An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Zhen Huan wanted to confront Shen Meizhuang face to face, but as soon as Shen Meizhuang saw her, she would hurry away.

Occasionally he could stop her, but before he could say another word, the two would start arguing and part ways unhappily again.

Helpless, Zhen Huan simply stopped caring about Shen Meizhuang and directly called Xiao Shi to Yongshou Palace.

However, no matter how he was interrogated, Xiao Shi said that he knew nothing about it. He just lit the incense and candles that were sent to him, so he had no idea whether they contained musk.

"Who is the one who sends you incense on weekdays?"

"To reply to Concubine Zhen, it was Hu Xing from the Imperial Household Department." Xiao Shi often interacted with Hu Xing, so naturally he would not forget him.

Zhen Huan immediately asked Xiao Li to investigate, and he soon came back with news that Hu Xing had only taken the incense from the storehouse and had no idea that the incense and candles had been tampered with.

Zhen Huan naturally didn't believe it. How could musk appear out of thin air? One of these two people must have lied.

"Xiao Shi," Zhen Huan softened her tone and ordered Xiao Li to help the man up. "You used to serve Concubine Hui. Concubine Hui and I are sisters, so I naturally trust you."

"Thank you, my lady." Xiao Shihan stood up with a silly smile. He really thought Zhen Huan believed that he was wronged. "My lady, you are so kind that you still remember me."

"It's just that how did you get to Baohua Palace? I remember that you were very helpful in front of Concubine Hui."

"In fact, I don't know much about it. After returning from the Old Summer Palace, the young lady refused to let me continue to serve her."

Xiao Shi tried hard to recall what he had done wrong.

It’s a pity that no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t figure out why Concubine Hui did this.

Looking at his appearance, Zhen Huan understood that he was too honest and not smart enough.

If Shen Meizhuang could be as successful as before, she could keep him by her side to serve her.

But after the Old Summer Palace, Shen Meizhuang obviously had some brains and knew how to reorganize the people around her, leaving only those who were smart and trustworthy.

As for Xiao Shi, he was abandoned by her.

However, after Xiao Shi left Xianfu Palace, he was assigned to Baohua Palace where he lived. From the perspective of timing, it was too coincidental.

If it wasn't Shen Meizhuang's doing, then there was only one possibility - this Xiao Shi had been bribed by someone a long time ago, and Shen Meizhuang discovered his problem and sent him back to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

That man took advantage of his loss of power and wanted to ask Xiao Shi to enter Baohua Palace to murder him secretly.

This little Shi is not honest at all, he is clearly pretending to be stupid.

Zhen Huan called Huanbi over and whispered something in her ear.

Huanbi had been away from Yongshou Palace for a long time and just came back slowly. She had a few incense sticks and candles in her hands and placed them on Zhen Huan's desk.

"My lady, Hu Xing has confessed." Huanbi glanced at Xiao Shi, "He is a coward. He confessed everything after just two short beatings."

"Tell me about it."

"Hu Xing confessed that someone gave him these items and told him to pack them up and send them all to Baohua Palace. He was also told that there was someone named Xiao Shi in the palace who would pick them up."

Zhen Huan nodded. While listening to Huanbi's answer, she also did not forget to observe Xiao Shi's expression.

"As for the person who gave him the thing, it was Zhou Ninghai from Yikun Palace."

When Xiao Shi heard Zhou Ninghai's name, his expression changed. He immediately lowered his eyes so that Zhen Changzai wouldn't notice anything unusual.

Huanbi described in detail how Zhou Ninghai contacted Hu Xing, which made Xiao Shi more and more convinced that she had really found out the mastermind behind the scenes.

Xiao Shi kept comforting himself in his heart that as long as he killed the person who was unaware of the situation, his life would be saved.

The worst outcome would be a confrontation with Hu Xing or Zhou Ninghai, but Hu Xing was just a middleman and he actually didn't know how familiar he was with Zhou Ninghai.

As for Zhou Ninghai, Xiao Shi didn't believe that Zhen Changzai could call him over to confront him now.

"...Hu Xing said that Xiao Shi was the one who was in charge of the meeting in Baohua Hall. He knew very well that incense and candles contained musk."

Huanbi finally finished telling what she had found out, and at Zhen Huan's signal, she handed the two things to Xiao Shi.

"Xiao Shi, do you want to explain something about this matter?"

Xiao Shi looked down at the things in his hands, still with a confused look on his face, "To answer the question, are these candles and incense used in Baohua Palace?

