Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace

When the queen called, Ruyi ordered people to prepare the sedan chair, and immediately went to Changchun Palace with Hailan.After entering the palace, the emperor and empress were sitting on it, and all the concubines and concubines of the palace had arrived, even the nobles who were in cultivation were also sitting there.When the queen saw that she was sick and weak, she couldn't help feeling sorry for her, and gave her a goose feather cushion to sit on alone.After the two entered the hall, they saw each other one by one, and then sat down according to their respective positions.

When everyone arrived, Concubine Gao raised the silk in her hand, and said lazily: "It's spring outside in March, just when Xingjiao Yingying is singing, and the empress doesn't go to the imperial garden to enjoy the spring, why are you so urgent to call the concubines and other concubines?" How about entering Changchun Palace?"

The empress's always dignified and gentle face could not help but show a bit of sadness: "Since last winter, the emperor's heir in the palace has suffered misfortune, and there have been many mournful voices. Both the palace and the emperor are extremely worried. No matter how beautiful the spring is, I have no intention of appreciating it. The reason why I urgently called my younger sisters here today is because there are some clues about Mrs. Yigui's stillbirth, and I need to find someone to ask. Since this is a matter of the harem, everyone in the harem should naturally listen to it."

Yigui's expression became tense, and he hurriedly asked: "What the empress said, do you know who is the one who murdered the concubine's child?"

The queen said softly: "Your Majesty, don't be impatient. This matter has a lot to do with it. This palace and the emperor only know a little bit about it. As for whether this is the case, everyone should come and listen."

The emperor said: "Since the empress has found out something, please speak up if you have something to say."

The queen glanced at Zhao Yitai who was beside her, Zhao Yitai clapped her hands twice, and then saw Imperial Physician Xu and Imperial Physician Zhao come in together.

The queen said in a deep voice: "Everyone knows that Yigui suffered a misfortune, and the dragon fetus died in the womb, because he was poisoned by mercury. But this palace can't understand it. There is no mercury and cinnabar in Yigui's room. Concubine Gao Gui I am also very careful about Yigui's diet and daily life, and it is reasonable to say that there will be no accidents. If you want to investigate the matter, you must find the source, and the concubine asked someone to search the utensils in Yigui's room, only to find these things."

The queen raised her face, and first showed the emperor and concubines the red candle with carved silver flowers and cinnabar in the nobleman's room, and there was evidence from the imperial doctor Zhao: "The cinnabar will precipitate mercury when it is hot, and the mercury will melt when it is hot." It is a colorless and odorless gas that diffuses, allowing people to inhale it unconsciously. The remaining vermilion powder in the charcoal ashes must have been mixed with a little cinnabar into the red bamboo charcoal, and it is not easy to find it after it is burned .”

Everyone was secretly surprised, Ruyi sighed quietly: "The people behind the scenes are really unfathomable. If the people around the queen were not vigilant, who would have thought of such a delicate method?"

Concubine Gao also frowned slightly, tsk-tsk said: "It is impossible to put such a thought into harming the nobleman. This person is really vicious."

The queen glanced at Ruyi, and sneered, "It's not too spicy, it's just small. The concubine heard from the imperial doctor that the fetus in Yigui's pregnancy was seriously poisoned. It was obvious that Yigui had taken cinnabar or mercury. But how can you eat that thing, there must be something wrong with the diet.”

"Food?" The emperor frowned and looked at Concubine Gao. Concubine Gao hurriedly got up and said fearfully, "Your Majesty, Mrs. Yi's food is all fresh from the imperial dining room, and Mrs. Yi's personal cook is in the small kitchen by herself. The ministers and concubines also pay attention to it every day, and there is nothing new to be sent to Yigui, please learn from the emperor!"

The emperor looked at the queen again, and the queen shook her head and said: "Concubine Gao has never experienced it, so how can she know how powerful it is. The fish and shrimps sent are all jumping around, but this jumping around is not far from the pot, who cares?" What's wrong with it. Zhao Yitai, tell me."

