The Apo Master dressed up as Concubine Ling and killed the Ruyi sisters

Li Yu reported everything that happened in the Ministry of Punishment to the emperor truthfully. The emperor investigated for a few more days and found no other suspicious points. The case of the Thirteenth Prince's death was thus closed.

Ruyi was still in confinement after giving birth. The emperor waited until Ruyi's body had almost recovered before going to Yikun Palace to tell Ruyi the result of the case.

Ruyi, wearing a headband inlaid with jade, lay on the bed and greeted the emperor, "Your Majesty, I greet you! Your Majesty, has Grandma Tian confessed?"

The emperor sat in front of Ruyi's bed, looking at the mother who had lost her child, with mixed feelings in his heart. After a long silence, he said, "Grandma Tian has confessed everything. She said that she took advantage of your abnormal fetal position and deliberately rubbed your belly so that you would suffer more during childbirth. But I didn't expect that Yongjing was weak and died at birth!"

Ruyi felt great pain in her heart and continued to ask, "What else did Grandma Tian say? Who instructed her to do that?"

The emperor looked at Ruyi deeply and sighed, "Grandma Tian said that no one was behind it because you treated her harshly before and she was angry for a while, so..."

Ruyi stared at the emperor blankly with eyes wide open and asked, "Harsh treatment? Your Majesty, when have I ever treated her harshly?"

The emperor replied, "When Jingsi was born, you exempted the imperial physician and the midwife from half of their reward money in the name of praying for Jingsi. At that time, Tian's daughter was seriously ill and was eager to use the reward money to treat her illness and get medicine. She returned to Yikun Palace to ask for your reward, but you did not agree and drove her out, so she hated you."

Ruyi seemed to have just remembered this incident, but she felt that this was just an excuse made by Grandma Tian.

"Your Majesty, that was when the flood in Jiangnan was at its worst, and Yongzhang and the other two were frightened by a fire in the Old Summer Palace. The treasury was tight and I wanted to save some money. I also felt that the palace was not peaceful, so I wanted to pray for Jingsi and the three princes. That's why I reduced the reward by half. How can this be considered harsh treatment?"

Ruyi had just lost her child, and the emperor didn't want to say anything to irritate Ruyi, but looking at the luxurious items in Ruyi's palace, the emperor couldn't help but say.

"When you were pregnant with Yongjing, Grandma Tian was serving you in Yikun Palace. She said that you were extravagant in your food and clothing, and didn't seem to be frugal at all. She also said that you and Lady Cheng'en buried a lot of gold and silver underground for a good start, but you only withheld the money for her daughter's life-saving money!"

Ruyi clutched the fine silk quilt tightly and said to the emperor in disbelief, "Did the emperor believe what Grandma Tian said? As the queen, my every move represents the majesty of the Qing Dynasty. All the silks, satins, and jewelry in my palace are a display of the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty and my dignity! How could Grandma Tian be so petty?"

Although the emperor also advocates luxury, he does not agree with Ruyi's words. He frowned and said, "You just said that the national treasury is tight and we need to implement the law of inspection, and then you said that a luxurious life can reflect the dignity of your empress. Then why do you want to reduce the reward silver by half? Isn't your action contradictory?"

Ruyi was struck by the emperor's words. She felt that the emperor did not understand her grief over the loss of her son. She felt cold in her heart, "That was when the floods were raging in the south of the Yangtze River. How can we compare now?"

The emperor directly retorted: "Right now is the time for the court to pacify the Dzungar Khanate. Isn't that when silver is needed?"

Ruyi was speechless for a moment, and then continued: "Even so, I don't believe that a midwife would murder the emperor's heir for a few dozen taels of silver!"

The emperor said, "Ruyi, do you know what these few dozen taels mean to the people? This money is enough for the whole family to have food and clothing for several years! Grandma Tian's daughter is in urgent need of money, and these few dozen taels of silver are equivalent to her daughter's life!"

Ruyi stared at the emperor blankly, "Your Majesty, are you blaming me?"

The emperor sighed and shook his head, unwilling to continue the topic. "It's too late to say anything now. I just hope that you can be more considerate of others in the future."

Ruyi felt very wronged. She was clearly the one who lost the child and was clearly the victim. Why did the emperor sound as if it was her fault? And from the emperor's tone, it seemed that he was not going to investigate further? How could that be? Didn't her Yongjing die in vain? !

Ruyi asked angrily, "What does Your Majesty mean by this? Does Your Majesty think that I killed Yongjing? Yongjing is not only my child, but also your legitimate son. When I gave birth, Your Majesty was busy with government affairs and was not with me."

"Yongjing died at birth, but the emperor believed the one-sided words of the Imperial Observatory and Grandma Tian, ​​saying that I killed Yongjing. He has ignored me for so many days!"

"Your Majesty has clearly found out that it was Grandma Tian who murdered my concubine Yongjing. But Your Majesty not only did not seek justice for me and Yongjing, but instead accused me of wrongdoings!"

"I simply don't believe that this was done by Grandma Tian alone. The emperor doesn't allow us to investigate further. Is he trying to protect someone? Is it Concubine Ling? I heard that it was Concubine Ling who rescued Jiang Yebin from the Ministry of Punishment!"

The emperor had long been dissatisfied with Ruyi's actions in recent years, but considering that Ruyi was the master of the harem, it was inconvenient for him to interfere too much. And there was the great threat of the Junggar tribe, so he turned a blind eye.

The emperor was already unhappy about the Jiang Yubi incident, but considering Ruyi's pain of losing her son, what he did was inevitably a bit extreme. At this juncture, the emperor did not want to argue with Ruyi any more.

But Ruyi didn't think she was wrong at all, and even blamed Concubine Ling. Could it be that Ruyi thought that Concubine Ling colluded with Jiang Yubin and Granny Tian to kill Yongjing? !

The emperor's expression suddenly turned ugly, and he warned: "Queen, be careful with your words!"

But when Ruyi looked at the emperor's expression, she thought she had hit upon the emperor's thoughts, so the emperor became angry and embarrassed.

Ruyi was heartbroken. When did the emperor whom she loved so much actually protect the Concubine Ling who had ruthlessly abandoned her childhood sweetheart for power, and plotted against her own wife together with her? !

Ruyi looked at the emperor, feeling both ridiculous and pathetic, "I am right, am I not? Ever since Concubine Ling started serving the emperor, the emperor has changed. The emperor once said that Concubine Ling was like me, and that he asked her to be taken out of Qixiang Palace for me."

"In my opinion, the emperor did not do this for me, but for his own selfish reasons! I think Jia Fei did the right thing. Women like Ling Fei who only know how to curry favor with the rich and powerful should be trapped in Qixiang Palace forever and live a miserable life!"

"If that were the case, my concubine Yongjing would not have died! My concubine's husband would not have questioned me like this and stabbed me in the heart!"