Luan Feng Palace.
"Today, I have gathered all of you here to prepare for the ancestral worship next month. At the beginning of the month, His Majesty will bring the princes to the ancestral temple to fast. Although we are women, we still have to do our part for the royal family. I've decided that from the first day of the next month, all palaces will fast at the same time and chant scriptures once every morning and evening to show respect to our ancestors. I wonder if any of you sisters have any objections?" The Empress was dressed in a dark purple phoenix robe and sat on the phoenix chair, giving off the aura of a mother.
"ChenQie will obey the Empress's orders.”The concubines said in unison.
Suddenly, a cry of surprise came from His Highness.
Handsome Fairness Yu collapsed to the ground, her face pale and her body trembling. Blood kept gushing out from between her legs.
The concubines were shocked.
Yu Juan 'er also put away her usual indifference and immediately stood up, frowning.
Wen Miaoran was the first to arrive at Handsome Fairness Liu's side, helping her up from the ground. Seeing this scene, he immediately shouted,"Men, quickly call the imperial physician."
The Empress immediately reacted and hurriedly said,""Sisters, please return to the palace first. We can discuss other matters later." As he spoke, he quickly came to Liu Jie Yu's side and helped Wen Miaoran support the pale Liu Jie Yu.
Seeing this, all the imperial concubines immediately bid farewell and returned to the palace. Only Wen Miaoran, Shang Zhirong, and Yu Juan 'er were left in the entire Feng Luan Palace Hall. The eunuchs and palace maids did not dare to come forward to help in order to avoid suspicion. Shang Zhirong was so anxious that her forehead was sweating." Sister Consort De, come and help us. Help us move Handsome Fairness Liu to the inner room."”Only then did Yu Juan 'er react and hurriedly went forward to help.
Handsome Fairness Liu's face was already pale, as if she had already fainted. The three of them carefully carried Handsome Fairness Liu onto the bed. Looking at the lifeless Handsome Fairness Liu on the bed, the three of them looked at each other. At this moment, everyone's skirts were stained with blood, like blooming peonies. It was coquettish and strange. It seemed that he could only wait for the imperial physician to come before making a decision.
an hour later
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this old official is useless.”Imperial Physician An knelt on the ground, not daring to look directly at Tian Ze.
"What did you say? Say it again!" Tian Ze's voice resounded throughout the entire Feng Luan Palace Hall.
Imperial Physician An trembled when he heard this." Your Majesty, Handsome Fairness Liu has already left.”This time, the imperial physician's voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible.
Tian Ze ran over to the bed and held onto Handsome Fairness Yu's already ice-cold hands. Looking at the blood all over the bed, he asked,""How could this be? Tell this one, how could Handsome Fairness Liu suddenly have a miscarriage? Why couldn't he be saved?”Tian Ze's face was filled with killing intent.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Jie Yu niangniang was poisoned by the monkshood, and it was the monkshood that caused niangniang to miscarry. Jie Yu niangniang's body was weak to begin with, and in addition the amount of poison niangniang took was also quite large, so that niangniang lost too much blood after miscarriage, that's why…"
After Tian Ze listened, he lost control and shouted,"Who wants to harm my prince? Who is it?" Ever since I ascended the throne, I have never encountered such a case of poisoning the princes and concubines. He actually dared to stir up trouble in my harem. If I find out, I will definitely not let him off.”As he spoke, he turned to Quan Zhong and said,""Quanzhong, I'll leave this matter to you. Give me an explanation within three days.”At this moment, Tian Ze had completely lost his usual gentleness and was like a lion that had gone mad. It made people feel fear.
"This old servant will obey." The inner palace manager Quan Zhong complied with Tian Ze's instructions and left the room.
The entire Feng Luan Palace fell into an unprecedented silence. It was a long while before Tian Ze recovered from his immense grief. She turned to the Empress and said," Empress, you will be in charge of Yu Jieyu's funeral. You will be buried in the Imperial Mausoleum according to the etiquette of the nine concubines."”Tian Ze tried his best to speak in a gentle tone.
"ChenQie obeys." The Empress immediately said respectfully, seemingly still having lingering fears over Tian Ze's loss of control earlier.
"My two beloved concubines have worked hard today.”Tian Ze also said to Wen Miaoran and Yu Juan 'er as gently as he could.
"My condolences, Your Majesty." Wen Miaoran looked at Tian Ze with heartache.
Tian Ze waved his hand and did not say anything else.
