An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Zhen Huan took the bowl of tea, took a sip, and put it aside.

She was not in the mood to drink tea at the moment. After all, anyone would find it hard to swallow the tea when thinking of Concubine Duan's appearance.

"The strychnine poison is so terrible."

Huanbi was also still frightened. She tried her best to persuade her not to go and watch, but the young lady just didn't believe her and wanted to go and watch the excitement.

Now that she was so scared, Huanbi felt not only distressed but also had a vague feeling that Zhen Huan deserved it.

"We have to be careful. From now on, we should not use any medicine except those prescribed by Doctor Wen.

Even if it was the imperial physician ordered by the emperor, he would just respond, and then it would be Imperial Physician Wen who would review it."

Zhen Huan glanced at the bowl of tea on the table. Usually, Huanbi was in charge of meals and tea, but today it was brought by a eunuch named Xiao Li.

"Xiao Li, you are very quick today. You even remembered to bring me tea." Zhen Huan smiled and asked tentatively, "Usually, these things are done by Huanbi. Could it be that you are doing this to us Huanbi..."

"No, no, my lord."

When Xiao Li heard that the young lady wanted to pair him up with Huanbi, he was so scared that his scalp went numb. He thought he was not worthy of having such a difficult-to-serve palace maid.

"It's just that Tangdi has been ill recently, and Sister Huanbi has gone out with the young lady, so I just wanted to prepare some tea for the young lady to quench her thirst, so I made some tea on my own initiative.

Servant, I don't have any improper thoughts about Sister Huanbi."

Zhen Huan still smiled and picked up the cup of tea again. The strong aroma of tea drifted into her nose, but she didn't smell any strange smell.

But Zhen Huan still didn't dare to completely trust Yu Xiao Li. She raised her handkerchief to cover her mouth, pretended to take another sip, and then put the teacup down again.

"The tea is good, but the way you brew it is not quite right. You still need Huanbi to teach you more."

Huanbi understood the deeper meaning of Zhen Huan's words. It seemed that the young lady was beginning to suspect Xiao Li and wanted her to be more careful about him in her daily life.

But not long ago she said she wanted to be the emperor's concubine. How come this lady turned around and used a servant to humiliate herself?

We are both daughters of the Zhen family. Why should I be the concubine of a servant while she is the mistress in the palace?

"Brewing tea requires some skills. Xiao Li, you must learn it well. Don't take my job before you learn it."

Little Li bowed and nodded repeatedly, saying thank you to the young master, and then thanking Sister Huanbi for her guidance.

"Go down."

Zhen Huan didn't bother to look at the way he nodded and bowed. He was so different from the other servants in the palace. Even Xiao Shi couldn't compare to him.

Seeing Xiao Li leave, Huanbi just closed the door. She came to Zhen Huan, picked up the cup of tea and looked at it carefully, "My lady, but what's wrong with this tea? Do you want to ask Doctor Wen to come and take a look?"

"We need to ask him to come over, but Doctor Wen is still in Chuxiu Palace and he won't be able to come for a while. Let's put the tea aside for now."

Ever since the incident of Concubine Duan dying of poisoning, everyone in the palace has been worried about their own safety, fearing that they might have eaten something unclean and died.

After all, some poisons are colorless and odorless and difficult to detect. They can only be tested one by one with silver chopsticks for tasting food before people dare to put the food in their mouths.

Although Lingrong contributed a little to this matter behind the scenes, she did not dare to be careless, especially for Youning, the wet nurse had to check her body every day to see if there was anything abnormal.

After all, adults can still speak when they are unwell, but children cannot speak, so they can only cry and make a fuss.

Concubine Tian agreed to let Xiao Li poison Zhen Huan, but Ling Rong did not hold out much hope.

After all, Zhen Huan is very meticulous, and many of the things she imports and uses will be checked before use.

He was able to harm her in Baohua Palace, and he also took advantage of Wen Shichu's inability to help him.

Now we can only wait and see whether Xiao Li can succeed and completely eliminate Zhen Huan.

As for Concubine Duan, Lingrong has no plans to go there in the next few days. At most, she will go to Ji'an to pay her condolences in two days, which will save face for both parties.

Two days later, there was still no clue as to how Concubine Duan was poisoned. The Empress had no choice but to send the palace maids of Chuxiu Palace to the Ministry of Punishment for interrogation.

Under severe punishment, perhaps the "murderer" can really be caught.

As for the matter of Concubine Hua's stupidity, some clues were found. On the night of the incident, Songzhi and others were knocked unconscious by the incense, which was enough to prove that someone had deliberately murdered them.

