The fool has become a spirit, and she can speak

Chapter 1895 is not that simple.

Chef Liu wiped the cold sweat from his brow and continued, "Your Highness, as you know, the kitchen purchasing is not my responsibility as a chef. I only manage things within the kitchen. When the vegetables are delivered to our kitchen, I am only responsible for receiving and inspecting them according to the order. I took half a day off yesterday, and when I came back, the vegetables had already been delivered and inspected, and they were all arranged in rows!"

Shang tide glanced at Yu Hua, who immediately understood. "That's right. Someone brought a message yesterday morning saying that Chef Liu's wife is giving birth and he needs to take half a day off."

Chef Liu was not a servant in the mansion; he was hired because of his excellent cooking skills. He lived relatively close to the mansion and usually went home. However, on special occasions, he would stay in the side room of the kitchen courtyard, which served as the dormitory for the kitchen workers. The kitchen workers who lived in the mansion long-term also stayed in the side room of the kitchen courtyard.

For ease of management, the servants of the Prince's Mansion did not live together. Little servants like Da Yan lived in the servants' quarters, and they all lived separately.

However, Chef Liu stays at the Prince's mansion every month, for example, on special holidays or when the mansion hosts banquets. He didn't leave last night, waiting in the kitchen. Only after the banquet in the main hall ended did he go to lie down in a side room in the kitchen courtyard. He still wasn't sound asleep, and the incident of Big Eyes foaming at the mouth woke everyone up, and it hasn't been quiet since.

Shang tide looked at Chef Liu kneeling on the ground and asked, "You weren't here yesterday, so who took on the responsibility of receiving and inspecting the vegetables?"

Without hesitation, Chef Liu said, "It will fall to Second Chef Cai Dagu in turn."

Buying vegetables is simply a matter of following the list. As long as the items match and look good, there's nothing else to be picky about.

Furthermore, this first step is usually handled by Steward Yuhua, and the dishes are usually sourced from fixed vegetable vendors and butcher shops.

Steward Yuhua is the most meticulous person. On her way from home to the Prince's Mansion, she can go to the market to check the vegetables. If she is willing to spend a few extra copper coins, they can even deliver the vegetables to her mansion. If she wants to save a few copper coins, she can bring the people from the Prince's Mansion to carry the goods herself.

The kitchen doesn't care how the vegetables came about; they only inspect them upon receipt. As long as they're not rotten, bad, or smelly, they accept them and then store them in the kitchen and storage room according to their type. This is the first time they've encountered poisonous mushrooms.

Before Shang Xi's gaze could fall on the second chef, Cai Dagu, she heard Cai Dagu hurriedly explain, "Yesterday my younger brother came to me and said that my mother was sick, so I told the steward that I was going to see my mother. As for what dishes were in the kitchen, I have no idea. If Your Highness doesn't believe me, you can look at my leave record. It's written very clearly in the leave book."

That's right. The Prince's mansion doesn't have many people, but it's well-managed. If you want to know about the activities of the servants, you can go to the steward's office. Night duty, receiving money and assigning tasks, taking leave and returning to work, all happen in the steward's office. There is a leave book in the steward's office, and everyone in the mansion takes leave and the reason is recorded. If you want to know if these people are lying, you can just go to the steward's office and you'll see for yourself.

The second chef, Cai Dagu, made it very clear: the person wasn't present, he didn't collect the vegetables, and frankly, the vegetables had nothing to do with him.

At this moment, Mi Tun, who was young and couldn't bear the pain, burst into tears, "Your Highness, it has nothing to do with them. I was the one who collected the vegetables yesterday..."

"Mi Tun, I haven't even asked you yet, so shut up. Head Chef Liu's wife is giving birth, Second Chef Cai Dagu's mother is sick, and Third Chef Hai Laosan, where did you go yesterday? Did something happen at home too?"

Hai Laosan's face turned blue and purple. He could tell that the princess was angry. "I am a long-term worker in the palace. My family is from out of town. I haven't been home for two years. Even if something happens to my family, they can't find me. I... I don't know what I ate yesterday. I had diarrhea for a whole day and spent it in the outhouse. I only felt better in the afternoon. I didn't cook lunch."

At this moment, Mi Tun interrupted again, crying, "The head chef is not here, the second chef is not here, and the third chef can't come out of the latrine. I cooked lunch yesterday. I saw that the mushrooms were fresh and I had never seen them before, so I thought they were some kind of rare and precious mushrooms. I was afraid of wasting the ingredients, so I didn't cook them and waited for the head chefs to use them when they cooked. But I didn't know that the mushrooms were poisonous. I didn't recognize the mushrooms either, and I was thinking to myself that I didn't know them because I was ignorant. After all, it was Steward Yu Hua who bought these mushrooms. Even if I didn't recognize them, Steward Yu Hua must have. Or maybe the prince and princess specifically asked for these kinds of mushrooms that I didn't recognize, so Steward Yu Hua bought them."

Shang Xi turned her gaze to Yu Hua's face beside her. Yu Hua slapped herself twice, her face instantly turning red and swollen. She immediately knelt on the ground, crying and saying, "Yesterday morning, I went to my usual vegetable vendor to buy vegetables. Then an old lady was selling mushrooms next to me, saying that she had picked them from the mountain the day before and they were very fresh. The main thing was that the price she was offering was not expensive, much cheaper than the mushrooms from the other vegetable vendors I knew. Seeing that they were fresh and cheap, I asked the porters to take them to the Prince's Mansion. I just thought there were many kinds of mushrooms and didn't think much of it."

Upon hearing this, Shang tide's brows furrowed, sensing that something was amiss. "Can we still find that mushroom seller?"

Yu Hua thought for a moment: "I have some impression of her, but I don't know where to find her. Most of these people who come to the city to sell vegetables are from the surrounding villages. They only come to the city when they have vegetables in their hands."

After Yu Hua said that finding someone was like looking for a needle in a haystack, Shang tide questioned everyone again before letting the people in the back kitchen leave, and then asked Yu Hua to stand up.

With no outsiders around, Yu Hua cried even harder.

"Shang tide, I'm the one who's to blame! Do you think I'll be beheaded? Have I dragged the Prince Pang's mansion down with me? Is our Chen family finished too?"

"It's hard to say who's implicated, but after thinking it over, I still suspect this matter isn't so simple. Yuhua, can you find the old lady who sold you the mushrooms? Logically speaking, farmers of that age should know more about the things in the mountains than we do. Someone who's lived half their life shouldn't be unaware of whether mushrooms are poisonous!"

"You mean that old lady deliberately sold me the poisonous mushrooms!" Yu Hua stopped crying, looking both angry and incredulous.

Shang tide glanced at Yu Hua, whose emotions had changed so quickly, and asked in return, "Otherwise, how else can this be explained?"

Yu Hua flung her sleeves, angrily declaring, "I'm going to the street to find her!"

Shang tide was exhausted, having not slept all night and feeling utterly drained. She returned to her small courtyard, intending to wash and groom herself properly. She had barely half-reclined in the wooden tub when she fell asleep. When she was woken up, she asked the servants and learned that she had slept for half an hour.