I am the stepmother of my son, and the little villain has changed into a little cotton-padded jacket

Concubine Shu subconsciously widened her eyes, turned around and pointed at Xia Qi and shouted angrily: "How dare you! I just came to see how my sister is doing, and you dare to bite me casually! If you talk nonsense again, watch your tongue!"

After hearing what Concubine Shu said, Xia Qi's body trembled slightly, and he looked like he was frightened by something.

Listening to the conversation between the two, the emperor frowned and looked at Concubine Shu with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

"Shut up first. If he dares to bite you, I will not let him go. But if this matter has anything to do with you, I will also give an explanation to Mr. Zhao!"

Hearing this, Concubine Shu's face turned pale and she bit her lip unwillingly. After a moment, she wanted to say something but the emperor did not give her the chance.

"Xia Qi, please tell me in detail. If you really have an injustice, I will naturally not wrongly accuse you. But if I find out that you are slandering Concubine Shu, don't blame me for not giving you face!" The emperor narrowed his eyes and snorted coldly, the threat in his tone was self-evident.

Hearing what the emperor said, Xia Qi carefully looked up at Concubine Shu, then saw the threat in her eyes and hurriedly lowered his head, not saying anything for a while.

The emperor naturally noticed Xia Qi's little action. He frowned, looked at Concubine Shu and coughed twice.

Only then did Concubine Shu reluctantly retreat behind the emperor, her eyes fixed on Xia Qi who was kneeling on the ground, fearing that he would say something.

Seeing this, Xia Qi was very conflicted, not knowing whether he should tell the truth.

Zhao Sixian probably guessed Xia Qi's hesitation. He slammed the cane in his hand to the ground and said in a strong voice: "Don't be afraid, just tell me directly. If anyone is really implicated, I will go and ask for an explanation myself!"

After hearing what Zhao Sixian said, Xia Qi turned his head and took a look, and immediately made a decision in his heart.

He made up his mind, lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, it was Concubine Shu who forced me to poison Concubine Dun! Concubine Shu threatened my family's life, saying that if I didn't do it, she would kill my whole family. She even sent people to monitor my relatives. Your Majesty, please understand. I really didn't mean to poison Concubine Dun. I just didn't want to see my relatives get hurt."

Xia Qi is a grown man, but when he mentioned this incident, his voice was slightly choked with sobs, which made people feel very sad.

Hearing what he said, Cui Li, who was kneeling beside him, had a complicated look in his eyes.

He didn't expect that his sensible and obedient apprentice would be coerced to this extent, and he, the master, had no idea about it and was even so harsh to him on weekdays.

Thinking of this, Cui Li couldn't help but blame himself.

After hearing these words, the emperor frowned and turned to look at Concubine Shu beside him.

"Is what he said true?"

Concubine Shu immediately knelt at the emperor's feet, her eyes red and she looked like she was about to cry. The speed at which her expression changed was simply astonishing.

"Your Majesty! Would you rather trust a dog slave than the person beside you? If so, I'd rather die by running into a wall!"

She had a determined look on her face and was about to stand up and ram her head against the pillar.

Later, she found that no one seemed to be pulling her, so Shu Guifei could only slow down her pace and move towards the pillar little by little until she found that there was really no one pulling her.

Concubine Shu stopped walking awkwardly and knelt down again: "Your Majesty, do you really not believe me?"

Everyone looked at Concubine Shu indifferently, as if they were already very familiar with her tricks of crying, making a fuss and threatening to hang herself.

Especially the emperor, the indifference and coldness in his eyes almost became reality.

He looked down at Concubine Shu, his voice cold: "Is what he said true? Don't force me to lose face!"

Concubine Shu was so frightened that her body trembled, and a guilty look flashed across her eyes. Then she still refused to admit it and continued to cry out for injustice.

"Your Majesty! I really didn't do that. This is just the one-sided statement of this dog slave. You can't believe him so easily!"

Hearing this, the emperor turned to look at Xia Qi and said coldly: "Do you have any evidence?"

Xia Qi raised his head excitedly: "Your Majesty! I have evidence. When Concubine Shu forced me to poison Concubine Dun, I secretly buried the remaining Gastrodia elata in Concubine Shu's palace. If you don't believe me, you can ask someone to search the small garden in Concubine Shu's bedroom! You will definitely find those herbs!"

When she heard what he said, all the color drained away from Concubine Shu's face.

Trembling all over, she turned to look at Xia Qi: "You, you, you actually... you actually dared to slander me like this! You bastard!"

The emperor frowned and ignored Concubine Shu's emotions: "Xiao Dezi, go and take a look now."

"Yes."

Upon hearing the emperor's order, Concubine Shu was really panicked. She hurriedly knelt before the emperor, reached out and grabbed the corner of his clothes, and put on a pitiful look.

"Your Majesty, do you really want to do this? Do you want to hurt the relationship between you and me because of the words of a dog servant?"

The emperor lowered his head and looked at Concubine Shu indifferently. He stretched out his hand to pinch her chin and said in a very calm voice: "Don't worry, my beloved concubine. Since he said that he buried something in your bedroom, if he didn't, I will definitely punish him severely, which will also clear my beloved concubine's name. But if he really found out something, I will naturally not condone it and will give Concubine Dun and the Zhao family an explanation."

After saying this, the emperor turned Concubine Shu's face aside with his hand, the indifference in his eyes was obvious.

The emperor no longer looked at Concubine Shu's expression. He sat calmly on the bed, waiting for Xiao Dezi's answer.

Now that things have developed to this point, someone must come out and confess his guilt. Since Xia Qi is now the person of Concubine Shu, he will just go with the flow and investigate further.

The emperor didn't care at all who poisoned Concubine Dun. What he cared about now was whether he could give the Zhao family a satisfactory explanation.

After all, if Zhao Sixian was really angered, the consequences would be something the emperor could not afford.

The whole capital city is filled with Zhao Sixian's students. If Zhao Sixian is angered, his students will definitely make trouble for the emperor.

It’s better not to mess with Zhao Sixian, this big Buddha.

After hearing what the emperor said, Concubine Shu sat down on the ground with a pale face, and a hint of despair flashed in her eyes.

Because she knew that what Xia Qi said was true, and perhaps Xia Qi really had hidden something in her bedroom.

After a while, Xiao Dezi came back with a cloth bag in his hand.

"Your Majesty, we found it."

The emperor waved his hand, and Xiao Dezi handed the cloth bag in his hand to Mr. Song.

Elder Song took the cloth bag covered with dirt and carefully examined it: "Your Majesty, this cloth bag does contain Gastrodia elata."

When they heard what he said, everyone's face changed and their eyes fell on Concubine Shu's bloodless face.

The emperor snorted coldly: "What else do you have to say? It seems that I dote on you too much, and you actually did such a ridiculous thing! Come! From now on, her position as imperial concubine will be abolished and she will be banished to the cold palace!"