An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

After everything in Jingren Palace was ready, the emperor came over leisurely.

The queen had been waiting for a long time, but she didn't show any impatience. As soon as she saw the emperor, she smiled and took the initiative to greet him and invite him to take a seat.

The emperor did not say much. He sat down and started to eat. No matter how many questions the queen asked him, he pretended not to hear them, as if the food on the table was some delicacies he had never tasted before.

The queen felt very ignored, but she didn't dare to say anything. She waved her hand and asked the maids and eunuchs serving around her to go away.

She personally served the emperor his favorite old duck soup and gently advised him to have some, "This old duck soup is the most nutritious, but it is not good to use too much. This small bowl is most suitable."

The emperor glanced at the soup. Perhaps the old duck soup was indeed delicious. The emperor did not refuse it. Instead, he took it and slowly ate some of it.

However, the Queen's bowl was too small, and the Emperor finished it after only three bites.

When the queen saw this, she added another bowl for the emperor, but after the second bowl was finished, the queen stopped adding soup for the emperor.

The emperor saw that no one was serving him, so he thought of serving himself a bowl. However, he did not expect the queen to suddenly speak up and told the emperor not to use it anymore, using some ancestral rules.

The emperor was already in a bad mood, and being "taught a lesson" by the queen made him feel even more disgusted.

"Su Peisheng, bring the things in for the Queen to review."

Su Peisheng was guarding outside the door. When he heard the emperor calling, he immediately presented the prescription.

When the Empress saw the prescription, she realized that the Emperor did not come to her today to reminisce about the past or to plead for mercy, but to call her to task.

The Queen was rather bored. She had been preparing for more than an hour, and her joy was growing. However, in the end, all she got in return was the Emperor's doubt and distrust.

As soon as the Queen got the prescription, she knew that this was the one for Concubine Chun. It seemed that Zhang Mi was detained by the Emperor and even this secret was revealed.

But the queen didn't know how much the emperor knew at this time, so she took a quick look and put it down, "Your Majesty, although I know a little bit about medicine, I am not good at diagnosing and prescribing medicine. Is there any problem with this prescription?"

"Did the Queen give this prescription to Concubine Chun?"

The emperor did not beat around the bush. He counted the beads in his hands, and although he was asking questions to the empress, he did not even look at her.

"I have never seen this prescription, so how can I give it to Concubine Chun?" The Queen thought for a moment, as if remembering something. "I did ask Imperial Physician Zhang to prescribe some prescriptions for Concubine Chun to take. I wonder if this is the one."

"Did Zhang Mi prescribe this medicine?"

The queen shook her head, took another look at the prescription, and said hesitantly, "I don't know, but you should ask Doctor Zhang.

However, Your Majesty is so concerned, but what is wrong with this prescription?"

Seeing that the queen was still pretending not to know, the emperor told the queen what Concubine Chun said, "Concubine Chun has told me everything. I don't want to punish the queen for this, but I want to know how many people the queen has given this prescription to."

"Your Majesty, I don't know who wrote this prescription. It's just a guess that it was written by Imperial Doctor Zhang, so I can't even talk about giving it to other concubines.

As for Concubine Chun, I only asked Doctor Zhang to prescribe some prescriptions for physical fitness. It is not a so-called folk remedy that I found as Concubine Chun thought.

When Imperial Doctor Zhang wrote the prescription that day, I was there too. I’m afraid that Concubine Chun is too young and may have misunderstood that I intentionally gave her the prescription.”

"Empress, I came to ask you today because I have already found out the whole story.

However, if this matter were to be made public, the Empress would inevitably be ridiculed by the people of the world for her immorality.

The reputation of the Aixinjuelu clan should not be tainted in the slightest, Queen, you should understand that."

Although the emperor said this, the queen still did not dare to admit it. After all, the emperor would never let her off easily because she had caused the prince in the palace to suffer from congenital defects and face the risk of premature death.

Although punishment will not be imposed easily, I am afraid that she will be deposed without being dismissed, and only the empty title of queen will remain.

Thinking of this, the Queen shook her head and said, "Your Majesty, even if Honghui died young, I miss him every day and feel pain in my bones. How could I let other concubines suffer such hardships?

According to what you just said, this should have the effect of aiding pregnancy. I'm afraid that Concubine Chun found some folk remedy and used it, which led to the Seventh Prince's congenital deficiency.

