Chapter 105: The Emperor's Vigilance

The atmosphere in the hall became tense again, and one could hear a pin drop.

After a moment, the emperor's deep and majestic voice sounded: "Come here, take Concubine Wei to the Northern Pacification Office."

As soon as she finished speaking, several young eunuchs swarmed over and surrounded Concubine Wei Shu in an instant.

Concubine Wei Shu was stunned. "What does your Majesty mean?"

She raised her eyes to look at the man on the throne and asked in a trembling voice: "Even if I am not the Crown Prince's biological mother, I am still the late Emperor's concubine. Why does His Majesty treat me like this?"

Empress Xu and Su Jingyi were both stunned and puzzled. The child swap was obviously planned by the late emperor himself. What did it have to do with this Wei family?

The emperor casually put down the secret report, his face slightly stern, "Just now, the Jinyiwei found a large amount of spices with warming effects in Qingning Palace. The formula is very similar to the warming fragrance that caused the previous emperor to die."

These words were like a bolt from the blue, and Concubine Wei's expression suddenly changed.

Before she left Qingning Palace just now, she clearly instructed her personal maid Luxia to hide the spices in a secret cabinet.

How come she was searched out right after she arrived at the Palace of Heavenly Purity? Could it be that the Jinyiwei had been keeping an eye on her for a long time...

Upon hearing this, Queen Xu and the Su father and daughter were all stunned with shock.

Yang Manyan and Xiao Yan remained calm and not surprised at all.

Yang Manyan had originally ordered the Jinyiwei to conduct an in-depth investigation into this case, so she naturally knew everything about it.

"This is related to the death of the late emperor. Take Wei away first and await interrogation." The emperor gave another calm order.

"Your servant obeys your command." The young eunuchs answered in unison, and immediately restrained Concubine Wei Shu, and pushed her out with a force that did not allow for resistance.

Concubine Wei's face turned pale and blue, her mind was full of mixed thoughts, but she couldn't think of any way to save herself.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Queen Xu suddenly stepped forward and stretched out her arms to block their way.

The young eunuchs didn't dare to offend her and could only stop in embarrassment.

"Why?" Empress Xu stared at Concubine Wei Shu, her eyes reddened. "The late emperor treated you well in the past, why did you want to harm him?"

A few muffled thunders rolled, and the dark clouds in the dome grew thicker and thicker, covering the palaces with a dark mass, making it impossible to get through.

Looking at the thin and haggard woman in front of her, Concubine Wei Shu thought her question was ridiculous.

Why? Of course, it was to protect the future of the mother and son.

As the mother of the only prince, she was extremely popular. The late emperor even verbally promised to make the eldest son the crown prince.

But she still couldn't let her mind go. After all, Empress Xu was not infertile. If she gave birth to another child in the future, the Xu family's followers in the court would definitely try their best to ensure that Empress Xu's son ascended to the throne.

She had no choice but to join forces with Empress Dowager Jiang, who also regarded Empress Xu as a thorn in her side, and used all means to drive Empress Xu crazy, causing a complete rift between the emperor and the empress.

I thought everything was fine, but who would have thought that the late emperor would change his ways and start taking in more concubines, living an extremely licentious life.

Seeing that the concubines in the harem became pregnant one after another, and that Concubine Shun Zhang, who came from a noble family, successfully gave birth to the emperor's second son...how could she sit still?

Only if the previous emperor died early, the eldest son born to her could firmly sit on the supreme throne.

But if she had known that the prince was not her son, she would never have taken risks again and again.

At this moment, there were several violent lightning and thunder, and the rain poured down like a waterfall.

The sound of raindrops hitting the eaves of the palace brought Concubine Wei Shu, who was immersed in the past, back to reality.

When the time came, Concubine Wei Shu still wanted to argue. She pretended to be at a loss, "Sister Xu, I didn't do it. I was wronged..."

She struggled to turn her head and look back, her expression sad, "Your Majesty, please be clear! I don't know why there is any warm spices in Qingning Palace. Please be clear, I am innocent--"

"Is it true that Concubine Shu didn't know about this?" Yang Manyan interrupted her calmly.

