Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 343 - 341

Chapter 343: 341

A few people watched with interest as the small hamster in the cage heartily enjoyed its meal.

"It’s so adorable! Sixth Brother, can you give this hamster to me?" Fifth Princess’ eyes lighted up with desire.

"Sure." as long as it still has a life after a while, thought Shangguan Xuanyi.

The hamster stopped eating after consuming five or six ginkgo fruits, then began to crawl around in the cage.

However, it didn’t crawl for long before it fell down, its little body convulsing, and after a short while, it was motionless.

The color drained from Empress Dowager’s face upon seeing this; she had eaten quite a bit of that dish!

Thinking about this, Empress Dowager was overwhelmed by a wave of nausea and fear.

"Spittoon!"

A maid hurried over with a spittoon.

The Empress Dowager retched into the spittoon, wishing she could completely vomit out every bit of food she had consumed at that meal.

The Fifth Princess rushed over to rub the Empress Dowager’s back, feeling queasy herself.

"Get the imperial doctor!" Even though they knew that the Empress Dowager had not been poisoned but was merely frightened, they still needed a doctor to handle such a situation.

After the Empress Dowager threw up to the point where there was nothing left to puke and had rinsed her mouth with the help of the maid, she relaxed a bit, knowing she had thrown up everything she had ingested.

"Grandmother, how do you feel now?" Fifth Princess asked worryily.

"I’m fine." Empress Dowager patted her hand lightly.

"Do you two feel anything unusual?"

Fifth Princess and Shangguan Xuanyi both shook their heads.

The imperial doctor arrived soon after and checked everyone’s pulses. Thankfully, everyone was fine.

The Emperor and the Empress also arrived after hearing the news. They were relieved to see that everyone was okay.

The Emperor asked Shangguan Xuanyi: "What happened?"

Shangguan Xuanyi then recounted the entire sequence of events. Of course, he didn’t mention his prior knowledge about the toxicity of excessive amounts of ginkgo fruits.

The Empress Dowager was extremely protective of her own people. If he were to deal with or expose one of them directly, the Empress Dowager would not be pleased! She might even stir up some headaches! As long as she felt the danger personally and conducted her own investigation, the Empress Dowager would deal with it more ruthlessly than anyone else.

The food on the table had all been tested for poison with a silver needle, and they were all safe.

"Absolutely absurd! Someone dared to poison in my Cining Palace! Investigate! Thoroughly investigate this matter for me! Regardless of who it turns out to be, execute them immediately!" Furious, Empress Dowager’s words were laced with chilling intimidation.

The imperial doctor thought for a moment before saying, "Ginkgo fruits have been used in medicine for many years, and I have never heard of them being toxic. I surmise that ginkgo fruits may contain small amounts of natural toxins, but are not harmful when consumed in small amounts. The hamster, being small, was likely quickly affected after eating a few. Of course, this is just a hypothesis and further investigation is needed."

"Imperial doctor, please conduct a thorough study on how ginkgo fruits can cause poisoning. Once you figure it out, post notices all over the country to inform the public." The Emperor was fuming internally.

The princes were growing older, and there was an increase in disputes within the palace.

He was still very young! Unbelievable that someone was already seeking to replace him!

The Empress thought of her Seventh Prince who had been eating food made with ginkgo fruits recently, feeling extremely fortunate that he had a small appetite and didn’t eat much. She would have gone mad otherwise.

The Empress Dowager also remembered her little grandson. She had seen his menu with her own eyes and recalling the sight of the hamster earlier made her shudder.

She was an old woman, and one could say she had one foot in the grave, so she valued her life even more! And felt intense loathing for this silent and deadly method of assassination!

There had been countless instances of poisonings in the palace throughout the ages. The methods used were constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated!

However, there had been fewer consorts in the palace in recent years, so these kinds of incidents had become less frequent.

Having survived through many dark times in the palace, the Empress Dowager understood all too well that this incident was definitely no accident.

The Empress Dowager thought of the cook she had brought back.

Well played! She had unknowingly let a wolf into her house!

The Empress Dowager recalled the accident three years ago and how she had been saved by the cook. Now, she speculated that it was probably not an accident at all!

How else could it be such a coincidence that a woman with a tragic background, who was skilled in medicinal cuisine, happened to save her life?

Fifth Princess had been right: someone with such culinary skills would have no trouble surviving anywhere. There was no way she could have ended up so destitute!

She had been blinded by the temporary relief of being rescued at that moment and hence, assumed that the woman was kind-hearted.

By the time Fifth Princess came to her side, the cook had already been around for over a year, and the Empress Dowager had observed her to always be conscientious and terror-stricken.

It turned out to be another long-planned ploy against her!

As the saying goes, a silent dog bites hard!

Thinking of the kitchen maid who she had brought back almost causing harm to her own little grandson; thinking about how she had been used and deceived by her for so long, wasn’t she made a fool of all these years? Thinking about this, she was trembling with rage, wishing she could have her draw and quartered!

"Bring Chef Gu here!"

Aunt Gui, in person, went to the Imperial Dining Room.

"Madame Gu, Empress Dowager summons you."

"Does Aunt Gui know why Empress Dowager has summoned me?" Chef Gu’s heart was in turmoil.

Did she succeed? Was Seventh Prince dead?

"How could I possibly know what is on Empress Dowager’s mind." Aunt Gui responded coldly and distantly.

Something doesn’t seem right. If the Seventh Prince was dead, the palace would not be this quiet!

And at this moment, it should not be Aunt Gui summoning her to meet the Empress Dowager.

Could it be that she was exposed?

What is the condition of the Seventh Prince? Or, was he merely poisoned and rescued in time?

Chef Gu looked at Aunt Gui, but could not guess what had happened to the Seventh Prince.

After navigating a maze of passages, they finally arrived at Cining Palace.

Before entering the room, Chef Gu quickly scanned those who were present and then entered with a humble and nervous demeanor.

She was slightly trembling and quickly kneeled down to pay her respects, all the while covertly observing her surroundings.

She noticed a cage on the floor containing a dead rat, alongside which was a dish of leftover ginkgo fruits.

So it seemed, her plan had been foiled by a rat. What a pity!

The royals truly had hard lives - he had been eating those ginkgo fruits for so many days and yet, they didn’t kill him!

Remembering the Empress Dowager’s temperament, Chef Gu knew that she would not be able to escape death this time.

Instead of being tortured to death under brutal interrogations, she might as well... she bit down hard on the poison capsule hidden in her mouth.

By the time Shangguan Xuanyi noticed something was wrong and rushed forward to stop her, it was too late.

The Imperial doctor rushed up, checked her breath, and shook his head: "Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, Empress, Chef Gu has stopped breathing!"

"How dare she!" The Empress Dowager had not even had the opportunity to vent her fury, and the woman had already died!

The Empress Dowager was incredibly frustrated, almost to the point of a surge in blood pressure!

Well done, you poisonous woman! Do you really think dying is the end?

"Lash the corpse, execute her corpse for me!"

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