The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

"Madam, why is this happening?" Cold sweat suddenly dripped down Shi Mang's forehead.

Her arms were held by two young eunuchs and twisted behind her back. Xie Yuzhen stepped forward and gently patted Shi Mang's face: "If you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself. I think you probably don't need me to remind you what you just did, right?"

"Shut her mouth." Xie Yuzhen looked at Baoxi, "Keep a close eye on her and don't let her commit suicide. If you can't keep a close eye on her, I'll send you down to accompany her."

After saying that, she coldly watched Shi Mang being gagged and tied up by the palace servants. Bao Lu was very skilled and quick in tying people up, and he was the one who tied the knot in the end. The shape of the knot seemed familiar to Xie Yuzhen. After careful identification, she remembered that it was the most commonly used knot style when escorting prisoners in the army. She only knew this because Jun Yuexin demonstrated it to her when she was a child.

After tying up Shi Mang, Xie Yuzhen waited for Gao Sheng to arrive, and then asked him to order a few people to come to Jinghua Tower to guard. Gao Sheng naturally agreed. After he finished speaking, he looked at the gagged and tied Shi Mang in confusion: "What's this, talented man?"

"Chunfen had already informed me of the news that Concubine Wang had a miscarriage in Baosi Pavilion. When I summoned the palace ladies in Jinghua Tower, I saw that this maid was behaving suspiciously, so I ordered someone to arrest her first." Xie Yuzhen was in a good mood after slapping the emperor.

She followed Gao Sheng to Baosi Pavilion as usual, but this time there were two young eunuchs and a detained palace maid following them.

When Xie Yuzhen passed by the palace maid kneeling outside the house again, she saw a familiar face, so she stopped and said, "This palace maid looks so familiar, she doesn't seem to be a palace maid from Baosi Pavilion, right?"

Gao Sheng glanced at the maid and replied, "You have a sharp eye. This maid's name is Susu and she serves Shen Xiaoyi."

"I don't think I've ever seen her around Shen Xiaoyi." Xie Yuzhen pretended to be confused. This palace maid was the one she had seen sneakily breaking into the main hall when time went back.

Hearing what Xie Yuzhen said, Susu trembled slightly: "Replying to the talented lady, Sister Yuehui is ill, and I have been serving Xiaoyi personally these days."

Xie Yuzhen pretended to be enlightened: "So that's it."

After she finished speaking, she did not stop and walked into the house with Gao Sheng.

Susu let out a long sigh, but a pair of black boots suddenly appeared in the corner of her eye. She shuddered and looked up to see two eunuchs walking up to her silently. Before she could say anything, they covered her mouth and dragged her out from between the kneeling palace maids.

Xie Yuzhen's gentle voice came intermittently: "...It seems something is wrong. Yue Hui was brought by Xiaoyi from home, and she fell ill at this time..."

Gao Sheng was no fool, serving beside the queen. When Xie Yuzhen looked at him and told him that there seemed to be something wrong with this maid, he thought about it for a moment and then made a few gestures to his subordinates, signaling them to arrest Susu.

As the chief eunuch in the Queen's palace and the one who was in charge of the trial, he did have some rights.

And then to the main hall.

Xie Yuzhen looked at the intact emperor, greeted him, and then repeated her itinerary as she did last time. She did not sit down, but walked towards the queen, her voice full of grievance: "Your Majesty, I just returned to Jinghua Tower and heard that the concubine Wang had a miscarriage. I was scared and hurriedly called all the palace people to question them. As a result, I just caught a sneaky... I am also pregnant, and I have never been on good terms with the sisters in the palace. On the way here, I thought that if I had not gone out today but..."

She lowered her head gracefully and leaned into the queen's arms. The queen quickly stood up and held her in her arms to comfort her: "Don't be afraid, my talented lady. His Majesty and I are here." She glanced at the emperor, who had a look of regret on his face. He didn't understand why Xie Yuzhen came to see the queen instead of her.

The emperor touched his nose awkwardly and cleared his throat: "Bring Fang'er up here and ask her to identify if this is the one."

After saying this, he looked at Xie Yuzhen with some resentment: "Why didn't I know when Xie Qing became so close to the Queen?"

Xie Yuzhen raised her head with red eyes, but did not answer the emperor first: "So there is really a problem in Jinghua Tower?" Her beautiful eyes were shining with water, fragile but gorgeous, "I was so frightened, but Your Majesty did not care about me, and asked me questions right away... Your Majesty should treat me better."

The emperor was even more embarrassed.

He wanted to cough twice more, but his throat was too dry, so he didn't cough. Instead, he picked up the tea and took a sip: "I am also confused because of my concern. I hope Xie Qing will not blame me."

Xie Yuzhen stood up, smiled at the queen, turned around and looked at the emperor, and said angrily: "It's nothing for me to be frightened, I'm just afraid of scaring the baby..." She touched her belly tenderly through her dress.

The emperor's frown relaxed a little, and he looked at his beloved concubine with pity: "I was anxious when I heard the bad news, so I wanted to see with my own eyes whether you and your daughter are healthy, but I didn't expect to scare you instead..."

Although Xie Yuzhen knew that this was just the emperor's way of making up for it, he still sounded nice. In addition, the slap had already drained away her anger. Xie Yuzhen, who was an expert at saving face without wasting time, said shyly, "It was my impatience that made me misunderstand Your Majesty... I don't know what the relationship between Fang'er and Jinghua Tower is that warranted calling me here in such a hurry?"

Just like last time, he also said a few good words to Wen Baolin to maintain his image as a person with a bad temper but a kind heart.

The emperor did the same, still saying what Fang'er had confessed after being tortured, that she had asked the palace maids in Jinghua Tower to get firewood from the small kitchen warehouse. However, this time his tone was much softer, and he no longer looked at Xie Yuzhen with that gentle but suspicious look.

But Xie Yuzhen knew that this bastard was still suspicious of him. But since he was willing to behave better, he would not bother with him. This time, Xie Yuzhen did not plan to reload the game. Some tempers were not suitable to be vented in front of everyone. After this matter was over, he would drag the emperor to his bedroom, put on another drama, and search his private treasury!

Covering her lips, Xie Yuzhen sat on the chair with a look of doubt on her face. Because she had tied up Shi Mang in advance, Shen Xiaoyi lost the room to perform and had to kneel on the spot with her head down, not knowing what she was thinking.

Shi Mang, who was tied up, was pushed up, and Fang'er, whose legs were broken, was also lifted up. Her body below the knees was covered with cloth, and one could only see that her face was pale and her lips were bitten, looking very miserable.

As soon as she saw Shi Mang, Fang Er became excited: "It's her! It's her. She's the one who said that she could take me to the small kitchen in Jinghua Tower to get firewood!"

At this time, at Xie Yuzhen's request, the palace servants who had searched all the small kitchens in Shouning Palace also returned with the results.

"The firewood in all the warehouses of Shouning Palace has never decreased. Where did you get the firewood?" The emperor's expression was as cold as ice.

Fang'er's already pale face suddenly turned as white as paper, and she almost couldn't breathe: "She took me there. I remember there was a well next to the storehouse, and there was a magnolia tree next to the well!"