Chapter 103: Breaking the Deadlock

Lady Zhu was already unconscious…

Her palace maid, who had been guarding outside the hall and was not affected, knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face, “Your Majesty, please investigate, the prayer lamp of our master used the lamp oil uniformly provided by the Internal Affairs Department, I don’t know who replaced it with this harmful fire oil! Please do justice for our master!”

Lady Shu asked, “Did anyone touch this lamp?”

The palace maid shook her head, at a loss.

“Then did you encounter anyone today?” Lady Shu asked again.

The palace maid recalled, and looked at Ning Wanyin in fear, “Lady Ning, you harmed our master…”

“Don’t talk nonsense! My master didn’t do anything.” Lianrui immediately retorted.

The palace maid hurriedly recounted the incident of meeting Ning Wanyin this morning.

After listening, Xue Jin’yan instantly understood.

Ning Wanyin had replaced the lamp oil!

But the secret fire oil and ordinary lamp oil looked exactly the same, it was impossible to tell the difference by appearance.

And the prayer lamp couldn’t be lit in advance.

How did Ning Wanyin discover it?

“Your Majesty, this concubine, although she ordered Lady Zhu to find the earring for this concubine, it was just to find an earring… I really don’t know what happened to this fire oil.” Ning Wanyin looked innocent.

Lady Shu looked at Ning Wanyin, “Besides you, no one else touched this prayer lamp.”

“Lady Shu, what are you saying? Did you see me touch Lady Zhu’s prayer lamp with your own eyes?” Ning Wanyin glanced at her calmly, and said calmly:

“I really didn’t touch her lamp, and… this lamp, from preparation to bringing it out today, it’s been a few days. During this time, I don’t know how many palace servants could have taken the opportunity to do something…”

“How can you blame this concubine? This concubine just happened to meet her this morning, Lady Shu can’t unjustly accuse this concubine’s innocence!”

Lady Shu’s face stiffened, and she asked again, “Lady Zhu was pushed down. Who was near Lady Zhu just now?”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked at each other.

No one answered.

Actually, there was a concubine standing behind Lady Zhu just now.

But she didn’t know who pushed her, causing her to bump into Lady Zhu…

If she stood up, wouldn’t she be held accountable?

So she kept silent.

It was cold now, everyone was standing around the charcoal brazier, there were many concubines and palace servants nearby.

Four concubines were injured, including a Xue family girl.

Who would be stupid enough to stand up and speak.

Helian Qi saw through the situation, and said calmly:

“Lady Zhu acted carelessly, privately possessed fire oil, harming others and herself, she is to be sent to the Cold Palace.”

“Lady Lü, Lady Shi, and Lady Xue were injured, the imperial physician must take good care of them, each will be rewarded with a box of Congealed Fat Cream.”

“The ceremony for the late Empress Dowager has been plagued with incidents, Lady Shu, as the person in charge, failed to discover the danger in time, she is to be fined half a year’s salary.”

In this matter, the Emperor directly blamed Lady Zhu.

Even if everyone suspected that Ning Wanyin was involved.

But without evidence, there was no way to investigate.

For this obvious scheme…

Lianrui had asked beforehand, “Master, if we directly confront Lady Zhu, everyone will guess that you did it, should we be more secretive?”

“If this scheme was planned by us, then naturally the more secretive the better, so that the enemy doesn’t know who did it. But now, we are the ones breaking the deadlock. Even if we hide carefully, Xue Jin’yan knows…”

She said, “It’s my scheme, she’ll only think I’m hard to deal with.” Ning Wanyin said calmly.

Even if she was more careful, leaving no trace of having seen Lady Zhu, it wouldn’t matter.

The fire oil was Xue Jin’yan’s way of dealing with Ning Wanyin, how could she not know that Ning Wanyin had replaced it?

The more secretive and ingenious it was, the more Xue Jin’yan would think highly of her.

It was better to be simple and direct, making the other party think she was just like that.

…

That night.

Wei Yingya quietly went to Qionghua Garden to pay her respects.

