Self-help guide for non-professional young masters

Due to the emperor's favor, even if she is not in the palace, the courtesan who has no status can still be honored as "Niangniang" by the palace people, which shows her status in the emperor's heart.

Although I don't want to link this matter with the closed Huakui case, the current situation cannot allow Jun Ziyou to take it for granted. It just so happens that he is a master who is not afraid of death, so he found Changle Palace just like that.

Not daring to die with him, the little eunuch ran away when he knew he was going to take a desperate risk. Fortunately, the imperial concubine was in a good mood, and she didn't lose her temper when she learned of his intentions. Instead, she invited him into the palace and accepted his doubts frankly .

"There is no reason to be close to foreign ministers in the harem. If the case did not involve concubines in the palace, and the emperor ordered a thorough investigation, you would not have such a good opportunity to see the scenery of the harem."

The gentleman answered "yes" with one sip, sitting on pins and needles in the palace, not daring to drink too much tea, even forgetting what he wanted to ask.

At the moment of embarrassment, a soft meow came out from his sleeve, Concubine Yan stared at him in surprise, Jun Ziyou smiled and said: "I am sorry, your concubine, it is actually a cat raised by this humble minister. There was no one to look after him in Dali Temple, so he took the courage to bring it into the palace, and I implore the empress not to blame her."

"Why, hurry up and show me to Bengong."

Concubine Yan swept away her seriousness, showing a bit of joy, Jun Ziyou fished out Xiao Hei from his wide sleeve, entrusted the maid to hand it over to her, and reminded: "Mother, it has a bad temper, it may arrest people, you can get it Be careful not to get hurt by it."

Concubine Yan deliberately removed the armor on her hand, fearing that she might accidentally hurt the cat, she was also very skillful in picking up Xiao Hei, it was not the first time she was handling a pet.

And Xiao Hei was uneasy when he first arrived in the concubine's arms, trying to escape with his two newly healed hind legs, but then he calmed down somehow, looked up at Concubine Yan, as if begging for favors, and yelled twice , curled up her tail and paralyzed in the concubine's arms, motionless.

"It's not very good, it's a pity that you can't stay in the palace, otherwise you can be a companion for A Mi."

Speaking of this, Jun Ziyou saw a long-haired white cat emerge from under the curtains separating the inner and outer palaces, and it quietly jumped to the side of the imperial concubine, holding his legs with two front paws, looking at the cozy little black.

"It's really interesting. They don't fight when they see each other. Ami from this palace always fights when she sees Aman from Concubine Li's palace. Unlike you cats, they don't fight over land."

"Your Majesty, are you saying that there are imperial cats raised in Concubine Li's palace?"

"Of course, the emperor likes cats. Naturally, the concubines have to raise some to compete for favor. All kinds of dirty methods have been used. It is also unscrupulous to make a smile for Mr. Bo."

"Wei Chen has also been to the outer courtyard of Weiyang Palace these days, but he has not seen any cats. Concubine Li is not in good condition. Is it wrong for cats to be with her?"

"You don't worry too much. Her Aman died as early as last winter. She didn't have the heart to love cats. Even if the pet died, she just ordered the servants to bury it outside the palace. She didn't feel sad at all. But As soon as you said that, Ben Gong remembered that Concubine Li was indeed ill, and Aman's death was also strange."

Gentleman became interested, and hurriedly approached Concubine Yan, only to realize that his behavior was inappropriate when he saw the court lady's polite smile, and shrank back.

"About Concubine Li's illness and the death of Yumao Aman, does Imperial Concubine know anything?"

"The middle palace has been vacant for many years, so the affairs of the sixth palace will naturally be handled by me, the highest-ranking person. At that time, Aman died, and I sent someone to greet him. How can I know that little concubine Li? Sad, and still planning to send a letter back to the Yue Clan, asking her mother clan to send another cute pet, not caring about the pet's life and death, just trying to use it to compete for favor, how embarrassing!"

Concubine Yan became angrier as she spoke, and slapped the table, causing Xiao Hei and A Mi to shrink their necks in fright.

Seeing that they were frightened, she gently stroked the cat's fur as a comfort, and her tone became softer, "I am dissatisfied with Concubine Li, but it is not to the point of killing her. After all, she is here for marriage. The princess, counting relatives, may have some relationship with King Jin. Who would want to do such a thankless thing as offending the royal family?"

"Your Majesty said that I dare not doubt your Majesty, but the Emperor ordered me to find out the truth, and if I offended you, please forgive me."

"It doesn't matter, they are all doing things for the emperor, and it is human nature to take care of each other. But I hope that I have helped you with Concubine Li's matter today, and that you will do the same when it is my turn in the future."

Jun Ziyou felt that Concubine Yan Gui was afraid because Concubine Li was killed, so she said such words, he didn't dare to say more, so he just stood up and bowed to others.

Some things are not good for her to say in person, so she can only let the maids around her convey them.

Concubine Yan's confidant, the eldest maid, is Ruyi, the dowry maid back then. She is not restrained when meeting a gentleman, and speaks decently and gracefully.

"When Weiyang Gong's empress first fell ill, the master felt something was wrong, and secretly sent someone to investigate, and found that her diet was seriously problematic, and she had to eat mushrooms and stewed chicken every day. There is nothing left. The slave girl felt strange, so she took it to the imperial doctor Zhang of the imperial hospital. He said that there is nothing wrong with mushrooms and chickens. Eating too much is only harmful to the liver and kidneys. It is better to pay attention to it, so we did not go further. Investigated."

