"Princess Wuyang was so upset that she slapped me, and then she got into her carriage and left," said the handmaid as she returned to report, with a palm print on half of her face.
Upon seeing this, Qin Erya dabbed a cloth in water and gently wiped her face.
"I was careless; I never expected her to be so rough. She lacks the dignity that a princess of the Imperial Family should have."
The handmaid considerately shook her head, "As long as Miss’s affairs can be accomplished, this little pain is nothing to me."
She took the cloth from Qin Erya’s hand and gently wiped her own face.
She did not notice that her young mistress’s eyes had been cold and indifferent from beginning to end.
Three days to investigate the matter of the Aphrodisiac Fragrance was indeed no easy task.
But Xie Qun directly took the order and began the investigation.
Everyone knew he was Yan Wanqing’s man.
If he were to stand out again, wouldn’t it directly mock the court for having no capable people?
So it wasn’t just Xie Qun who was investigating; the other ministers were also making their moves in secret.
Yan Lingzhen sat on the soft bedding, looking very displeased.
She felt like a monkey.
Ever since her identity as Red Buddha’s Hand had been exposed, dignitaries with gifts visited her at regular intervals in the dungeon, shamelessly trying to build relationships and would always end with, "If you ever feel unwell, be sure to have Miss Yan Six take a look, ah."
It made her feel like a worthless wandering folk doctor.
When the advisor came in to deliver food, he saw the dungeon piled full of gifts.
He was taken aback for a moment before instructing his people to clear a path at the entrance.
"Miss Yan Six, it’s time for your meal," said the advisor as he placed the meal box on the table and personally poured a cup of tea.
Yan Lingzhen was not in the mood to eat.
"What’s the progress on the investigation?" she asked.
At this question, the advisor hesitated.
Yan Lingzhen curled her lips, "As the key person in this matter, what information could I possibly be barred from knowing?" She had personally poisoned that deputy general.
Seeing the advisor still looking troubled, Yan Lingzhen furrowed her brows and walked over, "Lord Xie hasn’t made any progress, has he?"
When the advisor reluctantly nodded, Yan Lingzhen sighed deeply.
Heaven wants to abandon me!
"The Aphrodisiac Fragrance was only found on that officer’s body, and now Princess Wuyang has taken the corpse away. Basically, all clues are gone."
The advisor was also at a loss, with his own lord scratching his head in the study.
"You better eat first. If you skip this meal, you’ll be famished. You’re still young and growing," advised the advisor as he pulled out a chair for her.
Yan Lingzhen reluctantly sat down.
But she had no appetite at all and barely touched her food.
Setting down her chopsticks, she said, "We only have three days; we can’t delay . If you can’t do it, I’ll investigate it myself."
The Aphrodisiac Fragrance was also a medicine, and when it came to medicine, no one knew better than she, Yan Lingzhen.
The advisor looked troubled, "But you are currently under arrest, how can you investigate..."
"Find a woman of similar stature and bring her here. I’ll disguise her. During this time, she just needs to sleep soundly and ignore everyone," she proposed her solution.
The advisor thought about it and decided it didn’t seem impossible.
"I can’t make this decision on my own; I have to go back and ask my lord."
"Alright, alright, go ahead, I’ll eat," Yan Lingzhen picked up her chopsticks again and started eating earnestly.
The advisor hurriedly ran out and soon returned with a handmaid.
Yan Lingzhen burped, signifying that she knew Xie Qun had agreed to the plan.
With only three days, if Xie Qun couldn’t solve the case, he would be in trouble just the same.
As crickets on the same rope, he was very proactive as well.
Yan Lingzhen quickly disguised the handmaid, then they exchanged clothes, and she followed the advisor out.
Outside, there was a light rain falling, and the air was filled with the blended scent of mud and green grass, washed by the rain.
This was a fresh scent unique to this ancient world, something Yan Lingzhen could not experience in modern society.
