Chapter 358: Suppression

"Doctor Jiao gave the opium poppy powder to Xiao Yuanzi, who then mixed it with other seasonings and added it to his diet every day according to the dosage prescribed by Doctor Jiao, until the matter was discovered by Ping'an County Lord."

Qin Yishu's brows were still furrowed.

It sounds like there is a reason for this.

It is reasonable for a person to vent his anger on others when his family is broken up, or even to drag others down with him because he has lost all desire in life.

But if you look at it carefully, Doctor Jiao's words are somewhat untenable.

If he was angry because of the death of his only son, it was the Imperial Hospital that arranged for him to treat Qin Peiyou. If he held a grudge, he should have hated the Imperial Hospital even more.

Even if both of them hold grudges, they should be treated equally and the chief judge of the Imperial Medical Service should also be punished.

But he bypassed the Imperial Hospital and only poisoned Qin Peiyou. It didn't make sense at all.

Moreover, he had people investigate and found out that opium was a rare plant in the country. It was produced in the vassal states in the southeast and grew in warm, humid and rainy climates.

In the past two years, Qin Peiyuan has assisted in the management of trade with vassal states and some matters concerning seagoing ship caravans. He even specially presented a pair of ivory carved cups as a gift on the empress dowager's birthday this year.

At that time, Qin Peiyuan mentioned that this was something sold by a merchant caravan from a vassal state. Seeing the high-quality texture and fine carving, he spent a large sum of money to buy it.

During this period, the Queen and Qin Peiyuan fell ill one after another and closed their doors to visitors.

If Lady Ping'an had not noticed the abnormality in Qin Peiyou's diet, according to what she said, it would be difficult to quit eating such a diet for more than a month.

If each of these pieces of evidence taken individually is not enough to serve as key evidence, then when all of them are added together, it makes people think a lot.

Especially when I think of the Queen's usual hostility towards Concubine Shu, and Qin Peiyuan's dissatisfaction with Qin Peiyou...

Qin Yishu lowered his head slightly and rubbed his eyebrows with his hand.

My mind was in a mess and my head was aching.

"emperor……"

Minghai was quite worried when he saw that Qin Yishu was not in good condition.

"The Concubine Shu is having a hard time with her pregnancy, and Madam He might feel bored accompanying her in the palace. We should arrange some singing and dancing to enter the palace to entertain Concubine Shu and Madam He."

Qin Yishu paused, and then continued to instruct, "You can handle the matter of Imperial Doctor Jiao, but don't make it public. If others ask, just say that I am getting old and I have been graciously allowed to retire and return home."

"The Queen is not feeling well, and His Highness has not recovered from the cold. I remember that the newly made peach cakes in the imperial kitchen are made with lard. I will make some for the Queen and His Highness."

"Remember to tell the imperial kitchen to add some extra lard when making peach cakes."

"Yes." Minghai agreed, and couldn't help but think in his heart.

He would naturally handle Doctor Jiao's matter properly.

It was normal for the emperor to be concerned about Concubine Shu and the dragon fetus in her belly. However, the lard peach cakes that the emperor gave to the queen and the prince...

Minghai couldn't figure it out, but he shook his head in self-mockery.

Well, how can the Holy Heart be so easy to guess? Not only is it difficult to guess, but one cannot guess too much... ——The lard peach cake was delivered to the Queen's palace and the Grand Prince's residence during dinner.

The Queen couldn't say that she liked sweets, but she didn't hate them either. However, as she had been feeling unwell recently and had to take medicine frequently, she had to have some snacks from time to time to calm her nerves.

Things like peach pastry are not particularly sweet but not sticky either, and are quite comfortable to eat. After the queen drank the medicine, she took the peach pastry and put it in her mouth.

But after taking a bite, he frowned.

"But it's not to the Queen's taste?" Concubine Xian hurriedly brought the teacup over.

The queen opened her mouth and wanted to spit out the peach cake, but when she thought that it was a reward from the emperor, it would be inappropriate if the emperor heard that she spit it out, so she forced herself to swallow it, but she also hurriedly took the water handed to her by the virtuous concubine.

After rinsing his mouth, he drank half a cup and finally the addiction was suppressed.

"This peach cake..." The queen picked up a piece and looked at it carefully. "It looks no different from usual, but the taste is very different from before."

"Then let me have a taste?"

Seeing the queen nod in approval, Concubine Xian broke off a piece and put it in her mouth, chewing it carefully. "It seems that there is a lot of lard in it."

"Lard?" The Queen's face was full of undisguised disdain. "The food made by the Imperial Kitchen is becoming less and less presentable nowadays."

This kind of rural and commercial food was actually put into the imperial snacks.

"Your Majesty, be careful with your words." Concubine Xian hastily signaled her to lower her voice. "After all, this is a reward from the Emperor. If your Majesty doesn't say anything good, I'm afraid there are ears on the other side of the wall."

The Queen's expression changed. "That's not what I meant. I'm just curious as to why the Emperor gave me this reward."

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It was neither her favorite food nor the emperor's usual snack.

At once……

It's very strange! Something must be wrong when things are out of the ordinary. The queen is worried whether the emperor has some intention.

Especially now that Concubine Shu is pregnant and Qin Peiyou is living in the He family to avoid conflict, the Queen feels that everything is out of her control and she feels quite insecure.

"In my opinion, it was probably newly made by the imperial kitchen and presented to the emperor. The emperor found it delicious, so he thought of the empress and sent some over."

Xian Fei smiled and said, "I heard that he also gave a reward to His Majesty. He was probably thinking about the child in Wu's belly. The emperor was thinking about his eldest grandson!"

After hearing what Concubine Xian said, the Queen's face became much better. But after a pause, she said, "In that case, when my sister returns to the palace later, she can take the peach cake back and give it to Heng'er to eat, so that we can share in the good fortune together."

The smile on Concubine Xian's face froze for a moment, but returned to normal after a moment, "I would like to thank the Queen on behalf of Heng'er."

"But then again, after the New Year, Heng'er will be old enough to move out of the palace and choose a new home to live in, but Heng'er's marriage has not been decided yet, and I am very worried about him."

"Now that you mention it, I am also concerned about it." The Queen said, "When the Peach Blossom Banquet is held in the palace after the New Year, I will take a good look with you and pick a good one for Heng'er."

"Yes, thank you, Queen."

The virtuous concubine kept talking for a long time with a smile on her face, until the night grew darker and the queen looked sleepy, then she stood up and said goodbye.

As soon as she stepped into her own palace, Concubine Xian couldn't help but yawning loudly. She was staggering and seemed like she was about to fall down at any time.

"Your Majesty comes to the Empress' palace to serve every day, and it's really hard work." The palace maid Lingzhi helped Concubine Xian to massage her sore arms, her face full of heartache.

"It can't be helped." Concubine Xian's face was full of fatigue. "The Queen has promoted me, so I have to repay her."

"But..." Lingzhi paused and lowered her voice, "The Queen is suppressing you a little bit now."

(End of this chapter)