After being discovered by the imperial physician, he could only cover it up by saying things from the past.

If the Emperor still suspects me, you might as well summon Concubine Chun and Imperial Physician Zhang together and confront them face to face. You will always get the truth.

Your Majesty, is this okay?"

The emperor had never thought that the queen could still argue at this moment. There was not even a trace of abnormality on her face, as if she was really wronged.

"I have already asked Zhang Mi, Concubine Chun, and Jiang Fuhai.

Queen, the evidence is there, don't try to argue."

The queen finally fell silent. She looked at the emperor, then lowered her head to look at the prescription. On the yellowed paper, there seemed to be Jianqiu's handwriting.

But Jianqiu is already dead, so even if you want to compare the handwriting, you can't match it.

Now the emperor only has witnesses but no physical evidence at all. Why should he admit it?

"Your Majesty, this is not my fault, I cannot plead guilty.

If the emperor does not believe my explanation, you can punish me for this, at least I can give an explanation to Concubine Chun.

However, if the real murderer is not found, I am afraid that this prescription will continue to circulate among the concubines. If the royal heirs die young one after another, I am afraid that the world will not be at peace. "

One was determined to make the other confess, while the other was completely unaware of the crime. The most noble couple in the world sat there in silence, not saying a word for a long time.

"Your Majesty, as the Empress, I naturally know that it is best for Your Majesty to have more children.

In addition, some people in the past deliberately spread rumors among the people, saying that it was the Empress's misconduct that led to the Emperor's lack of offspring.

Although the emperor did not blame me at all, I felt guilty in my heart and thought day and night about how to save my reputation.

It is for this reason that I have instructed the court judge to take care of Concubine Chun.

If I really wanted to harm her, why would I personally bring the imperial physician to take her pulse and prescribe medicine? Wouldn't this give people an excuse to criticize me?

Now that children have been born one after another, and Concubine Tian and Concubine Sheng are also pregnant, I originally thought that I could clear myself of the rumors of immorality, but I never thought that I would be framed again and used this prescription to harm others."

The Queen's voice was trembling and her face looked as if she was about to cry. If she were still as charming and beautiful as before, she would attract the Emperor's favor.

But now she is old and ugly, and the emperor does not have much feelings for her. Apart from being slightly moved, there is nothing else.

"Your Majesty, there are more and more heirs in the palace now. I am so happy that I can get rid of the reputation of being immoral. How could I do such a thing, Your Majesty!

Even if you don't believe me, you have to believe Honghui. I have been chanting sutras and worshipping Buddha day and night for his rebirth in paradise, and I have not dared to do anything dirty."

"Of course I..." Upon hearing Honghui's name, the emperor let out a long sigh. The child was a very smart and clever child, but it was a pity that he died so early due to God's jealousy.

As he still felt a little guilty, the emperor turned a blind eye to what the queen had done even though he knew it clearly. He did not expect that his repeated tolerance would only make the queen even more arrogant.

But the emperor never liked to bring up the past. Since he didn't punish them for those things in the past, he certainly wouldn't do that in the future. But this time, two princes were involved, and the emperor really couldn't sit idly by.

After all, he didn't know whether Concubine Sheng's child and Concubine Tian's child were conceived successfully because of taking this prescription.

What if the baby turns out to be like the Sixth and Seventh Princes after being born? What should we do?

"Even though I know the truth of everything, I am still moved by the Queen's statement.

But as for the prescription, I have already asked someone to investigate it thoroughly. No matter how sweet your words are, you cannot avoid it.

I just hope you can tell me the truth and tell me whether you have used this medicine on other people."

The queen was silent. She slowly stood up and knelt on the ground, looking calmly at the emperor. "I really don't know, Your Majesty, what evidence have you found that makes you so sure that it was me who did it?"

"Three witnesses are not enough, what else do you want?"

"Anyone will lie, especially Jiang Fuhai, who has changed his testimony time and again. Does the emperor really believe him?"

Obviously Jiang Fuhai changed his confession because of the Queen, but the Queen did not hesitate to point out that his words were not trustworthy.

“As for Doctor Zhang, he has been the judge of the hospital and his medical skills have not improved at all over the years. Now that Doctor He and Doctor Wei are here, he is resentful and spreads those unfounded rumors.

Just because I relied on him so much, he easily put all the blame on me.

