Sun Kui brought in a bowl of calming soup at this moment, and the Emperor reached out to take it.
"Drink the calming soup, and then have a good sleep." The Emperor scooped a spoonful of the calming soup, blew on it gently, and then fed it to Noble Princess Consort Rong.
Noble Princess Consort Rong sweetly smiled at the Emperor, then lowered her head and obediently drank the soup.
The Emperor gently fed the calming soup to Noble Princess Consort Rong and then tenderly covered her with the quilt.
"I will stay here with you. You can sleep soundly."
Noble Princess Consort Rong extended her left hand from under the quilt and held the Emperor’s right hand.
"Cousin, why don’t you sleep too?"
"I can’t fall asleep. You should quickly get some rest."
"Cousin, sleep with me, or else I can’t sleep."
The Emperor looked at Noble Princess Consort Rong helplessly and affectionately, "Alright, I will sleep with you." After saying that, he got onto the bed, lying next to Noble Princess Consort Rong.
Noble Princess Consort Rong slept in the Emperor’s arms, holding him tightly.
The Emperor gently patted her back. After a while, he noticed Noble Princess Consort Rong had fallen asleep.
He carefully moved her hand away, got out of bed, left the tent, and turned to the meeting tent.
Shen Hu, Zhang Gong, and Prime Minister He had been waiting in the tent for a long time.
"How’s the investigation going?"
"Boss, it was an accident, but also not an accident," Shen Hu said, "The person who released the snake has been caught; it was a fire-stoking eunuch from the Imperial Kitchen."
"A fire-stoking eunuch?" the Emperor smiled with interest, "What was his motive?"
Chu Ying said, "He released the snake to bite Noble Princess Consort Rong, wanting to scare her, to teach her a lesson."
Zhang Gong continued from Chu Ying’s point, "Before this, the fire-stoking eunuch had contact with the eunuchs around Princess Consort De."
The Emperor was a bit surprised, "Princess Consort De?"
"Yes, the fire-stoking eunuch said it was the eunuchs around Consort De who instructed him to do so."
"Did the eunuch around Consort De confess?"
"Initially, he didn’t admit to it, but later he confessed. He said Consort De was jealous of Noble Princess Consort Rong’s favor, and wanted to teach her a lesson by scaring her with snakes," Chu Ying said. "They prepared one snake, but for some reason, it turned into a group of snakes."
"Boss, that’s the accident I mentioned earlier; they only prepared one snake, but it ended up being a group of snakes."
"Who did the eunuch around Consort De come into contact with before?"
"The eunuch around Consort De hasn’t contacted anyone else in the camp. However, whether he contacted other people in the palace is currently unknown." After all, they are now in the safari grounds, not in the palace.
"Investigate whom the eunuch around Consort De has been in contact with in the palace."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Hearing the Emperor’s instruction, Shen Hu asked in surprise and suspicion, "Boss, do you suspect the mastermind isn’t Consort De?"
"I just think things aren’t that simple." The Emperor already had a suspect in mind. "Why were there so many snakes?"
"We have not found that out yet," Zhang Gong said. "Once daylight breaks, we will thoroughly inspect the surroundings of the safari grounds to see what exactly attracted so many snakes."
"Have all the snakes in the camp been caught?"
"We’ve searched every tent and caught some more," Shen Hu reported. "Most are ordinary snakes, and I’ve handed them over to the Imperial Kitchen to make snake soup."
The Emperor found this amusing, "You sure know how to enjoy yourself."
"Boss, it would be a waste to just kill and discard so many snakes. Better let the Imperial Kitchen make snake soup."
"Boss, only a few were venomous snakes, and they were typical venoms, not deadly," Chu Ying said, "The mastermind’s purpose was indeed to frighten Noble Princess Consort Rong." If they intended to cause her death, they would use extremely venomous snakes, such as the five-step snake.
"Boss, you pamper Noble Princess Consort Rong too much," Shen Hu said candidly, "That’s why people envy her."
The Emperor glared at Shen Hu, "For safety’s sake, conduct another thorough search to ensure no snake goes uncaught."
"Rest assured, Boss, we will search several times."
"Have others made any moves?" the Emperor asked meaningfully, "Did they take advantage of the chaos to do anything?"