novelraw Chapter 164 Anomaly Detected
Chapter 164 Anomaly Detected
Upon seeing this, Tinglu asked, "Your Highness, is something amiss?"
Song Shuangning said, "Come and smell this soil. Doesn't it have a pungent smell?"
Tingyu and Tinglu each picked up a bit of soil, brought it to their noses, and sniffed it, both showing surprise.
"Your Majesty, it does indeed have a pungent smell, which is quite strange. Jasmine is supposed to be an elegant flower, and the potting soil should be loose, moist, and fragrant. How could it have a pungent smell?"
Song Shuangning washed her hands, immersing them in the cool copper basin water, her gaze falling on her slender, fair hands.
Tinglu is right. Jasmine is supposed to be an elegant flower, but the soil smells pungent. Something must be wrong.
The fragrance of jasmine becomes more intense at night.
Therefore, her heat and irritability are more pronounced at night.
"Your Highness, shall we summon the head of the flower room for questioning?"
Song Shuangning picked up a handkerchief to wipe her hands and slowly shook her head: "Don't make a fuss yet, lest we alert them. Quietly find two people who know about plants and go to the library to fetch a few books on plants and trees and copy them down."
Hearing Lu respond, he withdrew.
Only Tingyu remained in the hall, and she carefully observed her expression.
Song Shuangning raised her hand to signal to her, and Tingyu stepped forward nervously, her head lowered and not daring to say a word.
"I didn't really mean to be angry with you, it's just that I couldn't control my emotions."
Tingyu nodded emphatically: "This servant knows, Your Highness need not take it to heart."
"Take your nightgown and a few casual clothes that you usually wear, and come with me to the Zichen Palace."
If I can sleep peacefully tonight, without the heat and restlessness of the past few nights, it will be enough to prove that there is something fishy about that soil.
Now that Song Shuangning is coming to Zichen Palace, there is no need to announce her arrival. Xiao Yan himself said that she can come whenever she wants.
Song Shuangning leaned against the soft couch, and Xue Tuan curled up in her arms, purring comfortably.
It was already past midnight when Xiao Yan finished handling official business.
He glanced at the fluffy thing and thought, "Why did you bring this little thing here?"
Song Shuangning hugged Xue Tuan and snuggled up to him, pinching Xue Tuan's little paws as if she were bowing.
"Xuetuan, quickly pay your respects to your father, the Emperor."
Xiao Yan: "?"
"Father?" He looked both disgusted and amused.
Song Shuangning replied matter-of-factly, "That's right, Xue Tuan is my beloved son, so naturally he's also Your Majesty's son. Doesn't Your Majesty want to acknowledge him?"
Xiao Yan had a vague premonition that if he dared to deny it, Ningning would definitely drag Xue Tuan along and berate him until he was completely worthless.
He smiled helplessly: "Whatever you say, whatever you say."
He never expected that one day he would have such a "cat son".
Xiao Yan tidied her hair. "How are you today? Are you still feeling... restless?"
Song Shuangning shook her head.
She remained silent for a moment, but decided not to tell the Emperor about the unusual nature of the potted soil.
There were some things she wanted to investigate herself rather than rely solely on the Emperor.
Furthermore.
The emperor's perception of himself is not the whole picture.
Zheng Shuangning is an absolute bad person, vindictive and narrow-minded.
She wasn't sure if the Emperor could accept her as she was.
After washing up, the two rested.
Song Shuangning was still feeling a bit hot tonight, but not as restless and unable to sleep as she had been the previous few nights. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and forced herself to calm down. In less than a quarter of an hour, she fell asleep.
But Xiao Yan's situation was quite different.
He sighed helplessly. As long as he shared a bed with Ningning, he could forget about getting a good night's sleep.
As they were tossing and turning, they suddenly heard a rustling sound at their feet.
The snowball had silently slipped up without anyone noticing.
He frowned, picked up Xue Tuan by the back of his neck, and placed him on the floor.
Before long, the white dumpling nimbly jumped up again.
Xiao Yan had no choice but to lift it up again, but it climbed back up again. After several such attempts, Xiao Yan finally gave up, shaking his head and laughing helplessly.
This cat, like its owner, is prone to becoming arrogant and spoiled because of the affection it receives.
*
When she woke up in the morning, Song Shuangning stretched lazily and felt light and refreshed.
I slept very soundly last night.
I haven't had a good night's sleep in ages.
Sure enough, the problem lay with that pot of jasmine; once away from Yaohua Palace, the bothersome restlessness and heat disappeared.
Could it be an aphrodisiac?
No, Song Shuangning immediately denied it.
But if it were an aphrodisiac, how could Physician Zhang not detect it at all?
After lunch, she carried Xue Tuan back to Yaohua Palace.
Two elderly women with graying temples were already waiting; they had been invited by Tinglu in secret, without letting a word out.
Song Shuangning pointed to the soil in the jasmine pot from yesterday and got straight to the point: "Take a look, what's soaked in this soil? Why does it have a pungent smell?"
The two old women each took a pinch of soil and smelled it carefully. They exchanged puzzled glances before replying, "Your Majesty, the smell of this soil is really strange. I have been tending to flowers and plants for decades and have never seen such pungent potting soil. I really can't figure it out."
Song Shuangning was taken aback: "Even you didn't know?"
The old nanny lowered her head and shook her head: "We servants are ignorant and have never encountered such a strange thing before."
Song Shuangning frowned, lost in thought and remained silent.
Even the old women who had spent half their lives tending to flowers and plants couldn't tell the difference. They were all experienced gardeners in the palace and had seen all sorts of rare flowers, plants, and fertilizers.
Therefore, this substance is definitely not a common herbal remedy found in the palace.
Not only rare, but unheard of.
It would not have been like this unless it was a herbal remedy that had never appeared in this palace before.
As Song Shuangning looked up, an answer suddenly became clear in her mind.
Then Song Shuangning had everyone start looking through the records of flowers and plants taken from the library. Everyone gathered around the table and looked through them word by word. As the sun began to set, they searched through all the books but found no record of anything related to Xin Tu.
Everyone looked listless.
Tingyu looked up from the pile of books and called out, "Your Majesty, I've found it!"
It's nutmeg—
This flower was an exotic plant introduced during the reign of Emperor Wenchengzu. However, it was delicate and difficult to cultivate. It needed to be planted in shady and damp humus soil and could not be exposed to direct sunlight. After several attempts to cultivate it, it withered and died. In the end, the effort had to be abandoned.
Its rhizome has a very faint sweet and spicy aroma, which is extremely difficult to distinguish when mixed with the earthy smell.
Although this flower is gentle in nature, it is also extremely domineering.
If consumed in excess, it can cause significant emotional agitation, and may even lead to feelings of heat, irritability, restlessness, and dizziness.
Over time, it will ruin a person's health.
The candlelight flickered gently, making even the shadow of Song Shuangning's clothes seem a bit colder.
The first three months of pregnancy are the most unstable. Being disturbed every day, with restless emotions and agitated mind, is very likely to result in miscarriage.
Song Shuangning's beautiful face was expressionless, except for her almond-shaped eyes, which held a flicker of anger.