An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Concubine Hua is pregnant now, how could the emperor bear to let her kneel like this.

But she did make a big mistake, disregarding the palace rules and the reputation of the royal family.

In the end, the emperor still allowed Concubine Hua to kneel on the ground, crawl at his feet, and cry and admit her mistake.

"I was just confused for a moment, and I have never used this thing since I got it. It has been left at Songzhi's place."

Concubine Hua wiped her tears and refused to admit that she had used these tricks.

After all, the queen’s health is really problematic now. If he really admits it, he will be charged with murdering the queen.

"Now that the queen is seriously ill, you say you have never used it. How can I believe it?"

Concubine Hua was an impatient person. Now that she had gotten the things, how could she drag her feet? She would probably start using them the same day she got them.

"Your Majesty, the Queen's illness may be caused by the snake bite she was suffering from. It would be better to find more doctors to take a good look at the Queen's illness."

"I have already sought out the imperial physician, but all the medical experts were helpless. It was only the Imperial Astronomical Observatory who observed the stars at night and noticed something unusual."

The emperor has already determined that it was Concubine Hua who did this, so it would be useless no matter how much she cries.

"I'll give you a chance. If you explain the whole story clearly, I'll give you a lighter sentence."

The Emperor had never wanted to kill Concubine Hua, and he even wanted to use her actions to continue suppressing the Nian family.

Concubine Hua just shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks, looking very pitiful, "I really didn't do it, all the palace maids in Yikun Palace can testify for me."

Songzhi on the side nodded desperately. She didn't dare to interrupt when her masters were talking. She could only kneel down and move forward, begging the emperor to see her proof.

However, the emperor didn't care about her proof at all. He just glared at her and then turned his gaze to Concubine Hua.

"The Nian family found the alchemist for you."

Xia Qian, who was beside the emperor, found out a lot of things, and even arrested the alchemist who was in contact with Concubine Hua and other people who had contact with her. They were now being held in the Ministry of Punishment, waiting for them to tell everything.

"This is not a trivial matter. It involves the Nian family. I have to discuss it with your brother." The emperor knew that Concubine Hua cared about the Nian family the most. She panicked when she heard that this matter would affect Nian Gengyao.

"Your Majesty, this matter has nothing to do with my brother. He is far away in the northwest guarding the border, so how could he care about my affairs?

It must be that Taoist priest who is making false accusations. Your Majesty must understand this clearly. " Concubine Hua knelt forward, and now she knelt straight, looking like someone who was wronged, and she was the one who was wronged without being humble or arrogant.

"I will investigate the right and wrong clearly. General Nian is in the capital now. I believe that within three days, we will be able to get to the bottom of it."

The emperor stood up immediately, but was grabbed by Concubine Hua's clothes. "Your Majesty, this matter has nothing to do with the Nian family or my brother. I was just confused for a moment."

The emperor just glanced at her and left without stopping. Concubine Hua was pulled sideways and almost fell to the ground.

It was Songzhi who was quick to help Concubine Hua up, preventing her from hurting the baby in her belly.

"Songzhi, send a message to your brother's house and tell him to handle this matter thoroughly and not to affect the Nian family!"

Songzhi also knew that this was a serious matter, so she helped Concubine Hua back to her chair and planned to rush out to find someone.

However, he didn't expect that the Yikun Palace had been controlled by someone. Su Peisheng was waiting at the door. Seeing Songzhi running out in a hurry, he politely tried to stop her.

"Miss Songzhi, the people involved in this matter have already been taken to the Ministry of Punishment, and the truth will soon be revealed.

But the emperor also said that Miss Songzhi must know the intricacies of this matter better, so he asked me to go over there."

Songzhi had never thought that the emperor had already made the final decision on the matter. She used the excuse of going back to arrange the care of the empress, but was stopped by Su Peisheng and politely asked again.

"Don't make it difficult for me. Miss, you don't want Concubine Hua to be so worried that she gets pregnant because of pleading for you."

In this case, Songzhi had no choice but to give up. She turned her head to look at the main hall, then reluctantly followed Su Peisheng out.

Soon, the palace servants in Yikun Palace were invited out one after another, and following the clues, they soon found out the truth of the matter.

Concubine Hua asked her nephew Nian Fu to find an alchemist for her, who made a straw effigy of the empress. He then worshipped the effigy day and night, and used the art of nightmare to murder the empress.

As for the reason, it was that Concubine Hua coveted the position of Queen, and planned to assassinate the Queen in this underhanded way, and then rely on the power of the Nian family in the court to ascend to the throne and become the new Queen.

