Chapter 165 Under the tree next to the swing

Zhou Ninghai acted very quickly. In less than a moment, he had interrogated everyone in Yongshou Palace. Believe it or not, he actually got some information out of them.

"Your Majesty, this is Xiaofen. She just told me that she had discovered something unusual. I thought something was amiss, so I wanted to bring her here for you to have a look."

Nian Shilan was afraid that their voices would disturb Zhen Huan who was resting in the inner room, so she asked Zhou Ninghai to bring them to the side hall. At this time, she and Shen Meizhuang looked at the little girl kneeling in front of them.

"Are you Xiaofen? Tell me, what did you find? I'm going to be frank with you. If what you say is a lie, don't blame me for being ruthless."

At this moment, Nian Shilan no longer had the gentleness she had in front of Zhen Huan. A strong aura of superiority surrounded her, and her cold gaze swept towards the person in front of her. When those cold and harsh words came out, Xiaolan, who was kneeling on the ground, couldn't help but tremble all over.

"You don't have to be too afraid. Just tell the truth if you have anything to say. The Imperial Concubine is here, so you don't have to worry at all."

Shen Meizhuang's voice was as gentle as ever, and it was very calming.

"That's right. I promised that if the information you provided is reliable and useful, I would allow you to leave the palace safely, and you will be free in the future."

Xiaofen's nervous heart had already calmed down a lot after Shen Meizhuang spoke, and now with Concubine Hua's personal assurance, she felt even more reassured.

"To answer your Majesty, I am a maid in the small kitchen. Originally, I wanted to talk about Yin'er, who also works there. I just thought she was a little strange today. She told me that she didn't get enough rest last night, so she wasn't in high spirits. But it wasn't until I learned about Concubine Xi's situation just now, and then Chief Steward Zhou asked about it, that I realized something was amiss."

Xiaofen had asked Yun'er about this before, but she had just dismissed her with a few words. In addition, she never thought that Yun'er would do anything to harm her master, so she never thought about it too deeply.

It was not until Zhou Ninghai brought people to interrogate the people in Yongshou Palace one by one that she realized the seriousness of the matter.

"Tell me what you found?"

"Yin'er used to chat with me when we were working together, but today she was particularly flustered. When I asked her about it, she just made some random excuses. Later, she quietly hid in a corner and cried. I wanted to comfort her, but she quietly got up and went out. Then she stayed under a tree in the yard for a long time. Because it was already dark, I couldn't see what she was doing there. Later, I saw her go back into the house. I wanted to go over and check, but something happened in Concubine Xi's room at that time, so I didn't dare to stay outside for long."

Xiaofen told everything she had discovered in detail. In fact, even if it wasn't for Nian Shilan's suggestion to let her leave the palace, she would have been willing to stand up.

She was originally a person in the palace of Noble Lady Fucha. After Noble Lady Fucha got into trouble, all the palace maids were sent to other palaces. Because she had served Noble Lady Fucha closely, she was disliked by the steward who assigned her there. He originally wanted to send her to work in the laundry shop. It was Concubine Xi who did not dislike her and took her in. Therefore, she always regarded Concubine Xi as her benefactor.

"The tree in the yard? Do you remember which one it was?"

Nian Shilan did not show whether she believed or not what Xiaofen said. She would rather believe the evidence she saw with her own eyes.

"I remember it, because that tree is next to the swing where Concubine Xi often stayed, so I remember it very clearly."

Nian Shilan winked at Zhou Ninghai, and he immediately understood what she meant. Soon, Zhou Ninghai walked out with Xiao Yunzi, who had been waiting on the side.

No one made a sound in the room while they were waiting. Nian Shilan sat there, tapping her fingers lightly on the table. She kept thinking about what had happened today, going over every detail in her mind over and over again, fearing that she would miss anything.

Shen Meizhuang was worried that Zhen Huan would not sleep well, so she took this opportunity to walk into the inner hall to check on her. Seeing that her face was finally not as pale as before, she felt relieved. She whispered a few words to Liu Zhu and Jin Xi who were guarding inside, and then walked out again.

At this moment, Zhou Ninghai and Xiao Yunzi also came back from the yard, and Xiao Yunzi seemed to be holding something in his hand.

"My Lady, I did find something under that tree."

Xiao Yunzi pointed to the thing wrapped in silk in his hand, with an ugly expression on his face. He seemed to think of the time when Zhen Huan had just entered the palace. At that time, they were still living in Suiyuxuan. They also dug out something under the tree. Now it seems that the scene is so similar.

"Go and ask Doctor Wen to come over."

Wen Shichu was worried that something might happen to Zhen Huan's health, so he stayed in Yongshou Palace and had not left yet.

Soon, Wen Shichu followed Zhou Ninghai here. After hearing Nian Shilan's instructions, he immediately stepped forward and took the thing in Xiao Yunzi's hand. After opening it, he put it to his nose and smelled it, and found that there was indeed something wrong.

"How did it get here? When was it found? Where was it placed?"

Wen Shichu looked at Nian Shilan, and the solemnity in his tone made everyone in the room concentrate.

"This is what I just dug out from under the tree next to the swing in the courtyard, Master Wen, is this it?"

Xiao Yunzi asked Wen Shichu anxiously. In fact, he had already guessed it from Wen Shichu's expression just now.

"My Lady, this contains a large amount of musk. Judging from the way this cloth has been buried in the soil, it must have been there for at least several months."

How many months? Isn't this the month when Zhen Huan was pregnant?

"No wonder I had always thought there was something wrong with Concubine Xi's health. She'd been in excellent health over the past few years, so even if she'd given birth to twins, she wouldn't have been so weak. However, I've carefully checked her daily diet and there's nothing wrong with it. I originally thought I was just making a wild guess, but I didn't expect it to be this way."

Zhen Huan always liked sitting on the swing in the yard. If this dirty thing was placed there, it would definitely harm Zhen Huan's body.