Rebirth of the Phoenix Princess novel Chapter 99

Yun Shang realized she was able to speak again. A spurt of anger flashed through her. She had thought that the marriage issue would be solved after she had told her father that Master Wu Na said she should not get married for another three years. But she didn't expect that Prince Jing would set a trap for her.

Yun Shang was unhappy with the thought that someone else could control her destiny. She opened her mouth, "Father, I..."

Her words were interrupted by several exclamations. Yun Shang was taken aback, and upon turning around, she found that Li Yingying who had been sitting next to her, had fallen to the ground. Blood was flowing from her lips.

After seeing that, Emperor Ning immediately stood up and shouted, "Servants, call the imperial physician!"

Before Yun Shang regained her composure, she found herself being lifted up and put aside. She furrowed her brows, pushed aside the hands around her waist, and shouted angrily, "Uncle, please behave yourself!"

Unlike his usual apathetic attitude, Prince Jing curled his lips and whispered in Yun Shang's ear, "Behave myself? Yun Shang, all the officials in the Hall know that you will be my wife soon."

Yun Shang wriggled to free herself while frowning at his reminder. She went back to her seat and looked down at Li Yingying. The blood was black. Was she poisoned?

A woman rushed to Li Yingying's side. After seeing Li Yingying's status, her eyes filled with tears. She suddenly fell to her knees and held Li Yingying tightly in her arms crying, "Yingying, Yingying, are you okay? Please don't frighten me..."

Yun Shang wondered if this woman was the daughter-in -law of the oldest son of the Li clan. In a little while, an imperial physician hurried in. He felt Li Yingying's pulse for a moment and then opened his mouth, "Your Majesty, Lady Yingying was poisoned. I have never seen such a poison before."

"Been poisoned? Why is there poison in the Imperial Palace? Who is it that poisoned Lady Yingying?" Emperor Ning furrowed his brows, "Servants, take Lady Yingying to the side Hall and bring all imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital to treat her. Physician, check all the items on Lady Yingying's table."

While the servants carried Li Yingying away, the imperial physician began his inspection of all items on the table but found nothing. "Your Majesty, I didn't find anything that is poisonous..."

"Really?" Emperor Ning felt relieved although he remained speechless. It was said that Li Yingying was Grand Councilor Li's favorite granddaughter. If something happened to her at the Imperial Palace, Grand Councilor Li might take this opportunity to do something.

Lady Li immediately yelled, "Your Majesty, Yingying was fine a moment ago. Oh! I see. Except for the items on the table, Yingying touched the Pipa. She played the Pipa a short while ago."

Emperor Ning frowned as he was unhappy with Lady Li's insinuation. Lady Li seemed to believe that the source of the poison was in the Imperial Palace.

"Your Majesty, please don't be angry with my sister-in-law. She is agitated as she is worried about her daughter. What about asking the imperial physician to check the Pipa? The Empress gave a bland smile and suggested. "Okay! Physician, check the Pipa!" Emperor Ning's face was expressionless, however, in his eyes, there was a trace of displeasure.

Hearing the order, the imperial physician walked to the Pipa to check it. He took out a white handkerchief and wiped the strings of the Pipa. The white handkerchief turned black. The imperial physician brought the handkerchief closer to his nose and sniffed it carefully. After a while, he turned to Emperor Ning, "Your Majesty, there is poison on the Pipa. And it is the same that was used to poison Lady Yingying!"

"That's absurd! How dare someone try to poison Lady Yingying in the Imperial Palace? Guards, find the culprit! Bring all people that have touched this Pipa here." Emperor Ning slammed the armrest and shouted in anger.

Yun Shang felt as though someone was watching her. She looked back and saw Hua Jing was staring at her with a weird smile.

Yun Shang panicked and wondered, 'Was this a trap for me?'

'But it doesn't make sense at all. Li Yingying is a complete stranger to me. I have no reason to poison the daughter of an official.' Yun Shang began recalling the events from her previous life, and suddenly remembered a similar scene. Yun Shang curled her lips. She had thought that her new life would be different from the previous one, but the same incident had happened again.

After a while, the imperial guards brought three servant girls to the Hall. "Your Majesty, these servants have touched the Pipa tonight. Xi'er normally keeps this instrument. The maid, Xi'er gave this Pipa to Que'er because of the imperial dinner tonight. Que'er wiped the Pipa and then gave it to Yun Xi, Lady Ming's servant. Yun Xi brought the Pipa here." Emperor Ning narrowed his eyes as he studied all three servant girls who were on their knees. "All of you! When did you touch the Pipa? Was there a witness? Think it through!"

