Chapter 138 - Questioning

As Prince Ji Shu left, Wei Xiao Hua looked at the ceiling and frowned. In the original novel, nothing should have happened during the birthday party. How come she fell on such schemes over and over like this?

Shouldn't a transmigrator's path be smooth sailing because they're the protagonist?

'Ah really, changing too much of a novel can get things very hectic.'

Wei Xiao Hua sighed and then thought about the incident back at the hunt. Because she prevented Wei Hong Zheng from coming, the one who didn't come in the end was Wei Liuying. Thanks to that, there was one incident that she had missed.

Yes, it was precisely the poisoning incident.

At that time, Wei Liuying somehow managed to poison Wei Xiao Hua and tarnished the female lead's reputation. The novel at that time showed how Wei Liuying rebutted in clear and harsh word whenever Wei Xiao Hua talked about Wei Liuying's attempt to get close to Prince Ji Shu. And during that incident, Wei Liuying was the one who suggested that Wei Xiao Hua had an illicit relationship with other people or had intimate relationship with Prince Ji Shu before marriage.

During this time, reputation was everything for a young lady.

She knew that Prince Ji Shu would surely trust her because he had sent Lou to guard her 24 hours a day. However, he could never speak about that point to anyone else because it wouldn't do him anything good to let other people knew that he was protecting his fiancée from the shadow.

"A young noble lady who suddenly vomit, are you sure it's because of poison?"

That was what Wei Liuying said to her back then.

Wei Xiao Hua closed her eyes as she tried to recall the words from the novel that she had read. Since Wei Xiao Hua and Wei Liuying in the novel fought so harshly and bitterly, it was clear that the first suspect would be Wei Liuying.

But…

Nothing was found. 

'No one can ever figure out how Wei Liuying did it because the author didn't reveal it and let it be a secret where the readers are busy discussing by themselves.'

Sighing, Wei Xiao Hua started to think of plants that might be only exist in the novel. It was not strange for authors to create herbs with some weird composition or even effect and used it. After all, many times the setting of a novel was at fantasy world, so they didn't follow the list of real herbs that existed.

'What a sneaky author.'

Back in the novel, Wei Xiao Hua was able to put all suspicion away thanks to the virgin mark that she had in her arm. This time, she still had it too and if it was necessary later, she would have to show it to others.

Young ladies didn't like to show their hands or legs because it was considered to be improper. But as someone from modern age who had even wore even more open clothes, Wei Xiao Hua had no qualms. The real Wei Xiao Hua was also someone who dared to do that to prove her innocence.

If it was necessary, Wei Xiao Hua didn't mind.

Turning her body around, Wei Xiao Hua thought about the words that Prince Ji Shu told her.

'Wei Liuying is dead.'

Didn't that mean that someone else was actually doing this method to poison her? Was there another transmigrator or the author was the one who transmigrated?

The thought of facing the author of the novel inside the novel that author created only dampened Wei Xiao Hua's mood. The cheat level an author had over his or her novel was simply too high. They knew everything because they were the one who had created the world in the first place.

'I'm sure Ji Shu will tell me the result of his investigation later. At that time, I'll try to ask if he know what kind of method is used to poison me and destroy my reputation like this.'

Wei Xiao Hua sighed.

There was no use mulling over this any longer. Her stomach was hurt and the unease from the nausea was still there. Even after eating the prescribed medicine from the physician, she was still feeling unwell.

She would just trust Prince Ji Shu and waited for his report later.

For now, she should just focus on the matter on hand. Thankfully, the matter with Princess Ji Xiaoli would be over after this.

Wei Xiao Hua closed her eyes and thought to herself. After this, Princess Ji Xiaoli would leave the capital city along with Prince Ji Sheng and his men. There was no chance for them to cross path again.

Even if Princess Ji Xiaoli disliked her thanks to this incident, what can she do when she was thousands of kilometers away from her?

'I should just sleep.'

'Tomorrow is another game with the concubines. Tsk, they truly didn't know when to give up,' Wei Xiao Hua grumbled and finally let herself drifted to sleep.

…

Prince Ji Shu didn't take a long time to stay with Wei Xiao Hua. He was still waiting for Lou when he saw Wei Hong walked over in their direction. Furrowing his brows, he looked at the other party coldly.

Wei Hong never truly cared for his children. In his eyes, they were all nothing more than tools for him to expand his influence and also inherited his legacy. The daughters were especially worthless in his eyes because they were only useful for marriage.

However, Wei Hong was also a capable official.

Prince Ji Shu chose to tolerate him even though he didn't like the other party that much.

"Your Highness," Wei Hong greeted Prince Ji Shu politely. No matter how haughty he usually was, he knew that he had to be humble in front of Prince Ji Shu if he wanted to keep his small life. This prince cared not for him if it was not for Wei Xiao Hua.

Prince Ji Shu nodded coldly. His cold demeanor was simply telling everyone that he wanted to stay alone. They all could see very well that this prince was enraged without even getting close to him.

"Prime Minister Wei."

"My daughter, is she….?"

"She's poisoned."

"Ah?" Wei Hong was startled. Before meeting Prince Ji Shu, he had met with the doctor who told him that they didn't manage to find the cause. 

Prince Ji Shu looked at Wei Hong with cold glare. "Do you not believe it, Prime Minister Wei?"

The blunt question seemed to poke into Wei Hong's heart. He quickly bowed down and kowtowed. "This humble one didn't dare to question His Highness' words! This one… just feeling insecure because my precious daughter is hurt and as her father, I'm concerned."

Concerned?

When in the world would these ministers ever cared for their daughters? The daughters in a noble family were only good for marrying them off. It was something that everyone knew, yet they chose to never speak it out loudly.

Prince Ji Shu snorted. "This prince might not have good reputation, but Ben Wang* will not break the tradition and tarnish First Miss Wei's reputation. Do you doubt this prince, Prime Minister Wei?"

The cold and suppressive tone caused Wei Hong to shiver. There were a few other servants there, but Wei Hong didn't dare to act arrogantly just to save his face. In front of Prince Ji Shu, there was no one who could do things on their own will.

They have to be very careful.

"This humble one didn't dare! Please forgive this humble one for his previous rudeness. This humble one will not question you, Your Highness."

Prince Ji Shu looked at Wei Hong then glanced to the side. There were too many servants here, and he didn't wish to make a scene either. Even though he was annoyed at Wei Hong, this proved to him that this matter would become big if it was not handled properly.

'I'll need Xiao Hua to show her virgin mark to those officials later.'

The thought of having to show Wei Xiao Hua's arm in front of outsiders displeased him. However, he had to make sure that he could protect her reputation, lest that his father got displeased with his marriage and wanted to think over. 

"You can leave."

"Yes, this humble one will leave."

Just like a scared rabbit, Wei Hong dashed away from the place. The servants around the area quickly dispersed when Prince Ji Shu's cold gaze swept over them. Not a single one of them wanted to stay here and faced his wrath.

Besides, they have gotten what they wanted.

As for whether their masters would believe what Prince Ji Shu said or not, that would be another matter unrelated to them.

Prince Ji Shu swept his gaze once more then looked to the room. He spoke out, "Lou, what did you find?"

"Replying to Your Highness, all the servants served Her Highness Princess Ji Xiaoli are her normal people. Most of them are yours and they didn't notice anything strange. However, there are a few servants from other young masters who come to the kitchen to find other food that satisfy their wishes."