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

The war in Jinchuan was intensifying, and the emperor was very worried about it. Yan Wan ordered the palace maids to catch fireflies everywhere in the palace, and at night, let the fireflies fly in the Yongshou Palace.

The emperor was riding in a sedan chair and preparing to return to the Yangxin Palace. He looked at the fireflies flying around him and asked, "Where did the fireflies in the palace come from?"

Jinzhong was waiting for him to ask, and quickly replied: "It looks like it flew from the direction of Yongshou Palace. I heard that Concubine Ling likes fireflies and often orders palace maids to catch them. Does Your Majesty want to go to Yongshou Palace to take a look?"

The emperor thought of Yanwan's gentle and smart personality and nodded in agreement. Jinzhong immediately said, "Go to Yongshou Palace!"

There are several large vats of lotus flowers in the Yongshou Palace, and the lotus flowers are in full bloom.

When the emperor walked into the Yongshou Palace, the dim night sky was dotted with green lights, the air was filled with the fragrance of lotus, and the young eunuchs and maids in the palace were catching fireflies in groups of three or four. It was a relaxed and interesting scene.

The emperor smiled and said, "The moonlight is floating on the Xiang bamboo mat, and the lotus flowers are shining beside it. It is indeed a romantic and elegant scene."

Yan Wan came out with her people to pay respects and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"

"Okay, everyone get up. Is this your idea?" the emperor asked with a smile.

"I heard that Your Majesty has been feeling depressed lately and your birthday is approaching. I happened to read this poem and wanted to make Your Majesty smile." Yan Wan said.

The emperor nodded in approval and said, "Well, you are thoughtful."

While Yanwan was serving the emperor in bed, Ruyi was also bathing in Yiku Palace.

Ruyi changed into a nightgown made of fabric newly presented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and was chatting with惢心 about Concubine Jia's desire to prepare in advance to restore her figure after giving birth.

Sanbao was carrying a basin of water to pour it out when he suddenly saw a man in white Zen robes hiding in the corner of the Yiku Palace. Sanbao screamed in surprise, and the man in white exerted force with his feet, stepped on the water jar, and leaped out along the wall.

San Bao hurriedly chased after him, shouting, "There's an assassin! Someone come quickly! Protect the Imperial Concubine!"

Sanbao's shout seemed to have alarmed the guards patrolling outside, and the guards chased in the direction the white-clothed assassin left.

After hearing Sanbao's reply, Ruyi hurriedly sent people to thoroughly investigate Yikun Palace and the six east and west palaces to catch the assassin. The most important thing was to protect the emperor's safety.

Ruyi didn’t understand why there was an assassin in Yikun Palace. It was not the time for the guards to patrol through Yikun Palace, so why did the guards appear as soon as the assassin was discovered?

After a whole night of searching, the assassin was not caught, and the emperor was so angry that he reprimanded the guards who were guarding the palace.

The emperor ordered Ling Yunche to take people to clean up the palace. At this time, Li Xin came to invite the emperor to have dinner in Qixiang Palace.

Concubine Jia was in advanced pregnancy and had been feeling unwell in the past few days. The Emperor was concerned about her and asked Li Xin a few questions before saying he would go see Concubine Jia at noon.

Ruyi is still feeling uneasy and orders Sanbao to bring people to close the doors and windows of Yikun Palace tightly to prevent any more trouble. Li Yu suddenly comes to pass on an order, asking Ruyi to go to Qixiang Palace to talk.

After paying their respects, the Emperor and Ruyi sat on the couch, while Concubine Jia sat on a stool below with her big belly.

Ruyi gave Concubine Jia a few words, and the emperor ate soup and asked, "Ruyi, I heard that you often go to Anhua Palace today?"

Ruyi replied naturally, "Yes, Master, it's rare for you to come to the palace. At present, the Jinchuan war has no result, so I pray for the war in Anhua Palace every day."

