Chapter 127 Come on, show me

"Ever since Your Majesty punished me last time, I have been hand-copying Buddhist scriptures every day and reflecting on my mistakes in the palace. Aside from paying my respects to the Empress Dowager and the Queen, I have not set foot outside of Huaqing Palace."

"If it weren't for the Empress Dowager's order today, with Your Majesty's decree before me, I would never have dared to disobey the Holy Will and make sour apricots and send them to Huayin Palace. I don't have the ability to predict the future, and the Empress Dowager's decree came down so quickly, how could I have had the time to prepare such harmful things?"

Concubine Rong laughed at herself, and her beautiful face was tinged with a bit of loneliness and grievance.

"I originally hoped to share your majesty's worries, but unexpectedly, someone with ill intentions used this to frame me, and I also betrayed the Queen Mother's kindness..."

Concubine Rong is more than just a pretty face. She's playing the tyrant's emotional game, even bringing the Empress Dowager into the conversation. Given the tyrant's filial piety towards the Empress Dowager, I'm afraid the balance of power has already begun to tilt.

[This time, Concubine Rong was truly wronged. She had no intention of dealing with Yun... Er, that's not accurate. She probably didn't plan to deal with Concubine Yun right now.]

Chu Liuzheng looked at the gossip he had just uncovered and felt that having Concubine Rong was a blessing for the tyrant.

Look at this plan. If they don't make a move, it's fine. But once they do, it's fatal. Their target isn't just the child in Concubine Yun's belly, but also her life. They're laying the groundwork first, waiting until the fetus is older before making their move. Easily achieving two deaths with one corpse.

[Tsk tsk tsk, she is indeed a poisonous beauty snake, the king of the abortion squad. With Concubine Rong here, it is impossible for the tyrant to have many children in this life.]

"...I have a clear conscience and am willing to ask for the palace to be searched to clear my name." Concubine Rong kowtowed with a frank expression.

She waited quietly for a moment, thinking that Emperor Shunguang would come down to help her, but she didn't even hear him ask her to stand up. She couldn't help but feel surprised and looked up at the emperor in front of her.

Xiao Jingfan stared at her expressionlessly, his scrutinizing gaze icy cold.

What, what’s going on?

Concubine Rong's heart trembled. Did she say something wrong?

She rolled her eyes and was about to say something to make amends, but she saw Xiao Jingfan retract his gaze and ordered in a cold voice: "Zhou Yuande, take people to search."

"Yes!" Zhou Yuande took the order and glanced at Concubine Rong, thinking that this master would probably be in trouble tonight.

He ran out to make arrangements.

Inside the palace, Concubine Rong looked up at Xiao Jingfan in disbelief, calling out in confusion, "Your Majesty?"

Didn’t you say that you trust her? Even if she asked to search the palace, Your Majesty should not agree. Why did you send Zhou Yuande?

Xiao Jingfan lowered his eyes and stared at the Bodhi beads on his wrist, as if he didn't hear the call, and didn't let Concubine Rong get up.

Others were a little confused by this reversal.

They originally thought that Concubine Rong would be fine as before, but now it seems that His Majesty is ready to investigate seriously?

[When it comes to heirs, any emperor would be cautious. A thorough investigation is necessary.]

Chu Liuzheng was not surprised at all.

The tyrant's suspicions are so severe that he's even planting secret guards among the palace maids. He's just sent people to search the Huaqing Palace. What's so surprising about that?

While Concubine Rong was feeling aggrieved, Concubine Yun was feeling very happy, but her face still showed a weak look.

Half of it is fake, and half of it is real.

Soon after taking the antidote for the fake pregnancy drug, she would have her period. At this moment, she was in excruciating abdominal pain, with a chill spreading from her lower abdomen to her whole body, a feeling of heaviness and swelling, and back pain all over her body. It was ten times or even a hundred times more uncomfortable than her previous periods.

