An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

"Su Peisheng, go to Suiyuxuan and check if there are any traces of musk."

Sure enough, the emperor was more perceptive. He had already thought of investigating Yuxuan, but his most trusted Su Peisheng had gone to Xianfu Palace and was waiting for him to come back.

Lingrong asked Zhaoshui to go find Jingpin, which can only be said to be a waste of effort. Their emperor is very smart.

"Doctor Zhang is going too."

It was already late at night, and although she had only attended the night banquet, Ling Rong was very sleepy. However, the cold wind brought back by Jingpin and her entourage instantly woke her up.

Jingpin looked unhappy. She did not find anything in her main hall, but she dug out a jar of something under the tree in front of Changxi Hall. It smelled fragrant. She realized that it was probably musk, so she brought it here.

After checking, Jiang Cheng confirmed that the thing in the jar was musk deer, the same as the one in Concubine Shen's sachet.

"I was originally checking if there was anything dirty in my palace, but I unexpectedly discovered that the tree in front of Changxi Hall was mostly dead, so I took the initiative to dig up the roots of the tree and found this jar."

Jingpin glanced at Shen Meizhuang and sighed imperceptibly, "But I haven't found out who put it in there. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"This tree must have been in Changxi Hall for quite some time," the Queen continued, "but it didn't die overnight. Did Concubine Shen notice anything wrong?"

Shen Meizhuang still shook her head, as if she was upset that she had never paid attention to these little things. "It's winter now, and the trees in the yard don't need to be watered specially, so I haven't paid attention to them on weekdays."

"Then call the maids in Concubine Shen's courtyard to ask them. They usually stay outside the palace. If someone moves the tree, they should be able to notice it."

"Your Majesty, I have brought the maidservant who serves Lady Shen. You may summon her now."

When the Queen saw Concubine Jing acting in this way, she realized that she did have some ability. No wonder the Emperor made her a concubine as soon as she entered the palace. Unfortunately, Concubine Jing was only concerned with seeking stability, and wasted the Emperor's efforts to support her to compete with Concubine Hua.

"My sister is very thoughtful. If that's the case, just summon her directly."

Soon, the maid from Concubine Shen's courtyard entered the palace. She lay on the ground trembling, and her voice was shaking when she opened her mouth to greet her.

"Don't be afraid," the queen said, showing her usual gentle and kind face, which would make anyone who saw her praise her virtue. "Did you see anyone moving the tree in the courtyard, or encounter any strange things? Tell me everything, no matter how big or small it is."

Being comforted by the only two noble women in the world, the little maid quickly calmed down, "To answer your Majesty, I didn't see anyone touching the tree, but three days ago, I found that the soil under the tree seemed to have been turned over, but I thought someone was loosening the soil for the tree, so I didn't tell our lady."

"It seems that this jar was buried at that time," the Queen and the Emperor exchanged glances. Seeing the Emperor nod, she continued to ask the maid, "Did anything else happen during those days?"

The maidservant was silent at this time. She looked at Shen Meizhuang cautiously, then lowered her head, refusing to say another word.

Shen Meizhuang didn't understand what was going on, and thought the maid was just afraid, so she tried to comfort her, "Xiangye, don't be afraid. Just tell me what you find."

"Yes, young lady." The maid named Xiangye finally spoke, "A few days ago, when I followed Miss Caiyue to the flower room to get the young lady's favorite Yuhuchun, I met Miss Huanbi and Miss Pei'er from Suiyuxuan. They said that the young lady was jealous of Concubine Wan's pregnancy with the dragon heir, so she deliberately humiliated Miss Huanbi when paying respects. Miss Caiyue and I were so angry that we quarreled with them."

"Miss Huanbi said that our young lady was favored by Concubine Wan, but now she is showing displeasure to Concubine Wan's personal maid. It is obvious that she is dissatisfied with Concubine Wan. She also said that Concubine Wan has been experiencing discomfort in her pregnancy recently, and it is possible that Concubine Shen is secretly cursing her."

"So, Lady Wan was feeling unwell a few days ago, why didn't she tell me and the Emperor?"

