Transmigration: The Fate of the Villainess

228 Bai Yu never considered herself a smart woman Part II

“…But that day, I accidentally saw that it was another royal doctor who gave the tonic to the empress’s maid…”

“That’s right!” Xiao Xi blurted it out before Bai Xue could finish. The royal maid mentioned hurriedly stepped forward to stand beside Bai Yu before kneeling down in front of Ouyang Feilong. “Your Majesty, that day it was Royal Doctor Mu instead of Royal Doctor Li who gave me the medicine.”

“Explain how that happened.” Bai Yu immediately interrogated Xiao Xi herself.

“Your Majesty, that day I went to get the medicine from Royal Doctor Li as usual. But it seemed that Royal Doctor Li was occupied with something else, so royal doctor Mu brought two packets of herbs to me. I took one to brew for Your Majesty, and the other I gave to Xiao Chang at the east palace. Nothing was out of the ordinary, so I did not think such a thing could happen…” Xiao Xi paused. Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her. She suddenly knocked her forehead onto the floor to punish herself. “…I deserve death. I deserve death…”

Slam!

“Guards!” Ouyang Feilong’s voice boomed. “Bring Royal Doctor Li and Royal Doctor Mu here this instant!”

Xiao Xi did not have to continue before Ouyang Feilong and everyone understood…The owner of the herb packets intended to make Bai Yu miscarry. And even if she took another packet, she would still be blamed for Bai Hua, who was poisoned in her place.

Her hand came to the curve of her belly; her heart beat fast. Despite her being the lucky one, fear gripped her tight… This incident was more than Bai Yu had expected.

Without foolishness blinding her, Bai Yu could see clearly that Ouyang Feilong had not sent Bai Xue to her to be a mere conversation partner. Bai Yu’s every assumption and every theory would be verified by Bai Xue without being seen by Empress Dowager Wei, who was made complacent by Ouyang Feilong’s pretense of estrangement.

.....

Bai Xue had been pursuing the truth, with Ouyang Feilong secretly supporting her all along. Today’s scene might be orchestrated, but the ultimate truth was only known by Bai Xue, who would soon reveal it to all…

“B… Blessings to Your Majesty.” Two royal doctors who were in the party were brought by the guards, as Ouyang Feilong had ordered.

“What happened?” At first, the son of heaven seemed to have the usual tone of indifference. However, after hearing what Bai Xue had said, fury started to well up within him and leaked into an immense pressure that intimidated everyone from moving a muscle.

His patience had run dry!

“Y…Your…Your Majesty…T…That day, I suddenly had diarrhea…” Royal Doctor Li’s voice trembled because of the menace he felt. “…C…Coincidentally, it was time for the empress’s maid to come to take the tonic, so I prepared two herb packets as usual and asked Royal Doctor Mu, who happened to pass by, to give them to that maid.”

Ouyang Feilong said nothing. His golden eyes moved to Royal Doctor Mu, who was also shaking. “…I only handed the herbs to that maid. There was nothing out of the ordinary, Your Majesty.”

“Are you certain that the herb you prepared has the correct ingredient?” Bai Xue asked. Two royal doctors nodded, though the Tai Fei was not completely convinced. “Are you certain that you did not add anything that could be harmful to the pregnancy?”

“I am certain.” Royal Doctor Li gave a firm reply.

“Then, did Royal Doctor Mu confirm the ingredients in the herb packet?” Bai Xue continued.

“I… I did not confirm.”

“So you are guilty!” Bai Xue pointed at him as the culprit. Her voice was firm, despite the lack of evidence.

“Guards! Arrest the culprit!” Bai Yu gave out a loud order without noting how the man was clearly being framed.

“Your Majesty, please, give us justice!” Seeing that her father was being detained, Mu Qilin could not stand idly by. She left her seat to kneel in front of Bai Yu and Ouyang Feilong and begged at the top of her voice. “My father is not guilty. Please reconsider.”

In the blink of an eye, her beautiful face was wet with tears. “Your Majesty, please reconsider. My father is a royal doctor. His whole life is already devoted to the royal family. How could he dare hurt royalty?”

Ouyang Feilong was silent. His golden eyes were cold.

“Your Majesty…”

“Guards! Take De Fei back to her palace.” Bai Yu ordered again. No one objected to her. Even Empress Dowager Wei was strangely quiet.

“Don’t touch me!” The figure in luxurious attire shook herself away from the guards. Mu Qilin tried to bring herself up the stairs to reach Ouyang Feilong’s seat but ended up tripping over her own skirt. Still, she was determined. The noble consort almost ‘crawled’ up to where Bai Yu and Ouyang Feilong were sitting before being stopped by Xiao Xi and the emperor’s eunuch.

When she could not approach them, she yelled out. “Your Majesty, please reconsider. The Mu family has served as royal doctors for many generations. We are not a merchant family. How could we have the means to buy rare herbs from the desert?!”

“That is reasonable…” Ouyang Feilong seemed to be convinced. His reaction spurred Mu Qilin on. She continued, blurting out everything in an attempt to escape the punishment.

“Your Majesty, ‘Kui Wu’ is a rare plant. Lin-er has always wanted to use it to nourish Lin-er’s body, but even the Mu family cannot find any. How could Father get his hands on the herb that was that expensive and use it to harm the empress and the second consort?” Mu Qilin shook herself off the restraints and was easily let go. The graceful Mu De Fei hoped to bring her frail form to be before Ouyang Feilong. But when she finally managed to drag herself up to him, her sight was filled with the golden fabric of Bai Yu’s phoenix robe.

“De Fei.” Bai Yu called out the name of the woman who was staring back with eyes burning bright with anger. Though she was of lower rank, Mu Qilin never once showed respect toward her. Not even during this time…when she was due a grave punishment.

“Your Majesty…” Mu Qilin tried to approach Ouyang Feilong. He was within her reach, with only Bai Yu dividing between them. “…Please let me have an audience. Please let me attest to my father’s innocence.”

This foolish woman only feared that her father would become the downfall of her family. That fear had taken away all her reasoning, leaving behind only the thought of escape from punishment.

“Answer one thing to bengong, and bengong shall let you have an audience with his majesty.” Bai Yu glanced at the woman’s prostrating form, still shaking from the unsuccessful attempt to suppress the intimidation caused by Ouyang Feilong.

“De Fei.” A beautiful smile bloomed on Bai Yu’s face. “No one has said the name of that herb at all. How did you know both its name and origin?”

——————

The Empress Dowager’s birthday party became the judgment day of the royalty assassination. The culprits were Royal Doctor Mu and Mu De Fei, who had secretly changed the medicine to cause miscarriage. Mu Qilin insisted on refusing, even though Bai Yu had caught her lie. She continued to struggle to have an audience with Ouyang Feilong until the man uttered one sentence.

“Or do you want zhen to investigate?”

Then, the two finally confessed, though they refused to reveal the reason or the process of their crime further. Still, Bai Yu and Ouyang Feilong knew that they had received an order from someone and that someone was Empress Dowager Wei, who begged Ouyang Feilong not to execute all of the Mu family.

Her reasoning was that the royal family had already lost one life, and more bloodshed would become a misfortune to the court. Ouyang Feilong only half-listened to her. He ordered Royal Doctor Mu and Mu Qilin to be executed, sparing the lives of the rest of the Mu family by exiling them from the capital. Everyone in the Mu family was not allowed to enter the capital for three generations.

Bai Yu returned to her palace, exhausted. Her various emotions that had been tied into knots were finally resolved. However, those were only small, trivial knots. She still did not have a way to unravel the largest knot that still sat firmly on her throne… Empress Dowager Wei.