Zhao Yitai said: "Originally, the empress asked the slaves to go to the imperial dining room to inquire what the two nobles liked to eat when they were pregnant. Only then did they know that the two nobles liked fish and shrimp very much. The original intention of the empress was to ask slaves I just checked what was wrong with these fish and shrimps. Who knew that when I went to the imperial dining room, I found that all the fish used for Mr. Yi were dead, so I threw them out. The servant felt strange. The chickens, ducks, fish and shrimps used by Mr. Yi were all dead. They were raised separately, so the chickens and ducks were still alive, and the fish and shrimps died within a few days. So the slaves paid extra attention and found a small bag of leftover fish food to see if there was anything unusual."

Zhao Yitai turned around and took a small bag of fish food and held it in front of the queen.The queen glanced coldly and said: "These fish are all raised in the imperial dining room for the pregnant concubines to eat. They are all carefully selected and then raised in a small pond. The food they feed is also very good. Fine. The palace attaches so much importance to the emperor's heir, I didn't expect some people with ulterior motives to make up their minds on this."

Jiagui looked at the fish in the basin curiously: "Is there any difference between these fish food?"

The queen said lightly: "If there is any difference, just ask the imperial doctor to have a look."

Imperial Physician Zhao hurriedly answered "Yes", and looked side by side with Imperial Physician Xu for a moment, with a dignified expression: "Reporting to Empress, these fish foods are mixed with finely ground cinnabar powder, after feeding them to fish and shrimp, There will be no abnormality in the first few days. Because the cinnabar itself is only sweet, slightly cold, and slightly poisonous. But after two days of fish and shrimp eating and raising, the toxins are all dissolved in the meat. Once cooked and heated, the poisonous The stronger it is, the stronger it is. Originally, it’s okay to eat a little bit, but after a long period of time, it’s like taking cinnabar and mercury, and slowly harming the fetus. The method is extremely old and spicy!”

Zhao Yitai said again: "The servant also asked in the imperial dining room that the fish and shrimps that Yigui and Meigui ate after they became pregnant are indeed fed with this kind of fish food, there is absolutely no mistake."

Jiagui hurriedly covered his mouth in fright, and opened his eyes wide in panic.The pure concubine closed her eyes and chanted a few Buddha's mantras, shaking her head endlessly.Concubine Gao looked at those things with disgust, and said again and again: "What a vicious method! The concubine thought that she was very careful about the diet of Yigui, but she didn't realize that she still resorted to such a dirty method. I also ask the emperor and queen to punish me !"

Meiguiren and Yiguiren had already expressed grief and indignation, they couldn't hold back several times, and they were about to explode almost immediately.Ruyi looked at the fish and shrimp in the pot, and suddenly said suspiciously: "Since these fish and shrimp are carefully raised in the palace for the consumption of pregnant concubines, you should be extra careful with the fish food. People who feed these fish and shrimp cannot escape suspicion."

The queen glanced at her, and said slowly: "Concubine Xian has touched on the crux."

Meigui couldn't bear it any longer, knelt on the ground and hugged the emperor's leg and said, "Your majesty, your majesty, my concubine gave birth prematurely in August of her pregnancy, and the princess died young, so she was rejected by the emperor. The concubine has never dared to blame others, she just thought it was me Poor luck and fate. Now that I think about it carefully, it turns out that someone secretly arranged this way to murder the concubine and the emperor's child. Your lord, your lord, our child died so pitifully. She didn't even call her "a mother" in her whole life. , I didn’t even open my eyes to take a good look, so I was ruined for no reason. Your Majesty, even if the concubine recited the "Curse of Rebirth" thousands of times in the palace, the child died so unjustly, it would not be wrong. Willing to go to the Paradise of Ultimate Bliss!"

Meigui wept heartbroken, and everyone present felt sympathetic.Yigui also turned his back, biting his silk and weeping.

