignantly.

"That's right. Although we are slaves, we also have our own dignity and bottom line. How could we possibly do such a despicable thing as bed-climbing?" another person echoed.

"Oh, that's right! We all know how much we weigh. If something goes wrong, not only will our lives be in danger, but our families will also be in trouble!"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, Your Majesty. I would never dare to have any improper thoughts. I just hope to spend the rest of my life in peace under your protection. Please understand!" Another person hurriedly expressed his opinion.

"Yes! We all have the same idea! I hope the prince and princess can see clearly!" Others also echoed, saying that they had no such intention at all.

For a moment, the whole scene became noisy and bustling, with everyone expressing their opinions and attitudes.

I listened to their discussions silently and watched them whisper to each other. These people might not be completely trustworthy, but on the surface, they did not seem to be very suspicious. However, only Yun'er, the maid in my courtyard, knelt there straight and trembled constantly.

I glanced at Xiao Zhengxuan, who also noticed my gaze, so he turned to the maid standing beside me and ordered, "Jinxiu, go search Yun'er from Haitangyuan."

"Yes!" The maid who had just helped me out of the room strode forward, reached out and grabbed Yun'er who was lying on the ground, and dragged her to the side.

"Hmph! Don't touch me!" What surprised all of us was that Yun'er actually pushed Jinxiu away with force.

Then, she straightened up, and said to Xiao Zhengxuan in a stern voice with a face full of resentment: "Your Highness, may I ask, my sister has worked diligently in the villa for so many years. Even if she has no merit, hasn't she worked hard? Why do you and the princess want to take her life just because of this insignificant mistake!" When the people around heard this, they were suddenly in an uproar.

"Ah? It's her?" Accompanied by a cry of shock and surprise, people's eyes were focused on Yun'er.

Then another servant asked, "Do you know her?" His tone revealed curiosity and confusion.

"I can't tell. He looks like an honest and decent person on weekdays... I didn't expect..." The speaker's voice gradually became lower, as if he couldn't believe what was happening before his eyes.

There were sighs coming from all around: "Oh, you really can't judge a person by his appearance..." Everyone was talking about it, surprised by this sudden turn of events.

I sat quietly aside and asked softly, "Oh? It was you who poisoned?" My eyes were fixed on Yun'er.

However, Yun Er straightened up, raised her head and chest, met my gaze without fear, and answered firmly: "I want to avenge my concubine sister, but now I have failed. You can kill me or chop me up as you wish."

I couldn't help but sneer: "Pfft~ It's a pity that this princess doesn't buy your tricks." A trace of contempt and disdain flashed in my eyes, and I continued: "I never thought that two sisters in your family could give up their lives for love. I am also very surprised. But you are not as good as your sister. I feel so sorry for you!"

"What?" Yun'er looked at me with red eyes, full of shock and disbelief.

"If Ruolan'er climbed into the prince's bed for the sake of your and your sister's future and to change your fate, it might be understandable. But you..." Having said that, I paused and did not continue.

"Up to now, how long have you been kneeling here? Has the person who helped you pass the message stood up for you?" Xiao Zhengxuan continued to question Yun'er on my behalf.

When Yun'er heard this, she swayed noticeably and fell to the ground.

"He even said something about seriously hurting your sister, right?" I walked up to her, squatted down, stared at her and asked.

"No! What? No! I, I really don't know what the princess is talking about?" Yun'er's body trembled slightly, but she still knelt there firmly and looked at me.

"Oh, okay~" I stood up and slowly walked back, then sat down on the armchair, thinking to myself: I like people who won't cry until they see the coffin.

"Your sister violated the family rules. According to the family rules, she should be beaten to death. If it weren't for the prince's mercy, if the matter was not settled, according to the royal family, if a maid climbed into the prince's bed, the entire clan would be implicated. So now, you and your family...what kind of consequences will you face? It's a pity that you don't understand. Just to avenge your sister, you dared to poison the princess! And you don't repent." At this time, Butler Pan stood aside and said in a cold tone.

