Chapter 44

The second round of evidence collection began. Although Xue Jin'an did not go with them, his left eye was following the Imperial Guards.

After leaving Qianyuan Palace, the Imperial Guards split into two groups, each accompanied by two imperial physicians, led by Li Hechun and Commander Wei.

—This Commander Wei is the one who performed outstandingly in the assassination attempt in the Imperial Study. The Emperor personally selected him from the Imperial Guard to be groomed as the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard. After that day, he was promoted smoothly, and the word "Deputy" was removed from his title. Now he is in charge of the guarding of the entire palace.

Last time, Xue Jin'an scanned the faces of all the Imperial Guards in the Imperial Study and recognized Commander Wei. He was the one who had attracted the Fourth Prince's cries for help when Xue Jin'an was digging for the Fourth Prince's batteries in the abandoned palace.

Xue Jin'an's left eye's field of vision immediately split in two along with the Imperial Guard's detachment, like a monitoring screen, simultaneously broadcasting the situation on both sides.

As for his right eye, it was focused on the trial scene, leaving no detail of the suspect unexamined.

Upon hearing the emperor's order to search the palace, the two people under close scrutiny did not show much fear.

Consort Zhen remained as calm as ever. She knelt there with her back straight, her eyes lowered and her face full of compassion. Without the jade prayer beads, she held her right wrist with her left hand, her thumb stroking the red agate prayer beads wrapped around her wrist. The red agate contrasted against her pale skin, making it appear as red as fresh blood.

Consort Rong's calm demeanor suggested a sense of confidence and smugness, clearly indicating that she was not afraid of being searched in the palace.

As it turned out, she was indeed not afraid. The entire Minghua Palace was spotless, and after turning it upside down, she found nothing useful. She only felt that Consort Rong was too "extravagant and licentious".

Consort Rong had a whole chest of gold and silver jewelry, and on her dressing table were countless boxes of rouge and face powder, each costing several taels of silver. In addition, there were many bottles and jars. The two imperial physicians opened them one by one to look at and smell them. Half of them were spices, and the other half were flower dews.

After they had tested everything, all the smells mixed in the air, so strong that the two imperial physicians couldn't help but sneeze.

One of them exclaimed, "These things are all sealed very well, and we should be careful when using them." Otherwise, this is what happens when odors mix.

Li Hechun hadn't gotten anything particularly troublesome, so he was in a fairly good mood. He ordered his men to search more carefully, and when he heard the imperial physician's words, he smiled and said casually, "His Majesty has a keen sense of smell and doesn't like strong smells, so the people in the Construction Department naturally pay more attention to this."

At this point, Li Hechun paused, his gaze thoughtfully drifting to the table full of fragrant bottles and jars.

Yes, His Majesty doesn't like strong fragrances, so most of the people in the palace fill their sachets with dried flowers and try to avoid mixing them. That's why the flowers in the flower room are always in short supply every year... Consort Rong is favored by His Majesty because she knows his preferences, and she is usually surrounded by natural floral scents.

—Anyway, half of these bottles and jars have a strong smell, and His Majesty would definitely find out if they were used. Consort Rong has a habit of sending soup to His Majesty every day. Li Hechun has never heard His Majesty mention anything about this, so it can be basically confirmed that Consort Rong has never used them, or to be more precise, she has never used them on herself.

Consort Rong has collected so many spices and floral dews; surely she can't just be looking at them without being able to resist them? After thinking it over, Li Hechun decided to have all the bottles and jars collected and sent to Qian Yuan Palace.

When Consort Rong saw these things, her expression was slightly unnatural for a moment, but she quickly recovered and explained, "I was born in Yulin and have loved collecting these spices and perfumes since I was a child."

Yulin is the capital of spices and a major producer of perfumers, so this explanation makes sense.

The emperor withdrew his gaze without comment.

Consort Rong knew that the Emperor had some doubts, but these things were just spices after all. Even ordinary perfumers could not decipher their secrets. Once the things in Consort Zhen's Buddhist hall were found, no one would pay attention to this place anymore. Consort Rong was fearless.