Thinking about having to endure this torture for the next year, she couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

But when she saw that Concubine Rong had lost the emperor's favor because of this, she felt that it was all worth it.

Just as everyone was waiting for the result with their own thoughts, a voice full of shock suddenly sounded in Xiao Jingfan's ears.

[Frog Fun! There's a traitor! !]

Xiao Jingfan perked up. What, what, what traitor?

Chu Liuzheng... fell silent. She had just sighed casually as she was busy watching the live broadcast of the search of Huaqing Palace.

Xiao Jingfan pursed his lips and pinched his knuckles patiently.

I'm not angry. I'm not angry.

It will be chopped off sooner or later!

*

Half an hour later, Eunuch Zhou came back to report.

Everyone turned to look, only to see that Eunuch Zhou's expression was even more serious than when he left.

Concubine Rong's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that they really found something?

That's impossible. She runs the entire Huaqing Palace like an iron barrel. Who has the ability to reach out to Huaqing Palace?

Come on, show it!

Chu Liuzheng whistled excitedly in his heart, and couldn't wait to see Concubine Rong's expression change.

Xiao Jingfan wanted to have someone kick her out, but the desire to know the outcome prevailed. He asked Zhou Yuande, "How?"

"Your Majesty, please take a look." Zhou Yuande took out a handkerchief bag from his arms, opened it, and a touch of red caught everyone's eyes.

"These saffron were found in the dregs of the Huaqing Palace's small kitchen."

Concubine Rong stared at the saffron on the handkerchief and cried out, "Impossible!"

The saffron in her palace had run out a few days ago, and she hadn't sent anyone to get it yet. How could she have found saffron in the small kitchen?

Zhou Yuande glanced at her and signaled the eunuch behind him to bring the things up.

"Your Majesty, please look! There's a little red powder at the bottom of this wooden bowl. I suspect it's saffron, so I brought it back for the Imperial Physician to identify."

The young eunuch tilted the wooden bowl with the opening facing the nobles in the hall.

Under the bright candlelight, you can indeed see some red powder at the bottom.

At Xiao Jingfan's glance, Wu Yuanshi immediately stepped forward to take the wooden bowl and identify it with several imperial doctors.

After a moment, Wu Yuanshi reported: "Your Majesty, this powder is indeed made from ground saffron."

[Oh no, the evidence is solid, I can't get away with it.]

Chu Liuzheng admitted that he was gloating.

Seeing her number one enemy in trouble, couldn't she gloat a little?

[They took advantage of the search to mix saffron or something into the small kitchen bucket, sprinkled powder or something into the empty wooden bowl. Tsk, tsk, this is all the debt owed by Concubine Rong's cruelty. The saying "If you don't cut the grass at the root, it will grow again in the spring breeze" continues to gain more and more value.]

Chu Liuzheng flipped through the traitor's life story and secretly admired his perseverance.

[He's quite forgiving. He lay dormant for five whole years to avenge his mother's murder. He didn't hold back when he castrated himself three years ago. He can be so cruel to himself, so what can't he succeed in?]

As she sighed, she looked up at the young eunuch standing behind Eunuch Zhou, who was holding the wooden bowl.

[This handsome guy has such quick hands that even Eunuch Zhou didn't notice he was the one behind the scenes, and he was the one who got backstabbed.]

[Speaking of which, this young man is quite capable and of the right age. Why doesn't Eunuch Zhou accept him as his apprentice? Xiao Anzi is clever, but he's too young, and neither his heart nor his hands are ruthless enough. How can someone who isn't ruthless become the head eunuch? If this young man were to replace him, he would definitely be Eunuch Zhou's future successor.]

As the content of his inner voice became more and more deviant, Xiao Jingfan was speechless.

What does it have to do with this woman who Zhou Yuande accepts as his apprentice?

"Your Majesty, I am innocent." Noble Concubine Rong was not one to sit still and wait for death. She argued, "If this was truly my fault, why would I leave this evidence for others to discover?"