Forgotten Legend of the Bloodied Flower

"Did you sense any poison?" Princess Yue asked in a low tone.

Every Imperial Family members would have poison testers around them at all time. Huan was the poison tester that was placed beside Princess Yue. That way, if the food had any poison, Huan would die first and would not affect the princess in the slightest bit.

Most of the time, they would act as normal servants around the other people. That way, no one would know about their real identity.

Huan bowed as she shook her head. "Replying to Your Highness, this servant didn't sense any poison."

She was perfectly fine too, so it would be impossible for there to be poison. The only reason for Princess Yue's condition would be her allergic reaction since Huan might have failed to detect the shrimp in the soup.

"You can go."

Princess Yue sneered and looked at the head cook. "What else do you want to say?"

At the side, Shangguan Mi's eyes darkened. When she watched Princess Yue and Shangguan Die had a bout in the past, she always thought that Princess Yue was quite stupid and could easily be manipulated. But it seemed that things wouldn't go in accordance to her plan if she didn't do anything.

Her eyes shifted to look at the servant, who understood the message.

"Your Highness, I swear to the Heaven that I never prepared any shrimp! There's not even any shrimp in the kitchen!" the head cook pleaded once more. He was feeling utterly desperate as he knew that if he couldn't prove himself innocent, he would never be able to stay here anymore.

He had been very careful in his conduct. What could have possibly gone wrong?

"Is that so?" Princess Yue glanced at another servant and gestured for her to move. "Check the kitchen."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Sitting there with the oppressive aura, not a single servants dared to speak out of their turn in front of Princess Yue. In the past, she had long been known for her bad temper. Added with this incident, it was clear that she would not take 'no' for an answer whenever something happened.

"For something like this to happen, Ai Jia* is very unhappy."

"Imperial Mother," Princess Yue called with grievances in her voice. She was the half-sister of Emperor Yang Zhou, which meant that she was of the same generation as him. Since the two Empress Dowagers were their mother, she always had to greet the two of them as Imperial Mother.

"Please allow me to investigate this matter, Imperial Mother. I can't possibly show up like this." Princess Yue shed a few crocodile tears. Her hand and neck had rashes, making her look even more pitiful.

Even though she usually looked headstrong, she still knew that she could make herself look miserable in order to gain pity. Of course, she was displeased because of this incident as she felt itchy on her skin. If not for the medicine, she might have long scratched her entire body over.

Thankfully, it was still bearable.

Empress Dowager Mei looked at the crowd in front of her, feeling amused by the act that Princess Yue did. However, she didn't mind playing along because she also understood that Princess Yue would never put her own body as target if she was not utterly desperate.

As someone who liked beauty, who would want to create scar on their own face?

"I'll not interfere until it's necessary." Empress Dowager Mei then turned to look at Empress Dowager Yan at the side. "Mei Mei, do you find this acceptable?"

Empress Dowager Yan raised her head and nodded. "Yes, whoever did this to Yue'er must be very black hearted."

"You're right."

The two Empress Dowagers worked in tandem as if they were truly sisters. The crowd acted like they truly believed the two of them were in good relationship. Though, majority of them understood that it was an act.

Since when the two Empress Dowagers could act as if they were sisters?

Empress Dowager Mei was the one who held the highest power in the kingdom while Empress Dowager Yan could only stay at the side and watched as her 'sister' wield all the power. Could she accept it?

They didn't know.

And no one dared to ask.

It was a private matter of the Imperial Family that they were not allowed to know in the slightest bit. They should just stay silent if they didn't want things to turn bad.

Everyone waited.

Soon, the servants that Princes Yue sent had returned. She kowtowed on the ground. "Replying to Your Highness, this servant didn't manage to find any trace of shrimp in the kitchen."

"Is that so?" Princess Yue's tone was calm and controlled. Even though she was so angry that she wished to smash everything around her, the education as princess had taught her that throwing tantrum would never solve things. She turned to look at the servants around her as her lips curled up into a smirk. "Which one of you tampered with the food?"

Bang!

"Your Highness, we wouldn't dare!"

"Your Highness, how could it be possible for us to tamper with your food!"

The servants all pleaded for mercy, saying many things all at once. They all knew that their head was on the line and that even the slightest bit of mistake could end their life.

Watching from a distance, Nan Hua started to understand slightly that the ancient world was truly very strict. The absolute power of the Imperial Family was not one to be looked upon lightly. They would not allow any servant to misbehave in front of them.

Any slight to the Imperial Family could be considered as great offense.

"Check them." Princess Yue looked at the servants coldly.

The other servants stepped forward and checked the servants who were around Princess Yue. In the end, they found one servant who carried a small packet filled with powder. Given the smell alone, they could determine that it was indeed shrimp.

A servant dared to scheme against their master?

"So it's you." Princess Yue looked at the servant in front of her up and down. The corner of her lips curled up slightly. "Speak, who ordered you to do this."

"Your Highness, it's not me! This servant would not dare to do it!"

"You wouldn't dare?" Princess Yue snorted. She looked at the wrapped packet at the side as her eyes grew somber. There shouldn't be any way the servant could possibly sneak this inside when she was always inside the palace.

There must be someone else who was involved.

Princess Yue's bad mood just grew worse with this. She was already very annoyed that she had to hold this annoying banquet as she would leave Fei Yang Kingdom. Now, someone dared to scheme against her.

"Yes, this servant wouldn't dare…"

"Really?" Princess Yue then turned to look at the other servants. "Who did she interact with the most?"

The servants were stunned. They didn't pay any attention to this particular servant and looked around in confusion.

"Are you sure that you don't want to say anything?" Princess Yue looked at the servant.

The servant thought that her acting was enough as she suddenly screamed, "First Miss Nan, it's First Miss Nan."