Red Mansion Rebirth: Ghost Phoenix

Emperor Chongzhao hurried over with four or five imperial physicians, the eunuch Qinghai, the chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Chen Duo, the earl of the Internal Temple, and a few others, as well as Lin Ruhai, the prince's tutor, and Guo Jian, the newly promoted deputy commander of the imperial guards, who happened to be present.

As soon as they arrived at Wangxiantai, Guo Jianxian led his men to surround the entire palace, and then began to search the surrounding environment inch by inch with this palace as the center to capture suspicious people.

Following Wang Xifeng's instructions, Jing Li, who had been waiting outside, hurried forward and whispered something to Guo Jian.

Guo Jian was surprised and asked hurriedly: "Where is it? I'll go with you!"

Emperor Chongzhao turned to look at them.

Jing Li knew what the emperor meant with just one look, and hurried forward, bowed, and whispered, "There are a few suspicious people, but I'm not sure I can keep them all alive, so I've asked someone to keep an eye on them nearby. Please ask Commander Guo to send someone to arrest them!"

Emperor Chongzhao hummed, and without stopping, he lifted his robe and stepped into the Wangxian Terrace.

Everyone stood up and bowed.

When Wang Xifeng saw him coming, followed by several imperial doctors and Chen Duo, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He walked over quickly and knelt on one knee, his eyes reddened: "Your Majesty, you are finally here."

Emperor Chongzhao's heart softened, and he grabbed her hand and pulled her up: "Don't be afraid."

Then he waved his hand and ordered the imperial doctors to hurry and treat the Queen and the little girl from the Xie family first, and also to check the pulses of the old ladies who had just "fainted".

Wang Xifeng hurriedly added, "Please show the Empress whether she has used anything that can make her look trance-like!"

Doctor Zhao paused, turned around and agreed, "Yes."

Emperor Chongzhao sat at the head of the table and asked Wang Xifeng to tell him in detail what had happened in the morning. He also called Gan Lan, the palace maid who had always been with Empress Mo, to ask about the Wangxiantai.

Kale was so frightened that his face turned pale. He suppressed the chill all over his body and whispered:

“After the Imperial Concubine left, the young ladies went to play around under the leadership of Shi Ronghua, and even went boating at Taiye Lake. They walked so far that I didn’t see them.

"Later, a few people felt that it was too hot on the water, so they returned. Among them was the eldest daughter of the Xie family.

"At that time, the Empress was chatting with some old ladies, and they mentioned a few girls in the capital. They were all very good, but unfortunately their backgrounds were flawed, so they were afraid that it would be difficult to find a marriage partner for them in the future.

"The Princess of the East pointed to the girls sitting below and said, 'Those are all...

"As I recall, there is a concubine's daughter from the second branch of the Duke Zhiguo's family, the eldest daughter of the Marquis Pingyuan's family who lost her mother, a cousin from the Marquis Jinxiang's family, the youngest daughter of the third branch of the Marquis Xiangyang's family who lives in the capital, and the eldest concubine's daughter from the Xie family.

"The ladies sighed, and the Queen was moved with sympathy. She called several girls forward, gave them a few words of encouragement, and gave each of them a piece of jewelry.

"After the girls left, Sang Ronghua went up to invite the Queen to go up to the second floor to enjoy the view. Princess He Ke, Lady Zhai, and Miss Lin were also upstairs at the time, chatting and laughing happily.

"The Queen was too lazy to move at first, but when she heard the princess laughing happily, she became interested and invited a few old ladies to go up with her.

“But the old ladies thought it was troublesome to go upstairs, so they didn’t follow.

"Those girls were quite perceptive, so they came back and helped the Queen up to the second floor."

Having said that, Kale took a breath.

Wang Xifeng took the opportunity to interrupt her and asked, "Do you remember which old lady was the first to decline to go upstairs?"

"Princess Xi." Gan Lan immediately responded.

Emperor Chongzhao glanced at Wang Xifeng and ordered Gan Lan, "Continue."

Kailan hurriedly agreed, but fear was evident on her face: “Slave, I accompanied the Queen up there, and indeed, I saw that the scenery was exceptionally pleasant.

