The Queen has arrived: An Lingrong does not want to fight in the palace after her rebirth

"I heard about it from Concubine Qi."

Concubine Qi could hear her own rapid breathing. Her mind was still in a daze. How could she be caught on the spot? How could she exonerate herself from this matter? In a hurry, she remembered what Concubine Qi had said. Yes, she was instigated, and the culprit should be Concubine Qi. In a hurry, she blurted out.

The emperor's face suddenly darkened, and he snorted coldly and turned his gaze to Concubine Qi.

Concubine Qi was so frightened that she immediately knelt down and pleaded guilty: "Your Majesty, I am innocent! Although I am sometimes arrogant, I dare not even think about murdering the heir to the throne, so how could I give such an idea to Concubine Qi? Even if you are anxious to get away with it, you can't cling to me like this!"

When she got to the point, the corners of her eyes began to turn red again, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

The emperor's face was extremely cold, and he interrupted her: "I don't like people to hesitate when speaking, Concubine Qi, please tell me the truth. If you dare to hide anything or flatter me, I will never forgive you."

This sentence made Concubine Qi feel like she had grasped her last hope, and she screamed, "It was Concubine Qi who told me that the caterpillar's thorns were poisonous, so I had this idea."

This time, without waiting for the emperor to speak, Concubine Qi hurried to explain:

"Your Majesty, I remember that after the Lantern Festival, I went to Changchun Palace to chat with Concubine Qi. She recalled that the Third Prince had blisters when he was a child and lamented that it was difficult to raise a child. I told her about the time when I was stung by a caterpillar. It was just a casual chat, so how could I have thought that Concubine Qi would have the intention of harming others? If you insist that I am wrong, it is that I should not have been close to Concubine Qi, which caused the disaster today. Please understand, Your Majesty."

She spoke confidently, with an air of being upright and not afraid of being tarnished by one's shadow. As for what she was thinking of others, no one knew.

An Lingrong sighed in her heart. The Queen was indeed able to guess the Emperor's thoughts thoroughly. Concubine Qi's words were obviously to exonerate herself, but the Emperor was suspicious. What she said today would definitely leave seeds, which would bring about Concubine Qi's eternal damnation as long as someone deliberately stimulated them. From now on, the life and death, honor and disgrace of Concubine Qi's family would all be in the hands of the Queen.

Concubine Qi was filled with grief and indignation, and her tears flowed down her cheeks: "Your Majesty is not like that. Concubine Qi also said a lot of things about the Sixth Prince..."

This made Concubine Qi even more confused. She shouted in a hoarse voice: "Sister Concubine Qi, what I said at that time was just a few words of praise to the Sixth Prince. How come I can't say this?"

It happened that the Sixth Prince was sobbing again because of discomfort, and the Emperor's face became even darker:

"Enough!" He slammed the table.

"Li, what I want to hear is how you killed the prince, not how you make excuses here. From the beginning to now, you have no guilt at all. Is there someone behind this? Should I call Hongshi here to show him what his mother did?"

This statement frightened Concubine Qi so much that she crawled forward a few steps on her knees, hugged the emperor's legs, and told him everything:

"Your Majesty, I was blinded by greed. I had people find these insects from the hot spring palace. I plucked the thorns off one by one with tweezers and put them between the clothes. It has nothing to do with Third Prince. Please don't vent your anger on Third Prince."

Seeing her confession, the emperor was even more furious: "Hongzhan is just a child. How could he bother you? Is it worth it for you to go to such great lengths to murder him?"

After Qi Fei confessed her guilt, her mind became clear. She could not tell the emperor that she was afraid that the Sixth Prince would threaten the Third Prince one day, otherwise the Third Prince would be disliked by the emperor. She just kept crying:

"I was confused and ignorant for a moment. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

The emperor must have understood why she was so eager to confess.

When he first ascended the throne, in order to prevent the recurrence of the political chaos during the "Nine Sons' Struggle for the Throne", he issued an edict that the crown prince should be "appointed in secret" in the future. He thought that his descendants would no longer have the situation of brothers killing each other.

There are only two princes in the palace now, and he just paid more attention to the youngest son, but Concubine Qi jumped out impatiently. No matter whether she acted foolishly on her own initiative or was instigated by others, this matter must not be forgiven lightly, so that no one will use such dirty means to harm his offspring in the future, and also ruin his intention to observe the individual.

The emperor was about to speak when the queen suddenly knelt down and pleaded softly:

"Your Majesty, please do not be angry. Concubine Qi has served you for many years and has always been cautious and diligent in fulfilling her duties. This time, she may have had her own reasons. Please, Your Majesty, be lenient with her punishment for the sake of the Third Prince."