"In the past six months, your majesty has repeatedly called in the imperial physician for illness, and each time the symptoms were very different. All the prescriptions have contained Cnidium monnieri, Ylang Ylang, Guang Pai Cao, Mother Clove, Camphor, and Musk. These together are exactly the recipe for the Warm Love Fragrance. Is it a coincidence?"

Upon hearing this, Concubine Wei Shu suddenly raised her head, and a chill ran down her spine in an instant.

How could Yang know so much? She thought she had been careful enough...

Concubine Wei Shu took a deep breath and calmly retorted: "The prescriptions were all written by the imperial physician, how would I know what's in them?"

Yang Manyan came closer and said, "On March 18th last year, Your Majesty, you ordered a young eunuch named Liu Wenji from the Renshou Palace to lure Wei Guogong's daughter Xu Miaohua to Xuanguang Pavilion and sprinkle her with warm love incense in an attempt to make her lose her manners in front of the emperor. Do you still remember this incident?"

After a brief pause, she lowered her voice and said, "But Madam Shufei may not know that Liu Wenji actually recognized the wrong person that night."

Hearing the hidden meaning in her words, Concubine Wei's pupils contracted rapidly and her knees softened instantly.

No wonder... No wonder Yang was obsessed with Nuan Qingxiang, it turns out she was the one who was drugged by Xiao Liuzi that night!

The Yang family is nominally investigating the cause of the late emperor's death, but it is clearly seeking revenge for what happened in the past...

"What are you standing there for? Take the man away quickly. The truth will come out after the interrogation." The emperor waved his hands, with a hint of impatience between his brows.

"Yes!" The eunuchs who were holding Concubine Wei Shu captivated themselves and worked together to half-dragged and half-pulled her out of the palace.

Concubine Wei Shu struggled hard, but the strength disparity was too great and they all quickly disappeared in the rain.

The hall fell into silence again, and Empress Xu and others were unable to recover for a long time.

This matter concerns the death of the previous emperor. No matter what the final result is, it is probably difficult for Concubine Wei Shu to get out of the imperial prison of the Northern Pacification Division...

Xiao Yan walked forward and calmly took Yang Manyan's hand, exerted a little force with his palm, and intertwined his fingers with hers.

Yang Manyan looked up at him, a faint smile flashed across his eyes, and his tense expression relaxed a little.

Sitting on the throne, the emperor pursed his lips tightly, tapped the table with his fingers, and said in a stern voice: "You all go back first, Yang Shangyi stay, I have something to ask you."

Su Jingyi was the first to regain consciousness, "Yes, I will take my leave now."

Before leaving, he did not forget to take his dazed adopted daughter Su Qinglan with him.

Chang Ying was also very tactful. He immediately signaled to the palace servants to help Empress Xu board the phoenix sedan chair and leave the Qianqing Palace in the rain.

He himself led all the palace servants and eunuchs serving in the palace out.

Seeing them standing in the center of the hall, holding hands intimately, the emperor let out a light sigh, feeling that it was extremely annoying.

"I said, only Yang Shangyi will stay." He frowned, his cold eyes blazing with fire, "Prince, you leave."

After a moment of silence, Xiao Yan deliberately lowered his eyelashes and smiled helplessly, "Yuanyuan, since the emperor doesn't like me to be here, I will go back to the East Palace first."

After saying this, he pretended to let go of her hand.

Seeing him being so compromising, Yang Manyun felt a little distressed and hurriedly put his arm around him again.

She raised her eyes to meet the emperor's obviously displeased gaze, and asked boldly: "Your Majesty, what do you want to say by keeping me here? If there is nothing important, I will take my leave first..."

The emperor laughed in anger, raised his hand and rubbed his forehead, "Okay, both of you stay and have dinner with me, okay?"

Yang Manyan looked embarrassed, but she was indeed a little hungry.

After the three of them had lunch together, the rain had subsided a little, and the raindrops hit the eaves of the palace, making crisp sounds.

Having not had a good sleep for several days, Yang Manyan was now feeling sleepy like a tide. He was too lazy to move and simply stayed in the Qianqing Palace for a nap.

But in her half-awake state, she seemed to vaguely hear the father and son arguing...