Meng Hu frowned and said, "That wretched creature couldn't possibly have survived. I set the fire. Before setting it, I also released sleeping gas. Moreover, Consort Li had just given birth and was at her weakest. There was no way she could have survived. Later, the fire was extinguished, and all the corpses were still there. To prevent any oversights, didn't you go and check it yourself? There was even a charred infant's body among them."

Upon hearing this, Situ Jin's last trace of doubt disappeared, but then she frowned as she thought of something else. "Although Xie Jingrun could not possibly be born to Consort Li, given the old scoundrel's special treatment of him, his background is definitely not simple."

"Do you still consider Xie Jingrun to be his son?" Meng Gu asked.

“Yes. Even if he wasn’t born to Consort Li, he was definitely born to her with someone else,” Situ Jin said grimly.

“But none of those concubines were able to give birth to a child back then…” Meng Hu held the opposite opinion. Back then, Jin secretly did many things to prevent the other concubines from having children, which is why Emperor Zhaojing had so few offspring. Now, he only has Feng Mo and Feng Xin, a son and a daughter.

"That old scoundrel was quite the ladies' man back then; it's hard to say he didn't have affairs outside," Situ Jin said sarcastically.

“That was before he met Consort Li. Later, the Emperor restrained himself a lot for Consort Li’s sake. I don’t think it’s possible that the child was born to an outside woman,” Meng Hu said candidly. He paused, “Perhaps the Emperor really just values ​​Xie Jingrun. After all, he is Xie Tianlin’s son. The Emperor and Xie Tianlin used to be like brothers in private.”

"But didn't you find out that Hua's son died young? If Xie Jingrun isn't Hua's son, then where did he come from?" Although Situ Jin felt that what he said made sense, she still had a vague sense of unease. Especially what happened in the valley today, which had been bothering her and made her extremely uncomfortable.

“Since you care so much about Xie Jingrun, why don’t you…” Meng Hu made a throat-slitting gesture.

Situ Jin nodded. "Alright. Although the old scoundrel is already poisoned, in order for Mo'er to be able to ascend the throne smoothly after his death, Xie Jingrun should be eliminated as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, leave this to me." A murderous glint flashed in Meng Hu's eyes. Since Xie Jingrun was an obstacle to Feng Mo, he would find a way to get rid of him.

Situ Jin felt much more relieved. "Since there's nothing much going on these days, you shouldn't leave. Stay here." She leaned against him, her voice gentle, a departure from her usual assertiveness.

Meng Hu hugged her tightly. "Mmm."

...

The dragon dwells in seclusion.

Although brewing tea for Emperor Zhaojing was just an excuse, when Rong Qingqing returned to the villa with Xie Jingrun and the others, she still went to the courtyard where Emperor Zhaojing lived and brewed him a cup of cooling flower tea.

Rong Qingqing personally served the flower tea. Looking at the top of Emperor Zhaojing's head, she suddenly remembered something.

Ahem, the Empress has a lover, I wonder if Emperor Zhaojing knows about it? But no matter what, Emperor Zhaojing's head is now covered in green grass.

Thinking about it this way, when she looked at the top of his head again, she found it to be unusually dark green.

Emperor Zhaojing was unaware that Rong Qingqing was inwardly criticizing him. After taking a sip of the flower tea, he found it quite delicious and continued drinking it. Finally, he said gently to Rong Qingqing, "This flower tea is good. Let me brew a cup for your Marquis as well."

"Yes." Rong Qingqing lowered her head and made a cup for Xie Jingrun as well.

When she served him the tea, whether intentionally or unintentionally, he touched her fingertips.