The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

When he arrived at Baosi Pavilion, Xie Yuzhen saw several unfamiliar palace maids kneeling outside, their clothes disheveled, their hair loose, and they were shaking constantly, obviously having been tortured.

"These are to serve the ladies, as well as the people in the small kitchen of Baosi Pavilion." Gao Sheng said, bowing.

Xie Yuzhen walked past the palace servants and asked: "Is your majesty angry?"

The fact that they were allowed to kneel here after being punished, instead of being sent to the imperial palace or detained and tried by the Shanggong Bureau, was enough to show that these palace servants were not convicted but were punished for failing to protect their master.

The emperor had experienced a long period of "no children", and a minister had once suggested that the emperor adopt a son from the royal family... But the following year, Concubine Song gave birth to the eldest prince, and the minister who proposed the adoption, as well as several royal family members who had been nominated, were all demoted one after another by the emperor on charges of corruption and breaking the law.

The royal family members were fine, they were just demoted to commoners, but the leading minister was not so lucky. He was directly questioned and his property was confiscated. Not only was he beheaded, but his relatives were also implicated and became official slaves. It can be seen how petty the emperor was when it came to the issue of heirs.

Extending to the present day, it has gradually become the emperor's emphasis on the royal heir.

Xie Yuzhen let out a soft hiss, and Chunfen anxiously supported her: "Madam, are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no, I just suddenly remembered something." Xie Yuzhen waved her hands. She just suddenly remembered that the main cause was corruption, which was accompanied by severe revenge from the emperor who held a grudge. The minister who was beheaded and had his property confiscated seemed to be named "Xiang", and was from the same family as Zhou Ting's concubine Xiang Zhenniang.

No wonder he hid Xiang Zhenniang so closely, if she was an ordinary official slave, he could redeem her through the Wuwei Marquis's Mansion, but the Xiang family had offended the emperor... Wuwei Marquis was once an important official in the court, so he would never dare to do anything that would offend the emperor. However, he did not expect that his second son was full of love and would rather ruin the rest of an innocent woman's life and use the safety of his entire family as a bargaining chip to harbor a criminal, rather than let go of Xiang Zhenniang.

As the time he spent with the emperor grew longer and longer, Xie Yuzhen became increasingly unsure of how much of the reason why the entire Wuwei Marquisate was convicted was really because of him.

As his thoughts flowed, Xie Ruizhen had already arrived at the main hall of Baosi Pavilion.

There was still a faint smell of blood in the air. The emperor and the empress sat in the main seats, while Wen Baolin and Shen Xiaoyi were kneeling in the middle.

Xie Yuzhen calmly looked at the emperor and empress's faces, then stepped forward with lotus steps: "I pay my respects to your majesty."

She felt the emperor's eyes fall on her slightly protruding belly before he spoke: "No need to be polite. Thank you, please sit down."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xie Yuzhen was helped by Chunfen to sit down.

The emperor cleared his throat and asked, "Where did you go between 9:00 and 11:00 today?"

"Your Majesty, I had breakfast at noon and took Tan Nu to the Imperial Garden. About half an hour later, I met Concubine Zhu. I chatted with her for a few words, but she seemed to be feeling unwell, so she left early. Then I met Concubine Li and the Second Princess, and we also talked for a few words before leaving."

Xie Yuzhen pretended to think: "Then we walked around the Imperial Garden for a few more minutes, and just returned to Shouning Palace."

After saying this, she pretended to be worried: "On the way here just now, Eunuch Gao has already told me about the situation here. Is Concubine Wang's child still..."

"It didn't work. The imperial physician said..." The emperor's face showed a trace of fatigue, more dissatisfaction, but no pity. "It was said that the pregnancy-preserving medicine she secretly took conflicted with the medicinal incense burning in the small kitchen of Baosi Pavilion today, and the baby has already fallen out of the mother's body."

Xie Yuzhen looked away when he heard this. It turned out that this time, it was the concubine Wang who was being too clever...

You know, although the emperor had few children when he ascended the throne, as the years went by, the concubines in the palace became pregnant one after another. Because the empress protected them strictly, 90% of them were able to give birth. Only two babies were miscarried because they were weak from the womb.

As for those royal heirs who were born, except the fourth prince, all the others died in infancy.

Wang Xuanshi concealed the news of her pregnancy and took the pregnancy-maintaining medicine according to the prescription she brought from home without consulting the imperial physician. The originally healthy fetus was weakened by her reckless medication.

The family heirloom cake of the Marquis of Yuyang's mansion is called Yurong Cake. It is a beauty-enhancing medicinal food. Not only are there several medicinal ingredients in it, but it is also made by heating wood soaked in special potions. These combined efforts managed to abort the fetus in Wang Xuanshi's belly.

"You ignorant and foolish woman caused me to lose my child!" The emperor clenched his fist and slammed the table.

Xie Ruizhen noticed with sharp eyes that Shen Xiaoyi, who was kneeling behind Wen Baolin, was frightened by the loud noise and trembled - could it be that she had cursed Wang Xuanshi again?

[Ding——According to the system's speculation, the remaining energy of the Crow's Mouth system should only support Shen Xiaoyi to use the curse effect once or twice a month, and the system did not detect any energy fluctuations. ]

[That’s the effect of the medicinal materials. ]

Xie Yuzhen touched his clean nails and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down... Today's incident was probably an accident. Consort Wang deliberately concealed it. How could Wen Baolin and Shen Xiaoyi know that she was pregnant? Inviting her to Baosi Pavilion to learn pastry was just out of kindness. Since she used drugs indiscriminately, she must not know the pharmacology. It was due to these coincidences and mistakes that the heir to the throne was unfortunately harmed."

"Your Majesty is already very tired from working in the government. I know that your Majesty is heartbroken after losing your son, but I hope your Majesty will take care of your health. The princes and princesses in the palace..." She showed a slightly shy expression, quickly glanced at the emperor whose expression was gradually easing, and lowered her head, "And the child in my belly, they all hope that their father can be safe and healthy."

Compared with the children who were aborted before they were born, the several royal heirs who were born and grew up are of course more important.

The emperor took a deep breath and said, "Thank you, sir. If we just burn the wood soaked in the medicine, it won't cause Wang to have a miscarriage."

Xie Yuzhen raised his head in surprise: "Ah?"

Her look was one of panic, helplessness and fear, and that beautiful face of a bright palace lady suddenly became extremely pitiful - which of course made the emperor even softer in heart.

"Poisonous weeds were found in the unburned firewood. A palace servant said that the wood soaked in medicinal juice in advance was insufficient in Baosi Pavilion. He was afraid that his master would be scolded if he could not make cakes, so he asked the palace servants in Jinghua Tower to open the small kitchen of Jinghua Tower and take out wood to add. The poisonous weeds were also mixed in the firewood brought from Jinghua Tower."

Xie Yuzhen's heart skipped a beat. She looked up at the emperor. There was still tenderness in the man's eyes, but there was a faint cold light flashing.

Xie Yuzhen immediately understood that the emperor was suspicious of him but was unwilling to really doubt him. Even if he really did it, as long as he denied it, the emperor would be willing to let it go. But... he didn't do it in the first place.

She was jealous. She hadn't been so nervous in the past. Who dared to frame her?

court death!