She thought she had passed this hurdle, and her tense nerves relaxed slightly. She glanced at Consort Zhen with a look of pity befitting a person in a superior position.

However, Xue Jin'an, who was watching the surveillance footage, knew that the Imperial Guards had already obtained decisive evidence.

Minghua Palace was spotless, but that didn't mean the Fifth Prince's Hanxiang Courtyard was the same—that's right, the cunning Emperor said he would start the investigation from Yihe Palace and Minghua Palace, so he split the Imperial Guards into two groups, one to investigate the concubines in the six palaces and the other to go to the princes' residence.

The people of Hanxiang Courtyard were caught off guard. Anyone who showed even the slightest sign of panic was brought out by Commander Wei for a thorough interrogation, and he easily managed to extract all the details of the Fifth Prince's recent itinerary.

Even on the day of the assassination attempt in the Imperial Study, the Fifth Prince's illness had actually improved a lot, yet he was able to appear and disappear mysteriously again. When he brought the Seventh Prince with him, it really startled them.

"Wait a minute, the Fifth Prince often runs off by himself?" Commander Wei grasped the key point.

The eunuchs dared not speak ill of their masters, nor did they dare to conceal anything. They only said tactfully, "The young master doesn't like being followed and will deliberately avoid us servants, but Eunuch Dong always manages to find him. Ever since Eunuch Dong was... lost because of the young master, we servants can only wait for the young master to show up on his own if we want to find him."

"Does Eunuch Dong mean Little Dongzi?" But wasn't Little Dongzi beaten to death by Consort Rong for hiding the fact that the Fifth Prince wouldn't drink his medicine? Commander Wei vaguely felt he had grasped the key point and quickly interrogated, "When did Little Dongzi lose the Fifth Prince? Where did the Fifth Prince go?"

"We truly do not know where he went, but not long after that, the young master and the Seventh Prince became close." The eunuchs said, reporting a time.

Commander Wei immediately realized that this was the day the Fourth Prince was assassinated, and that very night, Xiao Dongzi was punished with a severe beating.

After learning that the person who would replace Xiao Dongzi as the manager of Hanxiang Courtyard was Hongling, the head maid of Consort Rong, Commander Wei ordered his men to search Hongling's room thoroughly. They even lifted up the floorboards. In the end, a sharp-eyed guard found a scroll in the cracks between the bricks. When he opened it, he found a portrait of the Sixth Prince.

"Good lad, you can see that, you have good eyesight," Commander Wei praised.

The young guard scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "I was just lucky. There was a charcoal brazier on this brick before, so it got quite dusty. I just tried it out, and I never expected to hide in it so conveniently."

"Not bad, I'll give you credit for that." Commander Wei patted him on the shoulder and left.

When Hongling saw the small portrait in his hand, her eyes widened in surprise and shock. She was about to make a fuss, but Commander Wei ordered someone to cover her mouth. "Take her away and say whatever you have to say in the Imperial Prison."

As the group was searching Hanxiang Courtyard and preparing to leave, a royal physician stared at the plum tree in the courtyard, its buds still unopened, for a while. He then stepped forward, rubbed some soil between his fingers, and smelled it. "This seems to have the scent of astragalus..."

Another imperial physician came over, smelled it, and tasted it. "There's also salvia miltiorrhiza and wolfberry..."

These are all medicinal herbs used to treat heart ailments! The concentration of the medicinal decoction contained in this soil is far more potent than simply pouring out the dregs of medicine on ordinary days!

The two imperial physicians exchanged a glance and had someone dig up a handful of soil to send to the Imperial Hospital for Dr. Hu and Dr. Liu to verify. The former was the most senior and experienced physician in the Imperial Hospital, while the latter was the best doctor in the palace for treating heart ailments and was also the doctor who usually took the pulse of the Fifth Prince.

They did this merely to share the responsibility, and in their hearts they were almost certain that the Fifth Prince's heart ailment was unusual.

After Commander Wei and his men finished searching Hanxiang Courtyard, they searched the neighboring Suhui Courtyard. The Fourth Prince had only moved back not long ago, and there weren't many things in the house, so they quickly finished searching and found nothing.