After the emperor learned the news, he angrily scolded the Nian family for a long time in the Yangxin Palace, and then called several ministers over to discuss in detail how to suppress the Nian family.

As for Concubine Hua, considering that she was pregnant, the emperor only ordered her title to be stripped and demoted to a noble lady.

However, the emperor did not want to continue seeing such a vicious person in the palace, so he sent someone to send Concubine Nian to the Tangquan Palace for house arrest.

Even Noble Lady Nian was not allowed to bring her own personal servants, and all services were arranged by the chief steward of Tangquan Palace.

In order to calm the anger in the harem, he also said that when the queen's condition improved, she would personally order the punishment.

As for Nian Gengyao and the Nian family, the emperor issued edicts to reprimand them time and again. First, he deprived Nian Fu of his hereditary right to the first-class Ashanihafan title, and then he stripped him of all his official positions, leaving him now just an idle commoner.

Nian Gengyao relied on his and Nian Fu's military achievements and refused to accept the emperor's judgment. He repeatedly defended himself in the court and even called on his followers to submit memorials together to state the grievances of himself and the imperial concubine.

But the emperor had already investigated the matter, so how could he let Nian Gengyao off?

When the news that Nian Gengyao hinted that Concubine Hua had poisoned the empress in an attempt to seize her throne spread, Governor-General Yang Zongren of Huguang, Governor-General Qi Sule of the River Channel, and Junior Official Zhen Yuandao of the Dali Temple began to expose the crimes of Nian Gengyao and his descendants one after another.

Even Fucha and Guwaljia began to report all the evil deeds of Nian Shilan in the palace, intending to have the emperor abandon her and send her to the cold palace.

In the harem, the queen finally woke up after being in a coma for several days. Before she could recover, Jingren Palace was crowded with people who wanted to know the news about Concubine Nian.

Even Zhen Huan, who was under house arrest in Baohua Palace, sent Tang Di out to find out how the Queen would deal with Nian Shilan.

It's a pity that the Queen did not give the order immediately. Instead, she asked the concubines who came to inquire under the pretext of paying respects to leave Jingren Palace.

"The Queen has suffered a great crime this time. I don't know what kind of magic the noble used that year."

The queen stared at her pale face in the mirror and felt a little scared for a moment.

Nian Shilan acted swiftly and silently. Even though he had the entire Jingren Palace in his hands, he almost fell into Nian Shilan's trap.

"Where did this alchemist come from? His methods are so powerful." Jianqiu rubbed the Queen's forehead. Thinking of Hua Guiren's unexpected methods, he felt both afraid and curious.

"With the power of the Nian family, it is not difficult to find a talented and knowledgeable alchemist in the world."

The Queen actually did not believe these mysterious things. She would rather believe that Nian Shilan bribed the palace maids in Jingren Palace to poison her.

If these so-called gods, ghosts, monsters and demons existed, how could Honghui die on that rainy night?

"Check Jingren Palace. There must be a spy in the palace. I don't know who is so bold as to collude with Nian Shilan to murder me."

"My Lady, do you think the incident in Nightmare Town is fake and that someone poisoned and murdered him?"

Jianqiu was frightened by this speculation and broke out in a cold sweat. Now the people serving in Jingren Palace were all carefully selected by the Queen and herself. If there really was a traitor, wouldn't everything he had done over the years be spread out?

"Go check. Ask Huichun to come in. I'm going to Shoukang Palace."

Jianqiu hurriedly fixed the Queen's hair, and without wasting a moment went down to check all the eunuchs and maids in Jingren Palace.

As for the queen, she didn't care that she was still weak, and rushed to Shoukang Palace with Huichun.

The Queen Mother seemed to have expected the Queen to come. She closed her eyes and recited scriptures, counting the beads in her hand one by one, which made the Queen anxious but she did not dare to interrupt her immediately.

The sound of sandalwood incense curled in the hall, and the queen's anxious heart was barely calmed down. She sat upright at the table, waiting quietly for the queen mother to finish reciting the scriptures.

After a long time, the Queen Mother finally opened her eyes. She stopped the Queen from bowing again and said, "You haven't recovered yet. Why are you in such a hurry to find me?"

"It's the noble lady's business," the queen was in no mood to play dumb with the queen mother, "mother, I have been feeling dizzy these days, and I have seen my sister and Honghui in my dreams.

Could it be that this noble man really used these magic tricks to murder me?"

"According to the emperor's investigation, it is indeed so."

