An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Chapter 480 Very Bitter Tea

"This matter is actually my fault. Please forgive me, noble lady Qi."

Zhen Huan was a flexible person. She realized that Concubine Qi was unhappy, and immediately knelt down and saluted, "It was this servant who made Concubine Wan sad, and I cried loudly just now and disturbed Concubine Qi."

"You are such a bitch. You resort to such despicable means when you can't see the emperor." Concubine Qi rubbed her wrist. "Since that's the case, I'll punish you to pray for the emperor. It's noon now and the sun is really bright. You should kneel outside and recite the Heart Sutra carefully."

"It's noon now. Your punishment is too much, Lady Qi." Lady Wan came out from behind Zhen Huan angrily, "Don't forget that you don't have the authority to assist in managing the six palaces."

"Praying for the Emperor is something that many people cannot even ask for. Concubine Wan is so anxious, I think she is willing to pray for the Emperor herself.

I cannot stop you, so please take your maid and kneel in the courtyard.

Remember to bask in the sunshine and use the positive energy of the sun to drive away evil spirits. Otherwise, when I walk by you, I can smell the rotten stench emanating from your bones."

Concubine Qi didn't listen to Concubine Wan's words at all, and put on a hat on her own. But when she saw that the two people had no intention of moving, she immediately raised her eyebrows and said, "Why, what I said is useless?

It would have been fine if Concubine Wan did not move, but how dare you, a lowly servant, disobey my wishes? Do you think you are still the Concubine Xu?

A substitute is a substitute. Do you think that you can win the emperor's favor for life just because you look like Queen Chunyuan?

What a pity! If Queen Chunyuan was as vicious as you, the Emperor would have really favored you a little more.

But Queen Chunyuan is a kind person, unlike you, a bitch who is full of evil thoughts about thieves and prostitutes!

What are you still standing there for? Are you still waiting for me to tell you about what you have done?

Get out of here right now, kneel down in the sun and pray for the Emperor."

Concubine Qi asked Jingtai to pick up the tea, and before leaving, she continued to scold, "I don't have that much patience, get out immediately, and don't get in the way of me and the emperor!"

"Yes, Lady Qi."

Zhen Huan responded in a low voice, and together with Concubine Wan, she respectfully saw Concubine Qi off.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhen Huan took out the paper bag containing oleander powder again and deliberately shook some of the remaining powder onto the table.

I didn't put it there just now because I was afraid that Concubine Qi would find out about the problem. Now that the tea has been taken away, I don't have to worry about it anymore.

As for the paper containing the medicine powder, Zhen Huan folded it and placed it in the hollow earring.

In the past, the earrings contained butterfly fragrance, in order to gain the emperor's favor, but now they contain oleander, in order to save the emperor's life.

"Let's go, Yurao."

Zhen Huan left first and knelt on the steps. The midday sun was very hot. Zhen Huan knelt under the sun and soon began to sweat.

Concubine Wan also came out and knelt beside her, "Eldest sister, Concubine Qi brought in the tea. I think she will feed it to the emperor."

"Then let's pray well under the sun," Zhen Huan said calmly, "I hope that Concubine Qi can deliver all the tea in this pot to the emperor's mouth spoon by spoon."

"Yes," Concubine Wan clasped her hands together, "I hope the emperor's health will get better and he won't have to suffer the pain of being bedridden anymore."

The two men knelt in the sun like this. Occasionally, a few servants passed by them, but they did not dare to stop or ask more questions. They would just look at them in surprise.

Su Peisheng came over. He didn't know what was going on, so he started by asking the reason.

"It was Concubine Qi who asked us to pray here," Concubine Wan said slowly, "The emperor is not feeling well, and we concubines cannot diagnose him, so we can only do small things like praying.

Now it is enough to have Lady Qi serving in the palace alone, so Eunuch Su does not need to worry. "

"I just got the medicine for His Majesty. I will send it in right away so as not to disturb you from praying for blessings."

Su Peisheng didn't ask any questions and immediately went in with the freshly boiled medicine. However, as soon as he entered, he heard screams of fear. He was startled and hurried into the emperor's bedroom to check.

At this time, the emperor was twitching on the couch, his facial features were distorted, and he kept spurting out brown medicine and filthy things. Some yellow and white things even splashed onto the hem of Concubine Qi's clothes.

When Concubine Qi saw Su Peisheng coming, she immediately ordered the palace maid beside her to call the imperial physician. She tried hard to suppress the fear in her heart and sat beside the emperor to clean up the filth for him.

