An Lingrong is reborn to live for herself.

Qin Fang rambled on, "The person who poisoned this really used a slow and methodical approach."

Having said that, he bowed and laid out the items that Shuangxue and Hanzhu had just handed him on the marble table, then bowed again and stepped back, explaining, "According to what I have learned from ancient books, Peony Drunkenness is made by mixing the juice of a flower called Lilu from the Western Regions with the venom of several different vipers. To make it easier to use, white quartz and amethyst powder are added in the later stages of processing, ultimately making it into the shape of a fragrant powder."

Upon hearing this, An Lingrong's expression darkened.

An Lingrong didn't know much about the medicinal herbs of the Western Regions, but she loved perfumery and had quite a bit of knowledge about some minerals and fragrances.

"Are the white quartz and amethyst you mentioned ingredients in the Five-Stone Powder?" An Lingrong asked without thinking.

Qin Fang was taken aback, but a hint of relief appeared on his face. He thought to himself, "If the young masters knew about the Five-Stone Powder, it would be much easier to explain."

Qin Fang said, "Reporting to Your Highness, these are indeed the two types of quartz used in the Five-Stone Powder."

However, these two types of quartz are not as addictive as those in the Five-Stone Powder. The amount of white and purple quartz used in this poison is not large. The main purpose of adding these two types of quartz is to bind the pear blossom juice and viper venom to it.

More importantly, the poison should be ground into powder so it can be mixed into bait to deceive fish.

An Lingrong nodded, then raised an eyebrow and asked, "But as far as I know, the smell of burning Five-Stone Powder is extremely pungent, like burning realgar, giving people headaches. How could our people in the palace not detect such a thing mixed into incense and bait?"

Qin Fang nodded, then shook his head and said, "Your Highness, the Five Stone Powder contains a large amount of sulfur. When sulfur burns, it has a strong, pungent smell that is very easy to identify."

This is precisely what makes this poison so insidious. While white quartz and amethyst are similar in use to sulfur, both are much milder in taste and properties, making them even more difficult to identify.

Or rather, it's more suitable for use as a slow-acting poison.

An Lingrong cursed inwardly, never expecting that the methods of harming people in the harem would become increasingly insidious.

However, since they were in front of everyone, it was not appropriate to say too much. Seeing that Zhen Huan's face was turning pale, he figured she must have been quite frightened. So he forced himself to suppress his emotions and said, "Physician Qin, please continue."

Qin Fang accepted the order and nodded, saying, "In order to make this kind of perfume powder more convincing, some fragrant bait will be deliberately added to mask the fishy and pungent smell of snake venom."

At the same time, this poison also has a weakness. It needs to penetrate into the body, and is a formula that is hidden and restrained. This type of medicine is easily countered by pungent and aromatic drugs.

Therefore, upon hearing Miss Hanzhu mention that the Imperial Household Department has recently changed the incense used in the various palaces, I immediately made this guess.”

Zhen Huan gasped, her voice trembling as she said, "That was truly a brilliant scheme."

However, An Lingrong had other thoughts in her mind and couldn't help but ask, "But if that's the case, wouldn't it involve too many people? All the palaces are rushing to change their incense. What if someone becomes suspicious? Wouldn't that be even worse?"

Qin Fang curled his lips into a disdainful smile and replied, "Your Highness, the person who poisoned me is vicious and has a deep and far-reaching scheme."

As I mentioned earlier, the person who poisoned the victim took a long time, and that's what I meant. In my humble opinion, the poisoner used the poison in many different ways.

As he spoke, Qin Fang laid out the items in front of him again and said, "First of all, the poison has been incorporated into the bait. Although the white quartz and amethyst were deliberately ground into fine powder, they are still minerals after all, and under bright light, they will still have tiny, slightly shimmering specks."

To make it easier for An Lingrong and Zhen Huan to see, Qin Fang deliberately turned the handkerchief containing the scented bait slightly towards the direction of the sunlight. Sure enough, extremely fine specks appeared in the crushed scented bait powder.

Qin Fang then picked up another handkerchief and crushed and spread out the dyed incense powder. The incense powder, which should have been a fine, cotton-like powder, contained extremely small, pale yellow particles. If you didn't look closely, they really looked very similar to the incense ash from burning ordinary incense bait.

An Lingrong took a deep breath, then calmed herself down and said, "You mean to say that the fragrant bait in Xianfu Palace was mixed with peony-intoxicated wine?"

Qin Fang nodded, then took the sachet that Ruyi had worn, and picked out all the various herbs inside. Finally, he picked out a few sections that looked like astragalus root, placed them on a handkerchief, and said, "My lady, look, this is the root of the pear root."

An Lingrong glanced at it, then her brows furrowed deeply.

The medicinal herbs looked quite ordinary. If Qin Fang hadn't specifically pointed them out today, even the eunuchs in the Imperial Hospital who usually brewed medicine would have had difficulty identifying what they were.

Seeing that An Lingrong and Zhen Huan did not ask any questions, Qin Fang continued, "It seems that the person who used the medicine was extremely cautious and unwilling to gamble all the medicinal properties on one place. Also, because pear blossoms are too uncommon, they would be easily detected, so they used roots and stems that look similar but are not."

However, the effectiveness of using the rhizome alone is difficult to ascertain.

As he spoke, Qin Fang frowned and fell into thought again.

An Lingrong knew that some scented baits were made by greatly purifying the spices. Each time they were used, only a small amount was needed, either dissolved in water or mixed with other fragrances, to achieve great results.

However, An Lingrong had never heard of the name "Pear Blossom Flower" before, so she asked again, "Imperial Physician Qin, there are two things I really don't understand. Please explain them to me."

First, since the Peony Drunkenness was originally intended to be used as a fragrant bait, and this time it was mixed into the incense burner of Xianfu Palace, it should have been poisoned. Why then was pear root added to the Ruyi sachet?

Secondly, I just heard you say that besides pear blossom juice, peony-intoxicating wine also requires other venomous ingredients. What good is finding only a root in a sachet?

Qin Fang bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am ashamed. I have not yet figured out this point either."

Upon hearing this, An Lingrong exchanged a glance with Zhen Huan, wondering if Zhen Huan also had any ideas.

Zhen Huan was also at a loss, her eyes filled with confusion. It was hard to imagine that a noble lady like Zhen Huan would do such a sordid thing.

Jinxi, who had been standing behind Zhen Huan, seemed to remember something and asked softly, "My ladies, I just remembered something. I wonder if it's related to what happened when we came in?"

Zhen Huan said softly, "Tell me about it."

Jinxi gave a slight curtsy and nodded, saying, "The clothes that the laundry department has been sending lately seem to be a little different from what they used to be."