An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Concubine Hua stroked her hair and tried to suppress her anger. "Why did the emperor ask you to search the six palaces?"

"Your Highness, this is not a big deal." Su Peisheng apologized with a smile. He moved in front of Noble Concubine Hua and bowed again.

"Your Majesty, please give me some slack and ask them to check first. After all, the Emperor is pressing me hard. If I am a step slower, I will be punished."

Su Pei looked pitiful in his attire, but Concubine Hua was unwilling to ask them to search the Yikun Palace immediately.

After all, there is a straw man cursing the queen in the palace. If it is found out, it will be a disaster.

"You still have to explain the matter clearly, so that I can make things easier for you."

Su Peisheng sighed, his face hesitant and looking very embarrassed.

Concubine Hua urged him several times, but Su Peisheng refused to speak. "Your Majesty, please don't embarrass me. The Emperor forbids us to speak of this matter. If even a little bit of it is leaked..."

Su Peisheng looked around and raised his hand to make a gesture of wiping his neck.

Concubine Hua also knew that she couldn't get the answer no matter what. But she still didn't want Su Peisheng to lead people to search Yikun Palace, so she could only be tough and repeatedly refuse.

But Su Peisheng had received the emperor's order, and he had to investigate the Yikun Palace no matter what before he could report back.

In desperation, Su Peisheng could only check the residences of several palace maids and eunuchs, thus completing the search of the Yikun Palace.

Before leaving, he did not forget to apologize to Concubine Hua again and again.

Seeing that Su Peisheng's attitude towards her remained the same as before, Concubine Hua's heart could not calm down, and even her eyelids kept twitching.

"Your Majesty... Could it be that the Emperor discovered something?" Song Zhi watched Su Peisheng's back as he left from afar, and she really couldn't understand why the Emperor suddenly searched the palace.

"Su Peisheng is very tight-lipped, and I can't get any information from him. So, ask someone to follow him from a distance and see which palaces he visits."

Concubine Hua was helped by Songzhi to sit on a cushion, and a cup of hot milk tea was immediately served to her.

"Lingzhi has already caught up with them," Songzhi hurriedly threw a long wool blanket over to cover Concubine Hua's legs, "Your Majesty, my residence has been searched. Even if Eunuch Su comes to search again, he will not search again. Do you want to put that straw man..."

Concubine Hua was slightly stunned, and only came back to her senses after Song Zhi urged her again, "Looking at Su Peisheng's expression, I'm afraid he will definitely conduct a thorough investigation of the Yikun Palace. I just don't know if he will ask the emperor for permission...

Put the straw man in your house first, to prevent Su Peisheng from making a surprise attack and catching us off guard."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Songzhi quickly went to Concubine Hua's bedroom, and after a while she came out with a red lacquer box.

"My lady, put away the talisman papers and the incense slaves. Even if Eunuch Su comes to search again, he will not find anything unusual."

Concubine Hua didn't want to care anymore. She waved her hand and told Songzhi to take the red lacquer box away.

After a long time, Lingzhi finally rushed back. She got rid of the cold in the warm room and then went into the inner hall to reply.

"Your Highness, Eunuch Su has already searched the six western palaces and is now leading his men to the six eastern palaces.

I followed along the way, and Eunuch Su led his men to search all the palaces in the six western palaces."

"Have you found out what caused it?"

Compared to which palaces were checked, Concubine Hua was obviously more concerned about this matter.

Unfortunately, Lingzhi shook her head. She squatted down and apologized to Concubine Hua, "I am incompetent and did not get any useful information."

"It's not your fault, get up quickly." Concubine Hua was worried. The emperor made such a big fuss, he must have discovered something big.

These days, apart from the things that happened in the previous dynasty, the only thing that was worthy of the emperor making such a fuss was the queen's increasingly serious illness.

After observing the Queen's symptoms over the past few days, Concubine Hua has confirmed that it is related to the nightmare technique she performed - there is no other reason, the symptoms are exactly the same as what the alchemist described. Concubine Hua went from being skeptical at first to completely believing it now.

Now almost half a month has passed, and in just a few days, the queen will be dead.

"I suspect that this palace search may be related to the Queen's illness."

Lingzhi looked back at Concubine Hua in confusion, she didn't know about the straw man, "Your Majesty, what you mean is... someone poisoned the Queen?

Eunuch Su was ordered to search the palace to find out where the poison came from?"