"Empress, the young lady did not conceal it on purpose. It was just because it was close to New Year's Eve, and we didn't want to worry the emperor and the empress. Moreover, the young lady began to feel unwell on the day when Concubine Shen came to visit." Huanbi did not feel that there was anything wrong with talking about the young lady behind her back. She even believed that Shen Meizhuang was the murderer. "I still remember that Concubine Shen wanted to give the young lady the sachet she embroidered, but the young lady declined, saying that she wanted one with apricot blossoms, so Concubine Shen gave up. Now that I think about it, if she had really accepted the sachet, I'm afraid the young lady's dragon fetus would have been lost long ago."

"Moreover, I heard that Miss Shen was looking for a fertility-aiding prescription everywhere, and she also said...she also said that she wanted to give birth to the first child since the emperor ascended the throne before you."

Lingrong almost dropped her jaw when she heard this. She had never expected that the rumor had spread so far. Even if Shen Meizhuang was pregnant at this time, she would be two months later than Zhen Huan. How could she possibly give birth to a child before Zhen Huan?

Rumors are really useful. No matter whether they are true or false, they sound harsh.

"Your Majesty, the Empress is wise. I have never said such a thing. I am only happy that Lady Wan is pregnant."

"If Lady Shen was truly happy for the young lady, she would not have forced the young lady to punish me after I had already apologized for my slip of the tongue. Afterwards, Lady Shen allowed the maids in Xianfu Palace to spread rumors, saying that the young lady intended for me to serve the emperor to consolidate his favor," Huanbi kowtowed heavily. "The young lady felt unwell that night after hearing this, and she even invited Doctor Wen to come, but she didn't care because she thought Lady Shen was a close friend."

As soon as these words were spoken, the palace suddenly became quiet, even Shen Meizhuang, who was crying, stopped crying. The rumors could be ignored, but the discomfort of Zhen Huan during pregnancy was real. Everything was not in her favor at the moment, and no one could even prove that the musk in Zhen Huan's body had nothing to do with her.

No matter how she argued at this moment, it was difficult to gain any trust.

"Besides Concubine Shen, who else has been to Suiyuxuan?"

"Besides Concubine Shen, only Concubine Chun has been here before. There are also gifts from the palaces to the young lady. However, according to the Emperor's instructions, those gifts have been examined by the imperial physician, and none of them can harm anyone."

Seeing that Chun Changzai was involved again, the emperor had no choice but to ask someone to go to Chun Changzai's palace to take a look.

After an unknown amount of time, Su Peisheng returned with a group of people. As expected, there was a musk jar under the osmanthus tree in Suiyuxuan. Judging from the soil, it was buried recently. Doctor Zhang checked it and it was also musk deer.

Su Peisheng had experience and had carefully questioned the palace maids in Suiyuxuan. No one had noticed anything unusual recently. It was as if the jar had appeared out of thin air and harmed Concubine Wan silently.

"We have also checked the palaces of Concubine Wan and Concubine Chun. Apart from a faint musk scent on the clothes Concubine Wan often wears, there is no other scent."

After investigating to this point, apart from the only "suspect" Shen Meizhuang, nothing else could be found. Even how the musk was buried in the Sui Yuxuan was unknown to anyone.

"Noble Lady Shen, under house arrest. All eunuchs and maids in Changxi Hall, taken to the Ministry of Punishment." The emperor looked exhausted. All things had gone wrong in the past court and the harem. He had already exhausted his energy in recent days on the northwest issue. How could he have the energy to investigate the case all night? "Jingpin, you are the head of Xianfu Palace. You were unaware that musk and other filthy things had entered Xianfu Palace. You are under house arrest for three days and reflect on your actions."

Having said that, the emperor lost patience and went straight into the inner room to accompany his Wanwan.

Seeing that the most important masters had left, everyone in the harem also took their leave and returned to the palace in groups of three or five.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Zhaoshui quietly returned to Lingrong's side. She looked at Lingrong hesitantly, as if she had a lot of secrets to tell.