"The girls accompanying the Queen walked to the railing and bumped into it, but they wanted to move forward. They were startled by the female guard beside Princess He Ke who shouted at them.

"Everyone looked at the scenery for a while, and the Queen was in a good mood, so she chatted with the girls and tested them on their poems.

"County Lady Zhai was nearby, and she also brought the princess and Miss Lin to join in the fun.

"But who would have thought that as they were talking, the others gathered around County Lady Zhai, and only Miss Xie was left in front of the Queen!"

Kale couldn't help but stiffen up, and his hands were shaking.

Wang Xifeng looked at her and narrowed her eyes: "Where were you when the Queen was in trouble?"

Then he turned around and looked: "Where are Aunt Han and Yao Huang?"

Kai Lan was so frightened that she choked up and said, "The Queen was afraid that Shi Ronghua couldn't control so many young ladies, so she asked Aunt Han to go with them.

"Yao Huang and this servant were serving the Majesty, but the Majesty was in a very good mood and asked her to get some wine..."

"Go on." Emperor Chongzhao held Wang Xifeng down.

Kai Lan cried and said: "At that time, Miss Xie suddenly knelt down in front of the Queen and whispered:

"'Please be merciful, Majesty. My stepmother wants to marry me to a general who is over fifty years old, but I don't want to! Please save me, Majesty!'

"The Queen was startled, stepped back, and asked her in confusion: 'You are only 28 years old, pretty and docile, what can't you marry?

"'As expected, marrying you to a fifty-year-old man will not please your father. If the censor knew about this, he might even impeach him.'

“Let Miss Xie stand up and speak again.

"Miss Xie stood up, but sobbed and said that it was useless to say anything, saying that the man was a matchmaker arranged by a relative, and although she was a concubine, she would be the principal wife if she married him.

"In the eyes of the world, this is already a good marriage, and so on.

"The Queen hesitated for a moment and promised that she would ask Madam Xie about the situation; but her daughter's marriage was decided by her parents and the matchmaker. If it really wasn't a matter of selling her daughter, she was afraid she couldn't do anything about it.

"Who knows..."

When Kale said this, he suddenly trembled and could no longer stand. He fell to the ground, kneeling and crying,

"Who would have thought that Miss Xie would suddenly pull out a dagger and point it at her chest, and threaten the queen, saying that if she didn't make the decision for her, she would bleed to death in front of the queen, so that the queen would remember this bloody day for the rest of her life...

"The queen was so frightened that her voice changed, and she reached out to grab the knife from Miss Xie's hand...

"But Miss Xie suddenly grabbed the Queen's hand, yelled 'Queen, spare me!' She stabbed the dagger into her own abdomen, and fell backwards from the railing...

“It was then that the servant discovered that the dagger, the dagger, was actually held in the hand of the queen!”

When Kale said this, he burst into tears.

Such a weird situation...

"Ridiculous, but effective." This is how Emperor Chongzhao commented on this trap.

Wang Xifeng looked at Qinghai coldly and said, "Should the inspection of female relatives entering the palace be handled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

How did that dagger get brought into the palace?!

Qinghai looked aggrieved: "The palace gate is under the control of the guards."

"Female members are also under the charge of the guards?!" Wang Xifeng was furious and looked at Chen Duo, "What do you do in the inner temple?!"

Chen Duo knelt down without saying a word: "There are so many people coming to the palace flower party, and it is inevitable that there will be people with bad intentions among the good and bad people.

"Since we are in charge of the inspection and guarding of the harem, we should take care of this matter.

"It was my fault for not considering the matter carefully enough to arrange for a special female official to check. I have failed in my duty. Your Majesty and the Imperial Concubine, please punish me!"

Emperor Chongzhao was quite satisfied with Chen Duo's attitude: "First, investigate the case thoroughly, and we can discuss other rewards and punishments later."

Then he glared at Qinghai.

Qinghai pouted.

Wang Xifeng glanced at Qinghai coldly and said, "Eunuch Qing, this is a murder case.

"The reputation of the Daming Palace has been trampled on!

"You, the chief steward of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, don't you feel the slap on your face?"