They then moved on to search the Third Prince's Mingde Courtyard, but still found nothing. However, the eunuchs and maids of Mingde Courtyard were very obedient and trembling, answering all their questions. They quickly revealed the maid who had prepared clothes for the Third Prince. The maid knelt on the ground, pale-faced and trembling like a leaf, and did not struggle at all when she was taken away.

Just as the group reached the main road, the only disobedient member of Mingde Academy returned.

"Third Brother is awake." Xue Jin'an murmured in surprise. He didn't expect that the Third Prince, who was still unconscious and whose life was uncertain during the group discussion, would wake up so quickly.

Xue Jin'an believed that the volume was low enough that, apart from those with keen hearing and eyesight, such as Lu Bingzhu and the Fifth Prince, no one else should have noticed any sound leakage.

Unfortunately, Consort Xian's ears were quite sharp at this moment, and she immediately turned her head, "My son is awake? Who? Who said that?"

Xue Jin'an's expressionless face was too intimidating. He just stared straight at her, making Consort Xian feel insecure and fall into self-doubt. "Could I have misheard?"

Xue Jin'an turned off the host's microphone so that no one would hear him even if he shouted.

In just a short while, the Third Prince's loud and energetic voice could be heard from the surveillance footage of the Prince's residence. Xue Jin'an thought to herself: The Third Prince sounds so lively and energetic, but is it really okay to be discharged from the hospital so soon after waking up?

As it turned out, only the Third Prince himself thought there was no problem.

From the Imperial Guards' perspective, they could only see four eunuchs, drenched in sweat, carrying a couch. On the couch lay a person whose hands and feet were wrapped in strips of cloth, but who was clutching a saber in his arms. The person was still gesticulating wildly and shouting at the top of their lungs, "Have you not eaten? Why are you moving so slowly? Hurry up! You won't be spared if you delay His Highness's important business!"

The eunuchs could only reluctantly speed up their work.

The imperial physician, looking worried, advised, "Your Highness, you've only just regained consciousness, and your high fever hasn't completely subsided. If you're exposed to the wind like this, it might cause a relapse! Besides, your injuries shouldn't be moved!"

"My clothes are perfectly fine, how could I possibly catch a gust of wind? Don't exaggerate! If I don't go and settle accounts with my seventh brother soon, that bastard will run away!" The third prince said, hurriedly ordering his men to turn north.

"So the important matter you mentioned is about finding the Seventh Prince?" What deep-seated hatred could there be that you're still thinking about him even when you're on your deathbed! The imperial physician was shocked and quickly said, "You won't find the Seventh Prince even if you go to Qifeng Courtyard now! Since the day you were injured and fell into a coma, the princes have been taken to Qianyuan Palace and imprisoned. They're being interrogated today. Look at those Imperial Guards over there; they must have just come out of your courtyard."

News travels fast in the palace. In just a short time since the Imperial Guards searched the palace, many rumors have already spread, making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

"What? Why are you investigating me? I'm lying here, do you think I'm the one who harmed myself?" The Third Prince had someone lower him down, bed and all, but before he was even properly settled, he bravely sat up with one leg crossed. "And how come I didn't know they were locked up?"

The imperial physicians and eunuchs all lowered their heads, thinking: You woke up and immediately started making a fuss about doing important things, but you have to give us time to speak!

The Third Prince, who never reflected on his own actions and only knew how to blame others, pointed at the five people in front of him, "How dare you conceal the truth! You're out of a month's salary!"

The eunuchs looked even more miserable, while the imperial physicians, who were not under the princes' jurisdiction at all, calmly turned their heads to look at the sky.

The Third Prince had his men block the Imperial Guards' path, intending to question them about the search of his courtyard. However, Commander Wei simply bowed and said, "This humble servant is ordered by His Majesty to thoroughly investigate the Prince's residence. Time is of the essence, so please forgive me, Third Prince."

With that, he waved his hand and left with his men. Upon hearing this, the Third Prince immediately stopped being angry and ordered his men to quickly carry the couch and follow them.

