Chapter 69: Trap

When Qu Ling heard Queen Song ask this, his heart suddenly tightened, but he remained expressionless. "To answer your Majesty, she was protecting the princess from disaster and died in the princess's mansion."

Queen Song's lips curled slightly, but there was no smile in her eyes. "Then do you know who poisoned me?"

It was the Queen Mother of Song.

Qu Ling almost blurted it out, but didn't dare to say it out loud.

Can't say.

If you say it, it will be a slander against the Queen Mother, and all nine generations of your clan will be killed.

She didn't care about the nine clans of the Qu family, but she cared about her own life.

She lowered her eyes and said in a steady voice, "I don't know."

Queen Song slowly leaned forward and asked, "Do you want to know?"

Qu Ling raised his eyes, met Queen Song's bottomless eyes, and nodded.

"What would happen if you knew?"

Qu Ling's breathing was slightly stagnant.

This is a trap.

If it was the emperor who poisoned her, it would be disrespectful for her to seek revenge.

If she answered that she would do nothing, Queen Song could use her unfilial behavior as an excuse to deprive her of her position as county lord.

She understood.

Queen Song was forcing her.

"Her Royal Highness the Princess has already investigated the truth behind my mother's death," Qu Ling said clearly. "Her Royal Highness the Princess had a deep friendship with her. I believe she has done everything she should have done."

Neither promise revenge nor show weakness or back down.

Carry out the eldest princess.

Queen Song stared at her for a long time and chuckled, "You are smarter than your mother."

Qu Ling lowered his eyes and said nothing.

"Your mother's death is not that simple," Queen Song said, "and the eldest princess didn't notice the clues."

"Please enlighten me, Your Majesty." Qu Ling bowed his head.

Queen Song waved her hand, and a palace maid brought tea. "Drink it, and before you die, I will tell you the true cause of your mother's death."

This change happened too quickly.

Qu Lianzhi stood up straight, his eyes flashing with excitement and excitement.

Does my aunt really want to sentence Qu Ling to death?

That's really great.

There was a faint smile on the corner of Queen Song's lips.

She pointed at the cup of tea. The tea soup was clear, but it contained murderous intent.

"Drink it."

Qu Ling looked at the cup of tea without moving.

She wouldn't gamble on whether the tea was poisonous or not.

Even if the tea was not poisonous, Queen Song was just testing her and she would not drink it.

That's stupid.

She cherishes her life very much.

Queen Song's smile gradually faded. "You don't even have this much courage. I thought you were so capable that you could turn the tables."

Her eyes turned cold, and every word she said was like a knife. "You have no filial piety at all. You value your own life more than your mother's. You don't even want to know the cause of your mother's death, do you?"

Qu Ling found it quite interesting.

Is this the method used by those in power?

There are always high-sounding reasons to force people to bow their heads and submit.

She calculated the time in her heart and looked directly at Queen Song, "Since Your Majesty knows the cause of my mother's death, then her death must be related to you."

Queen Song's face turned stern, and her eyes narrowed slightly, "How dare you slander me."

Qu Ling did not retreat but advanced, "If you don't know, what you just said was a lie to me. As the Empress of the Central Palace, it is truly disrespectful to tempt the county lady personally appointed by His Majesty to drink poison."

"So I will just take what you say as the truth. If that's the case, I want revenge, and I'm looking for you."

"You simply don't know your place." Queen Song's sleeves fluttered, and an angry look appeared on her face.

The atmosphere in the hall was stagnant.

At this moment, a laughing voice came from outside the hall, "I told you that it's very lively here, aunt, but you didn't believe me."

Zhao Yuanrong and the emperor walked in together.

The emperor was thin, with a face as gentle as jade, and a scholarly air between his eyebrows. However, his face was a little pale, as if he had been ill for a long time.

He swept his eyes across the hall, finally landing on Qu Ling, a subtle hint of complex emotions welling up in his eyes.

"Is this the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Dingxiang, the one I confer upon her the title of county lord?" he said in a gentle tone.

"Why are you still kneeling?"

Queen Song quickly suppressed her anger, replaced it with a dignified smile, and led Qu Lianzhi over to greet her. "Your Majesty, why are you here? I was talking to the two young ladies from the Marquis' Mansion."

Zhao Yuanrong blinked and pretended to be innocent. "My aunt is really partial. One stands and the other kneels."

She reached out to the cup of tea and asked, "Why is no one drinking such good tea?"

"It was originally for the county lady, but she said she was not feeling well and couldn't drink tea," Queen Song went to help Qu Ling. "Silly child, if you can't drink it, forget it. There's no need to kneel down and apologize."

She turned her back to the emperor and looked at Qu Ling warningly, telling him not to talk nonsense.

"Since this is a gift from my aunt, it shouldn't be wasted," Zhao Yuanrong picked up the tea and walked over to Qu Lianzhi. "You're my younger sister, so drinking it would be considered polite."

Qu Lianzhi subconsciously took a step back and said stiffly, "Since it was given to me by the Empress..."

"This princess asks you to drink now, will you drink it or not?" Zhao Yuanrong raised his chin, with a bit of a bullying tone.

Queen Song couldn't help but look at the emperor. Seeing that he was just watching everything with a smile on his face, without stopping Zhao Yuanrong's thoughts at all, she felt short of breath.

If it weren't for the emperor's excessive doting, how could Zhao Yuanrong be so comfortable and unrestrained in the palace?

"The tea is cold, please serve it again." Queen Song smiled and asked someone to take the tea away.

The palace maid wanted to step forward and take the tea from Zhao Yuanrong's hand.

As soon as Zhao Yuanrong raised his arm, the palace servant could no longer reach him.

She smiled coquettishly, and with her other hand, she suddenly grabbed Qu Lianzhi's hair and pulled it back, "This is a reward from the princess, how dare you not drink it?"

Qu Lianzhi was forced to look up, with the teacup against his lips, his face pale with fear.

The tea poured into her mouth, and a lot of it spilled onto her clothes.

She was trembling all over, tears streaming down her face, but she only dared to look at Queen Song for help, not daring to say a word.

There is poison in the tea.

Qu Lianzhi firmly believed that her aunt had the antidote, and as long as she treated it as an ordinary cup of tea, her aunt would definitely remember her kindness afterwards.

The emperor finally coughed lightly, his gentle voice carrying a hint of helplessness, "Yuanrong, don't mess around."

Zhao Yuanrong curled his lips, loosened his grip, and the teacup fell to the ground, breaking into pieces.

Qu Lianzhi collapsed to the ground as if he had been pardoned.

Queen Song could barely contain her anger. "Your Majesty, Yuan Rong is truly too spoiled. She's not young anymore. How will she find a husband in the future?"

Zhao Yuanrong brushed his sleeves nonchalantly and said with a smile, "Aunt, why are you so anxious? I'm not getting married anyway."

She turned her eyes and moved closer to the emperor, "Uncle, I want to be like mother, just give birth to a child, not a husband."

A helpless smile appeared on the emperor's face. He raised his hand and patted her head lightly. "Nonsense."

He seemed a little tired, and looked at Queen Song with deep eyes, "The Duke of Dongyang's Mansion submitted a memorial today, and the Dali Temple also submitted a memorial. Queen, your sister is truly cruel."

One sentence blocked all possibilities of pleading.

Queen Song bowed slowly and said, "I will properly discipline the people of the Song family."

The emperor helped her up with his own hands. "You and I have been married for many years. How could I not know you? Your sister is your sister, and you are you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding of me."

The emperor nodded and prepared to leave.

As he took another step, he turned back to look at Qu Ling and said, "Come with me."