Ever since the incident with Liu Jie Yu, everyone in the Imperial Palace had been in danger. They were all afraid of being involved in this matter. In particular, the concubines who frequently interacted with Liu Jie Yu were even more restless, afraid that they would be charged with murdering the prince and killing the imperial concubine. The already deserted harem became even more deserted.
Three days later, at the Hall of Political Decrees.
Tian Ze sat on the dragon chair tiredly, while Shang Zhirong, Wen Miaoran and Yu Juan 'er sat on both sides.
"Quanzhong, tell me everything you found.”Tian Ze did not raise his head and his voice was devoid of any emotion.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Quan Zhong bowed respectfully to Tian Ze.
"After these few days, this old servant found out that Jie Yu niangniang indeed died from the poison of acorn. The source of the poison was in the tea in the Luan Feng Hall that day. After this old servant's investigation, out of the seventeen cups of tea that day, only the cup of Empress Jie Yu's was poisoned. Afterwards, this old servant found a small amount of monkshood powder in the small kitchen of Feng Luan Hall, which should have been left behind by the poisoner. Therefore, this old servant guessed that the person who poisoned the food must be someone from the Luan Feng Hall. Otherwise, the murderer wouldn't be able to freely enter and exit Feng Luan Hall and accurately poison Jie Yu niangniang.”
Upon hearing this, the Empress's face was filled with horror." Your Majesty, Chenqie really did not know anything about Handsome Fairness Liu's matter. Chenqie was wronged. Chenqie did not poison her.”
Tian Ze ignored the Empress and said to Quan Zhong,""Continue."
"Empress, please calm down and allow this old servant to continue.”Quan Zhong consoled him in a very respectful tone. Shang Zhirong had no choice but to shut up and continue listening to Quanzhong.
"After this old servant's investigation, within three months, only one master took acorn from the Imperial Academy of Medicine, and it wasn't the Empress. It's…"
"It's me." Yu Juan 'er stood up with a calm expression." Every month, I would send a maidservant to the Imperial Academy of Medicine to get some white monkshood, poria cocos, white peony root, white ampelopsis root, and white sandalwood. These herbs were used to make perfume powder. I took the monkshood root, but I didn't do anything harmful. You wouldn't conclude that I did it based on this clue, would you?"”He looked at Quan Zhong with disdain.
Quan Zhong's face was full of smiles." Your Majesty is too serious. How could this old servant dare to casually pin such a big crime on Your Majesty? However, this matter is even more serious than this old servant imagined. If this old servant didn't guess wrongly, this person should have committed a capital crime of murdering the Empress.”
Everyone was shocked. Quan Zhong continued," This person first bribed the servants of Luan Feng Hall and chose to poison Jie Yu niangniang on that day. Then, he deliberately left a small amount of monkshood powder in the small kitchen and told us that it was the people of Luan Feng Hall who poisoned her, so as to frame the Empress. This way, he could kill the little prince and also get rid of the Empress. The person who dared to do this must be the big master of the palace. Fortunately, under this old servant's investigation, they had already found the traitor in Luan Feng Hall.”Quan Zhong turned around and shouted at the door,""Bring the prisoner here."
They saw two eunuchs carrying a palace maid dressed in green into the palace.
The green-robed palace maid knelt on the ground, her limbs curled together in extreme fear.
"Raise your head and tell His Majesty who instructed you to kill the prince and frame the empress.”Quan Zhong said threateningly.
The woman trembled and raised her head. Everyone was shocked. The kneeling woman was clearly the Empress's most trusted maid, Rui 'er.
Rui 'er raised her head and looked around."" Rui 'er knows that she deserves to die ten thousand times. Now that things have come to this, Rui' er can only say the real murderer who killed Lady Jie Yu. The person who instigated this servant is her…"
"Consort De Niangniang."
Everyone's gaze fell on Yu Juan 'er.
Yu Juan 'er slammed the table and stood up." You're slandering me. Tell me, who instigated you to frame me?"”Yu Juan 'er was so angry that her face turned red.
"This servant did not lie. That day, it was the Empress who found this servant. She told this servant that she had not been sleeping well recently. Although the Emperor doted on Consort De, she could not have a dragon descendant. On the other hand, Liu Jie Yu was pregnant and was currently favored, so she was afraid that the Emperor's favor would be diluted. Moreover, Handsome Fairness Liu had once angered Consort De in Deqing Hall, mocking her for not having children. The Empress had always held a grudge. Now that Consort De and the Empress had no children, and Consort De was now the most favored in the Inner Palace, it would be better to poison Handsome Fairness Liu to death and then frame the Empress, killing two birds with one stone. At that time, one would die and the other would be deposed, and Consort De would be able to smoothly become the Empress. At that time, Consort De would agree to let this servant be the highest female official in the internal court. From then on, she would no longer have to be bullied by others. This servant was possessed for a moment and…"As she spoke, she burst into tears.