And so, Commander Wei, along with the Third Prince who was always following him around, turned the Prince's residence upside down. Unfortunately, the Third Prince missed the two most interesting courtyards and didn't find anything after following along.

Especially the Sixth Prince, he was completely bewildered the whole time. When he saw the Third Prince covered in injuries, he hesitated and didn't dare to ask. When they were about to leave, he silently followed the Third Prince's bedside, and was even complained by the Third Prince that he was slow and dragging them down.

So, Commander Wei returned to Qianyuan Palace with his two lackeys. The reason the Second Prince was missing was because he was not at Yuanbo Academy; he had gone to the Marquis of Huaiyin's residence to celebrate the birthday of the father of Grand Secretary Jiang Wen, who was also the son-in-law of Princess Kangtai.

Commander Wei's search was primarily violent, tearing up floor tiles and demolishing houses wherever they went. Only Qifeng Courtyard fared somewhat better, partly because Qifeng Courtyard had very few possessions and people, making it utterly impoverished, and partly because they were wary of the assassin Xia Zi who was also there.

Xuan Shiyi followed the entire incident of the horse startling at the horse farm and is fully capable of testifying for the Seventh Prince. In fact, the Seventh Prince did not go to the horse farm at the time; he was intercepted by the Third Prince and his group. The only suspicious point is that the deceased eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration had spoken a few words to the Seventh Prince, but this is probably because the Seventh Prince saved his life, so it is all within the scope of explanation.

Furthermore, the Seventh Prince had not returned for two days. After starving Xia Zi for several meals, Xuan Shiyi fed him a bite of food with added ingredients. Taking advantage of Xia Zi's dazed state, he conducted a induced interrogation. Xia Zi, as a spy, had indeed received professional interrogation training and would not reveal anything about his organization. However, Xuan Shiyi had already anticipated this and was not discouraged. Instead, he repeatedly questioned Xia Zi about the Seventh Prince.

The matter of the Seventh Prince was far less important to Xia Xiazi than to his organization. Most importantly, it was news he had only recently received and had not yet been trained to be a completely confidential secret.

Xuan Shiyi seized this loophole and managed to pry some information out of Xia Zi, learning that he seemed to want to get in touch with a peerless master through the Seventh Prince.

In short, that's how Chiffon House was investigated.

Li Hechun's search focused on meticulousness. He knew that the inner palace couldn't be searched indiscriminately—not to mention offending the concubines, just the cost of repairing the palaces would increase dramatically. If the Minister of Revenue then threw a tantrum and claimed there was no money, the Emperor's private treasury would have to be used, which was no small sum. The newly wealthy Emperor would be heartbroken and unable to sleep.

Li Hechun simply searched and questioned as he went, scrutinizing even a scratch on the floor tile. If anyone hesitated or concealed anything, he would order them to be taken away for further questioning. Fortunately, those who served the concubines were not fools and were not troublemakers who dared to challenge the emperor's authority; they were all relatively obedient.

Li Hechun was also good at interpersonal relationships. After searching the palace, he would try his best to put the items back in their original places, preventing major damage. Li Hechun also obtained sufficient evidence, and everyone was very satisfied.

When Li Hechun first saw the things in the Buddhist hall of Consort Zhen's Yihe Palace, he was indeed startled. However, after he understood what they were, he couldn't help but shake his head, already having a premonition of the outcome of this matter.

The Yonghe Palace of Consort Xian found some evidence of her resentment and curses against Consort De. She thought that Consort De had harmed the Third Prince, which was understandable.

In Consort De's Qing'an Palace, there was a special room for storing clothes and fabrics, all in bright and beautiful colors; in the First Prince's Wenhua Courtyard, there were many letters exchanged with the various heirs, all unrelated to the case. Information obtained from eunuchs and palace maids also indicated that Consort De had presented everything she had discovered to His Majesty without reservation.

Consort Shu's Fushou Palace was very elegant, with the study containing the most items, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. In particular, Consort Shu was known as a talented woman even in her youth, and she was especially skilled in calligraphy and painting. The painting of withered lotus on the table, which was completed not long ago, showed the artist's mood just by looking at it. The small regular script with flowers inscribed next to it also had a sharp and imposing style.

