"Si Yinchuan, huh? The Shadow of Xuanyuan Mingjing, his little errand boy... I have no grudge against him, and I usually treat him with respect... With his timidity, he couldn’t possibly do something ..."
"Besides, he was in charge of this reception task, which means he’s the primary responsible party for such an incident... What could possibly make him willing to sacrifice himself just to make me lose face?"
"What do you mean, Your Highness?"
"Yes," Zhong Tianque nodded and said, "Tang Fei, he’s the most suspicious one..."
"I was somewhat rude to Tang Fei in my attempts to win over Shen Xinglan... He must have harbored thoughts of revenge..."
"Moreover, it was he who went to pour tea for me... The kettle was out of boiled water, and he went to refill it, giving him the opportunity and time to act..."
"Perhaps the empty kettle was also a ruse he concocted deliberately, just to poison me by taking the kettle inside..."
"But why was there no problem with the cup? Could they have tampered with the cup after I left? He left with me, so if anything was done to it, only Xuanyuan Mingjing could have switched the cup or erased any traces of use..."
"Xuanyuan Mingjing wouldn’t do such a thing, and besides, that Tang Fei should be smart... Just because I had him pour a cup of tea, he dares to do this to me? Does he no longer wish to live?"
"I’ll take some men and apprehend him immediately," Li Xuan said angrily. "We’ll know if it’s him after a single interrogation."
A poisoning incident indicated a dereliction of duty by the bodyguard team.
To amend his own mistake, he needed to capture the suspected culprit immediately.
Whether he was the one or not, they would take him in for questioning first.
When the rigorous procedures of the bodyguard team’s prison are applied, even Sun Monkey with his Eyes of Golden Flame would likely confess.
What’s more, they have Truth Serum; one injection, and whatever is in the stomach has to come out, leaving no room for secrets to be hidden.
"Foolish," Zhong Tianque scolded. "If he were just an ordinary student from White Crane Academy, I would have let you apprehend him long ago... But now he’s a disciple of Xuanyuan Mingjing; without any evidence, do you think Xuanyuan Mingjing will let you take him? And if he doesn’t agree, do you think a few of you can bring him in?"
"...What should we do now?"
"Wait," Zhong Tianque sneered. "Xuanyuan Mingjing might protect him for a moment, but can he protect him for a lifetime? There will come a time to act..."
"For now, we seal the news. I won’t allow any information to leak onto the internet," Zhong Tianque said.
This was his biggest concern, to save face first...
As for the rest, he had plenty of time and energy to play this game with them.
"Yes, Your Highness. When we left White Crane Academy, I already alerted Dean Si, if there is any leakage of information, he will answer to us..."
"Good," Zhong Tianque nodded and said, "You may leave, I need some rest. After such an incident, White Crane Academy owes me an explanation, don’t they?"
"I’ll go and put some pressure on them," said Li Xuan.
At that moment, the doorbell to the room rang.
Li Xuan went and opened the door, finding Princess Phoenix standing outside, and he bowed respectfully, "Your Highness, Princess."
"I heard my elder brother was injured, so I came to see... Is he doing any better?"
"His Highness has just had an injection and gone to sleep. Please wait for His Highness to wake up before visiting, Your Highness," Li Xuan replied, declining her entry.
"Alright then," Phoenix nodded and said, "Please notify me when my elder brother wakes up."
"Yes, Your Highness, the Princess."
After seeing off Phoenix, Li Xuan came back and reported, "Your Highness, Princess Phoenix wanted to visit you. Shall I let her in?"
"Do not allow her," Zhong Tianque replied irritably. "If it weren’t for her bringing back that unruly stray dog from that godforsaken place, how could I have suffered such humiliation? Just thinking about it stokes my anger..."
"Yes, when Princess Phoenix comes again, I will make the refusal on your behalf," Li Xuan said.
"Go, check for any other suspicious individuals or clues we may have overlooked..."
Si Yinchuan apologized to Xuanyuan Mingjing with a guilty expression, "Dean, this is all my fault, I failed to do my job as a host, and as a result, the Eldest Prince suffered such an indignity..."
"I had originally arranged lunch at the Spring and Autumn Pavilion, intending to invite the Eldest Prince to dine there... But the Eldest Prince insisted on going to the academy’s canteen, saying he wanted to taste the delicacies of our academy’s canteen, and also wanted to have a chat with the students up close..."
"I thought since the Eldest Prince wanted to foster relations with the students, it wasn’t my place to object... It’s all my fault, for taking it upon myself to take the Eldest Prince to the canteen. Wouldn’t it have been better to go to Spring and Autumn Pavilion? How could such an incident have happened there?"
Xuanyuan Mingjing, poised and graceful as ever, sat there, his face as calm as usual, seemingly unconcerned about the gravity of the situation.
He looked up at Si Yinchuan and asked, "How can you be so sure that the problem lies within the academy’s canteen? How do you know it was a hygiene issue there?"
"With so many students and yourself having eaten there without issue... Is this really about the food’s sanitation?"