SFS Chapter 154 Doubt
Chapter 154 Doubt
The Third Prince said happily, "Father must have come to spend the New Year with Mother."
Among all the women in the harem, only my mother has this honor.
Concubine Yu stood up and said, "Let's go, follow your mother to welcome your father."
He then instructed the palace servants, "Prepare a few more dishes that His Majesty likes and send them over as soon as possible."
She also thought that the emperor came over in the middle of the night to celebrate the New Year with her.
Since the empress entered the Buddhist temple, she became the emperor's sweetheart. In the following years, the emperor treated her as his wife.
Perhaps it was the hustle and bustle outside the palace tonight that made the emperor feel calm, so he came to look for her.
Thinking of this, she curled her lips.
Everyone longs to stand at the top, but Huang'er doesn't know that there is a saying in this world: "Those who plant trees will enjoy the shade."
If she could do it back then, her son can do it too.
Instead of working hard and getting your hands dirty, it is better to wait for the opportunity.
"I pay my respects to Your Majesty."
"My son has met my father."
The two bowed their heads in greeting.
The emperor glanced at the third prince and said, "I have something to say to your mother. Please go somewhere else."
Both mother and son were stunned.
Sensing something was amiss, Imperial Concubine Yu raised her head slightly, only then seeing the Emperor's gloomy face. She hurriedly said to the Third Prince, "Go to the Imperial Kitchen and have them prepare a nourishing soup for your father."
The third prince also noticed that the emperor looked unhappy, so he nodded in agreement and took away all the palace maids from Xianfu Palace.
The people brought by the emperor followed Eunuch Wu and stood still.
Upon seeing this, Imperial Concubine Yu's eyebrows twitched, but she remained calm and said, "Your Majesty, have you encountered any troubles?"
I quickly reviewed my recent actions in my mind, making sure that I hadn't made any mistakes, and I felt a little more at ease.
But the emperor's next words made her heart jump again, "Yu Yan, do you know about the queen's affairs?"
"What about the Queen sister?"
Concubine Yu asked bewilderedly, "Your Majesty, are you referring to the incident where someone pretended to be your sister tonight?"
The emperor stared at her sharply.
"You and the Queen are close friends. She will certainly tell you what's on her mind."
Concubine Yu nodded. "The Queen and I do share some of our daughters' concerns. Why is Your Majesty asking about the past?"
"Has she ever told you that she has someone else in her heart?"
"His Majesty?"
Concubine Yu was so frightened that she quickly knelt on the ground, and then her eyes turned red, "Sister Queen is the most dignified and polite, and her heart is only devoted to Your Majesty.
Although my sister may be a bit stubborn, she is definitely not a fickle person. Your Majesty, please don't overthink it."
The emperor clenched his hands tightly behind his back, "What you mean is that the queen never told you that she has someone else in her heart?
Yu Yan, the crime of deceiving the emperor is not one you can bear. Think it over before you speak."
A hint of panic flashed across Concubine Yu's usually calm face.
Why do you suddenly ask this, Your Majesty?
Could it be that what happened tonight made him realize something?
Or is it for other reasons?
Concubine Yu was undecided for a moment.
But she said in a calm voice, "Your Majesty, my sister doesn't have anyone else she likes. Even if she did, she wouldn't tell me such an important matter.
I have only heard from my sister about her affection for Your Majesty."
The emperor lowered his eyes and looked at her.
Five years ago, he and Yu Yan were reminiscing about the Queen. Yu Yan mentioned that in the first year of his marriage to the Queen, she saw him and the Queen boating on the lake.
But he had never accompanied the queen to swim in the lake because he had fallen into the lake when he was young and was a little afraid of water.
He also said that the queen took the trouble to embroider a purse for him and pricked her finger several times, but he never received the purse embroidered by the queen.
Combined with the queen's indifference to him after she worshipped Buddha, he concluded that the queen had betrayed him since their marriage.
The one who actually accompanied her on the lake boat trip was Yi Qing, so he also became suspicious of the prince's background.
After all, he and Yi Qing look similar, and the fact that the prince looks like him cannot be used as proof that the prince is his son.
During that time, he was looking for the jade seal of the previous emperor that could summon the ghost army, but he could not find any trace of it anywhere.
Thinking of the late emperor's preference for the empress, he thought that perhaps the late emperor gave it to the empress, and it was finally buried in the mausoleum as a burial object with the empress.
But he never thought of opening the queen's tomb because he was reluctant to disturb her.
It was not until Yu Yan told him those two things, which made him realize that the queen had betrayed him, that he made up his mind in anger.
In the end, he found that the queen's coffin was empty, which made him more convinced that the queen had really betrayed him and that the prince was most likely not his child, which led to his murderous intention towards the prince.
