Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 786 - 738 Emperor Collapses_2

The raw material for making arsenic is realgar.

Li Yuzhu looked around at various parts of the room.

The pillar was vermilion red, and the ceiling was adorned with brilliant gold.

Amidst the gold, there were auspicious patterns, some in jade green or indigo, others in vermilion.

"Your Majesty." Li Yuzhu pointed to the painting before her, then to the ceiling and walls. "There is a large amount of arsenic in the paint used for this artwork. The colored patterns on the ceiling and walls could also contain arsenic. Living in such a room over a long period could lead to chronic poisoning."

Upon hearing this, Empress Cui was so startled that the chess piece in her hand fell onto the chessboard with a clatter.

"Third Sister, is there any evidence for what you just said?" Li Yuwen asked in surprise.

It was the first time she had heard that the paint used in a house could be harmful.

"Of course there is." Li Yuzhu took out silver needles from her backpack, picked up some green and yellow paint from the painting, and before long, the tips of the two silver needles began to darken.

She walked to the pillar and tested it with another silver needle, which also blackened after a short while.

"Look, here is the evidence." Li Yuzhu presented the three silver needles for everyone to see.

Empress Cui went limp in her chair, her face turning pale.

The chief palace maid beside her exclaimed with fear and helped her up, "The Empress has lived here for five years, what can we do about this now?"

"How could this happen?" Li Yuwen was amazed, "Fengyi Palace is the Empress Place, the Empress Dowager also lived here, so why was she safe?"

Empress Cui and the Chief Palace Maid were stunned at the same time. Indeed, the Empress Dowager was once an Empress, and she lived here for over ten years, yet why was nothing amiss?

Li Yuzhu examined the walls and ceiling again, "These paint colors are quite fresh; was it recently repainted?"

"The bedroom was repainted shortly before I entered the palace," said Empress Cui.

Li Yuzhu replied, "That explains it. The Empress Dowager lived in the old residence where the paint had peeled off, leaving little toxin. But when Your Majesty moved in, the walls were freshly painted with potent toxins."

"Your Majesty, we can’t stay here any longer. Let’s move out quickly!" The palace maid looked at the colorful surroundings with concern.

Empress Cui sighed internally, "Alright, I will move out immediately."

Everyone says that becoming an Empress is the happiest fate for a woman, but to her, the Empress Palace felt like a prison.

.

While Li Yuzhu and Li Yuwen were talking with Empress Cui, Mu Yuanxiu and Pei Shenyan, who were admiring flowers in the garden on the side of the Empress Palace, were summoned by someone from Emperor Li Can’s side to Tianming Palace.

Pei Shenyan worried that Mu Yuanxiu, inexperienced in grand occasions, would be frightened by Li Can.

He whispered to Mu Yuanxiu, "There’s nothing to fear. Just follow my lead when greeting and paying respects. When the Emperor asks questions, answer with care. If you’re uncertain, say nothing, I will help you."

Mu Yuanxiu looked at him, nodded with a slight smile, "Thank you, brother-in-law."

"No need for thanks. If anything happens to you, Yu Wen will skin me tonight," sighed Pei Shenyan, then realized he had said too much, and said, embarrassed, "Pardon my words."

Mu Yuanxiu shook his head, "My elder sister seems much gentler than Yuzhu. You haven’t seen Yuzhu’s grip. She almost pinched my flesh off."

Pei Shenyan widened his eyes, patted Mu Yuanxiu’s shoulder, sharing a look of mutual understanding.

The two of them followed the eunuch to Tianming Hall.

The eunuch went to the back hall to relay the message.

Shortly after, the eunuch returned and said to the two, "The Emperor summons the two young gentlemen to enter and speak."

As Pei Shenyan turned around and took a step, he suddenly felt a pain in his waist.

Mu Yuanxiu quickly reached out to support him, "Brother-in-law?"

"I..." Pei Shenyan looked at Mu Yuanxiu, bewildered, thinking, why did you hit me? Before he could ask, his vision went black, and he fainted.

"Brother-in-law? Oh no! Brother-in-law’s old angina has flared up again. Sir, I must take him to see a doctor; he can’t meet the Emperor now! It will be fatal if delayed." Mu Yuanxiu, holding the pale and unconscious Pei Shenyan, looked anxious.

