The Female Psychology PhD Who Time Traveled to the Royal Harem

Eunuch Hong chuckled lightly, "Isn't it normal for you not to know, boy? Your godfather here has his own ways."

Any eunuch who has been in the palace for a long time and holds some status often has better sources of information than even the concubines.

In the small kitchen of Kunning Palace, Xi Que held a magnifying glass, her big eyes wide as she searched around the stove for something.

Nanny Xiang stood beside her, equally anxious. "Have you found it? I'm not sure. I only caught a glimpse at the time and thought I might have been mistaken. If we can't find it, could someone have taken it? I don't think I was wrong. Oh, my mind..."

A ring of fish soup residue remained uncleaned on the stove. Shuang Jiang wiped it with a handkerchief and brought it to her nose to smell.

The cold, fishy odor filled her nostrils, but if she focused, there seemed to be another faint scent lingering.

No wonder the Empress had refused to drink more after just two sips, commenting that the kitchen staff might have been too excited and lost their usual touch.

At the time, Nanny Xiang hadn't taken it seriously and even urged the Empress to eat more fish to nourish her body.

Thankfully, the Empress hadn't listened, or Nanny Xiang would have wanted to bang her head against a wall in regret.

Time passed, and the sun, high in the sky, began its slow descent toward the west, casting its light into the small kitchen.

Suddenly, Xi Que's magnifying glass caught a glint of light. Following it upward, she noticed a large hole in the roof.

She gasped and moved the magnifying glass away, realizing a tile was missing.

Shuang Jiang and Nanny Xiang also saw it.

"No wonder... no wonder I didn't see anyone. The poison must have dripped into the fish soup through a spider's thread. I knew I wasn't mistaken. I really did see a spider's thread."

Nanny Xiang, along with Nanny Li, had been chosen by the Dowager Empress and trained for years to protect the Emperor. Later, she was secretly sent by the Emperor to protect Jiang Xinyue and the Crown Prince. She certainly had some real skills.

This time, however, she had made a fatal mistake.

She had assumed that the Empress, being second only to the Emperor and surrounded by her own people in Kunning Palace, would never be in danger.

She had let her guard down, too careless.

Xiao Xiangzi brought a ladder, and together with Jiang Chuan, they climbed onto the roof to inspect the area around the missing tile.

"Xiao Xiangzi, be careful," Xi Que called out, still holding the magnifying glass and shining it on the roof from the courtyard. "The poisoner must have come from the roof. Look carefully for any clues."

"What's this?" Jiang Chuan picked up a small, lidless green porcelain bottle from the ground, as if dropped in a hurry.

Xiao Xiangzi circled the roof a few more times, ensuring nothing else was out of place, before climbing down with Jiang Chuan.

Shuang Jiang snatched the bottle and sniffed it. "This is the smell from the fish soup! This is it!"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Quick, take it to Yan the Imperial Physician..."

Darkness... endless darkness...

Jiang Xinyue walked through the abyss, unable to discern direction or the passage of time.

But faint, urgent voices called to her: "Xinyue, Xinyue, wake up."

"Mother... Mother, don't leave Tuantuan. Tuantuan is good, Tuantuan will be obedient."

"Empress... Empress..."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... how pitiful. So young, and she died in a car accident. I heard she was the best psychologist at Jing City's top private hospital, earning a million a year. What a waste."

"It was horrifying. The scene was so bloody. I heard her parents didn't even come to the morgue to identify her. Instead, they went straight to Dongcheng Hospital to demand eighty million in compensation!"

"Would the hospital agree to that?"

"Well, they're going to court now. That woman is her birth mother, but she remarried and had a son with her new husband. She's just trying to profit from her daughter's death, using the compensation for her son."

"What about her father?"

"He left the country years ago and never cared for her. He married some foreigner in France or England and settled abroad."

"How tragic. I hope she can be reborn into a better family and live a happy life."

"Mother, Tuantuan has candy. Candy for Mother. Father is crying... Fourth Brother is crying too. Tuantuan won't cry... Tuantuan will wait for Mother to wake up."

"Mother, if you keep sleeping, Tuantuan will ask Grand Tutor to spank you! It'll hurt..."

"Wah... Mother... Tuantuan wants Mother... Wah... Tuantuan is scared..."

Tears slid down the cheeks of the stunning woman lying in bed, disappearing into her hairline.

The child's cries stirred something deep within her. Her fingers twitched, and a powerful will to survive surged through her body.

She wanted to rise and hold her child, to tell him that his mother hadn't abandoned him, that he wasn't unwanted, that she loved him more than anything.

Tuantuan... Tuantuan, don't cry. Mother's heart is breaking.

"Thud!"

The sound of someone landing on the floor from the rafters.

Jiang Xinyue felt a murderous aura bearing down on her. Her eyes, which had been tightly shut, suddenly flew open, glaring at the black-clad figure standing by her bed.

The dagger in the assassin's hand had just been raised when Jiang Xinyue's sudden movement startled them, causing them to stumble backward, almost falling off the bed.

In that moment of hesitation, Jiang Xinyue swiftly rolled to the corner of the bed and shouted, "Assassin! Xi Que, come quick! Catch the assassin!"

Her voice was sharp and piercing. The assassin, momentarily stunned, quickly regained composure and lunged at her with the dagger.

"Clang!"

A date pit knocked the dagger from the assassin's hand. Jiang Xinyue snatched it up and bolted.

"Xinyue!"

The Xuanwu Emperor kicked aside a stool blocking his path and caught Jiang Xinyue as she rushed toward him, holding her tightly in his arms. The joy of having her back and the lingering fear made his hands tremble.

His nerves relaxed, and his legs felt weak. He leaned against a table, continuously soothing the woman in his arms. "It's alright... it's alright... don't be afraid. I'm here."

Meng Qingyu dislocated the assassin's arms and kicked the back of their knees, forcing them to kneel.

Xi Que rushed forward and yanked off the assassin's mask. "Nanny Yun! It's you? Who sent you?"

Nanny Yun's chest heaved violently. Exposed, a look of terror crossed her face.

In contrast, Jiang Xinyue showed no fear. Her head tilted slightly on the Xuanwu Emperor's shoulder, her eyes conveying a silent message to Xi Que and Shuang Jiang.

Shuang Jiang knelt down with Xi Que. "Your Majesty, Xi Que and I found spider threads soaked in poison in the kitchen. A roof tile was also removed. Nanny Yun is skilled in martial arts. She must have climbed onto the roof to poison the Empress."