Imperial Physician Zhao said: "Your Majesty, please don't be sad. According to Weichen and Imperial Physician Xu, the person who wanted to harm the empress was very cautious in the beginning of the medicine, and almost took it slowly, so the empress delayed until August to give birth to such a baby. A child. But for Mr. Yigui, that person seems to be confident and bold, and the medicine is more aggressive, so it will cause Mrs. Yigui to die in the fourth month of pregnancy."

Yigui finally couldn't help crying bitterly: "Since the empress has found so much, please tell my concubine, who is murdering my concubine's child?"

The queen looked at the emperor with a gloomy expression, and calmly said: "Not only you, but I also want to know that there is such a sinister person in the harem, who is so mad that he murdered the dragon fetus, what exactly is he trying to do? So please When all of you arrived, I have asked Su Xin to lead people to search all of your bedrooms, and I think there will be news soon."

Before the queen finished speaking, Su Xin brought someone in hastily, and said with a blessing: "The servants and maids that the queen empress asked have been done, just now the servants and maids led people to search the Six Palaces, and it was found on the dressing table of one of the young masters." I found a bag of cinnabar under the box, and asked the empress to have a look."

The queen didn't even look at it, and directly handed the bag of cinnabar to the emperor: "Your Majesty, what smell does this bag of cinnabar have?"

The pupils in the emperor's eyes suddenly narrowed, and after taking it out and sniffing it lightly, he suddenly became a little more puzzled: "This... this seems to be honey incense?"

"Mihexiang?" The queen suddenly changed color when she heard it, took the cinnabar and sniffed it lightly, and lost her voice: "How could it be honeyhexiang?"

"Mihexiang is native to Persia. It is made by adding fresh grape nectar and pollen to Persia's special petal powder. This fragrance is mellow and sweet, and it is also known as Yindiexiang." Ruyi said to the emperor and queen. Shen Jing said, looking at Concubine Gao like a torch, "My concubine remembers that this honey incense was a tribute sent by Persian envoys last month, and the emperor only rewarded it to Xianfu Palace."

Concubine Gao was shocked, seeing that the emperor was only staring at her, she couldn't help saying: "How is it possible? This thing is clearly from..."

Seeing that things were not going well, Su Xin hurriedly knelt down and stopped Concubine Gao's words: "Return to the emperor, this servant girl found this bag of cinnabar under the dresser drawer of Concubine Xian in Yikun Palace, not in Xianfu Palace. At that time, Concubine Xian The maidservant of the empress, A Ruo, still obstructed her from left and right, not allowing her to search. From this point of view, A Ruo also knew about it, so this servant also brought her here."

"This is strange." Ruyi stood up, Shi Shiran said a blessing, and looked at the emperor, "Suxin said that he found cinnabar in the concubine's dowry, but there is no honey fragrance in the concubine's palace. The fragrance is faint and still lingering, it can be seen that before this bag of cinnabar appeared in the concubine's palace, it was stored for a long time in a place full of honey fragrance."

"Since... since this fragrance has a faint smell, it may be caused by other spices, not honey, but it smells similar to honey!" Concubine Gao glared at Ruyi, "I remember that Concubine Xian was the most I like to use agarwood incense, if there is no scent, it is quite similar to honey incense!"

The emperor's face darkened, and he said to Concubine Gao: "Can't I smell the difference between Shenshuixiang and Mihexiang?"

Mrs. Mei, who was still sobbing, seemed to remember something, and murmured to herself: "Speaking of Shenshuixiang, this concubine recalled that I had heard Noble Concubine Xian say that since the fourth elder brother was born, Yikun Palace has never used any spices. "Her eyes brightened instantly, and she looked at Concubine Gao with three points of resentment, "If this bag of cinnabar really came from Yikun Palace, then there should be no fragrance on it!"

For a while, everyone waited with bated breath, silent like a cicada, only seeing the emperor's face getting worse, no one dared to say a word.Gao Guifei knelt in the hall and kept saying that she was innocent and wronged. Ruyi owed her money when she saw this, and said in a deep voice: "Just now Suxin said that the concubine's maid, A Ruo, obstructed her in every possible way and was not allowed to search. To prove her innocence, the concubine asked Tell Ah Ruo to come in and confront him face to face."