“Lady Xue, you have to save me! Ning Wanyin’s prayer lamp is fine, but Lady Zhu’s lamp had an accident! It’s obvious that she discovered that someone had tampered with it and replaced the lamp oil, has she already guessed that it was me? You have to save me!” Wei Yingya looked anxious.

Lady Lü originally wanted to question her a few times, whether she had betrayed Xue Jin’yan.

But seeing her cowardly appearance…

“What are you panicking about? You’re giving yourself away by panicking! The more you pretend nothing happened in front of her, the less she will suspect you.” Lady Lü reprimanded.

Wei Yingya’s face turned pale, “Of course I’m scared. She just sent Lady Zhu away today, if she knows it was me, will I still be alive?”

“She shouldn’t suspect you.” Xue Jin’yan pondered:

“Lady Zhu just pushed Tang Miaoling, and she was harmed like this. With her vengeful nature, if she knew you replaced the lamp oil, she wouldn’t be indifferent to you.”

Wei Yingya looked fearful, “Lady Xue, I’m doing this for you, you can’t ignore my life and death… I’m so scared…”

“Rest assured, I will naturally protect your life. Tomorrow when you go to pay your respects to her, probe her indirectly and find out how she discovered that the lamp oil was wrong.” Xue Jin’yan looked at Wei Yingya.

Wei Yingya nodded timidly, “Okay… that, she really didn’t discover that I’m a spy?”

“With your stupid appearance, she wouldn’t guess that you’re a spy.” Lady Lü wanted to roll her eyes.

Wei Yingya and Xue Jin’yan chatted for a long time, and finally, holding the pair of jade bracelets that Xue Jin’yan had given her as a consolation, she left with a thousand thanks.

Xue Jin’yan was annoyed by her, she rubbed her temples, “Wei Yingya is so cowardly…”

“Lady, could it be that she betrayed you…” Another Lady Zhao hesitated to speak.

Lady Lü sneered, “The Cen family won’t let her live, if she offends Lady again, wouldn’t that be a dead end? What could Ning Wanyin give her that’s worth her risking her life?”

Although she had initially had this suspicion in her mind, she thought about it and felt it was impossible.

“This plan failed, there must be something fishy. But it’s unlikely to be her problem, from what we see now, she should be trustworthy…” Xue Jin’yan analyzed.

…

The next morning.

Wei Yingya came to Lingxue Pavilion to pay her respects.

“According to what you taught me… Xue Jin’yan shouldn’t suspect me… but she’s very curious, how did you discover that the lamp oil was wrong? Let me ask her.” Wei Yingya recounted what happened last night.

She picked up the teapot and poured herself a cup of tea, moistening her throat.

Since becoming an undercover agent, she had been chattering nonstop.

Actually, according to Xue Jin’yan’s plan, even if Wei Yingya wasn’t a spy, Ning Wanyin would still find out.

She took it for granted that the lamp oil looked no different, and Ning Wanyin wouldn’t notice.

But for Ning Wanyin, checking the lamp oil wasn’t just about looking at it, she would also check if there were any poisonous substances mixed in the lamp oil, whether the lamp oil could be lit smoothly, etc.

Xue Jin’yan was very confident, and Ning Wanyin cooperated:

“Tell her it’s because of the funeral oration.”

Wei Yingya was stunned, “The funeral oration?”

“Yes, because the funeral oration was wrong the day before, so I was vigilant, and when I returned, I ordered people to carefully check all the things related to the ceremony… When I was checking the lamp oil, I accidentally spilled a few drops, which fell into the charcoal brazier, and I accidentally discovered something was wrong…” Ning Wanyin said calmly.

Wei Yingya suddenly realized.

When Lady Feng’s funeral oration went wrong, every remaining concubine checked their own funeral oration paper and incense to see if there was anything wrong.

This all made sense.

That night…

Wei Yingya went to Qionghua Garden again.

She repeated what Ning Wanyin had taught her…

A flash of understanding crossed Xue Jin’yan’s eyes.

That explained everything.

This confirmed something else for her.

The funeral oration wasn’t done by Ning Wanyin, which meant it was…

Lady Shu!

Her aunt had reminded her that Lady Shu was suspicious.