Although the Queen Mother believed in Buddhism, she had done too many bad things and needed to chant scriptures so that she could sleep peacefully.

She didn't really believe that there were such stealthy and undetectable ways to harm people in this world. It was more likely to be man-made.

"Then...what did the Empress Dowager find out?"

The empress dowager did not want the concubines in the harem to change their surname to Nian, so she naturally investigated the affairs of the palace.

It would have been fine if they hadn't checked, but once they did, they discovered that someone had poisoned Concubine Duan's palace and she was almost poisoned into dementia.

The Queen Mother sent people to investigate and found out that Ji Xing, who was beside Concubine Duan, had been bribed by Nian Shilan a long time ago, and that the poison was taken into Concubine Duan's stomach through her hands.

"Dementia? But it's just like my symptoms. I was tired and groggy in the past few days, as if I didn't sleep well the whole night.

After that, my head became dizzy, and even the simplest words took me a long time to hear."

"exactly."

The Queen Mother nodded. She suspected that the Queen and Concubine Duan were poisoned by the same poison, and the so-called nightmare technique was just a trick created by someone.

"Then, Madam Queen, can you find out who did this? Could it be that the one who contacted Jixing was Noble Nian?"

"Although it's not her, it's also hers. It's Yu Ying'er."

"Yu Ying'er was originally Nian Shilan's person. She was spoiled and domineering. When she was in favor, she even dared to contradict me, the queen." After investigating the case, it was directly confirmed that Nian Shilan had committed murder.

But what the queen couldn't understand was, if the poison had already been applied, why did they use that scary-looking straw man to cast a curse?

"This is all I have found out. As for how Yu Ying'er and Noble Nian got in touch, I'll leave it to you to find out."

The Queen Mother obviously didn't want to pay too much attention to the affairs of the harem. As long as Yixiu could secure her position as Queen and not destroy the glory of the Ulanara family, it would be fine.

The queen nodded. After all, this matter was her own. The empress dowager was able to help investigate it to this extent because they were both from the Ulanara clan.

"But there is one thing I don't understand."

The Queen knew that the Emperor's sentence for Nian Shilan was too lenient and that he asked her to make the final judgment. She didn't know whether it was a test or he intended for her to seek justice in person.

"For the matter of Noble Nian, should I punish him severely?"

The Queen Mother shook her head and said, "I know that you have been controlled by Nian for many years. Even when you were helping to manage the six palaces, you were provoked by her everywhere.

But now the emperor is dealing with the Nian family step by step. Even if you want to suppress them, wait a little longer."

How could the Queen not know that Nian Shilan was pregnant at the time? If she was punished too harshly, it would only make Nian Gengyao unhappy. If she did something drastic, it would probably disrupt the Emperor's arrangements.

However, this great worry of many years, now that she has fallen into disgrace, if she is not trampled to death in time, I am afraid that the Emperor will rekindle his old love for her. If she gives birth to another child, she will definitely become a concubine.

The Queen Mother looked at the Queen's ever-changing expressions and knew that the Queen was dissatisfied at the moment and wanted to find a way to completely get rid of Nian Shilan.

"Queen, you must learn to be patient. You have come this far over the past few years. Don't let these few months be a problem. Do you understand?"

The queen was indignant, but she still knew what was important and what was not. She nodded and said, "I understand, but this time..."

“Her body has been scented with Huan Yi incense for many years, and that scent contains the extremely overbearing musk deer.

Even if the noble lady is pregnant, she won't be able to give birth, so why would you dirty your hands?"

The Queen Mother did not want to offer any further comfort, so she closed her eyes again and recited the long scriptures.

After the Queen left Shoukang Palace, she immediately sent people to investigate Yu Ying'er and discovered that Yu Ying'er was secretly in contact with Lipin of Qixiang Palace.

The drug that causes dementia was also obtained from Concubine Li.

It’s just that Concubine Li has been crazy for a long time and only showed some improvement a few days ago. How could she have the brains to set up such a big scheme?

It seems that Concubine Li is just a thug, and the real planner should be Cao Qinmo.

Cao Qinmo was really bold to involve Concubine Duan, Noble Lady Nian and himself in his schemes.

The next thing to do is to investigate Cao Qinmo and Lipin carefully to see who in Jingren Palace had close contact with them.

"If I can't find the traitor in Jingren Palace, I will never be able to sleep."

The queen stood in front of the gate of Shoukang Palace. She was supported by Huichun and walked slowly along the corridor.

"Huichun, who do you think is the spy in Jingren Palace?"