But the emperor already knew who had done this, so he put this discovery aside and directly joined Nian Gengyao in questioning Prince Dun and his wife.

Prince Dun was originally in the process of contacting Nian Gengyao for a rebellion, but he was stunned by this barrage of questions.

It was only after a careful analysis by the palace staff that they realized that this was a trap set by the emperor.

He originally wanted to explain to Nian Gengyao, but was completely disrupted by Songzhi's letter - after all, Songzhi was brought into the palace by Nian Shilan, and Nian Gengyao trusted her a little more.

What's more, even if he wanted to rebel, Nian Gengyao didn't necessarily have to choose Prince Dun. Aren't Tonggia Longkodo or the Fourteenth Prince better choices?

The wife of Prince Dun tried her best to prove that she did not murder Nian Da Ying.

On the contrary, Songzhi and others were able to confirm that Fu Jin did chat with Nian Da in private for a long time.

At this time, regardless of whether it was done by Prince Dun's wife or not, Nian Gengyao, who cared about his sister, did not intend to let him go. He directly asked the emperor to severely punish Prince Dun's wife in the court.

There were already Nian Gengyao's followers in the court and the country. At this time, they all knelt down and requested severe punishment, which actually helped the emperor get what he wanted.

It was just that the emperor still cared about the superficial friendship between brothers, and repeatedly delayed before the court by not investigating the matter thoroughly.

In the end, Nian Gengyao joined other ministers in submitting memorials, and wrote countless memorials and sent them to the Yangxin Palace.

What choice could the emperor make in such a situation? He walked into Shoukang Palace with a grin on his face and asked the empress dowager to be the bad guy who made the decision on his behalf.

Although the Queen Mother was angry that she was being used as a knife, she also knew that this was the best option at the moment.

In the end, it was the Empress Dowager who issued an imperial decree to confine Prince Dun's wife to the outskirts of the capital. Prince Dun's daughter was named Princess Gongding and recorded in the imperial edict of the year when she agreed to marry.

Of course, anyone who is not stupid knows that this is not the Queen Mother's intention, it is all the Emperor's decision.

When Prince Dun learned about this, he naturally did not want his daughter and wife to leave his side, so he rushed to the Yangxin Palace that night and had a big quarrel with the Emperor.

The emperor knew Prince Dun's temper and was naturally well prepared. Facing Prince Dun's questioning, he simply threw all the memorials to Prince Dun.

Memorials were scattered all over the floor. Prince Dun didn't even want to look at them. He stepped on them and questioned the emperor in a harsh voice.

"Yinzhen, you are really calculating. You framed me for Nian Shilan's murder!"

The emperor also threw the last memorial at Prince Dun's feet. He was very calm and said, "The queen summoned Mrs. Dun to the palace to apologize for your mistakes at the Hundred Days Banquet.

However, although Mrs. Dun agreed on the surface, she secretly went to the Yikun Palace.

You said your wife is innocent, do you have any evidence?"

"Evidence?! The evidence is that you, Yinzhen, deliberately slandered me!"

Prince Dun had no evidence to offer. He refused to even call the Emperor "Emperor" and kept mentioning the Emperor's name.

"I still treat you as a brother, and I don't mind you mentioning my name. Otherwise, I will punish you for the crime of disrespect."

The emperor finally showed some anger, and frowned, "There is no point in talking about this matter, if you have evidence, just send it to the Yangxin Palace at any time.

Do you know that I also have to consider General Nian's achievements, so I have to punish Lady Dun in this way!"

Prince Dun was almost laughing at the Emperor's anger. It was clearly you, Yinzhen, who did the good deed, but he had to pay the price for it.

Forget it. If I can’t win over Nian Gengyao, there is still Longkodo. I don’t believe that I can’t pull you off the throne.

Unfortunately, in the end Prince Dun was unable to convince the Emperor to release his wife.

The only thing he could get was that his daughter would not be recorded in Nian Shilan's jade book.

But in return, Gong Ding still had to serve Nian Yingying in the palace. However, considering that Nian Yingying was now mentally retarded, Gong Ding was arranged to live in Chunxi Palace and be looked after by the Queen Mother.

Gongding and Prince Dun had similar personalities. They started making a big fuss as soon as they arrived at the palace. However, there was no family member in the palace, and everyone treated her coldly.

No matter how much she cried and made a fuss, she was still forced to go to the Baohua Hall to recite and copy scriptures to pray for Nian Yingda and the deceased imperial heir.

Nian promised that the matter here had come to an end, but the truth about Concubine Duan's poisoning had not yet been revealed.

The palace maids of Chuxiu Palace were interrogated twice by the Ministry of Punishment, but no one told the truth.