But I know what he knows better than anyone else. Concubine Hui's affairs are damaging to the reputation of the Emperor and the entire Aisin-Gioro family. How could I, a concubine, spread them like this?

Besides, Doctor He has nothing to do with this matter. How can spreading such rumors help me?

If I wanted to harm other concubines, I would have sent someone to summon Imperial Physician He and Concubine Tian, ​​Imperial Physician Wei and Concubine Sheng.

Why go around in circles like this when you can't get any benefit at all?"

The queen wiped her tears, as if she didn't want to explain herself any more. She lowered her head and spoke with a trembling voice, "If the emperor is sure that it was my fault, then punish me. I have no complaints."

At this moment, the emperor was overwhelmed by the queen's words. It would be wrong to punish her and it would be wrong not to punish her.

In the court, she only had this feeling of being controlled when facing Nian Gengyao and Longkodo. Now, in the harem, she could actually experience it.

Before this, I had never realized that the queen was such an intelligent person. If she were a man, I think she would definitely be able to achieve something.

Now all that’s missing is a piece of physical evidence to convince the Queen and stop her eloquent excuses.

It’s a pity that the handwriting on the letter is not from the Queen, nor from anyone else in the Queen’s palace. It’s really frustrating.

The emperor once suspected that the calligraphy was written by Jianqiu, but unfortunately her calligraphy could not be found anywhere, and he didn't know whether someone destroyed it in advance.

Seeing that the emperor did not give any order for a long time, the queen took the initiative to speak, "Your Majesty, I know that I have lost your favor and am no longer worthy of managing the harem.

Now that you have Imperial Concubine Jing to assist you in managing the palace, I don't have to keep an eye on everything.

I ask the Emperor to allow me to pray for Honghui in Jingren Palace every day and no longer interfere in the affairs of the harem."

The queen knelt upright with her hands folded in front of her, which made her look very dignified. However, what she said made the emperor angry.

"I haven't said anything yet, and the Queen wants to depose me?

The Queen is still here, but she doesn't care about the affairs of the six palaces, and asks a noble concubine to take care of them. Do you want me to be criticized by the ministers in the court?"

The Queen naturally thought of this. What she wanted was for the Emperor to be unwilling. Using this method of retreating to advance was the best way.

"I have developed a headache due to the heavy rain that year. The heat has been severe these past few days, but the headache has not improved at all. Instead, the pain has become more frequent.

Please allow me to rest, Your Majesty. Once I am well, I will be able to better handle the affairs of the six palaces."

Very good, you have even thought of an excuse for me. The emperor held his breath and snorted heavily from his nose. Anyone could tell how angry he was at the moment.

The Queen would rather ignore the affairs of the six palaces and stay in Jingren Palace with her illness than admit that it was she who gave the prescription to Concubine Chun.

The emperor closed his eyes, and after a long time, he finally nodded, agreeing with what the queen said.

“Since the Queen is unwell, she should recuperate in Jingren Palace.

If it is not necessary, there is no need to leave the palace. I will ask Doctor Zhou to come and check the Queen's pulse every day until her health improves."

The queen was a little stunned. She didn't expect that the emperor would actually agree.

It seems that the emperor really suspects me, the queen thought secretly in her heart, it’s just that there is no physical evidence that makes it impossible for her to defend herself.

Now that I have taken the initiative to speak up, I have given the Emperor a chance. Even if I ask the Queen Mother for help, I'm afraid it will be of no avail.

However, the Queen was unwilling to hand over the power of managing the six palaces to Concubine Jing. She thought that only by causing trouble for Concubine Sheng and Concubine Tian's child could Concubine Jing completely lose the Emperor's trust.

"Concubine, I obey your order."

The Queen bowed her head and accepted the Emperor's order so easily. Huichun and others were not in the hall at this time. After the Emperor spoke, the Queen could only stand up and sit back in her seat silently.

"Eunuch Su, after the decree is passed, if anyone wants to attend to my illness, please help me refuse them.

Just tell them that their headaches are very severe and that nursing care won’t help them at all, and tell them to take good care of themselves.”

Su Peisheng glanced at the emperor inconspicuously, and seeing that the emperor had no reaction, he replied with relief.

The Queen slowly ate the old duck soup. Feeling the Emperor's gaze turning to her, the Queen looked up and gave a forced smile.

"This old duck soup is really delicious. No wonder the emperor likes it."