SFS Chapter 70 Everyone is a Suspect
Chapter 70 Everyone is a Suspect
Consort Xian remained silent.
She wasn't unintelligent; jealousy had simply clouded her judgment.
Sure enough, she was burdened by her family.
She struggled to kneel, but the emperor had already lost his patience. "Li Fude, send Consort Xian back. If she pleads again, she will be demoted and confined to her quarters. I will show no leniency!"
"yes!"
"Your Majesty, I am devoted to you, but you have forgotten your old love for a new one. You are so heartless towards me! My brother has guarded Tianfei Pass for so many years without even starting a family, and Your Majesty has the heart to take his life!"
"Li Fude, what are you standing there for?"
Li Fude quickly ordered two eunuchs to carry Consort Xian away. Consort Xian's cries could still be faintly heard, and they only disappeared after a while.
No sooner had Consort Xian left than Cen Yin arrived in person. He had a lot on his plate lately, including the pursuit of the remnants of Prince Yidu's faction and the search of the palace. He had made some progress on both matters, and since the Emperor was about to return, he came over.
"Your Majesty, those three families are the only ones who openly support Li Yuanjian. They've had ties for a long time and can't sever them, so they have no choice but to comply. There's no substantial evidence against the others. And then there's Zhang Xu..."
The Emperor said, "The fate of those three families shall be decided by the Three Judicial Offices. As for the remaining accomplices, their fate shall be determined accordingly. Although Zhang Xu is dead, his family knew about it but did not report it, so you need not plead for them!"
"I have no intention of pleading for him; I am merely filled with remorse. Your Majesty entrusted me with important responsibilities back then, placing him in a subordinate position, and perhaps that is why he has come to this. I truly cannot understand why, when Your Majesty has no doubts about him, he would commit such a treacherous act?"
The emperor said, "It's his character! I knew he would end up like this. Unless I also listen to him completely, even if I were to hand over this dragon throne to him, he might still complain that I've made the chair too warm before giving it to him."
"You needn't feel guilty. I'm not so blind as to not recognize his true nature. Just tell me, do his family members know about the treason?"
Cen Yin dared not deceive the emperor, nor could he bear to speak, so he remained silent.
Li Yuanke learned of this and said, "Do as you see fit. I cannot let this go lightly."
"Yes!" Cen Yin said, "Your Majesty, there is also the matter in the palace. We found this in the corner under the Empress's bed. After examination by the Imperial Hospital, it was determined that it contained extremely serious secrets."
The musk kernels were taken from the original musk deer, blended with borneol and other spices, and placed under the bed. The fragrance emitted was similar to the incense the empress usually used, so it went unnoticed for almost half a year.
The emperor said, "You can talk to the empress about this yourself later."
"And then there's Consort Pan of Baoci Palace, who miscarried last night!" Cen Yin said. "Besides that, we also found this in Shouxian Palace. It's aconite and fritillaria. If the two are used together for a long time, it will cause hallucinations and eventually make people like idiots."
"Send them to the Empress as well." Li Yuanke wasn't particularly concerned, only asking, "How is Zhaoyang Palace?"
"Everything is fine at Zhaoyang Palace, there is nothing wrong," Cen Yin said. "The crops at Zhaoyang Palace are growing well, but those at the Emperor's Qianyuan Palace are growing even better. They have produced a kind of big, bright red fruit, another kind of long, pointed fruit, and yet another kind of long, stick-like thing wrapped in green leaves. I don't know what they are."
Li Yuanke was delighted. "I understand. You may continue with your work!"
Upon hearing that Cen Yin was requesting an audience, the Empress quickly ushered him in, treating him with utmost courtesy, "Please have a seat, serve tea!"
When Cen Yin finished speaking, she was immediately stunned. Cen Yin also mentioned that Consort Pan of Bao Ci Palace had miscarried and that Consort Qiong had almost become mentally impaired, but she didn't hear a word of it.
After Cen Yin left, it took her a while to come to her senses. "Granny, what did you hear? What did Cen Yin just say?"
She couldn't believe it.
"Summon Imperial Physician Zhang and Physician Jiang, have them come and take my pulse right now!"
The Empress never dreamed that the imperial physician Li, whom she had always used, was from the Pei family and dared to betray her.
Despite taking her pulse every day, they couldn't diagnose that she was poisoned.
Zhang Yuanpan was the emperor's man, and in the empress's eyes, the newly arrived imperial physician Jiang Lingyou was also one of her men. Naturally, the empress did not trust the emperor enough.
However, Cen Yin found this in her palace and was ordered to send it to her, which made her trust the emperor a little more.
It's impossible to completely trust them, but right now, she doesn't have any trustworthy imperial physicians.
"Your Majesty's body has been exposed to the gatekeeper for a long time, and there are still some accumulated toxins in your body. If you want to have children, it may be difficult for the time being. You will need to take medicine to regulate your body for a long time."
Jiang Lingyou also said, "Fortunately, Her Majesty the Empress did not spend too long with the doorman, otherwise, if she wanted to get pregnant again, I'm afraid it would be too late. Her Majesty's health needs to be carefully taken care of. Right now, not only is it difficult to get pregnant, but even if she did, she wouldn't be able to keep it."
The Empress barely managed to hold back her tears. "I am deeply grateful to the two imperial physicians. Please take good care of me. If you can help me achieve my goal in the future, I will repay you handsomely!"
Granny Qu then showed the items to Imperial Physician Zhang and Jiang Lingyou, asking, "Could you two please help me determine approximately how long ago these two items were made?"
The two examined the herbs and, based on their color and the Empress's condition, came to a general conclusion: the herbs were about six months old.
The Empress suffered from this for about three months. If she hadn't moved to Qingyi Garden to escape the summer heat, she would probably be completely ruined by now.
After the imperial physician left, the empress flew into a rage, so angry that she almost fainted.
Granny Qu said, "Your Highness, please don't be angry. Think carefully about who did this."
Soon, someone came to the Empress's palace with news that one of the Empress's second-class maids, named Cuixiao, had hanged herself in her room during the palace search.
"Cuixiao? She was given to her by the Imperial Household Department. Have you investigated her background?" the Empress said angrily.
"Cuixiao has no relatives outside the palace. She doesn't interact much with people. The only person she has any contact with is a cleaning eunuch from Yin Shuren's former palace. The two said they were from the same hometown. After Yin Shuren's rebellion was exposed, this eunuch was sent to the Shenxing Division and never came out again."
"They've found out about the former Consort Yin?" The Empress sneered.
"Anyway, it's not these new concubines right now. I knew those people were all dishonest. Consort De's eldest son is deposed, and if Consort Qing hadn't been constantly provoking the Shen family, she would still be Consort Qing."
Consort Xian always believed that I had sabotaged her pregnancy; Consort Qiong was just a good-for-nothing pretending to be crazy; and as for Lady Song, despite her usual proper etiquette, her methods of harming others were worse than anyone else's. It's all because I spoiled them!
The Empress was filled with rage!
Everyone is a suspect, so it's hard to know who to focus on.
"Your Majesty, things have come to this point. All we can do is focus on recovering. We'll investigate these matters slowly and eventually find out who did it."
"They said that the original musk deer can only be found in the northeast, which is the territory of the Beisha people, and also in the northwest region of Gansu and Gansu, which are places where the Duke of Wei's mansion is stationed year-round. However, it may not necessarily be her."
"This stuff is hard to come by, which makes it easier to find clues. Granny, have someone send a message home and tell them to investigate outside."
The Empress was heartbroken not only for her own health, but also for the health of others.
The Empress, a woman of such dignity, has been schemed against like this!