This frightened the eunuch as well. How could they see the Emperor with someone in such a state?

The Emperor himself was ill. Heaven forbid he gets scared.

"Someone, quickly take Vice Minister Pei to the next room!" He called for little eunuchs and instructed another to summon the Imperial Physician urgently.

But Mu Yuanxiu said, "My wife is a doctor, there’s no need for the palace’s Imperial Physician. We should return so my wife can see him. Sir, please arrange for us to be sent back to the Empress Palace."

He carried Pei Shenyan on his shoulders.

The eunuch feared if something happened to Pei Shenyan here, it would be difficult to explain to the Empress there, and also if the Pei Family inquired. He was eager for Mu Yuanxiu to take him away quickly.

"Someone, escort the two young gentlemen back to Fengyi Palace."

Mu Yuanxiu, carrying Pei Shenyan, accompanied by another little eunuch, hurried back to Fengyi Palace.

The eunuch who led Mu Yuanxiu and Pei Shenyan shook his head and murmured, "The health of Mr. Pei is as rumored, quite fragile."

He entered the inner hall to report to Li Can.

Upon reaching the Dragon Couch, he found Li Can had rolled to the floor, lying with rigid limbs staring blankly.

The eunuch rushed forward in fear.

When he reached out to help Li Can, he found his body was stiff. He then checked his breathing.

Not breathing?

The eunuch was so shocked he fell to the ground, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

"The...the Emperor...something happened to the Emperor!"

He was Chief Steward Gao, Li Can’s chief steward.

His cry scared everyone outside, who rushed into the inner hall to look.

Someone bravely stepped forward to check Li Can’s breathing.

Found, indeed something was wrong.

There was no sign of breath.

Moreover, Li Can’s limbs were cold, his eyes wide open staring.

Li Can was dead.

Everyone was frightened pale as a sheet, collapsing to the floor.

"Summon the Imperial Physician, quickly—" The Chief Eunuch gasped in fear, instructing those around, calling for someone to fetch the Empress and the imperial concubine quickly, and also dispatching someone to invite the Empress Dowager.

Tianming Palace was in chaos.

About a dozen Imperial Physicians were the first to hear and rush over, with the Dean leading the examination of Li Can.

He placed a small goose feather under Li Can’s nose to check breathing.

After a long time, the goose feather did not move at all.

Checked the pulse, there was no pulse at all.

The Dean, trembling, retreated to the bedside and knelt, "The Emperor...has passed away..."

With his kneeling and cry, everyone else knelt along.

"Emperor, Emperor, you can’t be gone, Emperor..." Princess Consort Yu Wen cried as she rushed in, sprawled before the Dragon Couch wailing loudly.

Following closely were the Empress Dowager and Empress Cui one after the other.

The Empress Dowager, supported by the Chief Palace Maid, stumbled in.

Empress Cui, her eyes vacant, stared at the person on the Dragon Couch, unsure if it was from fright or excessive grief numbing her.

She sat down by the Dragon Couch, looked at Li Can, and sighed silently.

Only forty, the Empress Dowager had only one son, losing him suddenly, her sorrow soon turned to fury.

"Who was just now serving the Emperor? Why did the Emperor suddenly perish? Chief Steward Gao, Chief Steward Gao?"

Chief Steward Gao rolled and crawled in fright, kneeling before the Empress Dowager, "Replying to the Empress Dowager, no...no..."

The Empress Dowager raised her eyebrows and shouted angrily, "No one? How could the Emperor have no one around while ill? What kind of Chief Steward are you?"

Chief Steward Gao felt wronged, "The Emperor wished for peace and dismissed everyone. So..."

"No, Chief Steward Gao, I clearly saw someone enter the Emperor’s inner hall earlier. Why are you lying?" Princess Consort Yu Wen squinted her eyes, sneering, "Those two, they were brought by the Empress, right? One is the Fifth Young Master Pei Shenyan of the Pei Family, and the other is Pei Wulang’s brother-in-law, a country hunter. You personally brought them to see the Emperor, so why claim no one was with the Emperor?"