"The harem is full of women, so it might not be convenient for people from the Ministry of Justice to come and investigate," said the Queen.

"I will arrange for the Ministry of Justice to sort out the case. As for gathering information and collecting confessions, the female officials will be responsible."

"Before, the concubines lived in the Qifeng Pavilion outside the palace. The female officials in the Qifeng Pavilion are very good. I feel very relieved to let the female officials handle this matter."

The queen hesitated to speak and could only worry.

Concubine Yi's eyes were empty and she was still in great shock. Concubine Rou's words were so clear that she could probably guess the truth behind the downfall of the Wei family based on these details.

The emperor turned and left. Ever since he came down from Jiuhua Peak, the queen felt that he had become a different person. His attitude towards people seemed gentle, but in fact he was very distant.

Concubine Rou has been sitting firmly on the throne for three years. Her methods and wisdom should not be underestimated. Before the emperor came, she pretended to be panicked and refused to reveal any of her cards.

As soon as the emperor arrived, she immediately found her backbone and adjusted herself from the defensive side to the active attacking side. A series of words directly made Concubine Yi lose her fighting power.

Concubine Rou took a step forward to chase the emperor. She reached out her hand three times but failed to grab the emperor's hand once.

The main hall of Qiwu Palace was quiet as the Queen poured a cup of tea for Concubine Yi.

"Queen, I was not the one who poisoned Ning Shuyi."

"Of course I know it wasn't you. Someone else poisoned me."

"Who is it and why is she doing this?"

"Once Ning Shuyi dies, you and Concubine Rou will definitely be implicated. Why don't you think about who will benefit the most from this matter?"

The Queen guided Concubine Yi in the wrong way, so the conclusion Concubine Yi drew was naturally wrong.

She thought for a moment and replied, "Royal Concubine."

"Okay, whether it was the Imperial Concubine who did it or not, it doesn't matter. Did you bring the account books? These things must not fall into the wrong hands."

Concubine Yi called out to the door, "Wenqin, come in."

Wen Qin took out the account book from her arms, bent down and handed it to Xia Chan, who took it and showed it to the queen.

The Queen held the account book in her hand and called out, "Light the lamps."

Xia Chan immediately lit six more candles. There was a short iron tree in Qiwu Palace, and on the tree was a candlestick with five candles on it. These candles were already bright enough.

But the queen was worried that she had missed the account, so she ordered Xia Chan to light a few more candles. As the candles lit up, the main hall immediately became bright. The queen was facing the light, and her whole body was shrouded in a shadow.

The candlelight shone on Concubine Yi's face. Concubine Yi was surrounded by candlelight and had no secrets to hide.

"There are too many accounts. I can't finish looking through them all in a short time. Once I'm done, I'll burn them. By the way, Concubine Yi, do you have any extra backups?"

Concubine Yi had already reached the door, standing with her back to the Empress. She stepped over the threshold with her left foot, her body half hidden in the night, the candlelight in the room only illuminating half of her face. She turned around and said, "Backup? Why would I need a backup?"

The Queen smiled and said, "It's good that there's no backup. I was just asking casually."

"Since the Queen has nothing else to do, I will take my leave."

Concubine Yi was still smiling when she said this, but when she stepped over the threshold with both feet, the smile on her face disappeared, replaced by endless panic.

Wen Qin was holding a dark yellow lamp, and the master and servant walked in the endless darkness until they left Qiwu Palace, when they slowed down their pace.

Wen Qin supported Concubine Yi. She could feel Concubine Yi's rapid breathing and her slightly trembling right hand.

"Master, shall we return to Chunxi Palace or go to the Imperial Hospital?"

Concubine Yi pondered for a moment and said, "Let's go to Changning Palace."

Supported by Wen Qin, Concubine Yi walked along the long corridor. The doors of the nearby palaces were tightly closed. There were no people walking around. The light from the lanterns gradually dimmed, and the lonely corridor stretched as far as the eye could see.

Wen Qin reminded Concubine Yi, "My Lord, our lanterns are almost burning out."

Concubine Yi's tone was firm: "Keep going. Even if there are no lanterns or candlelight, we must move forward. At least there is the moon in the sky, and the moonlight can illuminate the way forward."

After turning a corner and walking another two hundred feet, an orange-red light appeared in front of us. On the door hung a plaque with three powerful characters written on it - Changning Palace.

Concubine Yi was standing at the door, the palace gate was open, she smiled, the smile reached her eyes, with a sense of joy of escaping a desperate situation.

Wen Qin didn't understand Concubine Yi's emotions. It would take no more than half an hour to walk from Qiwu Palace to Changning Palace. During this half hour, Concubine Yi felt like she was walking from hell to the human world, and every step was extremely difficult.

An orange cat called to Concubine Yi, as if calling her to come in.

Concubine Yi touched the account book sewn into her sleeve and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wenqin, wait here. I'm going to Changning Palace to talk to Concubine Zhen."

Concubine Zhen was lying lazily on the imperial concubine's couch, with an orange cat squatting at her feet. This cat was the cat that had just led Concubine Yi. The orange cat squatted beside Concubine Zhen, stretched out its paw, yawned, slowly closed its eyes and fell asleep.

Zhenfei's maid Xiaoyu retreated to the door obediently and stood with her back to the two of them. She stood far enough away that even if the palace door was not closed, she could not hear the conversation between Yifei and Zhenfei.

"Why are you here?"

"I have something for you."

"Don't give it to me. There are so many cats in Changning Palace, I can't even take care of them all, and you still want to meddle in other people's business."

"It's not someone else's business, it's my business."

"As for you, you are the Queen's most beloved Concubine Yi, and I am the unpromising Concubine Zhen in Changning Palace, who keeps cats and dogs. Do we know each other well?"

Concubine Yi took out a pair of scissors and cut the sewing thread, took out an account book and gave it to Concubine Zhen, but Concubine Zhen did not take it.

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