Su Peisheng was even more worried. Without having time to ask more questions, he immediately stopped Jingtai who was about to leave.

"No one in this room is allowed to leave. Xiao Xiazi, go to the kitchen immediately to call Doctor He over and briefly explain your symptoms to him.

As soon as Yamato arrives, you will immediately set out to the Imperial Hospital, and call all the doctors on duty at the Jiang Imperial Hospital to the Yangxin Palace."

Xiao Xiazi set off immediately, and did not forget to close the door when leaving. He asked the guards to guard the door and not allow anyone to leave except Su Peisheng.

When Zhen Huan and Concubine Wan saw Xiao Xia Zi walking in a hurry, they knew that their plan must have been successful, and they couldn't help but smile.

Concubine Wan suppressed her joy and leaned close to Zhen Huan's ear to ask in a low voice, "Sister, looking at Xiao Xiazi's condition, I think the emperor has been poisoned quite deeply. I just don't know if we can poison him to death in one fell swoop."

"There's a lot of oleander in there," Zhen Huan observed her surroundings and spoke again cautiously, "The emperor doesn't need to take a few sips, it's enough to make him convulse, vomit, and even have cardiac arrest.

You and I will kneel here, and as long as no one explains the emperor's situation to us, we cannot show the slightest joy.

Even if the emperor is really dead, you must pretend to be very sad, so that when you commit suicide later because of the emperor's death, others will be more convinced.

Don't worry, Yurao, we have already made arrangements at Ji'an. As long as the time comes, you and I will be able to escape."

"Sister," Zhen Yurao held Zhen Huan's hand, "I have waited for this day for so long, and it is finally here.

After we get out, we must go to our parents’ graves and kowtow to tell them the good news.”

"Okay, then we'll go together." Zhen Huan showed a faint smile, and the two of them overlapped their hands, giving each other strength with a little force.

They hoped that Xiao Xiazi would go out slower and slower, and they also hoped that the imperial physician who arrived would be helpless against the oleander poison and that this dog emperor would die in agony.

Unfortunately, the prayers of the two people were not heard by God. Not long after, He Anming arrived, carrying a medicine box, and rushed into the emperor's bedroom without even having time to pay his respects to Concubine Wan.

Ling Rong also came over behind. She came in a hurry, but when she saw Zhen Huan and Concubine Wan kneeling on the stone steps, she slowly slowed down.

"Why are you two kneeling here? The emperor has been poisoned, don't you know?

Or was it you two who poisoned the emperor?"

“In reply to the Imperial Noble Consort, this servant and I are kneeling here because we are following the orders of Noble Lady Qi.

Lady Qi said that the emperor was not feeling well and needed us to kneel for a long time under the scorching sun to pray for his health. Our young master felt sorry for the emperor's health, so she agreed to do it and knelt down on the stone steps with me."

"Well, since you are here to pray for blessings, you two should kneel down. When the emperor is safe, I will naturally let you two stand up."

Lingrong was not so kind and naturally would not ask the two sisters to get up. She put on a worried look again and was supported by Zhaoshui to hurriedly see the emperor.

Since Lingrong and He Anming already knew that the emperor was poisoned by oleander, He Anming was able to handle it quite well. When Lingrong entered the room, he was already arranging for her to induce vomiting.

"My Lady Imperial Concubine, please don't come any closer." Su Peisheng stopped her as soon as he saw Ling Rong. "Imperial Doctor He is helping the Emperor to induce vomiting. The Emperor loves you the most, so he doesn't want you to see him losing his composure.

Please wait for a moment, and come visit the emperor after he is out of danger."

Su Peisheng bowed slightly, "There is one more thing, I almost forgot to tell you, Your Majesty, when the Emperor was poisoned, there were only Concubine Qi and her maid Jingtai.

Your Majesty, why don't you take this opportunity to ask Concubine Qi what exactly the Emperor came into contact with to be poisoned."

Lingrong nodded and turned to look at Concubine Qi, whose legs went soft and she knelt down, completely lacking the ruthless look she showed when she dealt with Zhen Huan and the other two.

"My Lady Imperial Concubine, please listen to my explanation."

Concubine Qi was not the one who poisoned the emperor, but the fact that she and Jingtai were the only ones around the emperor still made her worried. After all, if the real culprit could not be found, she would be accused of murdering the emperor.