Seeing that none of the masters had spoken, Quan Zhong sighed regretfully,""Men, drag Rui 'er away before you deal with her.”After saying that, the two eunuchs carried Rui 'er, who was already in tears, and retreated.
Quan Zhong took a deep look at Yu Juan 'er, whose face was flushed red, and continued,""In addition, this old servant also found an accomplice, that is Imperial Physician An of the Imperial Academy of Medicine. However, he had already committed suicide yesterday to avoid punishment and even left behind a letter of death. The words written in the book are exactly the same as what Rui 'er said. If you say that one person framed the Empress, we can believe that you are innocent, but now the evidence is there. Could it be that there were still people foolish enough to use their own lives to frame the Empress? This is the letter of death left behind by Imperial Physician An. Please take a look, Your Majesty.”With that, he placed a letter on the case in front of Tian Ze.”
At this moment, Tian Ze raised his head and saw that his eyes were bloodshot and he looked extremely haggard. Tian Ze did not read the letter and instead stood up abruptly and walked towards Yu Juan 'er. Everyone held their breaths. He raised his hand and clamped Yu Juan 'er's chin." What else do you have to say? I love you so much, but you…You disappoint me."”As he spoke, he unconsciously increased his strength.
Yu Juan 'er's eyes were filled with tears as she said with difficulty,""Your Majesty, do you believe that ChenQie did it?"
"The evidence is right in front of you. How do you want me to believe you?”Tian Ze flung his hand away abruptly.
Yu Juan 'er staggered and almost fell. She stubbornly raised her head." Since Your Majesty has determined that I did it, I have nothing to say.”
"Zhen never wants to see you again. Zhen will leave your corpse intact. Kill yourself." After saying that, he walked out of the Hall of Public Announcement without looking back. No one saw his expression.
Everything seemed to have happened too quickly. In just an instant, a person's life and death were decided. Perhaps this was the so-called harem.
Seeing Tian Ze leave, the Empress looked at Yu Juan 'er, whose face was filled with tears, with a complicated gaze. In fact, in her opinion, although Yu Juan 'er was arrogant and spoiled, she was definitely not such a heartless woman. However, in the face of evidence, she could only believe it. The person who made her the most upset was Rui 'er. She knew that she had treated Rui' er well from the beginning to the end, but Rui 'er actually colluded with outsiders to kill her. Now that she thought about it, it was really too chilling. She didn't feel any relief at Yu Juan 'er's death. Instead, she felt even sadder. Shang Zhirong sighed and said nothing, slowly leaving the Xuanzheng Hall.
Only Wen Miaoran and Yu Juan 'er were left in the empty hall.
"Consort De, there are causes and effects. The sins you have committed need to be repaid by yourself.”Wen Miaoran said lightly.
"Imperial Noble Consort, your acting is really wonderful." Yu Juan 'er smiled.”
Wen Miaoran was shocked." What does Consort De mean?”
"There are only the two of us left in the hall. I, a person who is about to die, also want to be a ghost.”
"You already know." Wen Miaoran's tone instantly relaxed.
Yu Juan 'er nodded." But there's one thing you don't know. I was actually sent by the Shang family to reduce the favor His Majesty has for you. I took the medicine before entering the palace, so I can't get pregnant for the rest of my life. I'm just a chess piece being manipulated by others. He would die sooner or later. This was the fate of a chess piece that could not be changed.”Yu Juan 'er said lightly.
Wen Miaoran was shocked speechless.
Yu Juan 'er continued," You can't beat that old fox Shang Rui. If I die, he'll send more beauties in. As for Handsome Fairness Liu's matter, you'll really alert the enemy." Don't ruin yourself. Do you know that His Majesty really dotes on you? He always calls your name in his sleep. His Majesty is a good man worthy of love. If he wasn't born in the royal family, I would love him even if I gave up everything. Unfortunately…" Yu Juan 'er smiled bitterly." I hope that I can be born in an ordinary family in my next life. I don't want to be rich or beautiful. I only want to be with a lover until we grow old." After saying that, he slowly walked out of the Political Announcement Hall. Wen Miaoran was left standing there in a daze.
The next morning, Consort Yu De hanged herself in Deqing Hall, and the maid Rui 'er was executed by a thousand cuts. Emperor Tian Ze burned all the paintings in De Qing Hall. The matter with Handsome Fairness Liu had also come to an end, and the palace had returned to its usual calm, as if nothing had happened.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。