If Zhen Huan had not also been poisoned, this would have remained an unsolved case for the rest of her life.

In Yongshou Palace, Zhen Huan fainted on the couch after drinking some tea with strychnine added.

Fortunately, she used a small amount and did not lose her life immediately like Concubine Duan, but she was also tortured and kept twitching on the couch.

The emperor and the empress rushed over upon hearing the news, but Wen Shichu was being treated in the inner room and the two were unable to go in to visit him.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the person who poisoned the tea was Xiao Shi. I saw with my own eyes that he sprinkled the powder into the tea and brought it into the palace himself.

I was a step too late and failed to stop the young lady, so she drank the tea without any defense."

Huanbi's tone was full of anxiety, but it seemed that she was eager to convict Xiao Shi rather than worried about Zhen Huan.

The Queen glanced at the Emperor and saw that he had no intention of speaking, so she could only interrogate him herself, "Xiao Shi, is what Huanbi said true?"

Xiao Shi shrank back and swallowed his saliva. Facing the Queen's questioning, he did not dare to answer.

"If I remember correctly, this little Shi should be serving in Baohua Palace. How come he came to Yongshou Palace?"

Huanbi bowed again and explained to the Empress, "The young lady was reciting scriptures in Baohua Palace some time ago. She was used to Xiao Shi's care, so she asked the Emperor to transfer Xiao Shi over."

The Queen is the master of the six palaces. Logically, Zhen Huan should have reported this matter to her, but she didn't expect that she would bypass her and go directly to trouble the Emperor.

After looking at the emperor and confirming that what Huanbi said was true, the queen stopped dwelling on the matter and continued to interrogate Xiao Shi.

"Xiao Shi, now that Huanbi has made the accusation, do you have anything to say?

Your Majesty and I both have things to deal with, and we don't have the energy or time to wait for you to slowly explain."

"Slave, slave..." Xiao Shi kowtowed several times. He had long been exposed in front of Zhen Changzai. For the sake of his family outside the palace and his own life, he had to cooperate with Zhen Changzai in this game.

"Someone forced me to put strychnine powder into your tea."

Unexpectedly, there was finally a case that was easy to investigate. The queen was delighted and wanted to see who was so bold as to attack the concubines at this time.

"Tell me, who told you to do this?"

Xiao Shi took a deep breath, suppressed the fear in his heart, and said the name that Nian had promised with a trembling voice.

The emperor's face changed immediately. Nian Da Ying was already stupid, so how could he order someone to do such a thing?

"Nonsense! Nian Deng was murdered and he is still confused. How could he possibly order you to do such a thing?"

When the queen saw the emperor's expression, she knew what to say. She became angry before the emperor, as if she was really a good sister who cared about Nian Ying.

"Someone, drag this little Shi away and give him twenty lashes of the board. Let's see if he can still say such nonsense!"

Several guards came in immediately and tried to hold Xiao Shi down.

Xiao Shi hurriedly called out to the Empress, and then desperately knelt forward two steps to avoid being caught by the guards, "Your Majesty, Empress! I did not lie. As early as when Concubine Xu lived in Baohua Palace, Nian promised to instruct me..."

Seeing Xiao Shi began to hesitate again, the queen felt very annoyed. She resisted the urge to urge him further and just sat aside, waiting for Xiao Shi to continue speaking.

Unexpectedly, Huanbi became anxious first. She scolded Xiao Shi for betraying his master and kept talking about how Zhen Huan took good care of him in Baohua Palace.

The Queen could have punished Huanbi for disrespecting her because of her presumptuous behavior. However, when she saw Xiaoshi finally continuing to talk about the past, she did not get angry.

"Nian Ying'er and Xu Changzai have always had a bad relationship. Seeing that Xu Changzai was confined to Baohua Palace, she ordered her servants to light candles and incense containing musk, so that..."

Xiao Shi began to speak intermittently again. The Queen was very annoyed and glanced at him sharply.

Xiao Shi was so frightened that she trembled, and her mouth became swift, "So that Concubine Xu can never get pregnant again, and she won't be able to compete for the emperor's favor."

This sounded like something Nian Shilan would do, the queen confirmed in her heart.

"You said it was Nian Yixiang, but do you have any evidence? It is a capital crime to accuse concubines and frame them at will. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Xiao Shi nodded repeatedly, "I left some musk-infused incense and candles in my residence."

The Queen gave Jianqiu a look, telling her to check immediately. Xiao Xiazi also received the Emperor's instructions and went out as well.

"The incense and candles were sent by Hu Xing from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the person who ordered it was Zhou Ninghai from the palace of the Nian Promise."

"Su Peisheng, bring these two here together."