As night fell, no one dared to approach Clear Frost Courtyard.
The old woman who delivered hot water placed the copper kettle outside the courtyard gate without even touching the door, and turned to leave even faster than she had come.
Biyu listened intently to the door for a while, then turned around and lowered her voice.
"Madam, Uncle Fu's mouth... it's really something. Now everyone's saying that you hit people even though your voice is hoarse."
Su Yao sat at the desk, pen in hand, with a throat lozenge spread out in front of her.
She looked up.
I didn't hit anyone.
Shen Ling'er opened the medicine box, her shoulders trembling slightly.
" Sister Su, if you go out and explain now, people will just say that you hit someone and then denied it."
Su Yao looked at her.
"Is that funny?"
Shen Ling'er immediately placed the white porcelain bottle under the lamp.
"It's not funny. Testing the medicine is the priority."
Biyu locked the door bolt and then blocked half of the lamplight from the window paper.
"There were guards outside the courtyard. Zitang also used the excuse of delivering needles and thread to walk around the back wall."
Shen Ling'er took out the silver needles, heated them over a candle flame, and then washed them with warm wine.
As soon as the porcelain bottle was opened, a pungent medicinal odor wafted out.
Shen Ling'er twitched her nose and pushed the bottle away half an inch.
"It does look like it's replenishing."
Su Yao stopped writing.
"Is it similar to the Life-Sustaining Pill that the boy in the south of the city took?"
Shen Ling'er shook her head.
" The Life-Sustaining Pill pulls a dying person back from the brink of death. This stuff, on the other hand, makes the fire in the heart of the living burn upwards."
Su Yao asked, "What happens after it starts to burn?"
Shen Ling'er placed the pill into the small jade dish.
"For short periods, I feel energetic, have a rosy complexion, speak with a strong voice, and sleep very little."
Biyu felt a chill run down her spine.
"Is this what His Majesty looks like lately?"
Shen Ling'er didn't take it, but instead used a silver needle to pry open the wax seal.
When the faint line at the edge of the wax seal became visible, Su Yao put down her pen.
She stared at it for a long time.
Have you ever seen this pattern before?
Shen Ling'er said, "All I know is that it's not a pattern from the alchemy furnace room."
Su Yao opened the sachet box, took out a piece of old paper, and slowly traced the pattern.
"It's Flower-Between Pavilion."
Shen Ling'er looked up.
Are you sure?
"When I was a child, the Chancellor's Residence bought intelligence from the Flower-Between Pavilion. The ledgers were unsigned, only embossed with subtle patterns."
Shen Ling'er turned the pill halfway around.
"Is Flower-Between Pavilion delivering elixirs to His Majesty?"
Su Yao placed the drawn pattern next to the lamp.
"But Flower-Between Pavilion only sells information."
She looked at the pill.
"Someone is trying to get the murder case into the Flower-Between Pavilion's hands."
The playful expression on Shen Ling'er's face vanished completely.
She scraped off a layer of the pill's outer coating and dissolved it in warm wine.
The red medicinal coating dispersed in the wine, leaving a ring of fine powder floating at the bottom.
She smelled it, then took a silver spoon, dipped it in, and placed it on the white porcelain shard.
"The outer layer follows the method of nourishing the spirit and calming the mind. Cinnabar calms the nerves, musk opens the orifices, and deer antler invigorates yang."
Su Yao asked, "Is this considered poison?"
"This floor alone doesn't count."
Shen Ling'er picked up a small knife and cut open Danxin.
A deeper color was revealed inside.
Her hand paused for a moment.
Su Yao looked at her.
Is there something inside?
Shen Ling'er moved the lamp closer and used the tip of a needle to pick out a bit of black ash.
"Have."
Biyu couldn't help but ask, "Can black ash be used in medicine?"
Shen Ling'er did not look up.
"The black ash that can be used in medicine doesn't look like this."
She took a small cup of vinegar and added the black ash.
Xiaohong lines floated on the surface of the vinegar, very faint, yet they climbed up the side of the glass.
