Chapter 173 "Exposure"

"For the merit of giving birth to a daughter, Consort Hui is hereby promoted to Consort Hui, effective today. All members of Xianyue Pavilion shall be granted a three-month monthly allowance!"

Looking at his daughter, who was slightly thin due to premature birth, Yinzhen was delighted when he heard the imperial physician say that as long as she was carefully cared for afterward, she would be fine. He waved his hand and rewarded everyone.

"How is Consort Hui now?"

"Your Majesty, the imperial physician has already examined her pulse. Sister Mei is fine; she is just tired from childbirth and has just fallen asleep."

An Lingrong had just come out of the delivery room when she heard Yinzhen's question. She stepped forward and carefully reported Shen Meizhuang's situation.

"Thank you for your hard work, Consort Zhuang."

"I am not troubled, I only beg Your Majesty to do justice for Sister Mei." An Lingrong finished speaking and knelt down.

Yixiu thought An Lingrong was still concerned about the previous matter, so she quickly said, "Noble Lady Zhuang, His Majesty has already dealt with the matter of Huanbi offending Consort Hui."

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, this is not what I requested." An Lingrong gestured to the rear, and soon Caixing and Caiyue escorted Yu Ying'er forward.

"Greetings, Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Empress."

"Who is this?" Yinzhen frowned slightly as he looked at Yu Ying'er, who was slumped on the ground trembling. There hadn't been any news from the delivery room that someone had attacked Shen Meizhuang during childbirth.

"Your Majesty, this person is Yu Ying'er, a second-class palace maid. After the childbirth, she was responsible for cleaning and wiping Mei-jie. However, when she passed by with a basin of water, I noticed something unusual about her and stopped her. I found a small packet of medicine powder in her sleeve."

After An Lingrong finished speaking, she presented the "evidence" she had found.

"Imperial Physician, examine what this is!" Yinzhen asked with a grim face, summoning the waiting imperial physician to examine it. After analysis, the physician reported that it was a potent blood-activating powder. If Consort Hui, who had just given birth, came into contact with it, she could easily suffer severe bleeding.

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! This servant didn't know it was a blood-activating medicine..."

Upon hearing the imperial physician's words, Yu Ying'er was terrified and immediately kowtowed, begging for mercy.

One problem after another. Not to mention Yinzhen, Yixiu's face was also very ugly, as if she had been slapped in the face. It was as if someone was stirring up trouble behind the scenes again, showing no respect for her as the Empress.

"Hurry up and tell me, who ordered you to do this?"

Faced with the Empress's questioning, Yu Ying'er trembled and tears streamed down her face. She was terrified and blurted out, "It was Consort Cao. They were all servants who were instructed by Consort Cao."

"Explain clearly, how did she instruct you?"

“This servant… this servant was originally a palace maid in the Yimei Garden, and was often beaten by the nanny. It was Consort Cao who saved me and took care of things for me. This servant is truly grateful to her. So… so she asked this servant to come to Consort Hui's side, saying it was to gather information for her, and this servant… this servant agreed…”

Everyone was somewhat surprised, not expecting that Yu Ying'er had been Cao Qinmo's person from the very beginning.

"Later, later, Consort Cao sent me a message saying that someone wanted to use musk to harm Consort Hui, and she told me to take this opportunity to rise in rank. But Fuling was very careful, and I had no choice but to follow Consort Cao's instructions, putting a little musk powder on the medicine jar and the rest into Fuling's pillow..."

Yixiu suddenly realized that something was wrong when she interrogated Fuling. It turned out that Yu Ying'er had helped her make a "false testimonies". No wonder the dosage of medicine was suddenly increased and the medicine pot could not be cleaned properly.

"When we got to the garden, because Consort Wan kept coming, Consort Cao sent someone to find me again, saying that Huanbi was always disrespectful to her and that I should find a way to teach her a lesson. So she gave me a small packet of powder, saying that if I just put a little bit on Huanbi, I could embarrass her. I didn't think much of it, and today, when Huanbi came over, I flicked a little powder onto her body outside the house. Who knew... who knew that Huanbi would suddenly offend you, my lady... I didn't want this, I didn't want this to happen..."

To everyone's surprise, she was involved in Huanbi's affair. "Where's the medicine?"

"I was in a panic and threw it into the flower bed."

"Take men to find it." At Yinzhen's command, Su Peisheng led a group of eunuchs to search the flower bed. They quickly found a small medicine packet. After testing by the imperial physician, it was determined to be a powder that stimulated emotions. After use, it could easily cause people to become restless, behave improperly, and could not be detected by pulse diagnosis.

"What a brilliant plan," Yi Xiu couldn't help but sigh. Cao Qinmo really had some tricks up her sleeve. If this medicine had been used properly, how could Huanbi's attack at Xian Yue Pavilion not have affected Shen Meizhuang? Even if there were suspicions afterward, the imperial physicians wouldn't be able to find anything, so it wouldn't have affected her. It's a pity it only succeeded halfway. It did stimulate Shen Meizhuang to have a premature birth, but she still gave birth safely. "What about the blood-activating medicine? What's the deal with the blood-activating medicine?"

"Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly! This servant truly did not know it was a blood-activating medicine... It was Consort Cao. When Your Highness was giving birth, Consort Cao found this servant and threatened me with the fact that I had drugged Huanbi. She said that if Your Highness gave birth safely, she would put the medicine in the water. But she said that the medicine would only weaken the person, at most making Your Highness lie in bed for another month..."

"Ridiculous! You actually believe such a thing? Are you deliberately shirking responsibility?"

“Every word I said is true, it’s all true. I wouldn’t dare to harm anyone. It was Consort Cao who said she was also about to give birth and didn’t want Consort Hui to steal the spotlight from her delivery. So she asked her to stay in bed for two more months. I really didn’t lie, I wouldn’t dare to harm anyone…”

Yu Ying'er kowtowed frantically, looking genuinely terrified and rather dim-witted.

"Your Majesty?" Yixiu turned her head and looked at Yinzhen beside her.

"Yu Ying'er is imprisoned, Consort Cao is confined to her quarters, Empress, this matter is entrusted to you." Yinzhen seemed very impatient, and moreover, in everyone's hearts, Cao Qin had already been sentenced to death, so naturally they didn't think there was anything wrong with his decision.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and give Consort Hui justice."

...

"Your Highness, Consort Cao has been confined to her quarters, and there are guards outside. It's said that she ordered someone to harm Consort Hui."

Jixiang hurried in and came to Qi Yuebin's side, whispering her report with some confusion in her voice: "What do you think Consort Cao is after? She doesn't even care about the child in her belly? Is it really her who harmed Consort Hui?"

"The consequences of insatiable greed."

"Are you saying she really did it?"

"Did Fei Yunyan have that kind of brain back then?"

Qi Yuebin's calm question startled Jixiang, who asked in surprise, "Was it also her who drugged Consort Hui before? Is Consort Cao's scheming really that deep?"

"Also?" Qi Yuebin smiled. "Cao Qinmo is a smart person, but it's not a good thing to be smart. Regardless of whether she did it this time or not, it will eventually be attributed to her."

"Jixiang, the palace is full of clever people, and stories of misattribution are not uncommon."

"You mean..."

"I didn't say anything, but with Shen Meizhuang's premature birth and Cao Qinmo's confinement, who will be next?"