She couldn’t help but take several deep breaths.
The steward saw her standing motionless, "Miss, please hurry up. It’s already past noon, and there’s only two and a half days left."
"No rush, no rush. There are 24 hours in a day, and that’s 72 hours in three days. We still have a full 60 hours left. I, the young lady, can go without eating, drinking, or sleeping, and I don’t believe I can’t dig out the person behind this." Anyone daring to set a trap for me, Yan Lingzhen, had better be prepared for bad luck!
Without another word, she walked towards the exit of the Dali Temple, "I’m going out for a bit and will be back before dinner. I want chicken wings tonight, remember to tell the aunty in the kitchen to make them, and make them spicy!"
Looking at her as she left without turning her head, the steward replied, "All right!"
There was no aunty in the kitchen.
Wasn’t it always the steward who cooked?!
Yan Lingzhen left the house and headed straight for the Tongren Hall.
"Bring over all the varieties of Aphrodisiac Fragrance in the market." Yan Lingzhen walked in and took out her token immediately. The shopkeeper dared not delay, promptly instructing the helpers to get to work.
In less than three hours, all sorts of small and large bottles and jars of Aphrodisiac Fragrance were arrayed in front of Yan Lingzhen.
The helpers didn’t understand what the young lady planned to do today.
"There are a total of eighty-two kinds, which is almost all of them," the shopkeeper told Yan Lingzhen.
Yan Lingzhen nodded and opened a jar to sniff it right under her nose, frightening the shopkeeper so much that he reached out to snatch it away
"What has upset you? You can’t use this stuff like that!"
The shopkeeper carefully closed the bottle but inadvertently took a whiff himself.
Yan Lingzhen was already reaching for the second bottle, her eyelids not even flickering, "The antidote is in the third cabinet from the entrance, count down to the sixth drawer, go and get it yourself."
The shopkeeper dashed out, his face red and ears hot.
The remaining helpers watched Yan Lingzhen sniff one bottle after another like an unfeeling machine, unsure of what the young lady intended to do today.
Not this one, not this one, none of them were right...
Yan Lingzhen’s expression grew increasingly irritable.
"Is this all of the Aphrodisiac Fragrance? Are you sure nothing was missed?"
She had sniffed all of them, and in cases of uncertainty, had even tasted them with her mouth, yet none had the scent of that man.
What kind of scent was it?
According to Yan Lingzhen’s memory, it was very similar to the smell of a modern society cola that had been left flat for a long time.
A sweet smell filled with chemical scents, once smelled, it was hard to forget.
By this time, the shopkeeper, who had taken the antidote and returned to normal color, came back. His heart was racing with panic, for he had almost made a fool of himself in front of others.
Fortunately, the young lady had a good memory and knew where to find the antidote.
When he returned, he saw that the originally neatly organized jars and bottles were now in disarray, with many fallen on the ground.
He was somewhat stunned.
Yan Lingzhen kept brainstorming.
"No, no," she murmured to herself.
The shopkeeper heard her, "What’s wrong?"
"The scent is wrong."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper was startled. He looked at the helpers with a fearful gaze, his pupils tremoring.
She had tasted every single one.
The shopkeeper thought, "..." What now?
The young lady wasn’t even of age yet. If the Commandery Princess found out, wouldn’t he be skinned alive?
Just then, Yan Lingzhen, as if she knew what was on his mind, spoke faintly, "I am immune to all poisons, so you don’t need to worry."
The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief, "This is already the most complete collection we have, and the effects are strong. Other local varieties that are weaker have been screened out and not presented."
If the Deputy General had taken such a Love Fragrance, he would have quickly entered a state of arousal. But thinking back to that day, he had even managed to argue with her coherently.
So, it was very likely not a drug.
If it wasn’t a drug, could it be a poison?
Yan Lingzhen suddenly thought of a person she had long forgotten, Huai Xinmei.