If so, why not ask the imperial physician to check it out? I really don’t know what musk candles are.”

Xiao Shi knew it best. Those incense and candles were only used for one month. Even if Zhen Changzai and Huanbi hid some of them, there would not be more.

As for Hu Xing, he would not keep these problematic incense sticks. No matter how Zhen Huan investigates, she will not be able to catch him red-handed.

And with Zhou Ninghai as their leader, these servants may not necessarily lose their lives.

But if you admit it like this, you will definitely lose your life.

"Then let's ask Doctor Wen to take a look."

This Xiao Shi is indeed not as simple as he seems, and Zhen Huan also knows that it is difficult to get any useful information from Xiao Shi.

But this matter is definitely related to the Yikun Palace, especially Zhou Ninghai. We have to think of some way to make Xiao Shi and Hu Xing tell the truth.

Soon, Wen Shichu came over. The incense and candle were brand new and did not contain any musk.

But before he came, Huanbi explained the reason to him, so after checking, Doctor Wen said with certainty that these two things did contain musk.

"My lady, this is what I just got from Hu Xing." Huanbi then presented a half-burned incense and candle, "And these are the leftovers from the Baohua Palace. Imperial Doctor Wen also checked it just now, and it does contain musk."

Xiao Shi was quite surprised. Those with problems had been used up long ago, so how come this problematic incense appeared again?

It is clear that Zhen Chang has not been in Baohua Hall in recent days. Could it be that... the incense and candles have not been used up?

Xiao Shi was about to think deeply, but was interrupted by Zhen Huan.

"Xiao Shi, you were the one who placed these incense and candles in Baohua Palace," Zhen Huan's tone was relatively gentle, but her words frightened Xiao Shi very much. "You can't escape responsibility no matter what, but since you don't want to expose your master, I will do as you wish."

Zhen Huan closed her eyes as if she was tired. She waved her hand, and someone rushed forward and pressed Xiao Shi to the ground.

"Just report it to the emperor and say that Xiao Shi deliberately murdered him, but considering that he served you wholeheartedly, let's leave his body intact."

Xiao Shi knew at this point that Zhen Changzai couldn't find the mastermind behind this and was simply taking it out on him.

"I was not aware of this. Doesn't Zhen Chang feel guilty about framing me like this?"

Xiao Shi did not struggle. He was forced to kneel on the ground, still expressing his grievances.

"These candles and incense were brought here by Concubine Zhen. How can I know if they are the same ones that were lit in the Baohua Palace?

Besides, musk and the like cannot be seen or touched, but Doctor Wen claims to have them, but who knows if he got the order from someone else."

Xiao Shi's remarks were well-reasoned and not only did she want to overturn Zhen Huan's conclusion, she even wanted to turn the tables and say that they were wronged.

Wen Shichu did lie, and he was a little nervous at the moment. After all, this matter concerned his sister Huan, and if something went wrong, he would have to spend the rest of his life in regret.

“There are many doctors in the Imperial Hospital. You don’t trust Doctor Wen, and there are also Doctor Zhang, Doctor Li, and Doctor Wang.

"Zhen Huan did not show any sign of panic, and her words did not reveal any clues," I will take you to the emperor's presence and ask the imperial physician to examine you one by one.

So, do you have anything else to say?"

Xiao Shi clenched his fists. He couldn't believe that there was something wrong with these two sets of incense and candles. But Zhen Changzai was so sure that it made him lose his composure.

In addition, Zhen Changzai wanted to put the entire blame on herself and even wanted to inform the emperor.

After such an operation, there is no way I can survive.

"If you tell the truth, I will plead with the emperor and save your life no matter what.

It’s up to you to decide whether to keep this life or not.”

In order to save his own life, Xiao Shi confessed everything under Zhen Huan's constant pressure.

From how Zhou Ninghai bribed him to how he placed the incense sticks and lit them in the Baohua Hall.

Even the middleman Hu Hua was not spared. Xiao Shi completely portrayed himself as a poor man who was coerced, with no power or influence and no master to look after him, so he had no choice but to do this harmful thing.

"My lady, you are the sister of Concubine Hui, even if I had ten times the courage, I would not harm you!

It was Hu Xing and Zhou Ninghai who coerced me into doing this. Please forgive me, my lord!"

At this time, Zhen Huan naturally turned into the good master who understood her servants again. She asked someone to help Xiao Shi up, her face full of sadness.

“You also know that Hui Guiren and I are like sisters.

