The Second World in Ancient Times

Although I am temporarily trapped in the fog of court conspiracy, with modern knowledge and wisdom, I am determined to tear open the curtain of darkness and let the truth come to light.

After the incident at the sacrificial ceremony, I returned to the palace, knowing full well that I must remain calm. Panic would only give the enemy an opportunity. I sat at my dressing table, took a deep breath, calmed my thoughts, and began to carefully review the events of the past few days. I knew that to clear my name, I had to delve into the details and uncover the crucial evidence that had been hidden.

First, I turned my attention to food. In modern times, I had a keen interest in medicine, reading numerous medical texts and gaining extensive knowledge on food safety and the symptoms of poisoning. This knowledge now served me as a powerful weapon in this palace crisis. When a seemingly ordinary bowl of Tremella fuciformis soup was placed before me, I didn't consume it directly as usual. Instead, I drew on my memory of the color, smell, and texture of normal food and began to examine it carefully. I noticed that the soup was slightly cloudy, not as clear and translucent as usual, as if shrouded in a faint mist. Furthermore, a closer sniff revealed a faint, unpleasant odor. It lacked the natural fragrance of Tremella fuciformis, but instead had an indescribable sourness.

A thought struck me, and I immediately recalled reading in medical books about the effects of certain slow-acting poisons when mixed with food. Some poisons, upon contact with specific ingredients, undergo chemical reactions, causing subtle changes in the food's color, smell, and texture. To confirm this, I quietly took out a silver needle, which I had specifically instructed Wanqing to prepare for emergencies. I gently inserted it into the soup, following the memorized instructions, and waited a moment. A moment later, when I withdrew the needle, I saw that its tip had turned slightly black. This sight startled me, yet at the same time, I was grateful that I had noticed the abnormality in time, thus averting a disaster.

I immediately instructed Wanqing: "Keep this soup properly and don't tell anyone. This may be the key evidence for us to find the mastermind behind this." Wanqing nodded quickly, carefully took the soup aside, and covered it with a clean cloth, as if she was afraid that the secret in the soup would suddenly leak out.

I knew that simply discovering poison in the food wasn't enough; I needed more evidence to uncover the conspiracy. So, I turned my attention to the sacrificial site. Accompanied by a few trusted palace maids, I returned to the sacrificial hall. The hall, now solemn and dignified as it had been during the sacrifice, felt a sense of desolation and loneliness. Sunlight filtered through the tall windows, casting patches of light and shadow on the ground, but it couldn't illuminate the haze within me. I carefully surveyed the area around the problematic incense burner, my eyes like a scanner, scanning every corner. I spotted tiny debris on the ground, a color and texture that didn't match the imperial incense burner. These fragments were slightly grayish and had a rough texture, unlike anything dropped from a finely crafted imperial vessel.

I squatted down, gently picked up a fragment, and held it up to the sunlight for closer inspection. I noticed the broken ends were uneven, as if they had been forcibly broken. This suggested to me that perhaps, in haste or carelessness during the replacement of the incense burner, the incense burner had been damaged, causing the fragments to fall. A theory gradually formed in my mind: someone had prepared a similar but inferior incense burner, and had taken advantage of darkness or the guards' negligence to sneak into the storeroom and replace it with the real one, hoping to embarrass me during the sacrifice and thus accuse me of blasphemy.

Then, I tactfully questioned the palace maids and eunuchs present. I didn't confront them directly, but instead spoke with concern, "I'm sure everyone was frightened by the sacrifice that day. I know you're all innocent, but there must be a misunderstanding. If anyone could offer some useful clues, perhaps it could help us solve the mystery and save us from further misfortune." I knew full well that these palace maids and eunuchs held low status within the palace, often the most overlooked. However, they were also the ones most likely to glean secrets.

At first, the palace maids and eunuchs were terrified and afraid to speak. They lowered their heads, staring at the ground, their bodies trembling slightly, as if they were afraid that a single wrong word would bring about their own death. But I spoke to them patiently, reassuring them in a gentle voice: "Don't be afraid. I only want to uncover the truth and won't implicate innocent people. Just tell me what you know, and I'll keep you safe."

