Shen Wan thought that Empress Song had also been poisoned, and even if she hadn't died, she would have been half-dead. But it turned out that Consort Qi and Consort Liu were poisoned to death, while Empress Song was completely unharmed.

etc.

Why would Empress Song allow Consort Qi and Consort Liu to have lunch with her?

In her previous life, during the years she spent in the palace, nothing like this had ever happened.

Whenever someone poisoned her food, Empress Song would invite the person who was poisoned to stay for the meal, but she, the person in charge, would not eat it...

Shen Wan's intuition told her that Empress Song knew the food was poisoned and did it on purpose.

But who would poison Empress Song?

Shen Wan thought of the Empress Dowager's unusual behavior. Could it be that the Empress Dowager poisoned Empress Song?

The thought flashed through her mind, but Shen Wan quickly cut it off.

The Empress Dowager even used her imperial pardon to save Xie Jingyin's life, so how could she poison Empress Song? Empress Song was Xie Jingyin's birth mother. If he poisoned Empress Song, Xie Jingyin would hold a grudge against her for the rest of his life. Even though she was the Empress Dowager, given Xie Jingyin's personality, he would definitely kill her to avenge Empress Song.

However, it turned out that Shen Wan had dismissed the idea too early; the poison in Empress Song's food was indeed placed at the behest of the Empress Dowager.

The matter was investigated quickly. After all, two concubines had died from poisoning, and they had died in the Phoenix Palace, which immediately alarmed the Emperor.

The Emperor put down his chopsticks halfway through his lunch and went to the Phoenix Palace, where he immediately ordered people to investigate who had poisoned his food.

The dishes were prepared and served by the Imperial Kitchen. Eunuch Yuan personally led people to the Imperial Kitchen to investigate, and soon found that they were on the hands of the first and second-class palace maids in the Empress Dowager's palace. Apart from the imperial chefs, only the Empress Dowager's palace maids had been near the Empress Song's food.

When Eunuch Yuan questioned the palace maid, she wasn't even punished. With just a little intimidation, the maid knelt on the ground and confessed that the Empress Dowager had ordered her to poison the Empress's food.

Eunuch Yuan never expected that the investigation would lead to the Empress Dowager, so he quickly informed the Emperor.

The Emperor frowned deeply. He didn't believe it was the Empress Dowager's doing, after all, there had been previous incidents where someone had used the Empress Dowager to poison the Prince of Cheng.

The Emperor went to Shou Kang Palace to see the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager, still ill, leaned against a large pillow and said, "It was I who ordered the palace maid to administer the poison; this was an agreement between me and the Empress—"

"One life for another."

“Now that the Prince of Jin has been saved, the Empress should commit suicide. She is afraid of death, so I will send her on her way.”

The Empress Dowager's voice was icy, and her sickly face was even more sharp.

The emperor stood before the sickbed, at a loss for words.

The Empress and the Empress Dowager made a pact that the Empress would exchange her life for the Prince of Jin's life. The Empress Dowager agreed and used her immunity token to save the Prince of Jin. The Empress should indeed keep her promise. The Empress poisoned her and sent her to her death. Since there was a prior agreement, it cannot be said that the Empress Dowager was heartless. Deceiving the Empress Dowager was already a capital offense.

The Emperor said, "Consort Qi and Consort Liu ate poisoned food and died from the poison."

Such a big event naturally reached the ears of the Empress Dowager.

Empress Song's little tricks could not escape the Empress Dowager's eyes. The Empress Dowager said coldly, "Since the Empress entered the palace, when has she ever allowed other concubines to dine with her? She probably guessed it long ago, and even knows that I poisoned the food, deliberately using the lives of other concubines to make a big fuss."

She really underestimated the Empress.

To let everyone know that she wanted her dead, she was willing to take two innocent lives with her.

The Empress Dowager's inability to find Empress Song meant not only the deaths of Consort Qi and Consort Liu, but also those of Consort Wang and Consort Zheng.

Prince Jin was saved from death by the Empress Dowager with a pardon. Many concubines went to congratulate Empress Song, and Consort Wang and Consort Zheng also went.

