Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1540: Chapter 1540 The Benefits of Nitpicking_1

Bai Ruozhu’s heart jumped fiercely, she had fallen into someone else’s trap!

The other party knew she was vigilant, so they deliberately buried the medicine below her window, making her focus entirely on that spot. Thus, she would not dispatch someone to search the yard, and the medicine bottle by the wall root would safely enter the view of the guard.

She had indeed been careless!

”Alright, let’s go.” Bai Ruozhu took a deep breath in secret, trying to calm her emotions.

She was not afraid, rather she was somewhat angry, angry at herself for falling for the other’s scheme.

Ning Yu, somewhat concerned, said, ”I’ll go with you. You’re from the Astrology Tower, and now I’m considered the master. I should at least ensure the safety of my own people, shouldn’t I?”

Bai Ruozhu smiled at him and said, ”If you come along, it will really look like I did do something wrong and I’m seeking your support. Don’t worry, I can handle this little matter.”

Ning Yu thought about it and realized she made sense, so he reluctantly stayed in Cining Palace, thinking that if something happened, he could ask the Emperor for help.

Bai Ruozhu nodded at him with a smile and then left with the guard.

Although Ning Yu was older than Bai Ruozhu, she had already come to regard him as her own younger brother, especially since Ning Yu didn’t even ask what had happened or whether it was her doing, unconditionally trusting and protecting her. She treasured this friendship very much.

Meanwhile, Hao Mu hurriedly went to report to the Empress Dowager, who sighed, ”Yesterday, I told the Emperor that this matter definitely has nothing to do with Ruozhu. But the Emperor said that the Harem has its own rules, and he can’t just lose face for the Empress because of his closeness to Ruozhu and me, otherwise wouldn’t the Harem descend into chaos? He asked me to be patient and said that if someone has wronged Ruozhu, he would find a way to uncover the truth.”

”The Emperor’s words are reasonable; it was my oversight that caused the disturbance,” said Hao Mu, sticking out her tongue secretly. The Empress Dowager was right about one thing—this matter definitely had nothing to do with Bai Ruozhu. If Bai Ruozhu wanted to kill Liu Fei, she definitely wouldn’t leave any clues. How could the wife worthy of the sect leader be so foolish?

Bai Ruozhu had already arrived at Liuyun Hall, where the Empress and Officer Liu from the Department of Precautionary Punishment were already seated inside.

”Greetings to Your Majesty the Empress, greetings to Officer Liu.” Bai Ruozhu performed the Official ceremony.

”Bai Family, I have heard from the guards that they found drugs buried near your window and in the nearby yard. What is your explanation?” the Empress asked preemptively.

Bai Ruozhu calmly said, ”If Your Majesty is referring to the drugs below my window, I can certainly admit that those were indeed buried by me, but I know nothing about any drugs at the corner of the wall.”

The guard brought forward two medicine bottles. The Empress was about to reach out to take them when Officer Liu beside her stopped her, saying, ”Please be careful, Empress. Don’t get your hands dirty.”

Officer Liu truly was experienced; he took out a pair of leather gloves from his sleeve, put them on, and then picked up the medicine bottles for examination.

”Fetch a reputable Imperial Doctor from the Imperial Medical Hospital to identify these drugs,” ordered Officer Liu.

A Little Eunuch immediately went to carry out the order, while another guard rushed in from outside, saluting the Empress and said, ”Your Majesty the Empress, the guard who previously handled the medicine bottle has been poisoned and has fainted. Please, Your Majesty, be extra cautious.”

The Empress’s eyes widened, she looked with some fear at the medicine bottle, and her gaze toward Officer Liu was filled with added admiration.

”Lord Liu, I must thank you,” the Empress said.

Lord Liu hastily responded, ”Your Majesty, you are too kind. It is my duty.”

The Empress nodded, seemingly more impressed with Lord Liu, but then she turned her anger towards Bai Ruozhu, glaring coldly at her as she asked, ”Bai Ruozhu, for what purpose did you poison the bottle and bury it within the Cining Palace of the Empress Dowager?”

Bai Ruozhu almost wanted to laugh. The Empress, clearly not very bright and inexperienced in handling cases, could have simply left the matter to the Department of Precautionary Punishment. Why insist on presiding over the case herself? Just by watching her attempt to touch the medicine bottle, one could tell how inexperienced she was.

”Your Majesty, as I said, only the medicine bottle under the window was prepared by me,” Bai Ruozhu replied, pointing to the bottle in Lord Liu’s left hand, ”Lord Liu can verify that there is a tiny bamboo pattern underneath that very bottle, which is my mark. As for the other bottle, I do not recognize it. And since the guards were poisoned after touching the bottle, it is obviously that bottle which is problematic. You will know once the Imperial Doctor comes to check or if you test it with a silver needle.”

Lord Liu had someone bring over a tray and carefully separated the two bottles onto it, then he took out a silver needle to test. It seemed he was prepared for this; even without Bai Ruozhu’s suggestion, he would know which bottle was poisoned and which was not.

”Then why were you sneaking around, burying medicine beneath the window?” the Empress asked, unsatisfied.

”I had a bet with my senior brother; I challenged him to guess what medicine I had prepared. He is skilled in divination, and if I hadn’t hidden it, he would have easily deduced it. Besides, the pills are Qi-replenishing pills, how could they possibly harm anyone?” Bai Ruozhu answered slowly and calmly.

On Lord Liu’s side, it had been confirmed that the bottle mentioned by Bai Ruozhu was not poisoned, whereas the surface of the other bottle was indeed poisoned, but he had not rashly opened it to check its contents, showing his cautious nature.

”How can you prove that the bottle at the wall root is not yours?” the Empress inquired.

”Surely you can’t just find something on the ground and use it as evidence against me?” Bai Ruozhu said, laughing. Her laughter stung the Empress’ eyes, making her even more irked.

Bai Ruozhu quickly restrained her smile; she thought to herself that there was no need to provoke the Empress, better to keep a low profile.

At that moment, Lord Liu suddenly interjected, ”This flat-bottomed bottle also has a bamboo mark. Would you like to check, Lord Bai?”

Bai Ruozhu’s heart leaped; not many people knew her usual medicine vials bore the bamboo mark, and even fewer had seen it. The opponent had even thought of this detail.

She stepped closer for a look, and indeed, the imitation was quite exquisite.

”It certainly is a bamboo pattern, but the genuine cannot be faked, and the fake cannot be genuine,” Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh again, pleased that she had decided early on to create a sophisticated anti-counterfeit mark. Wasn’t its usefulness becoming apparent now?

Sometimes a bit of a perfectionist, she was meticulous in her work, so the anti-counterfeiting mark wasn’t as simple as just a bamboo pattern. At the time, she had not thought much of it; since it was meant to prevent counterfeiting, it obviously had to be complex.

She never thought it would actually come in handy today!

Excited, she pointed to the bottle on the left and said, ”Lord Liu, please take a closer look. My usual medicine vials all come with an anti-counterfeiting mark. The bamboo pattern contains a small amount of tungsten iron powder which can only be seen when rotated towards the light. Presumably, the imitated bottle definitely lacks it. Furthermore, please look at the bamboo leaves closely, is there not a ’Z’ character hidden within them?”

Worried that Lord Liu might not understand, she drew a ’Z’ in the air and said, ”That’s a letter from the Western alphabet.”