Since Wei Dongling sent warm milk tea to the concubines every now and then, she quickly got on familiar terms with them. The ladies would often drop by her Yaoguang Pavilion for small gatherings and chats. Laughter constantly echoed in the courtyard. When the emperor was free, he would also come to visit from time to time. Seeing her having a jolly time with the concubines in the courtyard, he was also filled with joy.
As a result, the concubines who rarely came before also vied to join the fun. On the surface, they said they were craving Wei Dongling's milk tea, but in fact, they all knew it was just an excuse to see the emperor more often.
These women had endless tricks to gain the emperor's favor. Cheng Hao couldn't help but curl his lips in disdain. The noise of just two women chatting and bickering was no less than that of five hundred ducks. Now, with all these women chattering in the courtyard, it was so noisy that his head was about to explode.
Wei Dongling: Pfft! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even get to see these gorgeous beauties in the harem on a regular basis! Men are really born to be ungrateful scoundrels!
Cheng Hao was speechless and went to the side room to avoid the ruckus.
As autumn deepened, the once green leaves on the flowers, plants, and trees in the palace began to wither and turn yellow. The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent thick fabrics for the Fifth Princess to choose from so that she could make some clothes to keep warm.
Wei Dongling and Maid Minfang spent a long time looking through them and finally selected a few bolts of cloth with fresh and elegant patterns. After all, as an unmarried princess, there was no need for overly gaudy clothes. After choosing the fabrics, they had someone come up to take everyone's measurements one by one.
The maid Qiaoyue came up to report that when the emperor was entertaining the court officials today, he had sent two dishes for the Fifth Princess. Wei Dongling, who was having her waist measured at the time, nodded to show that she knew and told Qiaoyue to reward the little eunuch who had brought the dishes.
Maid Minfang gently stroked Wei Dongling's slender waist that could be easily grasped and said with a smile, "Your Highness looks a bit too slender. You should probably eat more in the future."
Wei Dongling replied with a smile, "It's okay. It's quite easy to gain weight."
The people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs finally left after being busy for a long time.
Wei Dongling washed her hands and returned to the table to have her meal. The maids served the steamed perch and sweet - and - sour pork tenderloin that the emperor had bestowed. Wei Dongling picked up her chopsticks and carefully tasted the sweet - and - sour pork tenderloin. She sighed inwardly that the imperial chef's skills were truly excellent. Then she reached out her chopsticks to pick up a piece of the steamed perch. Just as she picked up a piece of fish, the tip of the silver chopsticks quickly turned black where it touched the fish.
Wei Dongling was startled but didn't show it on her face. She calmly put the fish into her bowl and ordered the two maids who were respectfully waiting on her, "You two go to the small kitchen and make a bowl of sweet soup for this princess!"
"Yes," the two maids replied and withdrew.
The silver chopsticks in Wei Dongling's hand were specially given to her by Nanny Ruan before she entered the palace. Nanny Ruan had thought that there would be a lot of intrigues in the palace, so she had her bring the special chopsticks just in case. She never thought that just a few days after entering the palace, someone was already impatient to tamper with her food!
Who could it be? Was it the little eunuch who brought the dishes? Or was one of these six personal maids bribed? Or was it the maid Qiaoyue who had reported just now and added something to the steamed perch when she received the dishes?
Wei Dongling didn't know. Qiaoyue was a maid arranged by the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager had no grudges against her in the past or recently. Logically, she shouldn't do such a despicable thing.
The two personal maids, Chunhong and Bitao, quickly finished making the sweet soup and were about to bring it up when they suddenly heard a loud thud in the side hall. The two of them glanced at each other and rushed in anxiously.
Hearing the noise, Cheng Hao rushed into the inner room in a panic.
The three of them saw Wei Dongling lying on the ground at a glance, with white foam faintly oozing from the corner of her mouth.
"Ah—" the two maids shrieked in unison. The bowls of sweet soup on the trays were knocked over on the ground, spilling all over the place.
The maids, grannies, and eunuchs in the courtyard who heard the noise rushed over quickly.
Cheng Hao picked up Wei Dongling from the ground. His face turned deathly pale.
Maid Minfang was so frightened that her soul seemed to have flown away, but she still pretended to be calm and ordered a few little eunuchs, "You two go and report to Noble Consort Rong immediately! You all go and summon the imperial physician quickly! Hurry! The Fifth Princess must not have an accident! Otherwise, all of us will lose our heads!"
Cheng Hao's eyes were blood - red. He hugged Wei Dongling tightly and wailed, "Your Highness, the Fifth Princess! Wake up! Don't scare me!"
Wei Dongling was being held so tightly that it hurt. She quietly pinched his arm.
Cheng Hao paused for a moment and quickly realized that she was pretending to be poisoned. After hesitating for a while, he simply knelt down on one side and burst into tears, wailing as he cried, "Your Highness, the Princess! You must not have an accident! If anything happens to you, how can I go on living? Wuwuwu..."
Wei Dongling smacked her lips secretly. Goodness! Cheng Hao's acting skills were really amazing! Even Yu Zixi might feel ashamed if he saw this!
A group of maids knelt on the ground and sobbed softly. On one hand, they were extremely worried, and on the other hand, they were sighing at the deep bond between Cheng Hao and the princess.
Noble Consort Rong was in the middle of her meal when she heard that the Fifth Princess had been poisoned. She was so scared that she dropped her chopsticks and rushed to Yaoguang Pavilion without delay. Seeing Wei Dongling lying on the ground and a roomful of servants kneeling on the ground sobbing, Noble Consort Rong asked in surprise, "What on earth is going on?"
Maid Minfang replied with red - rimmed eyes, "Reporting to Noble Consort Rong, the Fifth Princess only took a few bites of her meal and then fell to the ground like this. Your servants really don't know why!" She suspected that someone might have poisoned the food, but she didn't dare to say it!
Noble Consort Rong asked anxiously, "Have you summoned the imperial physician?"
Maid Minfang nodded.
Not long after, a young imperial physician was led in by a little eunuch. Seeing Noble Consort Rong there, he quickly knelt down to pay his respects.
Noble Consort Rong waved her hand impatiently and said, "Quickly take a look at what's wrong with the Fifth Princess!"
The imperial physician nodded and quickly felt Wei Dongling's pulse. After pondering for a moment, he sighed and said, "Reporting to Your Highness, the Fifth Princess shows signs of being poisoned!"
A vein throbbed on Noble Consort Rong's forehead. This was such a useless statement! The Fifth Princess was lying on the ground foaming at the mouth. Anyone could tell that she was poisoned! Noble Consort Rong roared, "The Fifth Princess showed signs of poisoning after her meal. Perhaps someone tampered with the food. This palace wants you to quickly find out what kind of poison the Fifth Princess has been poisoned with and if there is a way to detoxify it! If anything happens to the Princess, you will come to this palace with your head in your hands!"
The imperial physician was so scared that he shivered and quickly nodded in agreement. He got up to examine the dishes on the table.
There were many small pills made by Nanny Ruan in the pouch inside Wei Dongling's undergarment. Some were poisonous, and some were non - poisonous but could make people look as if they were poisoned. They were quite useful in critical moments.
The imperial physician quickly took out silver needles to examine the dishes one by one. When he examined the half - eaten perch, the silver needle suddenly turned dark brown. The imperial physician quickly picked up the plate of steamed perch and examined it carefully. Suddenly, his legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground. His whole body trembled like a sieve as he stammered, "Re... Reporting to Your Highness, this is... ar... arsenic!"