Finally, a young eunuch mustered up the courage to speak: "Your Majesty, I saw Sister Cuiyu quietly approaching the storehouse the night before the sacrifice. At that time, I thought she was carrying out her official duties and did not think much of it."

Cuiyu? A thought crossed my mind. I'd heard of this name before: a capable maidservant to Concubine Li. This clue reinforced my belief that all this was Concubine Li's scheme. I silently reasoned that Concubine Li had always harbored jealousy towards me, a sufficient motive to plot my destruction. And Cuiyu, as her trusted confidant, would undoubtedly follow her instructions and participate in this conspiracy.

I continued to investigate Cuiyu's whereabouts and discovered that she had recently been in frequent contact with Doctor Li from the Imperial Hospital. This discovery coincided with the clues about the poison in my diet, and my suspicions gradually became clearer. I seemed to see Concubine Li, Cuiyu, and Doctor Li plotting in the shadows, their meticulous planning, step by step, trying to push me into the abyss.

After gathering enough evidence, I decided to report everything to the king. I carefully organized my thoughts and brought the evidence to the king's study.

"Your Majesty, I have come here today to reveal a shocking conspiracy to Your Majesty." I knelt down and saluted, then spoke slowly.

The king frowned slightly: "Concubine Yu, what do you want to report?"

I took out the silver needle and the container of soup. "Your Majesty, I have discovered a chronic poison in my food. Someone is plotting to murder me, causing me to lose favor and even die without realizing it. This silver needle is the evidence. After being inserted into the soup, the tip turned black, indicating that it contains a highly toxic substance. In modern medicine, we have many methods to detect poisons in food. The silver needle test is an ancient and effective method. Although it cannot detect all poisons, it will have a noticeable reaction to some sulfur-containing poisons, such as arsenic. The poison in this soup was clearly carefully selected, intending to make me gradually weaker after long-term consumption, while making it difficult to detect."

The king's expression turned extremely ugly. He glared at me and asked, "Who is so bold?"

I then presented the fragment I had found at the sacrificial site. "Your Majesty, this was found next to the incense burner in the main sacrificial hall. After investigation, I discovered that this fragment was left behind when someone swapped the incense burner. And that the incense burner was swapped in order to frame me for the sin of blasphemy. This incense burner is a vital instrument in royal sacrificial ceremonies, and every detail is strictly regulated. The presence of these fragments undoubtedly indicates that someone has violated these rules in an attempt to disrupt the sacrifice and frame me."

I then reported to the king the suspicious activities of Cuiyu and Imperial Physician Li. "Your Majesty, Cuiyu is a maidservant of Concubine Li. She approached the storehouse the night before the sacrifice, behaving suspiciously. Imperial Physician Li has been in frequent contact with Cuiyu recently, and he also poisoned my food. All this indicates that Concubine Li is the mastermind behind this. She is jealous of me and has plotted to frame me to achieve her own ulterior motives. Concubine Li has always been dissatisfied with my favor. She believes that I have stolen the favor that originally belonged to her or the Queen, so she is determined to kill me by any means necessary."

Upon hearing this, the king flew into a rage: "How can this be! How dare Concubine Li act so boldly!"

The king immediately ordered the arrest of Concubine Li, Cuiyu, and Imperial Physician Li, and interrogated them severely. Faced with irrefutable evidence, they could no longer deny their guilt and confessed one after another.

When Concubine Li was brought before the king, her face was as pale as paper. She fell to her knees and said, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. I beg for your forgiveness."

The king glared at her, "You vicious woman! I love you so much, yet you, for your own selfish reasons, frame others and disrupt the peace of the palace. Your crimes are unforgivable!"

Ultimately, Lipin was stripped of her title as a concubine and banished to the cold palace, where she was forbidden to leave for the rest of her life. Cuiyu, Imperial Physician Li, and others also received corresponding punishments.

With my wisdom and courage, I successfully saw through Lipin's conspiracy and turned defeat into victory.