Chapter 915: Who Else Could Touch It Besides Him

The little guy was quite defensive and it was not going to be easy to get information out of him.

Long Qingzhi took quite some effort to cajole Wanyan Zhi before turning to look at Lu Liangwei. “Weiwei, do you suspect something?”

Lu Liangwei shook her head. “It’s nothing. Zhi’er looks like he’s tired. You should take him back to rest. I’ll talk to you later.”

Long Qingzhi gave a worried look at Long Yang, who had been silent throughout, and carried Zhi’er out.

Once everyone had left, Lu Hetian frowned and asked, “Do you suspect His Majesty’s poisoning has something to do with the little Prince?”

Lu Liangwei did not attempt to hide it from him and nodded. “Yes. That’s because His Majesty had close contact with only Zhi’er last night.”

Ling Lihua frowned. “Do you suspect Princess Wanyan of instigating the little Prince?”

“I do, but it’s just a suspicion for now. Zhi’er is refusing to say anything.” Lu Liangwei smiled bitterly. She did not expect Zhi’er to be on the defensive. Moreover, the little guy was quite smart and knew how to avoid a serious conversation.

Long Yang was quite unhappy to see everyone discussing this while ignoring him.

How dare Lu Liangwei ignore him!

Not to mention, he had always disliked children—including his own sister’s child. How was it possible that he carried the boy?

Long Yang frowned and was about to say something when Zhao Qian returned with the crown.

Lu Liangwei was about to take it and have a look when Ling Lihua got to it first. “Let me do it.”

Lu Liangwei could only let her be.

Ling Lihua examined the crown and did not see anything out of the ordinary. She ordered Zhao Qian to get a basin of water, then placed the crown along with its string of pearls inside it.

She removed the crown from the water after a while and passed it to Zhao Qian.

Then she took out the silver needle once more and dipped it in the water.

A few moments later, she pulled out the needle and, just as she had expected, the wetted portion of the needle had turned black.

Everyone in the room was shocked when they saw this.

“It really was poisoned? How could this be?” Zhao Qian was rooted with shock.

Lu Liangwei said, “Zhi’er touched it last night.”

Zhao Qian breathed in sharply. “So, the prince had something to do with Master being poisoned?”

Lu Liangwei said nothing. Instead, she turned to Long Yang. “What do you think, Your Majesty?”

Long Yang had stood up at some point and walked over. When he saw the blackened silver needle in Ling Lihua’s hands, he looked quite unhappy. “I was infected by the poison through these pearls?”

Lu Liangwei shook her head. “The presence of poison on the pearls does not mean that Your Majesty was poisoned because you touched them. Parasitic venom won’t affect a person as long as he only touches it and doesn’t consume it. I had Butler Zhao bring the pearls here mainly just to prove that Zhi’er’s hands did touch parasitic venom last night.”

She suspected that Zhi’er’s hands had touched His Majesty’s mouth.

“Even so, the crown on my head goes through many hands every day.” Long Yang frowned. He was not trying to defend Wanyan Zhi, but rather was asking the question in his mind.

Lu Liangwei gave him a look and agreed with his words. “Your Majesty is right. The pearls being poisoned does not prove that Zhi’er was the one who tainted them.”

Zhao Qian looked crestfallen when he heard this. “It wasn’t me either.”

Lu Liangwei believed him, of course, but still asked, “Who else can touch this crown besides you?”

“There’s Xiao Lin Zi. Sometimes, I allow him to hold Master’s crown.”

Zhao Qian hesitated a moment before adding, “But Xiao Lin Zi has always been loyal. He would never do anything to harm Master.”

Lu Liangwei was about to say something when Long Yang interrupted her impatiently, “Since the Grand Duchess has diagnosed that I have been infected with that parasitic venom, shouldn’t the first thing on the agenda be finding out how to cure me?”