Concubine Hua nodded. The fewer people who knew about the straw man, the better, so she agreed with Lingzhi's statement.

"We have searched all the six western palaces. It seems that the person who murdered the queen is in the six eastern palaces."

Lingzhi turned to comfort Concubine Hua, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I have tasted every dish you eat, and I will definitely not put Your Majesty in danger."

"Go away." Concubine Hua waved her hand and drove Lingzhi out.

Her mind was now filled with thoughts on how to hide the straw man so that the emperor wouldn't find it.

The best way is to burn the straw man now. Even if Su Peisheng comes to check again, he will not find any trace.

But now, only a few days are left to take the queen's life, and she can ascend to the throne of queen.

I have been waiting for many years. Now that I have a child and the opportunity, I must not waste it.

When Songzhi rushed back, Concubine Hua could not help but give her a few more instructions, asking her to think of some way to hide the straw man deeper.

"Your Highness has stored a lot of things in her private vault, and some of the porcelain bottles have not been touched for a long time. Why don't I hide the straw man directly in the bottle later?"

"Forget it, I'd better keep it with you. If it is found out, it will be even harder to explain." Concubine Hua thought about it and decided not to move any further. However, her mind was already in a mess at the moment, and she could no longer think of a better solution.

But before she could calm down completely, the emperor brought Su Peisheng, who had just searched the six eastern palaces, to the Yikun Palace.

As the heavy curtain was opened, a cold wind blew. The emperor sat on the throne with a sullen face and said nothing.

Concubine Hua saluted the emperor, and the emperor just waved his hand casually, unlike before when he helped her up personally.

Without even waiting for Concubine Hua to speak, the Emperor ordered Su Peisheng to take people to search the palace.

"Your Majesty?" Concubine Hua asked tentatively, "What does Your Majesty want to find out?"

The emperor did not answer Concubine Hua's question. His eyes fell on Concubine Hua's beautiful face. "Su Peisheng came to search the palace under my order. Why didn't you allow him to do so? Do you think you don't need to listen to my words?"

"Your Majesty," Concubine Hua immediately squatted down, her voice trembling, "Your Majesty, please understand. Eunuch Su has already searched the Yikun Palace."

"He is a slave, and he lied to me to save his life.

You are my concubine, how come you have learned to hide things from me?"

Concubine Hua opened her mouth and wanted to explain but was scared away by the emperor's cold eyes.

She lowered her head slightly, and after a while she murmured to herself, "I know I was wrong."

"Songzhi, help your master up." The emperor couldn't bear to see her bow for too long, "You are a pregnant woman, don't be too willful.

Today you disobeyed my order and refused to be searched in the palace. Tomorrow, the Yangxin Palace will be filled with memorials accusing me of not being able to handle the affairs of the harem properly."

Looking at the aggrieved look on Concubine Hua's face, the emperor knew that she did not think she was wrong, and even thought that I was making a fuss and deliberately making things difficult for her.

The emperor sighed helplessly, took a sip of the tea brought by Lingzhi, and was unwilling to say another word to Concubine Hua.

Sure enough, these brother and sister are the same, spoiled, domineering and arrogant.

Concubine Hua still looked aggrieved. She pushed away the milk tea that Songzhi brought her and stared at the emperor closely while clutching her handkerchief.

However, the emperor was determined not to speak, and her aggrieved, pitiful and gentle posture was almost seen by a blind man.

"Your Majesty... Since I became pregnant, Your Majesty has not come to stay overnight for a long time."

The emperor was a little annoyed by Concubine Hua's unsatisfied temper. In addition, he had been dealing with officials related to the Nian family these days, and he felt physically and mentally exhausted.

"Among these pregnant concubines, I have accompanied you the most. If even the Imperial Concubine feels that it is not enough, I am afraid that the few noble ladies who are always here will be even more dissatisfied."

The emperor's words were extremely straightforward. Even if Concubine Hua was dumb, she could understand what the emperor meant.

Is she blaming herself for being dissatisfied... Concubine Hua touched her belly subconsciously. She didn't think she was wrong. She even thought that the emperor should spend more time with her instead of those vixens.

"I just miss the emperor, not..." Before Concubine Hua could finish her sentence, Su Peisheng came back to report that he had found a strange thing in the Yikun Palace.

Concubine Hua's heart trembled. She turned to look at Songzhi, asking with her eyes whether she had hidden those things well.