As soon as she knelt, the other concubines naturally did not dare to stand and immediately knelt down to beg for mercy.

The emperor glanced at her with interest:

"The Queen is indeed virtuous. Although Li harbored evil intentions and acted ruthlessly, the Queen can easily let her off."

The queen felt a tightness in her back, but she still looked considerate:

"Your Majesty, the court has its own laws, and our ancestors also have rules. I dare not show partiality, but the Third Prince is grown up, and I love him. Poisoning a prince is a serious crime. Concubine Qi is the Third Prince's biological mother. If I really punish Concubine Qi severely, how will the Third Prince live in the future?"

It made sense, but the emperor was full of sarcasm:

"Then what should we do according to what the Queen said?"

At this juncture, An Lingrong suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty, I have something important to report."

An Lingrong's interruption made the emperor's mocking look suddenly become even colder:

"What's the matter?"

An Lingrong was shocked and spoke slowly: "What I reported has nothing to do with Sixth Prince. I discovered that Sister Duan was not sick, but was poisoned by a Gu. If we want to cure the Gu, it may harm Sister Duan's body. Please let the emperor know."

This shocking discovery made the emperor laugh out loud:

"That's great. I didn't know that such a small harem would have so many evil spirits. Evil things like witchcraft and sorcery have appeared in the border areas. Do you really think that I am deaf and blind and can deceive and plot against them at will?"

The Queen was greatly troubled by the Emperor's reaction and An Lingrong's discovery. She said anxiously:

"Your Majesty, the poison has always been just a rumor. Many doctors in the Imperial Hospital have diagnosed that Concubine Duan is suffering from a relapse of an old illness due to overwork. Concubine Wen's statement is just a fabricated attempt to confuse people. Please make a wise decision, Your Majesty."

An Lingrong did not give in at all. She had figured it out. She could no longer defend the Queen blindly. It was time to show her edge:

"Your Majesty, Empress, I am not exaggerating. The story of Gu poison sounds horrifying, but it has been recorded in medical books of all dynasties. If you want to verify what I said, wouldn't it be better to find a few more imperial doctors to check it out? Why does Empress have to deny me so hastily?"

Her rare sharpness reminded the emperor of her confidence when she offered the prescription. His eyes softened instantly, but the doubts in his heart were still not completely dissipated:

"I will ask the Imperial Hospital to investigate this matter again. If it is really as you said, I will entrust Concubine Duan's illness to you. You must remove the poison and cure the disease carefully and do not damage her foundation."

An Lingrong was about to accept the order, but she heard the emperor ask:

"But since you are so sure about what you said, do you know where this poison comes from?"

This is what scares the emperor the most. In the palace, there are such sinister tricks. The security of his harem is non-existent. How can he sleep well?

An Lingrong hesitated for a moment and said carefully:

"I, along with Imperial Doctor Zhou, have made many inferences. It seems that this Gu came from the pigment. Sister Duan Fei was in charge of the production of lanterns, so she was most likely to come into contact with various pigments. However, this is only my speculation, because once the Gu worm enters the human body, it is difficult to find its trace."

The emperor noticed her pause and his eyes darkened again.

An Lingrong's reasoning shocked everyone. Cao Qinmo looked at the emperor with a cold face and spoke first:

"Your Majesty, if that's the case, then we are in danger. Such invisible means of hurting people are frightening to think about. I beg Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate the harem to prevent people from panicking."

Concubine Jing followed closely behind: "Your Majesty, I have the same concerns. If someone wants to harm me, I am not afraid, but there are princes and princesses in the palace. Whether they are doing evil intentionally or unintentionally bringing such evil things into the palace, we must be on guard."

Seeing that Concubine Jing didn't mention the key point, Concubine Xin hit the nail on the head: "Your Majesty, the most important thing is that we are worried that someone will use this to harm Your Majesty."

"..."

At this moment, the Queen's temples were throbbing with a severe headache. An Lingrong was making trouble at this critical moment. She really had bad intentions. The Emperor's attention was already on the Third Prince. After she interrupted him like this, if she brought the topic to the Third Prince, it would definitely make the Emperor suspicious.

At this moment, the Queen finally had the intention to kill An Lingrong, but even if she guessed the truth about the poison, what would it matter? The key was to see the evidence. The Queen calmed down again:

"Your Majesty, what the sisters said makes sense. I also think that this kind of cunning scheme by ghosts and spirits should be thoroughly investigated. Only after a thorough investigation can we put the harem at ease."

As soon as she finished speaking, Concubine Jing stopped crying and followed suit in a message demanding a strict investigation of the harem.