Consort Wang and Consort Zheng sat for a while before leaving. Consort Wang had held the Phoenix Seal for a long time, and Empress Song regarded her as a thorn in her side. Consort Zheng had been used by Empress Song before, and if she were not afraid of giving others something to talk about, she would not have wanted to come at all. However, Empress Song asked them to stay and talk, and did not let them leave.

The time for lunch was approaching, and Empress Song said that she had been living in fear these past few days and was afraid to eat lunch alone, so she asked them to eat with her. She specially asked the Imperial Study to prepare a few extra dishes.

When Empress Song spoke up, Consort Wang and Consort Zheng could not refuse, and Consort Qi and Consort Liu were even more eager to do so.

The four accompanied Empress Song to the table. Consort Wang was lucky; she sat down and even picked up her chopsticks when the Eighth Prince, who was in a hurry to find her, sent a maid to fetch her. Consort Wang put down her chopsticks and took her leave.

Seeing Consort Wang leave, Consort Zheng suddenly felt uneasy and also made an excuse to take her leave.

The two had barely returned to their palace when news arrived that Consort Qi and Consort Liu had died from poisoning. Their faces turned deathly pale, and a chill ran down their spines; they hadn't recovered yet.

If it weren't for the Eighth Prince's eagerness to leave the palace and ask Consort Wang for money, the two of them would most likely have gone to meet their maker with Consort Qi and Consort Liu.

Empress Song not only wanted to save her own life by taking the lives of innocent people, but she also wanted to use the Empress Dowager to get rid of Consort Zheng and Consort Wang.

The Empress Dowager was chilled by the Empress's viciousness, which only strengthened her resolve to execute her.

The Empress Dowager said, "The Empress has harmed two innocent lives. I beg Your Majesty to immediately issue an edict to execute her."

The Emperor has a headache.

The Empress Dowager is becoming increasingly capricious in her actions.

Can a ruler of a country be executed at will?

Moreover, the poison that killed Consort Qi and Consort Liu was put into their food at the behest of the Empress Dowager.

No one else knew that the Empress Dowager and the Empress had made such an agreement. If the Empress Dowager wanted the Empress to fulfill her promise, she could have simply summoned the Empress openly and made her take the poison in person. There was no need for her to poison her in secret.

Poisoning someone is bad enough, but not having anyone keep an eye on them will only implicate innocent people in the end.

The Emperor had a vague feeling that the Empress Dowager wasn't telling the truth, but her confident demeanor made him think that he was just overthinking things.

The emperor harbored doubts, but these doubts were dispelled with the arrival of Empress Song.

Empress Song also arrived at Shou Kang Palace. Upon entering, she immediately knelt down and confessed her sins to the Empress Dowager, "Your Majesty, I deserve to die. I suspected that Your Majesty would poison me, but I was afraid of dying. I thought that by occasionally inviting other concubines to dine with me, Your Majesty would be more cautious and allow me to stay longer. However, I never imagined that Your Majesty had already poisoned my food, causing the deaths of Consort Qi and Consort Liu, and also staining Your Majesty's hands with the blood of innocent people..."

The Empress Dowager was already feeling guilty, and Empress Song's words about her having the blood of innocent people on her hands made the Empress Dowager cough violently, almost choking on her own breath.

If the Emperor didn't know about the agreement between the Empress Dowager and the Empress, that would be one thing, but now that he does, he certainly can't let such a thing happen.

The Emperor said, "The idea of ​​one life for another is absurd. Now, two innocent lives have been lost. This matter should end here."

The Empress Dowager was so angry that she could barely breathe. She couldn't reveal the reason why she wanted to execute Empress Song. Empress Song also knew that the Empress Dowager wouldn't dare to speak, so she deliberately caused a death to bring the matter to the Emperor's attention and put pressure on her.

The Emperor has declared that if Empress Song is poisoned again or suffers any mishap, it will be because she, the Empress Dowager, has murdered her!

Even if she were the Empress Dowager, she would be severely punished for plotting against the Empress.

That's really a clever scheme!

Good tactic!

Even the Empress Dowager was manipulated by her!