Shen Ling'er pushed the cup in front of Su Yao.
"Did you see that?"
Su Yao looked at it for a moment.
"Red stripes."
Shen Ling'er said, "The ashes of the corpse are mixed with lead powder."
Biyu's face turned pale.
"Remains?"
Shen Ling'er gritted her teeth and after a long while, she finally managed to utter a curse.
"The person who refines this elixir doesn't seek longevity. He's cultivating madness."
Su Yao's hand on the table tightened, then relaxed.
Explain yourself.
Shen Ling'er picked up a pen and wrote down the names of several medicinal herbs on the paper.
"Prolonged use of cinnabar and sulfur is already harmful to the mind. Adding lead powder will cause palpitations, nightmares, tinnitus, and hand tremors."
She then wrote the words "ashes of the corpse" and quickly covered them up with ink.
"This kind of ash-like catalyst is the most disgusting; it carries the medicinal properties into the mind and spirit."
Su Yao asked, "What will happen in the end?"
Shen Ling'er looked at her.
"People who take the medication become increasingly paranoid."
Biyu whispered, "And then?"
Su Yao answered for Shen Ling'er.
Suspect those closest to you first.
The room fell silent for a moment.
Shen Ling'er moved the vinegar cup away.
"If His Majesty continues to consume this medicine, we will first suspect the imperial physicians, then the alchemy workshop, and finally the harem."
She paused.
In the end, he suspects whoever seems most like a threat.
Su Yao continued, "The most conspicuous person right now is Gu Moran."
Shen Ling'er put down the silver needles.
"It's all his fault for marrying the six of us, binding six different factions, and then defeating Ye Qingyun at the poetry competition."
Su Yao said, "The Crown Prince will be afraid, the Second Prince will be wary, and His Majesty will also be watching."
Shen Ling'er whispered, "Add this pill as well."
In the study, Gu Moran was being blocked at the door by Batuer.
Batuer crossed his arms, his expression serious.
The princess said, "We grassland people have no interest in flower arranging."
Gu Moran sat behind her desk.
"Not interested?"
Batuer frowned and continued.
"I'm not interested in jade either."
Uncle Fu coughed lightly, looking down.
Batuer continued, "The princess said you must send three whole roasted lambs as an apology."
Gu Moran nodded.
"OK."
Just after midnight, a secret letter from Clear Frost Courtyard was delivered to the study.
Gu Moran unfolded the paper, her playful expression vanishing completely.
Shen Ling'er's diagnosis was attached at the end, and her handwriting was much neater than usual.
Su Yao attached a separate page containing only her predictions about the political situation.
Uncle Fu's expression changed after reading it.
Gu Moran asked, " Ling'er said that the lead powder in this black ash was calcined using a special method?"
Uncle Fu said, "Yes."
Gu Moran looked at him.
You know?
Uncle Fu hesitated for a moment.
Sixteen years ago, a private furnace was used for burning in the suburbs of Beijing.
Gu Moran's finger stopped on the paper.
"Private stove?"
Uncle Fu said in a low voice, "Not long after the Grand Tutor's family was wiped out."
Gu Moran looked at him.
"Continue."
"Rumor has it that an alchemist died. But the case was suppressed very quickly, and this old servant only heard a few words about it at the time."
Who pressed it?
Uncle Fu shook his head.
"No results found."
Gu Moran folded the medicine sample and put it into the hidden compartment.
"Old patterns from the Flower-Between Pavilion, a private furnace in the suburbs of the capital, after the Grand Tutor's family was wiped out."
Uncle Fu said, "Your Highness."
Gu Moran slowly exhaled.
"This situation is getting increasingly chaotic."
Hanzhang Hall.
Eunuch Zhang received a reply from Clear Frost Courtyard.
He folded the note and put it in his sleeve.
The night rain pattered on the palace lanterns, dimming their light.
After standing there for a long time, Eunuch Zhang turned and walked towards the palace gate.