Concubine Qi was kneeling on the ground, looking at a loss. Wasn't they discussing her crime just now? Why did the situation suddenly change and became a discussion about Concubine Duan being poisoned? Was she okay? She wanted to speak with a fluke, but was afraid that speaking at this time would make the emperor pay more attention to her, so she could only kneel quietly to the side, trying to minimize her presence.

Concubine Qi wanted to hide, but the Emperor didn't agree with her. He had indeed thought of severely punishing Concubine Qi, but Concubine Duan's poison came too coincidentally. The harem had always been full of evil tricks, so he couldn't be too hasty in dealing with Concubine Qi at this time. He glanced at the people who were speaking righteously and said to the Queen:

"If the harem is not clear, I will be uneasy. This time, if the queen wants to investigate, all those shameful secrets will be exposed to the sun and investigated thoroughly."

After saying this, he ignored the Queen's slightly changed expression and continued to issue an edict:

"Concubine Qi Li has bad intentions and intends to murder the heir to the throne. However, considering that she has served me for many years and has not committed any serious mistakes, she is permanently confined to Changchun Palace. No one is allowed to visit her without my order. All the servants in Changchun Palace are handed over to the Ministry of Punishment for handling."

"Guarjia Wenyuan is impetuous and frivolous by nature. I will punish you by copying the palace rules twenty times. Everyone in the harem should take this as a warning. If you break the rules again, I will not forgive you easily."

Everyone hurriedly expressed that they would never dare to have such bad intentions.

After hearing the decree, Concubine Qi cried even more sadly. She was not afraid of being left without a servant, but not being able to see her son again was tantamount to killing her. She burst into tears and begged repeatedly: "Your Majesty, I accept the punishment, but please let me see the Third Prince again, please."

The emperor looked at Concubine Qi coldly, and then said:

"It is unfortunate for the Third Prince to have a mother like you. Fortunately, he has me as his father. Wang Maohong, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, is a well-educated scholar. He is a man of great determination and prudence. From tomorrow on, I will let him teach Hongshi. I believe that under his words and deeds, Hongshi will be able to know shame and honor and make progress."

Be cautious and careful? Was the emperor hinting at something? The queen pondered these four words carefully in her heart.

With her last wish taken away, Concubine Qi cried even more miserably: "Your Majesty, please let me see the Third Prince again. No matter what, I am his biological mother. Please, Your Majesty, just see him once. I have no other requests in this life."

She begged miserably, but all she got was the emperor's indifference, as he waved his hand and asked the eunuch to take her away.

After Concubine Qi was dragged out of the palace in a panic, the emperor began to comfort her with a cold face:

"Su Peisheng, give the sapphire necklace that was recently offered as tribute from a foreign country to Concubine Jing, and give the safety lock that I wore when I was a child to the Sixth Prince. Also, arrange for the imperial physician to be on duty tonight. If the Sixth Prince finds anything wrong, report it to me immediately."

"If I heard any rumors about the Third Prince today, I will hold everyone present here accountable."

Everyone's heart tightened and they said they didn't dare, but the Queen was delighted. As long as the Emperor still wanted to protect the Third Prince, she still had a chance.

In response to the emperor's consolation to keep the situation peaceful, Concubine Jing could only sincerely thank him, but when she lowered her head, a very cold light flashed in her eyes.

"Empress Wen, I will let the imperial physician examine Concubine Duan now. You will be responsible for the medication during the process. If there is any emergency, please report to me."

An elaborate scheme using chess pieces ended with Concubine Qi being permanently confined to her house, while the punishment for those who deliberately instigated the conflict was not severe.

An Lingrong looked at the uncontrollable pride in Concubine Qi's eyes and eyebrows, and felt a little cold in her heart. She couldn't hit the Queen in one blow now, but that didn't mean she had no way to deal with this frivolous and arrogant fool. It was time to think about dividing the Queen and the other two and ruling them.

When the emperor left Chuxiu Palace, the queen stayed behind on the pretext of looking after the sixth prince.

"Are you sure that there are no traces left behind?"

Hearing the Queen's questioning, Concubine Jing showed no abnormality on her face, and continued to speak patiently and respectfully: "I know what your Majesty is worried about, but your Majesty can rest assured. Even if the Emperor comes to investigate this matter, I can guarantee that he will not find anything unusual, and in the end it will only cost a few servants to close the case."

The Queen had no doubt about Jingpin's methods, but she still had to give the necessary reminders: "You are so determined, which shows that you are quite proud of Lin Lan's ability. But I remind you that there is no shortage of smart people in this palace, and nothing is absolute. You still have to finish carefully."

"I don't care, but I dare to ask, what will Your Majesty do next?"

Jingpin was talking about the custody of the Third Prince. The Queen smiled faintly:

"Don't worry, I have my own way."

"Then I wish your majesty to get what she wants soon."

The night darkened, hiding new calculations.