I swept the harem by pretending to be weak

"What's going on?" the emperor asked almost gritting his teeth.

"Empress Shufei, there is something wrong with the incense in the palace. It does not cause any harm to ordinary people, but it can easily activate the blood and cause miscarriage. Concubine Chun is pregnant now..." The imperial physician knelt down in a panic and answered with his head down, fearing that he would accidentally anger the emperor.

"How is Chun Mei's child?" The emperor felt a surge of blood rushing to his head. It came again, it came again, the same words, the same situation.

Either it’s the food, the objects, the incense, or the environment, there’s always something wrong, there’s always a reason why the child cannot be born.

Is it really because he did too many sins in his early years that God did not allow him to have a son?

The emperor thought almost in despair.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..." The imperial physician was so frightened that he was trembling and could hardly speak.

The emperor waved his hand, signaling him to continue rescuing Chun Meiren's child. Even if there was still a glimmer of hope, he was unwilling to give up.

Ai Ziyi had already squeezed past the busy imperial physician and rushed into the main hall.

As soon as she entered, she tore down the curtains on one side, took down the windows, and fanned the room frantically, hoping to reduce the impact of the incense. The maids around her saw that their mistress did the same, and they did not bother to advise her to be decent, and quickly joined her in the action.

"Shufei, do you admit your guilt?" The emperor was seriously interrogating Shufei outside the palace.

"I didn't know about this. I was wronged!"

"Lady Chun's family and my family are relatives. They support each other so much. Why would I kill the child in her belly? I hope Your Majesty can see clearly!" Although Concubine Shu was frightened, she was not particularly panicked.

If it was done, it was done; if it wasn’t done, it wasn’t done. She believed that the emperor loved her and was willing to find out the truth for her.

"Have you not done enough? When the Queen Mother got into trouble, I spared you because of insufficient evidence and the Queen Mother's personal plea for you. But not only did you not restrain yourself, you became even more arrogant."

"Framed concubines, persecuted princes, which of these have you not done? I am really disappointed in you."

"I am innocent! I am innocent!" Concubine Shu knelt down, but there was still a stubborn look in her eyes.

"Your Majesty, the Queen has a kind heart and would never do such a thing." Lady Deng, the Duke's wife, also knelt down to plead for her daughter.

"Duke Deng has been acting so arrogantly in recent years that he even wants to meddle in the affairs of the royal family?" The emperor's words were also very serious.

The two sides entered into a tit-for-tat situation, neither was willing to give in, and neither was willing to back down.

However, the wife of Duke Deng was convinced that if they came into conflict with the emperor, their family would be the ones who would be hurt. No matter how powerful Duke Deng was, that was now a thing of the past.

Besides, even when Duke Deng was at his most prominent, he was not qualified to challenge the imperial power.

Lady Deng's brain raced, trying to come up with a solution immediately.

But to make matters worse, the Queen arrived.

"I have met the emperor."

"Why is Zi Tong here? Have they alarmed you again?" When the emperor saw the queen coming, his tone couldn't help but slow down a little.

"Yes, I heard that Concubine Shu's family was going to come to the palace to pay their respects, and I had no intention of dissuading them. However, the palace has been in turmoil recently, and Concubine Chun is pregnant, so I thought that I should send a few experienced eunuchs to check on Madam Deng, so that she would not bring in any taboo items for no reason. As a result, the people I sent were beaten as soon as they took over Madam Deng's motorcade." The queen spoke slowly, but every word she said was a thorn in Concubine Shu's heart.

"I have nothing to do, so I thought I should tell my sister, Concubine Shu, about this matter and ask her to take care of the servants. I have a good heart, but others may not be like that."

"I dare not do so. I hope Your Majesty will understand." Lady Deng was keenly aware of a hint of conspiracy.

"Good, good, that's great, Duke Deng! Originally, people in the court sued him for presiding over the sale of official positions, causing unrest and widespread misery in the entire Yunzhou. I thought he was incompetent and was deceived by the villains under him, but I didn't expect that he was the mastermind!" The moment the queen came over, the emperor had actually realized that this was a great opportunity. He could take advantage of this opportunity to overthrow the power of Duke Deng's lineage.

But thinking that this opportunity was obtained at the cost of his child's life, he did not feel happy at all. Even if he overthrew all the powerful officials and bullies, what would be the use if there was no successor? A hundred years later, wouldn't this huge foundation and all his hard work be taken advantage of by others?

Fortunately, Chun Mei is still young and may get pregnant in the future.

The emperor comforted himself in this way.

He was like a drowning man, clinging to a straw. In the past three years, no concubine had successfully become pregnant, which made him start to lose confidence in himself. Now Liu Zhirou was pregnant just a few months after entering the palace, which undoubtedly became his hope.

Take good care of yourself and you'll be fine.

He watched in silence as the imperial physician came out and told him the bad news.

"Shu Fei framed the concubines and plotted to murder the prince. She was demoted to a commoner and handed over to the Ministry of Punishment for investigation. She will be punished after the facts are investigated. The wife of Duke Deng was disrespectful to the queen, beat the eunuchs, and colluded with Shu Fei to murder the prince. The imperial edict was also revoked and she was taken to the Ministry of Punishment. Duke Deng has committed many bad deeds in the court and has been impeached many times. I have always kept him in my heart because he is a meritorious minister. Now it seems that he has not reflected on his mistakes, but has become more reckless. I will hand him over to the Dali Temple for a thorough investigation."

With just a few words, the emperor determined the future of Duke Deng's family.

In fact, he had long been dissatisfied with this old minister who relied on his merits in following the emperor and acted recklessly. Not only was Duke Deng involved too much in the previous dynasty, he also kept inserting his influence into the harem and sending people to it. It was just that he had never been able to find any obvious evidence against him before, but now he had the evidence.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Concubine Shu was completely confused and shouted loudly, almost collapsing.

The sweet words and harmonious music from before gradually faded away, leaving only the emperor's cold and ruthless face.

Concubine Shu suddenly understood, and she smiled bitterly: "When I was pregnant with the dragon fetus, the golden medal of immunity from death awarded to me by the emperor was just a joke?"

"I am not joking, but my sister Shufei, the sins you have committed today cannot be atonement for even with several lives." The queen smiled gracefully.

"You will be punished! You will be punished!" Concubine Shu was dragged away while screaming heart-wrenchingly.