The night gradually fell, and the entire palace of the queen was engulfed in silence. Only a few palace lanterns stubbornly remained lit, and there was no other sound.
Here, Dongfang Yi had already changed into a night - suit. Donghua beside her was also fully dressed. The two were about to secretly visit the body of Concubine Lian.
Concubine Lian's body was currently placed in the underground palace. It would be taken out for cremation early the next morning, so tonight was the last chance to find out the clues clearly. They certainly couldn't miss it.
When the coroner came to report the situation today, Dongfang Yi felt that there was something fishy about this case. Not to mention that a woman like Concubine Lian, who had such a strong will to live, would suddenly commit suicide. Moreover, the amount of arsenic was too large. It was simply not something she would take voluntarily.
Although she could tell Helian Qi about this and let him send people to examine the body, since she had understood the feudal nature of this era and knew that even if they did examine, they wouldn't be very thorough. It was better for her to check it herself.
So the two rushed to the entrance of the underground palace. Since it was a place for storing the dead and there was no real secrecy, the guards were very lax. They easily sneaked in.
As soon as they entered, a gust of cold air hit them. It was colder than the winter night outside. It was a kind of cold that went straight to the bone, making one's heart tremble.
Dongfang Yi shivered involuntarily. Seeing this, Donghua frowned and said, "Your Majesty, you'd better wait outside. I'll do the investigation. This kind of work might be too hard for you."
In her heart, she really couldn't believe that the queen would touch this body. After all, she was a woman and of such noble status. How could she do such a thing?
But Dongfang Yi shook her head, determined to investigate personally. She was afraid that Donghua alone would hardly notice anything special.
Since Concubine Lian's body was to be taken out for cremation the next day, it was placed closest to the exit. The two found it without much effort.
Lifting the white cloth, they saw Concubine Lian's gray - white face. The blood on her face had been completely cleaned. Except for her extremely abnormal complexion, there was nothing too scary about her. Maybe because of the cold winter weather, the body's decomposition had slowed down.
Dongfang Yi took out a fire starter from her bosom, blew it open, and then motioned for the woman beside her to completely untie the clothes on the body.
In the silent and dark space, corpses were placed everywhere. Only their area had light, which inevitably gave rise to a strange feeling.
After the clothes on the body were completely removed, the two started to observe it by the light of the fire starter. Since the body hadn't decomposed yet, they had no trouble observing. There still seemed to be a little warmth left on the body.
"Your Majesty, isn't this a bit strange?" Donghua asked.
Dongfang Yi hadn't thought much about it at first, but after hearing this, she suddenly felt a chill on her back and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead. After all, she had never seen such a sight before. When had she ever observed a body in a morgue?
But since she had a mission, she dispelled the fear in her heart and replied, "Shut up!"
She stared even more intently at the body under her hands.
After about half a quarter of an hour, Dongfang Yi finally noticed something. On the neck of the body, there were two tiny holes that were almost invisible. They seemed to be snake bite marks.
When she found this, she immediately became a bit excited. Sure enough, her guess was right. Concubine Lian didn't simply die from arsenic poisoning. The real cause of her death must be related to these two small dots on her neck.
Thinking of this, she called Donghua beside her and said, "Come and take a look quickly!"
"These are... snake bite marks?!" Donghua exclaimed in surprise.
"But where did the snake come from in the harem? And what kind of snake could be so powerful that it could kill Concubine Lian overnight without leaving a wound that even the coroner couldn't detect?" She frowned and continued to analyze.
"So there must be someone behind this. From the hunting conference until now, someone has been confusing our judgment, which is why I've been unable to figure it out." Dongfang Yi said.
Now that they had found the evidence that Concubine Lian had been killed, everything became clear to her.
Concubine Lian was bewitched and had the intention to kill her. She also framed Concubine Chu. Dongfang Yi was able to clear her name, but unexpectedly, she returned safely. Concubine Lian became extremely frightened. And the person behind her was afraid that she would reveal the truth, so they staged a scene of suicide out of fear of punishment. But they didn't expect that Dongfang Yi would notice the oddity.
Thinking of this, she had a suspicion about the person. In the palace now, who else could be so unscrupulous to achieve their goals and hold deep grudges against her? It was none other than Yaoji. Oh no, she should be called Concubine Yao now.
After the two princes of the South Neighboring Country returned to their court, since she had already been conferred the title of concubine, she couldn't leave with them. But since then, Helian Qi had never seen her again, and Dongfang Yi didn't care much about her either. She thought that since the people from her mother - country had slunk away, what big waves could she make?
After thinking this, she motioned for Donghua to dress the body properly. Then the two left the underground palace and returned to the queen's palace.
After returning to the palace, she couldn't fall asleep for a long time. She kept recalling the recent events in her mind and unconsciously fell into sleep.
When she opened her eyes again, it was early the next morning. As soon as she got up, she quickly dressed and made up and left the palace. Because today she must tell the clues she found yesterday before Concubine Lian was cremated.
After arriving at the Qianqing Palace, she told Helian Qi about this. A group of people then rushed to the Xinzheku. Just as Concubine Lian was about to be pushed into the fire, they rescued her in time.
They also summoned Imperial Physician Li from the Imperial Hospital to examine. Sure enough, they found the snake bite marks on her neck.
Imperial Physician Li immediately showed curiosity and began to report, "This wound must have been left by a snake bite. And judging from its depth, the person must have been poisoned. This can explain why the arsenic only reached the throat but didn't go into the stomach. Because the arsenic was only poured into Concubine Lian's body after she died!"
He said this with a look of pity, not only fearing such a vicious method but also feeling ashamed for his hasty misdiagnosis yesterday.
What he said was exactly the same as what Dongfang Yi had thought.
"So what's the conclusion, Imperial Physician Li?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"So I conclude that Concubine Lian was poisoned and killed by someone!"