You were her personal eunuch. If you did something wrong like this, wouldn't it mean that I and Concubine Hui will be separated?"

"This matter... this matter has nothing to do with Noble Hui."

Shen Meizhuang had never had any conflict with Xiao Shi, so he did not throw the dirty water on Shen Meizhuang.

"Is it really unrelated?" Zhen Huan wiped the few tears from her eyes, "When my lady lost her child, I found out that you had too close contact with Xiao Yunzi in my palace.

After that, this young lady lost her son, and Musk appeared next to Concubine Hui. Everyone suspected that she was the murderer, and in the end, Xiangye and Caiyue took the blame. "

When the matter of losing her child was mentioned, Zhen Huan's anger and sadness surged up at the same time. She leaned on the table and wiped her tears pitifully.

Wen Shichu wanted to comfort her, but because there were so many people present, he could only sigh at the weather and look up from time to time to observe Zhen Huan's mood.

"…After Concubine Hui returned to the palace after losing her child, you went to Baohua Palace, and then these things happened one after another.

Xiao Shi, you said that Consort Hui had nothing to do with this matter, do you think I will believe it?"

"Can……"

Xiao Shi shook his head desperately. Although he had a close relationship with Zhen Changzai's loss of her son, the events in Baohua Palace had nothing to do with Concubine Hui.

"Noble Hui really didn't know about this. If I leave Xianfu Palace, no master will accept me. Without a master in Baohua Palace, the benefits I can get will be even less.

That's why I worked so hard for Zhou Ninghai because of the gold and silver. It really has nothing to do with Concubine Hui."

Zhen Huan closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. She didn't know why she and Shen Meiyu had come to this point.

They are supposed to be the best of sisters, and even if everyone in the harem is untrustworthy, they will still be sisters who trust each other.

She never thought that one day she would doubt Shen Meizhuang because of the actions of a servant.

"You and Xiao Yunzi must have been bribed by the same person."

Zhen Huan checked Xiao Yunzi and found out that he left Yongshou Palace on the night she lost her child. Kang Luhai, Xiao Yinzi and others discovered that he went to Xianfu Palace.

Unfortunately, he did not find out who the master behind him was. In order not to alert the person behind the scenes, he continued to keep him in Yongshou Palace and asked someone to watch him every day.

But the person behind the scenes never contacted him again, and I only found out that he had a lot of contact with Xiao Shi. That's why I sent him over when Liu Zhu was detained in Yuanmingyuan by Shen Meizhuang.

If he could reveal his true colors, he would be able to find out the mastermind behind the murder.

If he had no contact with Xiao Shi again, he could have been eliminated with the help of Shen Meizhuang.

What he didn't expect was that Shen Meizhuang had already set a trap, waiting for him and the people around him to jump into it.

But even so, he successfully pulled out the thorn Xiao Yunzi from his side, so it wasn't too bad.

"The relationship between me and Xiao Yunzi is just good, the reason is because Concubine Zhen is with you and Concubine Hui.

The two masters had a good relationship and often gathered together to chat and discuss poetry, so the servants also gathered together. "

How could Xiao Shi dare to bring up the matter of Zhen Huan losing her child? Now her life would be in danger because of this crime. If the past events were brought up again, she would probably be crushed to ashes.

"I asked this question because I found evidence. I'm asking you to give you a chance."

“My Lord, I already know who is behind this servant.

As for Xiao Yunzi, I really don’t know who the master behind him is.

He is still in the palace now, you may as well call him in to ask him, so as not to wrongly accuse a good person. "

Knowing that she could not get any more information out of him, Zhen Huan ordered people to take Xiao Shi away.

She rubbed her brows, thinking about how to tell the emperor about this.

But even if this matter was told now, it would hardly cost Nian Shilan her life.

After all, she has a child in her belly, and the emperor will wait until she gives birth before taking any action.

But by then, I'm afraid the emperor's anger would have been dissipated, and maybe he would even spare Nian Shilan's life.

Now it seems... Concubine Duan's idea is really right. She must get rid of the child in Nian Shilan's belly at this time.

Zhen Huan gave Huanbi a look, asking her and the other serving palace maids to leave, leaving only Doctor Wen.

"Brother Shichu, Huan'er wants to ask you for help with something."

Wen Shichu was surprised and puzzled when he heard that Concubine Hui might be related to Zhen Huan's childlessness. Suddenly he heard Zhen Huan calling his name and was a little dazed.

"Please tell me, my lord. I will not refuse."