Seeing that the emperor only drank the soup without saying a word, Concubine Jia said, "Your Majesty, in order to ensure the safe birth of the dragon fetus in my belly, I often asked Li Xin to bring the scriptures I copied by hand to the Anhua Hall to ask the master to recite them."

"I heard that Concubine Chun was even more sincere. She pierced her finger with a needle and copied the mantra a hundred times. She asked Ke Xin to take it to Anhua Hall and ask the master to recite it, in order to pray for the eldest and third princes."

"I think that although the master is a monk, he is a man after all, and he is handsome and elegant, so I and Concubine Chun have never entered the palace in person. In fact, the Imperial Concubine is more sincere than us, and she is extremely pious every day."

"Master Anji must have a special affinity with the Imperial Concubine. The incense and bracelets were only given to the Imperial Concubine."

Only then did Ruyi realize why the emperor suddenly called her to Qixiang Palace, but she didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

He said to Concubine Jia: "The master did give me a box of incense, but there is no bracelet as Concubine Jia mentioned!"

When the emperor heard this, he opened his folding fan to cool himself down, perhaps because the weather was hot or because he was just irritable.

Concubine Jia smiled and said, "The Imperial Noble Concubine is really good at avoiding the important point. What's the big deal about offering incense? Just admit it. Zhenshu, come in!"

Zhenshu came in with a tray and said carefully, "A few days ago, I went to Anhua Hall with the scriptures written by the master, and happened to meet Kexin who was also there to deliver scriptures to the master for recitation."

"Ke Xin told me that she saw Master Anji give the Imperial Concubine a box of incense and a bronze incense burner, and also said that if the Imperial Concubine likes accessories, she can carry the seven-treasure beads with her."

"I also heard from the palace maids that the Imperial Concubine went to Anhua Palace to pray every day, and she behaved intimately with Master Anji, often whispering to each other."

"I heard last night that there was an assassin in white in Yikun Palace, so I went to track him down and found a square coin and a string of seven-treasure beads. The guard was so scared that he gave them to me. I took a look and found that it was a letter from the Imperial Concubine to the Master, and she used the string of seven-treasure beads as a token of love!"

The emperor asked Ruyi to open the Fangsheng and see that there was half a love poem written on it, which mentioned惢心 and the East Warm Pavilion of Yikun Palace. The paper used was the red plum paper specially provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Yikun Palace.

The handwriting inside is that of Ruyi, who had practiced Lady Wei's hairpin-flowered small regular script. In the whole palace, only the late Imperial Noble Consort Huixian and the current Imperial Noble Consort Xian can write it, but no one can imitate it.

Ruyi knew that this was a conspiracy against her, but at the moment she could not find any evidence to prove her innocence, so she could only tell the emperor over and over again that she was innocent.

Concubine Jia thought that惢心 was the only witness and wanted to send her to the Ministry of Punishment for questioning, but Ruyi naturally opposed it. Although the emperor was unhappy, he still believed Ruyi rationally and did not accept Concubine Jia's proposal.

The Empress Dowager also saw that the Emperor was on Ruyi's side, so she ordered Fu Jia to thoroughly investigate the palace. If any palace maid was found to have committed an affair, she would be immediately expelled from the palace!

Ruyi returned to her palace, feeling sad that the emperor had encountered such a thing that tarnished her innocence and was unwilling to completely believe her.

He also felt that Concubine Chun, Concubine Jia and the others had become covetous of the vacant throne of Queen, and this time they had even joined forces to falsely accuse him of having an affair with Master Anji!

Ruyi ordered, "惢心, go ask Li Yu later if there is anything wrong with the things that reported me."

Before Suo Xin had the chance to look for Li Yu, Aunt Fujia from the Cining Palace came to search the Yikun Palace on the grounds that the palace maids' misconduct had attracted the assassin.

In order to prove the innocence of Ruyi and Yikun Palace maids,惢心 started the investigation from her own room.