The emperor looked at Concubine Gao, his stern expression turned into a long sharp needle, which could almost pierce someone, and said coldly: "Zuzao."

A Ruo walked in with a humble expression, without any nervousness, knelt down calmly and said: "All blessings to the emperor, blessings to the queen, blessings to all young masters."

The queen seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and said: "I won't talk about these empty rituals today. I only ask you why you stopped Su Xin when she was going to search Yikun Palace, and you are not allowed to search the bedroom hall."

A trace of sadness flashed across A Ruo's face, and she just said: "The slaveservant serves the young master, so everything must be taken care of for the young master."

Her tone and rhetoric inevitably aroused everyone's suspicion.The queen asked, "What do you want?"

The sadness on A Ruo's face grew stronger, and she suddenly turned her head and kowtowed three times to Ruyi, saying: "My lord, I have been serving you for eight years, and it can be said that I did not do my best in the past eight years. But after my lord entered the palace, The temperament is getting more and more surly, and I often force the slaves to do things that the slaves do not want to do. The slaves know that you are the master of the slaves, and the slaves can only do it for you. But the slaves do not feel good when they do these things. Shake it out, and the slaves can't help it, they can only say what they know."

Ruyi's face was extremely calm, without showing even a trace of panic, and said calmly: "The Empress asked questions, Ah Ruo, you can answer as usual. As for what kind of person I am, the Emperor and the Empress are naturally clear. This sentence is surly. Heh, Ah Ruo, it seems that you, a slave, should not tell your master."

A Ruo bit her lip, turned her head away from her, and only said to the emperor and queen, "I know what the emperor and the queen want to ask, so I will tell you what the emperor and queen want to ask. Since Meigui was pregnant, the young master is always sad and happy." Anger is even more impermanent. I am afraid that Meigui will be born as an elder brother, who will steal the emperor's favor from the fourth elder brother. Meigui was favored after she became pregnant, and the young master hated her eyes so much that her eyes bleed. One day, she finally called her servants to Baohua Hall Gather some cinnabar and come back."

Concubine Gao said: "Concubine Xian suddenly asked you to ask for cinnabar, don't you have any doubts?"

A Ruo shook his head and said, "Slave He Cheng thought of this. At that time, the young master just said to use cinnabar to copy the scriptures to pray for blessings. Once, when the young master took the servant to visit Meigui, she quietly sprinkled some cinnabar in Meigui's charcoal basin , because the color of cinnabar is similar to red bamboo charcoal, and the particles are so small that almost no one notices it. It’s just that every time she goes there, she must take advantage of people’s unpreparedness to do so. room, so I brought my servants to let the wind out in the corridor outside the imperial dining room, and the servants vaguely heard the little master tell Xiao Luzi in the imperial dining room what to feed the cinnabar, what to mix with fish food, and also mentioned Xiao Fuzi, and Xiao Luzi immediately said Weeping and agreed. The servant was startled, and asked the young master what to do with the cinnabar, but the young master forbade the servant to ask more questions, and asked the servant to continue to search in Baohua Palace."

"Xiao Luzi and Xiao Fuzi? Who are they?" Jiagui asked curiously.

Su Xin answered from the side: "Xiao Luzi is the eunuch of the imperial dining room, and he is in charge of feeding fish and live shrimps for pregnant concubines. His younger brother, Xiao Fuzi, was originally from Yikun Palace, but was later sent to Shenyang Palace. The Criminal Division is serving. Now Xiao Luzi is outside the palace, and there is Xiao Anzi from the House of Internal Affairs, the emperor wants to bring them in for questioning?"

"You don't need to tell them yet." The emperor looked at Ruyi, "A Ruo said, what does Concubine Xian have to defend herself?"

"Your Majesty, there are a few points that my concubine does not understand." Ruyi calmly bowed down, kowtowed and said, "Can your majesty allow my concubine to ask a few words?"