Chapter 189 Falling Ill

"Your Majesty, it's time to take your medicine."

Jianqiu carefully carried the medicine bowl and sat down beside Yixiu's bed: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, this medicine was brewed by me personally, there won't be any more problems."

Yi Xiu frowned slightly, her lips pale. After administering the medicine with Jian Qiu's help, she sighed deeply: "How is it? Has Ran Dong been reprimanded?"

Mentioning this familiar name, Jianqiu's eyebrows twitched. No one expected that in the end, it would be Ran Dong, who had grown up with her, who would betray their master.

"She confessed. The clan arrested her gambling-addicted brother, and her parents begged her to do the clan a favor to save her brother's life. Ran Dong then..."

Seeing Yixiu's unpleasant expression, Jianqiu couldn't continue speaking. Back when they entered the palace, in order to resolve any worries, Yixiu had brought Jianqiu and the others' parents out of the Ulanara residence and put them in her own estate, so they could be said to have no worries about food and clothing.

However, Ran Dong's younger brother was a disappointment, becoming addicted to gambling and being controlled by the Ulanara clan. Ran Dong, instead of seeking help from Yi Xiu, chose to betray them.

"Ran Dong doesn't know anything about Cui Jinxi's side. She only contacted the midwife and was responsible for delivering an item with the Jingren Palace mark."

"So she suggested praying for Honghui's well-being and made a brand new batch of reward money. I really underestimated Ran Dong's cunning."

Yixiu rubbed her temples. At first, she only thought that Ran Dong suited her taste. Who would have thought that a trap had been set for her so early on, and it was her personal maid who did it.

"Your Majesty..." Jianqiu looked at Yixiu with some concern. She was already ill, and she was afraid that her mistress would get even more upset.

"It's alright, please continue."

"Yes, Ran Dong also mentioned the medication. One of the ingredients in the calming decoction and the daily floral and fruit incense, when combined, causes headaches, insomnia, and gradual weakness..."

Speaking of Jianqiu, she was also extremely angry. If it weren't for the Emperor's care, the master would have really mistaken it for a headache caused by being overwhelmed by trivial matters and having a lot of pent-up emotions. Ran Dong's scheme would have almost succeeded.

Even though she had already guessed the answer, Yi Xiu still couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart: "The Ulanara clan wants to tear me apart and climb to the top by stepping on my flesh and blood..."

At this moment, Yixiu understood everything. Ulanara's initial allegiance was merely a test—a test of her, the Empress, and the Crown Prince's thoughts on the Ulanara clan.

After discovering the conflict between the mother and son, they wanted to take drastic measures and use them as a stepping stone.

Ulanara's scheme succeeded. How could an empress with a tainted past possibly gain the emperor's trust? If this empress were to fall ill and die, even for the sake of securing the crown prince's position, Ulanara, the crown prince's maternal clan, would likely still be elevated. And with his birth mother's stain on his reputation, the crown prince would be forced to remain tied to Ulanara.

Perhaps the daughter of the Ulanara clan, who is about to enter the palace and replace her, is already prepared and waiting to take the throne.

"Hmph," Yixiu sneered. It was a pity that the Ulanara clan had been out of touch with the political center for too long and didn't understand the Emperor at all. Even if she really had passed away, Yixiu was certain that the Emperor would not allow a woman from the Ulanara clan to enter the palace according to "custom" and "tradition".

"Investigate Jingren Palace again. I want to see if there are any traitors besides Ran Dong."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Meanwhile, Yixiu and her servant had turned Jingren Palace into an impenetrable fortress, constantly cleaning up its internal strife. Outside Jingren Palace, ever since Consort Hua temporarily took charge of the harem, it had been as if she were facing a major misfortune, with troubles occurring one after another.

First, the nannies in the East Third Palace were lazy at night and failed to take good care of the children, which led to the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince catching colds one after another; then, a young eunuch in the kitchen was deliberately humiliated and couldn't help but explode, seriously injuring several people with a kitchen knife, which led to the discovery of many threads of embezzlement and corruption.

The dispute over this matter was still unresolved when, during the night, a physician left on duty at the Imperial Hospital got drunk and accidentally set fire to the medical records room. The fire spread rapidly. Despite everyone's best efforts to put out the fire, half of the Imperial Hospital was almost burned down.

Immediately afterwards, Princess Minjia, who had always been in good health, suddenly developed a cough, which frightened Consort Hua so much that her face turned pale. She immediately went to the Emperor, relinquished control of the harem, and devoted herself entirely to her daughter.

At this time, the Empress was still recuperating, and everyone in the harem was curious about who would take over the management of the harem next.

A glance swept over the high-ranking concubines, but to everyone's surprise, no suitable candidate could be found. Consort Hua had already declined the offer, and Consort Shu was busy taking care of the newborn prince born to Consort Yuan, summoning the imperial physician three times a day, leaving her with no time to manage palace affairs.

As for Consort Duan, she had become much quieter since successfully adopting the little princess. Now, it turns out that she had consulted the imperial physician half a month ago, who said that her old illness had relapsed and she was now bedridden.

Does this mean we should let someone of the rank of concubine take charge?

Before the concubines could even begin to make their moves, the Emperor unexpectedly issued an edict, temporarily handing over the management of the harem to Consort Tongjia, with Consort Xi and Consort Ning assisting her.

The Emperor's summoning of the Dowager Consort Tongjia was unexpected. Previously, this Dowager Consort hadn't been very prominent; only now did everyone realize that the Emperor had changed the imperial genealogy to the Tongjia clan years ago, and that this Dowager Consort Tongjia seemed to have a good relationship with the Emperor!

The concubines, who had never realized that there was such a powerful figure hidden in the palace, were filled with regret. Just as they were about to take this opportunity to get closer to him, they suddenly discovered that Consort Ning seemed to have a very good relationship with Consort Tongjia.

After a period of time, under the management of Consort Tongjia, the harem returned to peace and tranquility, and no chaos occurred.

Meanwhile, the civil and military officials of the previous dynasty received good news: the peace negotiation team, represented by His Highness the Crown Prince and Prince Guo, had successfully regained all the territory that originally belonged to the Qing Dynasty and was allocated to Russia in the Treaty of Nerchinsk after "friendly negotiations" with Tsarist Russia.

The two countries renewed their treaty of peace and friendship, as well as their border trade treaty.

"Tsarist Russia will coexist peacefully with the Qing Dynasty and apologize for its financial support to the Dzungar Khanate, offering 1 million taels of silver..."

At the grand court assembly, upon hearing the report from the messenger who had rushed back on horseback, all the civil and military officials were beaming with pride and full of energy.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Yinzhen looked at the treaty that had just been presented to him. It was rare for him to be so emotionally expressive and spirited in front of everyone.

"This matter will benefit future generations, and the Crown Prince and Prince Guo, among others, should be rewarded! When they return to the capital, all of you will join me in celebrating!"

"Yes, Your Majesty is wise!"

The officials inwardly sighed, realizing that with such a great achievement, their positions would truly be unshakeable once the Crown Prince returned. Regardless of their true thoughts, they naturally had to feign the same joy and excitement in front of the delighted and thrilled Emperor.

But the smiles didn't last long before the emperor, who had just stood up, suddenly swayed and collapsed!

"emperor!"