The system forced me to blow up the female lead's fishpond.

Shen Qinshou felt as if she had fallen into an icy lake, her internal organs screaming with extreme cold.

How could this be? She watched Xiao Tao poison the rice; how could it not be contaminated? What could be the reason?

The man was terrified and kowtowed repeatedly, "Your Highness, spare my life! Your Highness, spare my life! Perhaps it was him, he... he accidentally ate something else. Ignorance is no excuse. Your Highness, please spare my life because I was so worried."

Chu Chouchi glanced at him with disdain.

Ha, just now you were a worthless life at my mercy, and now you regret it?

Shen Zhizhi raised an eyebrow, glancing with interest at Shen Qinshou's suddenly pale face, and couldn't help but sigh.

The novel was right; when people are terrified to the extreme, their faces really do turn white visibly.

"That's really a coincidence."

After examining her carefully, Shen Zhizhi stepped forward, a slight smile playing on her lips, and slowly spoke amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd:

"At dawn, because the truth about yesterday's poisoning had not yet been found out, the Second Prince was worried that something might go wrong again today, so he went to check the granary."

At this point, she paused slightly, her gaze seemingly shifting to Shen Qinshou.

Then I saw fear creep onto her pale face, her gaze fixed blankly on her feet, as if she dared not face what was about to happen.

Shen Zhizhi sneered inwardly, then said, "It was discovered that the rice in the granary had been poisoned with datura by someone. But only the Second Prince and I know about this. How did you determine that the porridge was poisoned?"

As Shen Zhizhi finished speaking, the man was terrified, his body trembled uncontrollably, and his fingers suddenly turned cold.

Shen Qinshou stood there, feeling weak all over and powerless.

How, how could it be?

How could the Second Prince have discovered this? He has always been indifferent to disaster relief, so why would he have gone to inspect the granaries?

"You were the one who poisoned him! You caused us to wrongly accuse Lord Shaoqing and misunderstand the Second Prince! You deserve to die!"

The disaster victims standing by were enraged by what they saw and shouted that they wanted to tear the man to pieces, but fortunately the constables stopped them.

Chu Chouchi lowered his head slightly, the stray hairs on his forehead obscuring the expression in his eyes, his tone deep and serious, "Who exactly ordered you to do this?"

The man was terrified and kept kowtowing, begging for mercy, "Your Highness, Your Highness, I really didn't know anything about this, please spare my life."

"Rest assured, I will not kill you," Chu Chouchi's deep voice rang out.

The man suddenly looked up, before he could even offer his thanks.

Then he pulled a short blade from his robes, his eyes narrowing slightly: "This prince will make you wish you were dead, suffer all kinds of torture, and be unable to live or die."

The man trembled violently and could not even kneel steadily.

"Li Zhuang, take him to prison," Chu Chouchi ordered.

Seeing Li Zhuang about to step forward and capture him, the man suddenly looked up, his panicked eyes filled with despair, "Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me!"

Chu Chouchi turned a deaf ear.

Only after Li Zhuang captured him did he roar, "Second Prince! I have no choice but to speak! Second Prince!"

"Oh?" Chu Chouchi's lips curled slightly as he toyed with the short blade beneath his sleeve, his eyes filled with coldness. "Forced? Who forced you?"

The man broke free from Li Zhuang's grasp, staggered to the ground, and kowtowed, admitting his mistake, "Second Prince, the person who forced me was..."

Swoosh!

Before the man could speak, a whooshing sound came suddenly, and a sharp gust of air swept past.

The next instant, the dart-shaped weapon struck the man's throat, and he could no longer utter a sound.

Blood splattered everywhere, causing an uproar throughout the hall.

"what!"

Shen Qinshou was terrified and took several steps back.

Chu Chou's eyes turned cold. He looked in the direction the hidden weapon came from, but only saw a dark figure quickly disappear.

His eyes were bloodshot as he roared, "Someone! Find a doctor!"

Zhang Jiali, who had been silent for a long time, slowly walked over, squatted down next to the man, and reached out to check; there was no breath.

He frowned slightly, and after a long while said, "The fatal wound means there is absolutely no chance of survival."

"Good! Good! What a brilliant plan!" Chu Chouchi's eyes were filled with icy coldness, his voice as frigid as ice in the heavens, and his gaze as sharp as torches aimed directly at Shen Qinshou.

Shen Qinshou was terrified and completely unaware of Chu Chouchi's gaze. She stared blankly at the lifeless man at her feet, feeling both frightened and relieved.

Fortunately, with the help of the Empress, he was killed.

Otherwise, if this lowly commoner reveals Empress Ming's identity, regardless of what punishment Empress Ming will receive, she will certainly not escape blame as well.

"Brother Qiu Chi, A Shou is so scared." Shen Qin Shou put on a pitiful and hesitant look, moved lightly to his side, and took his arm.

Chu Chouchi lowered his eyes, looking at the pair of hands with skin as smooth as jade, then slowly moved his gaze to Shen Qinshou's neck, his brows furrowing.

Shen Zhizhi glanced at him, her heart leaping into her throat.

Don't move, buddy!

Absolutely do not act rashly!

Fortunately, Chu Chouchi only glanced at it casually before looking away. "Clean up the corpses. From now on, send more people to guard the granaries and soup kitchens. No one is allowed to enter without my permission."

"Yes!"

……

The poisoning incident has finally come to an end, and the victims have all expressed their apologies.

Chu Chouchi didn't want to pay attention, but he couldn't resist Shen Zhizhi.

He had no choice but to patiently appease the disaster victims under her threatening and enticing gaze.

Shen Qinshou was so shocked that she lost her composure. Despite Chu Chouchi's fierce aura surrounding her, she clung to him and refused to let go.

Seeing that Chu Chouchi's patience had reached its limit, Shen Zhizhi knew that if things continued like this, he might slap her away. So she had no choice but to step forward and pull Shen Qinshou away.

Meeting Shen Qinshou's annoyed face, Shen Zhizhi smiled and said, "Sister, it's not proper for you to pester the Second Prince like this in broad daylight."

Shen Qinshou glanced at her coldly, did not bother to argue, and turned around without any mercy, intending to go into the soup kitchen to find Chu Chouchi.

Shen Zhizhi nimbly moved in front of her, blocking her way, and said with a smug smile, "Sister, His Highness the Second Prince said that no one may enter without permission."

Shen Qinshou seems to be completely terrified. She didn't even notice Chu Chouchi's eagerness for her to leave.

Furthermore, after doing such a thing, she still has the nerve to pester Chu Chouchi.

It's like being stabbed in the butt with a knife; it's an eye-opener.

"Sister, what is the meaning of your actions? The Second Prince has not yet spoken, and you are already acting so presumptuously, refusing me entry. Isn't that going a bit too far?"

Shen Qinshou's eyes were sharp and filled with murderous intent; that gaze alone could kill her a thousand times over.

But her tone was weak and aggrieved, making anyone who heard it think that she had been bullied to this extent.

Shen Zhizhi is not intimidated at all now, after all, Chu Chouchi's sycophantic value towards her has dropped to zero, no, it's even worse than zero, it's become a negative number.

She refused to believe that Shen Qinshou could turn the tide like this.

She tilted her head back smugly and said, "This is the Second Prince's idea. If you don't believe me, you can call him out to confront him."

"you!"

Before Shen Qinshou could speak, Chu Chouchi slowly walked out, lifting the curtain of the soup kitchen.

Shen Qinshou's eyes lit up, and she stepped forward instantly, "Brother Qiu Chi, I..."