"But after hearing that Concubine Li had hallucinations, she was insane, and she hurt others and herself, you should have become suspicious again."

"Your Excellency Shaoqing is really powerful. After learning about the situation of the empress in Weiyang Palace, the servants resorted to some tricks to let people get the leftovers from her food and sent them to the imperial hospital for a look, but there was still no result."

"I see that every palace in the harem has small kitchens. Could it be that the palace people below cooked stewed chicken with mushrooms, and then lost the package with the ones sent by the imperial dining room?"

Ruyi glanced at Concubine Yan with serious eyes, and showed embarrassment, "It is possible, but I dare not investigate further, for fear that some serious people will be involved."

She was telling the truth, but it was so straightforward that Jun Ziyou was a little surprised.

But he quickly figured out the reason, since it was Concubine Yan who started to investigate this matter, she stopped midway without getting results, which meant that the clues she had had pointed to a person she dared not act rashly.

In the harem, there are only the emperor and the queen mother, if it is not the former, then...

But why did the Queen Mother want to be unfavorable to Concubine Li?Could it be that he doesn't want foreigners to conceive dragon heirs?

If this is the case, then she can use some methods of the harem to make Concubine Li never have the chance to be honored by mother and child. Besides, if it is really the Queen Mother who did this, it should be considered fair and aboveboard.Thinking about it, with the Queen Mother's temperament and real power in her hands, she also disdains to hide it.

But Concubine Yan may not have thought of this point, I am afraid that she obeyed the Queen Mother's advice and did not even dare to have the slightest suspicion, someone took advantage of this point and is still at large, hiding in the dark and watching.

Jun Ziyou asked euphemistically: "Then is there anyone in the palace who has a bad relationship with Concubine Li and would hate her so much that he wants to kill her?"

Concubine Yan said with a smile: "Jun Shaoqing was joking, the water in the harem is no shallower than that in the imperial court, and everyone is at odds with each other. Seeing that you are favored today, I will quietly make a note, so that you will not be so beautiful in the future." , and stabbing you severely when you are frustrated is also a common thing.”

"Then Weichen asked another way, who are the people who have a good relationship with Concubine Li?"

"When she was in charge of the Sixth Palace, the two who stood with her were Guanju Palace and Liuhua Palace. Seeing her losing power, she voted for this palace again. Bengong is worried that he has no excuse to refuse, if Jun Shaoqing can find clues from them, and this palace can live in peace for a while."

After getting the clues pointing to the other two, the gentleman traveler said a few words, and hurriedly left Changle Palace with Xiao Hei.

It's a pity that the clues are too vague. As far as he knows, besides the main seat, there will be several nobles living in each palace of the harem. It is difficult to confirm their identities only by the name of the palace. It can be seen that this Concubine Yan is also very careful in her work, and will not expose herself easily .

Not long after going out, he bumped into Jiang Linyuan who was holding the little eunuch, seeing that he was safe and sound, the latter came up to him.

"My lord, why did you come to see Concubine Yan without saying a word, you know that Concubine Yan is notoriously difficult to get along with."

"Really? I feel fine, and thanks to this encounter, I understand where the poison in Concubine Li's body came from."

"Oh? My lord has also guessed, so why not..."

Jun Ziyou and him met each other's eyes, stretched out three fingers to count down, and when it reached "one", they both said in unison: "It's medlar!"

The results of the investigation and reasoning coincided with each other, indicating that it was one step closer to the truth.

Jiang Linyuan cupped his hands and admired: "My lord is really amazing, how did you know that there is something wrong with wolfberries?"

"At first I was worried that Concubine Yan would have reservations about me, but for Xiao Hei's sake, she explained to me the results of her previous investigation, which was the same as what I had investigated. The imperial physician in the palace also said that mushrooms and chicken soup There is no problem, but both me and Concubine Li had hallucinations after eating it, which is enough to prove that their judgment was wrong. It is understandable to say that the imperial physician concealed something, but Dr. Jiang is a famous doctor in the capital, so he cannot be an accomplice, so I suspect, the problem It wasn't mushroom and chicken soup at all, we were misled from the beginning."

"Then how did you come up with wolfberries?"

"Most of the spices we eat come from the Western Regions or as tribute via the Silk Road. Da Yuezhi belongs to 36 countries in the Western Regions. It is impossible for the concubine Li who married from afar not to know the taste of spices, so she wants to play with spices. It’s not realistic, so it’s very likely that it’s something she’s never seen before. Goji berry grows in the south of the Central Plains, and it’s not suitable for living in the yellow sands of the Western Regions, so it’s only natural that Concubine Li doesn’t know what it tastes like.”

"Your official still doesn't understand. If you say that Concubine Li has never tasted goji berries, it's understandable that she didn't notice the abnormality, but you..."

"Hey, I felt something was wrong when I ate it yesterday, but if I don't try it myself, how will I know what the problem is?"

Jiang Linyuan couldn't help but admire his courage. Seeing him hook his fingers, he took the cloth bag wrapped in a handkerchief from his sleeve, and took out a few fresh reddish fruits.

"My lord, this is the fruit that the palace maids often go out to buy during the Spring Festival. It's called fungi. It's very similar to medlar. You can't tell the difference just by looking at it."

"Yu Muzi, very good. How about..."

Jun Ziyou took the fruit and muttered to himself.

Why not take this opportunity to lure the snake out of its hole.