Yun'er was filled with anger and hatred after hearing what Butler Pan said. She stared at Butler Pan with her eyes wide open, and said fearlessly, "I'm going to die anyway, so I dare to ask Butler Pan, I know you always look down on us servants, but my sister is so beautiful, and you always arranged her to stay in the other courtyard and not let her serve in the palace. Aren't you afraid that she will be favored one day, and I will be more favored than you?"

When Butler Pan heard Yun'er's question, he was speechless. He never expected that this seemingly weak woman would speak out her irrelevant thoughts so bluntly. He was a little speechless for a moment, not knowing how to answer Yun'er's question. He looked at Yun'er, and a complex emotion flashed in his eyes, which was a pity for her fate.

“Hahahahahaha, originally I shouldn’t laugh at the saying that the dead are greatest, but now that things have come to this, I have to say that your sister’s death has a lot to do with your family’s blind self-confidence.

In that case, Miss Yun'er, why don't you become a concubine for the prince? What do you think?" I looked at her and asked with a smile.

At this time, there was another uproar from the audience...

Xiao Zhengxuan: ...Ah... How much sin did I commit in my previous life...

Yun'er looked at me blankly and asked in confusion, "What?"

"Just as you said just now, if your sister could climb into the prince's bed, wouldn't she be able to become a phoenix? Now, this opportunity is given to you directly! You don't have to wait until night time to climb into the bed. You can be granted the status of a concubine directly. Are you willing?" I asked her with a smile on my face.

"Really?" Yun'er obviously did not expect such an outcome. She originally thought that she would die today, but she did not expect such a turn of events.

"Of course it's true! If you don't believe it, you can ask the prince!" I looked at her, then turned my head and cast my gaze to Xiao Zhengxuan beside me.

However, Xiao Zhengxuan had a gloomy face and ignored me.

Oh, it seems that he is angry. He was asked to be a tool this time without even giving him a glance in advance...

"Well, I guess the prince still thinks you're not being honest enough...that's why he's always angry." I looked at Yun'er, said softly, then gently extended my hand.

I saw Yun'er slowly take out a square folded handkerchief from under her belt and tremblingly raised it to my hand.

Seventeen immediately reached out to take it, opened it and handed it to Doctor Xue and Doctor Zhang beside him for inspection.

After a moment, they immediately reported to Xiao Zhengxuan: "Master, what's left in this handkerchief is oleander pollen."

Xiao Zhengxuan nodded slightly, turned his gaze to Yun'er, and asked, "Who usually helps you deliver things to Lan'er?"

Yun'er turned around hesitantly to look at the servants who were still kneeling behind her, but she still couldn't say anything.

"Oh, sister, our prince is very fussy about relationships. You should explain it clearly as soon as possible so that he can feel at ease." I said to Yun'er in a sarcastic tone.

Hearing what I said, Yun'er quickly replied: "Your Highness and Princess, it was Pan Fu! But there is nothing between us, nothing happened. It's just that he would help me send some clothes to Lan'er!" After Yun'er finished speaking, she kowtowed continuously to prove her innocence.

Pan Fu was the nephew of Pan Guanjia, and was responsible for running errands and delivering goods to the other courtyards in the mansion. This job was easy and lucrative.

Hearing this, Butler Pan's face changed drastically, his body trembled violently, his eyes widened, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead. Then, as if he had lost his support, his knees softened, and he fell to the ground with a plop, and said in panic: "I really don't know, Your Majesty, please understand!"

Xiao Zhengxuan looked at Butler Pan expressionlessly, a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes, but more of it was heartache.

He opened his mouth slowly and said, "You have followed me for many years and watched me grow up. The prosperity of the palace today is inseparable from your careful management. However, regarding the matter of Pan Fu..." At this point, Xiao Zhengxuan paused and his tone became solemn.