"Thank you, Empress! Thank you, Empress, for your mercy!" the two kowtowed their thanks.
At that very moment, Dong Xuerou secretly decided that after this matter was over, she would no longer associate closely with Zhou Yanran.
To get to the bottom of it, all of this was caused by Zhou Yanran. She hated prostitutes and, relying on her family's power, acted arrogantly outside, thinking that the low-born commoners wouldn't dare confront her. As a result, the owner of Hongfen Jiaren didn't give her face.
Haughty and domineering, she couldn't swallow this bitter pill and chose revenge. She had only wanted to use her a little, but ended up on her pirate ship, only to kick an iron plate and stir up such a big mess.
Zhou Yanran was foolish, incompetent, and only good at causing trouble. If she stayed with her for too long, she would definitely drag herself down.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yanran also decided to draw a clear line with Dong Xuerou in her heart. She had originally just wanted the Fifth Princess's face to have an allergic reaction for a few days, but she didn't expect Dong Xuerou to bring out poison and directly disfigure the Fifth Princess.
This was going too far.
If Dong Xuerou hadn't disfigured the princess's face, perhaps she wouldn't have been drawn into such a big whirlpool.
With their own thoughts, the two of them still needed to cooperate on this matter, so they both acted like good sisters as before, neither intending to show any distance.
Dong Xuerou organized her thoughts and asked respectfully, "The Empress said we should atone for our crimes. What does Her Majesty want us to do?"
The Empress looked down at them and said sternly, "Although that box of rouge was tampered with by you two, I need you to find a way to divert the blame and cast the blame onto the owner of Hongfen Jiaren, to put them to death. Can you do it?"
Dong Xuerou and Zhou Yanran were overjoyed.
They hadn't expected that the Empress and they would have a common enemy, and moreover, wasn't the Empress punishing them? She was clearly helping them strike at their enemy and then make a perfect escape!
Dong Xuerou said with delight, "Empress, please rest assured, we will definitely do it!"
In fact, even if the Empress hadn't asked them to do this, they had planned to frame the maid who bought the rouge. As long as they controlled the maid, they could clear themselves.
"Yes, yes, Empress, we will not disappoint you! Please rest assured!" Zhou Yanran was so happy she could jump.
The Empress watched them coldly, her expression gradually becoming stern, "Remember, no matter what happens in the court tomorrow, you must not mention this Empress even half a word. Otherwise, the consequences will be your own responsibility!"
"Yes! Empress, please rest assured, all of this has nothing to do with you," Zhou Yanran patted her chest with great spirit.
Dong Xuerou kowtowed, "We are already extremely grateful for the Empress's willingness to give us a chance to atone for our crimes. No matter the outcome tomorrow, we will accept our fate, and the Empress knows nothing about all of this."
The Empress nodded with satisfaction, "Well, remember your promise. However, after this matter, I hope you will stay away from my Yao'er and never appear before her again.
The Zhou and Dong duo paused for a moment and immediately replied, "Yes!"
Even if the Empress hadn't said so, they wouldn't have appeared before the Fifth Princess; they weren't stupid.
The Empress not pursuing this matter didn't mean the Fifth Princess wouldn't. If she knew they had harmed her face, she would surely skin them alive.
"Alright, there isn't much time, go back and get to work," the Empress said indifferently.
"Yes, Empress," as the Zhou and Dong duo stood up from the ground, their legs were stiff and numb, and when they walked, they looked like grasshoppers walking upright.
The Empress watched them and smiled mockingly.
Hiding in the dark, the several spies responsible for monitoring the Empress heard this news and immediately decided to split into two groups.
Two of them quickly went to the Dali Temple prison to inform Lu Ye, while the other two respectively tracked Zhou Yanran and Dong Xuerou to see what their next move would be.
That night, Lu Ye stayed in prison to cover for Bai Sheng. Bai Sheng then used her spatial ability to sneak into Xinyao's palace and, with a thought, retrieved the box of rouge she had hidden into her space.
A spice in the rouge was produced from her space. Bai Sheng only needed to find the rouge box within a 200-meter radius, which was very easy.
Bai Sheng opened the rouge box and found that the rouge had already slightly changed color, clearly poisoned. As for what poison it was, she still needed to research it.
After taking a small amount of rouge and placing it in the alchemy room of her space, Bai Sheng returned to the large house and slipped into Yang Ming's room.
Bai Sheng woke Yang Ming and handed him the rouge box, telling him to act according to the situation tomorrow and pretend that San Gouzi had found it in the palace's trash heap to fool those two yamen runners.
Yang Ming was both surprised and embarrassed to see Bai Sheng suddenly enter his room and stand by his bed, speaking to him in a low voice, his cheeks burning with heat.
"Madam, how... how did you get out of prison?"
Bai Sheng gave a sly smile, "I practice a mysterious martial art. Alright, don't ask too many questions. Remember, you must make it look like San Gouzi found the rouge in the palace's trash heap tomorrow."
"Understood, Madam," Yang Ming nodded heavily.
The spies had already reported Zhou Yanran and Dong Xuerou's plan to Lu Ye. After Bai Sheng returned to prison, it was Lu Ye's turn to go out on business.
In order to make a beautiful comeback tomorrow, this pair of scorpions and snakes were busy in the prison that night, going in and out.
The prison: I feel deeply ignored.
Bai Sheng had Lu Hua help her cover, while she secretly entered her space to figure out what poison had been put into the rouge.
There were not many poisons that could cause skin to rot, and most of these poisons were common in the inner chambers of wealthy families, ideal for domestic disputes.
After all, a woman's face was a weapon for vying for favor; if you dared to compete with me for a man, I would ruin your face.
However, Bai Sheng discovered that the poison in the Fifth Princess's rouge was not an ordinary disfigurement drug; it didn't seem to be something produced in the Great Xia Kingdom.
Bai Sheng recalled a flower she had inadvertently heard about in modern times. The name of that flower was "Bad Woman Flower," and she remembered it clearly precisely because of its special name.
Bad Woman Flower was mainly distributed in the southwestern United States and Mexico.
This flower could secrete a corrosive milky liquid. If one accidentally came into contact with the sap, it would cause skin poisoning, leading to unbearable pain, and the skin would quickly fester under the stimulation of the potent toxin, leaving one's skin appearance extremely unsightly and causing difficult-to-heal wounds.
Bai Sheng felt that the poison in the rouge should be "Bad Woman Flower."
This poison was extremely rare in the Great Xia Kingdom, so the poisoner was very confident, thinking that even imperial physicians would find it difficult to detect.
However, everything had two sides. Precisely because it was rare, it was easier to expose.
In the entire Great Xia Kingdom, only Prime Minister Dong's family had contact with foreign countries in the Americas, because one of Prime Minister Dong's sons was a businessman who frequently traveled to the American continent and could easily obtain the Bad Woman Flower poison.