Chapter 2632 - 2633: Return to Tianyun (199)

Chapter 2632: Chapter 2633: Return to Tianyun (199)

Tao Mingsheng and his companions immediately exclaimed with joy, "Thank you, Princess, for your great kindness!"

Conspiring against the Princess could implicate the Five Clans. Last time, Taoming Hai and Wan Banyan were foolish, almost causing their extermination. Fortunately, Su Xing did not pursue the matter. If it were really Mrs. Cao’s doing this time, they were worried it would implicate them as well. But now Su Xing, the Princess, spoke, and as long as it was not their concern, they would not be implicated, naturally bringing them joy.

...

The Minister of Justice personally interrogated, but facing various torture devices, Mrs. Cao stubbornly refused to admit her involvement.

Manjuan and Manhe couldn’t endure it; just one use of the finger press torture was painful enough for them to immediately confess everything.

As for those involved in making mung bean cakes and brewing medicines, only Mrs. Cao, Manjuan, and Manhe knew about it, so they could not confess anything else. In addition, having already given full confessions, the Minister of Justice did not make things difficult for them.

Su Xing was burned last time, and poisoned this time. Both times were attempts to bring the Princess to her demise. One King and the entire Imperial City were wrathful, and since Manhe and Manjuan couldn’t endure the torture, they confessed quickly, not even taking a day. The Minister of Justice hastily reported the situation to one King and the emperor.

During the report by the Minister of Justice, Su Xing, Taoming Ye, and Tao Chengyin were all present.

The Minister of Justice said, "Tao Mrs. Cao still refuses to confess, but her two maidservants, Manhe and Manjuan, have confessed everything. They say Mrs. Cao not only had them poison the Prince Consort this time, but also claimed that the Prince Consort had been poisoned since birth, which is why his health is so poor."

Tao Chengyin completely did not expect not only this instance, but his eldest son had been poisoned since childhood. Already unsympathetic to Mrs. Cao, he felt more resentment towards her now, considering her extremely vicious for harming his son this way.

Su Xing and the others actually had already guessed, so they were not surprised at all.

The Minister of Justice continued, "But regarding poisoning the Princess, this is the only instance. Originally, they thought the poisoning wouldn’t be detected, yet unexpectedly this time it was. This poison cannot be detected by pulse diagnosis nor does it have any scent, and only reaches lethality in certain doses. Mrs. Cao initially didn’t intend to kill the Prince Consort, only thought of him as the legitimate eldest son, a thorn in her side. She felt killing him outright was too merciful, hence she chose to torment him through gradual poisoning, drip by drip, over intervals, causing the Prince Consort’s health to deteriorate."

"Truly vicious!" Su Xing exclaimed angrily. Simultaneously explaining, "Ordinary silver needles cannot detect this poison, but with some added material to my silver needle, it could be detected."

"I see." The Minister of Justice nodded understandingly yet respectfully before proceeding, "They also confessed that the Prince Consort’s biological mother was poisoned to death by Mrs. Tao Cao with this very poison."

"What?!" Tao Chengyin was stunned, too shocked, he blurt out.

The Minister of Justice said, "Manjuan’s mother was once Mrs. Tao Cao’s accompanying maidservant. Manjuan confessed, saying her mother told her directly that Mrs. Cao gave her poison to administer to the Prince Consort’s mother, killing her instantly without detection. And the initial poisoning of the Prince Consort was done by Manjuan’s mother under the orders of Mrs. Tao Cao. Later, when Manjuan’s mother died, Manjuan became Mrs. Tao Cao’s maidservant, thus beginning to join with Manhe to continue the poisoning in the Prince Consort’s medicine."