The servant in the middle immediately answered. "I'm Xi'er. I am responsible for the storage of this Pipa. I wiped the instrument for the imperial dinner tonight and then gave it to Que'er. All the servants in Imperial Treasure House can testify on my behalf. After I gave the instrument to Que'er, she checked the timbre of the Pipa."

Everyone in the Hall understood Xi'er's unspoken message. Que'er checked the timbre of the Pipa, thus implying that the instrument was non-toxic when it was passed to Que'er. If Xi'er had put poison on the Pipa's strings, then Que'er wouldn't be alive.

Hearing Xi'er's words, Que'er immediately stated, "She is right. Pipas tend to go out of tune when they have been stored for a long time. So, I like to check the timbre first and then wipe the instrument. When I was wiping the Pipa, two servant girls who were maintaining other Pipas and zithers saw my actions. They are my witnesses. Then I handed the instrument to Yun Xi."

The last servant girl looked timid. After hearing Que'er's words, she kowtowed before the host seat, "Two servant girls and I fetched the Pipa. We were together before we sent the instrument to the Palace."

Everyone seemed to have their witnesses. Yun Shang lowered her eyes to conceal her excitement and wondered what surprising turn this drama would take.

Emperor Ning snorted coldly, "Are you sure nobody else touched the Pipa during this process?"

The three servants immediately shook their heads. However, the servant named Que'er looked hesitant and everyone in the Hall noticed her hesitation. Hua Jing stood up and walked to the three servants. She asked, "Are you Que'er? Do you remember something? If you do, don't hesitate. Speak plainly. There are so many people in the Hall. We will protect you. I, the Princess, give you my word that nobody will harm you."

Que'er raised her head, looked around in alarm and then faltered, "I... I remember that when the other servants and I were cleaning the Pipa, Qian Yin, the servant girl of Princess Yun Shang came and said that a servant in the Princess's Palace had broken a vase. Qian Yin said that although breaking a vase was a good omen*, the room looked empty without it. So she wanted to get a new one. She also said that the Princess brought some pastries for us because it was New Year's Eve. So we went to eat the pastries. During that period, Qian Yin entered the Imperial Treasure House."

(*TN: In Chinese, the pronunciations of "break" and "year" are the same. If you break something, it means you will be safe and sound in the coming year.)

Yun Shang narrowed her eyes, and finally understood why the Empress had asked Qian Yin to fetch a vase from the Imperial Treasure House. Yun Shang had believed that the Empress was going to make an issue of the vase. After the vase was brought to her Palace, Yun Shang had checked it for a long time but had found nothing odd. It turned out the Empress had set a trap for her tonight.

Yun Shang was about to say something, but a tremendously loud crash stopped her. Que'er, who had been on her knees before, had been catapulted into the pillar in the Hall. Yun Shang watched as her limp body fell to the ground. Hearing her moans, people were startled as if they had also felt her pain.

"Prince Jing, what are you doing? Are you trying to kill the maid who might produce evidence against Princess Yun Shang?" The accusation was followed by a deafening roar. Yun Shang raised her eyes and saw Grand Councilor Li's ferocious face.

Yun Shang turned to Prince Jing, and the latter looked nonchalant as if it wasn't him who had kicked the servant, "How dare a servant denigrate the Princess? She deserves it."

Blue veins stood out on Grand Councilor Li's temples. He gnashed his teeth, "Prince Jing, you have insulted me beyond limit. Are you trying to cover Princess Yun Shang's guilt?"

"Grand Councilor, what do you mean? Why would I kill you granddaughter? Moreover, I haven't seen your granddaughter before today!" Yun Shang stated indifferently as she glanced at Prince Jing, who had a cold expression.

"I don't know why you want to kill Yingying, but I know the evidence is conclusive. It is you who instigated your servant to put the poison on the strings of the Pipa. Guards, seize Qian Yin!" Grand Councilor Li snorted, his eyes looking cold.

"Really? I want to ask you a question Grand Councilor Li. Perhaps my servant went to the Imperial Treasure House by chance today. But why would I put poison on the Pipa? It was the Empress who suggested we play the game, and the rule was made by my father. How would I know that Lady Yingying would play the Pipa?" Everyone looked at Yun Shang with disbelief. Yun Shang was calm. She was sitting nonchalantly in her chair while questioning Grand Councilor Li.

The servant named Yun Xi seemed to have something to say. After a long time, she stammered, "Since the Empress has been recuperating for a while, Lady Ming was responsible for the imperial dinner. Several days ago, when Princess Yun Shang visited Lady Ming, Lady Ming was discussing the game with other ladies..."

Yun Shang narrowed her eyes and thought, 'Is she implying that I had known about the game, and had enough time to do something about the lot pot?'