Ling Rong sat down and looked down at Concubine Qi, "Well, then you can tell me why the Emperor was suddenly poisoned."

"This..." Before Lingrong came, Concubine Qi was trying to recall which link had gone wrong. Now that Lingrong asked, she instantly told everything she had done, "I saw that the emperor had woken up, so I sat in front of the couch to entertain him, but after just a few words, the emperor said he was thirsty and wanted some tea.

When I saw that there was no tea on the table, I went to the main hall to get some. At that time, only Concubine Wan and the maid beside her were crying and holding each other's heads. I was so angry that I scolded them and asked them to go to the courtyard to recite scriptures and pray for the Emperor.

Afterwards, the concubine came back with tea and served the emperor.

Apart from this, the emperor never used anything else. Due to his poor health, he could only lie in bed and had no chance to come into contact with any poison.

So I thought that the problem must be with the pot of water.

The pot of water was taken from the hall where Concubine Wan was, so the only ones who had the opportunity to poison it were Concubine Wan and the maidservants around her.

"Lady Qi means that the poison that the emperor was poisoned with has nothing to do with you, right?"

"Yes, Imperial Concubine." Concubine Qi swallowed her saliva and said, "Please believe me. I have no reason to harm the Emperor."

"In that case, Mu Jin, bring in Concubine Wan and her maidservant."

Concubine Qi looked much better. She touched her chest. She used to like pretending to be nervous, but now she was really nervous. If she wasn't careful, she might lose her life.

"Zhaoshui, follow Eunuch Su and check the main hall to see if there are any suspicious traces."

Zhaoshui and Mujin acted separately, and Su Peisheng also obeyed and followed them immediately.

Zhen Huan and Concubine Wan came back first. They knelt beside Concubine Qi and were about to pay their respects when Ling Rong raised her hand to stop them.

The room was filled with the unpleasant smell of vomiting. Ling Rong frowned and tried to suppress the feeling of discomfort. "Right now, Imperial Doctor He is busy rescuing the Emperor. I cannot intervene. I will take this opportunity to find out who poisoned the Emperor.

Just now, Concubine Qi has explained her own situation and suspected that the tea was poisoned. Also, the tea was taken from the hall. There are only Concubine Wan and your maid in the courtyard. You are indeed the most suspicious. Why don't you two talk about it?"

"If it was me or the maidservant around me who poisoned, then we must be carrying a bottle or paper wrapped with poison. Your Majesty, why don't you send someone to search me so that I can be cleared of all charges."

Concubine Wan did not show any fear. She spoke very calmly and even opened her arms.

"You are allowing people to search openly like this, those things must have been put away long ago," Concubine Qi snorted, "Maybe they are not put in any container, but in a handkerchief or a sachet or something like that.

The poison is gone, so there's nothing else to be found."

"What Noble Lady Qi said is indeed reasonable. Then I have no other way to prove myself," Noble Lady Wan sighed, "Everything is decided by the Imperial Noble Consort, and I will cooperate."

As they were talking, several imperial doctors rushed over. Ling Rong also stopped them from bowing and told them to go and treat the emperor immediately.

But she did not forget the pot of tea, so she asked Wei Lin to check it.

As expected, the pot of tea was poisonous. Oleander powder was put in it. The emperor was poisoned because he drank this tea.

"So, the ones who have the chance to taste this pot of tea are Concubine Qi, Concubine Wan, Zhenxi and Jingtai." Ling Rong pointed to them one by one, "Oleander is not easy to obtain, and it tastes extremely bitter, so ordinary people can't drink it.

Lady Qi, you said that you personally fed the emperor tea. How could the emperor drink something so bitter?"

"This... When I was feeding His Majesty tea, he didn't show any bitterness." Concubine Qi was also a little confused, "This... Is this oleander really bitter?"

"In reply to your words, oleander is indeed bitter, whether it is the pollen or the juice. Although it looks normal when put into water, you will find it once you drink it."

"Mr. Qi, do you have anything else to say?"

“My Lady Imperial Concubine, I only fed the Emperor tea and never tasted it myself, so I didn’t know that oleander was mixed into the tea.

I really don't understand why the emperor didn't notice anything unusual after drinking tea.

Could it be... could it be that there is something wrong with the emperor's taste buds?"

"It's really interesting. Lady Qi spoke so righteously when she falsely accused others, but how come when it comes to yourself, you even doubt the Emperor, the victim?"