Anger and hatred flooded his brain, and he didn't even think about whether Yu Yan had said those words on purpose five years ago.
Because at that time he believed that Yu Yan could not possibly know about the Queen and Yi Qing.
Firstly, the queen is introverted by nature and will not easily reveal her feelings to others.
Secondly, Yi Qing's identity was special, and the late emperor deliberately concealed it, so even many of the late emperor's confidants were unaware of Yi Qing's existence.
It was when he was mistakenly identified by the Queen that he began to suspect the existence of such a person. It was not until he was assassinated by Yi Qing that he actually saw the person.
Therefore, over the years, he never doubted Yu Yan.
But if that were the case, Yu Yan would have known from the beginning that there was a Yi Qing in this world.
What if she is Yi Qing's person?
There are only a handful of people in this harem who could send Cao Ying away quietly and kill Lin's concubines.
Yu Yan's power in the palace in recent years is comparable to that of the queen, and she is one of the few who can do so.
Moreover, she and the Queen were once good friends. Since Yi Qing was pestering the Queen, he would definitely pay attention to the people around the Queen, and might even find Yu Yan.
He thought of the queen's stubborn face again. She insisted that she and Yi Qing were innocent. In the end, in order to prove herself, she was willing to enter the Buddhist temple, and Yu Yan became the beneficiary.
If all this was a conspiracy, the lake cruise was fabricated by Yu Yan, the Queen had never betrayed him, and the Crown Prince had no relationship with Yi Qing...
Just when he thought of this in the Yangxin Palace, he felt a chill on his back.
Yi Qing took the queen away. If the queen was innocent, she would never stay with Yi Qing.
But if he killed the prince, the queen might stay with Yi Qing in desperation, waiting for an opportunity to avenge the prince.
Yi Qing's ambition is not just to take the queen away. He also has the blood of the Si family in his veins, and he also wants the country.
Although the previous Dayou was not as indestructible as the previous emperor, he was still something that a mere boy like Yi Qing could not aspire to be.
But since he fell out with the crown prince, Dayou has become the current situation. It is not impossible for Yi Qing to take advantage of the power of the vassal state, or directly use the pawns in the palace to enter the palace and pretend to be him to sit in that position.
A cold wind blew in from outside the door, and the emperor's body swayed.
The death of the prince would not only make the queen hate him, but also give Dayou an opportunity to take advantage of...
The emperor stepped back and sat on the armchair, "What happened tonight makes me feel a little uneasy. I am wondering if I have misunderstood the queen.
When she was on good terms with you, did she ever complain to you about me?"
He was impulsive. If Yu Yan was Yi Qing's woman, she would not admit it without evidence.
He held on to a glimmer of hope, hoping that he was wrong.
Rather than being manipulated by Yi Qing, neglecting his wife, and killing his son, he would rather be wrong.
He couldn't help but reach out to pull Concubine Yu, "Don't kneel down all the time. I'm in a bad mood today, and it's not directed at you."
Concubine Yu's tense heart finally relaxed. "I am fine. It's just that after my sister got angry with His Majesty, she also turned cold towards me and stopped confiding in me."
She looked at the emperor with worried eyes, "Your Majesty, do you miss your sister?"
The emperor waved his hand and said, "It's in the past. Let's not talk about it anymore."
Thinking of something, he added, "You have been in charge of the harem for many years. Please check for me which embroiderer Lin Yuanbai was close to five years ago, and where is that embroiderer now?"
"Is the embroiderer your majesty referring to the one who cried out for justice tonight?"
"Ah."
The emperor looked at her and said distressedly, "When the Ministry of Punishment was trying the Lin family today, one of the Lin family's concubines also mentioned that embroiderer.
But the concubine was taken to the Ministry of Punishment and died of a heart attack soon after, and the clues were cut off again."
Concubine Yu frowned, "I heard that Wang Yuan's son also had palpitations, why is this..."
The emperor sighed deeply, "This year is really not peaceful. I am hungry. Give me some porridge."
Concubine Yu hurriedly helped the emperor sit down at the table.
The emperor seemed to have a poor appetite and only ate a few mouthfuls of his bowl of porridge. "Tomorrow morning they will go to congratulate me on the New Year. To avoid disturbing you, I will return to the Yangxin Palace. Remember to find out about the embroiderer's matter as soon as possible."
Concubine Yu watched the emperor leave with a confused look in her eyes. After the emperor walked away, she covered her heart with her hand, which was beating very fast.
After the emperor returned to the Yangxin Palace, he called out the secret guards and ordered them to "keep a close eye on the Xianfu Palace."