Songzhi was also feeling doubtful at this moment. Logically speaking, Su Peisheng had already checked her residence, so he shouldn't check it again this time.

But no one expected that Su Peisheng would send people to search again and bring in the red lacquer box.

Looking at the familiar box, Songzhi felt her whole body go cold. She clenched her fingers tightly and dared not look at Concubine Hua again.

"Your Majesty, this box was found in Miss Songzhi's residence. It was not there during the previous search."

Su Peisheng opened the box, revealing a straw man and yellow paper inside.

The emperor took only one look and became furious. The Imperial Observatory was right. Someone was using witchcraft to murder the queen.

He turned his eyes slightly and saw Concubine Hua with a pale face, sitting on the chair and swaying, as if she would slide down at any second.

"What's written on the yellow paper?"

Su Peisheng unfolded the yellow paper, on which were words drawn with cinnabar. Unfortunately, he had never learned it, so he had no way of telling what it was.

“In reply to the emperor, it is an incomprehensible talisman, and underneath the talisman is a straw man.

I just flipped through it and found a note on the straw man's chest."

Su Peisheng glanced at Concubine Hua and did not read the contents of the note. Instead, he handed it directly to the emperor.

The emperor took it and looked at it. What was written on it was a person's birth date, which exactly matched the queen's birthday.

"Empress Hua, do you have anything to say?"

Concubine Hua was already panicking at this time, but she still looked calm. She glanced at the box and looked back at the emperor in confusion.

"Your Majesty, do you want me to talk about this box?" Concubine Hua shook her head. "I have never seen this box before, and I don't know what is inside. Could Your Majesty please show it to me?"

The emperor waved his hand, and Su Peisheng immediately presented the box to Concubine Hua.

Concubine Hua took a look and immediately screamed. She covered her face with a handkerchief, as if she didn't dare to look at it. "What is this thing? It looks so scary, Your Majesty..."

Su Peisheng immediately closed the lid and took two steps back away from Concubine Hua.

The emperor couldn't help but frown when he saw Concubine Hua's poor acting skills - how could a daughter of a general be frightened by a straw man?

"So, you don't know about this thing?"

Concubine Hua nodded hurriedly. She held onto the armrest of the chair and looked at the emperor tenderly, "I really don't know. I'm afraid it's a little toy of some palace maid, just like Princess Wen Yi's puppet."

"Since the imperial concubine doesn't know, the maidservant beside you should know."

Songzhi had already knelt down. She kowtowed repeatedly and explained that the straw man was just an object used to light charcoal and was not something rare.

"As for the talisman...it's used under the pillow to ward off evil spirits and help you sleep."

This explanation was quite fresh. The emperor pointed at the paper on the table and asked, "What's on it?"

"This... this is... the birth date of my family." Songzhi lowered her head and tried her best to take all the responsibility on herself. "I have lived in the palace for a long time. Because I miss my family, I carry this birth date with me."

"Yes, Songzhi values ​​her family the most. Every time a family member's birthday comes..." Concubine Hua spoke at the right time, trying to make this statement more solid.

"This birthday coincides with the Queen's. Are you, master and servant, looking at me and wondering if I don't know?"

The emperor did not want to listen to the master and servant's excuses, and his expression became more and more ugly, "Empress Hua, since I am here, I have already checked everything clearly.

The person who gave you the straw man and the talisman has been captured by Xia Qie. If you don't want to explain the reason, you can meet him."

Upon hearing that the Emperor had found the man, Concubine Hua felt as if the sky had fallen. She closed her eyes slightly and shook her head slowly.

"This birth date is indeed the Queen's."

"You are my concubine, you should know the rules of the palace best. This witchcraft is strictly prohibited, why do you still do it?"

"Concubine..."

Concubine Hua looked up at the Emperor. She really wanted to say that she was jealous of the Queen for monopolizing the title of wife, and that she wanted to be the Emperor's only wife.

But I can't say this, I can only keep it in my heart.

"I had a stomachache a few days ago and was late for my visit, but the Queen scolded me and embarrassed me in front of the other concubines.

Because of my resentment, my fetus became restless and I almost had a miscarriage.

Therefore, I wanted to find a way to take revenge on the Queen, so... I used this method."

Concubine Hua held her belly and pretended to kneel down, "I beg the emperor to forgive me."