Li Hechun checked the time; the painting was indeed created the day after the assassination attempt in the Imperial Study, which was not hard to understand.

Consort Min's Yongchun Palace lived up to the name of the palace, with flowers planted all over the courtyard. Consort Shu's painting of withered lotus depicted the scenery here, which should have been the day when the Consort Min gathered everyone in the palace to discuss the search of the palace.

Li Hechun and Commander Wei finished searching the palace on both sides and were preparing to return when the evidence was already being delivered to Qianyuan Palace. Xue Jin'an saw that all the surveillance footage had disappeared, and the host's job came: "The second round of evidence collection is over. Let's begin the second round of group discussion."

The Emperor threw the handful of soil he had dug up from under the plum tree in Hanxiang Courtyard in front of Consort Rong. "What exactly is wrong with Xiao Wu's heart condition? Will you tell me or not?"

Consort Rong never expected the Emperor to investigate the princes, but she quickly composed herself, suddenly turned around and walked to the Fifth Prince, slapping him across the face with a "smack". The nail guard she hadn't removed scratched three wounds on the child's tender skin, from which blood slowly seeped out.

The Fourth Prince was startled by Consort Rong's sudden attack and trembled all over. When he saw the blood on the Fifth Prince's face, he panicked and instinctively wanted to ask if he was alright, but the Fifth Prince pinched his soft flesh on his lower back lightly, and he swallowed all his words.

Consort Rong was completely oblivious to the unusual situation between the two, still acting out the heartbreak of a mother whose good intentions had been betrayed, saying, "Jue'er, your mother knows you don't like taking medicine, but good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the illness. How can you joke with your own life!"

After saying that, she covered her face and squatted down, looking like she couldn't bear it, sobbing and choking with tears.

"..." The Fifth Prince lowered his eyes and silently looked at the golden butterfly hairpin on her hair, which was swaying because of her crying. No matter how it fluttered, it was futile and remained in the same place. It was really laughable.

Xue Jin'an saw the Fifth Prince smile. From an angle where no one could see, the corners of his lips curled up into a cold, mocking arc, but he quickly suppressed it and slowly opened his mouth.

Consort Rong assumed her wooden-headed son would, as he had done countless times before, silently play along with her through this charade. She had once complained about the Fifth Prince's lack of cooperation; why couldn't he say a word for his mother, instead of just crying silently? How could someone like her have raised such a disobedient and foolish child!

However, she eventually got used to it and even started to compare. It was better for the Fifth Prince not to speak, than for Consort Zhen, who spoke without regard for the occasion, and Consort Shu, who stuttered and couldn't even speak clearly.

Silence means not holding others back, and that's enough.

She had expected this to be the case, but suddenly a voice entered her ears.

A voice somewhere between a teenager and a child said slowly, calmly, and numbly, "Yes, Mother, Jue'er was wrong. It's all Jue'er's fault. Jue'er was disobedient. Jue'er should disappear from this world."

Consort Rong suddenly raised her head, a comical look of shock appearing on her tear-streaked face, which then turned into incredulous anger.

She met the Fifth Prince's eyes, those eyes that looked exactly like hers, glistening with the same tears, which slid down his cheeks. His mouth seemed to say, "Mother, Jue'er was wrong."

His cold gaze seemed to say: Mother, you are wrong.

At that moment, Consort Rong was filled with rage. Countless emotions rushed into her mind, leaving her no time to think. She raised her hand high and landed heavily on the Fifth Prince's face, knocking his cold, scrutinizing eyes away so that they could no longer be seen.

The Fifth Prince fell to the ground, drops of blood dripping onto the porcelain white floor tiles, making one dizzy. The Fourth Prince rushed over in horror, shouting something, but not a single word could be heard.

"Xiao Shu, what are you doing?!" The emperor's furious voice rang out from behind.

Consort Rong's overheated head was suddenly doused with a basin of cold water, instantly cooling down. She looked at her hands, her eyes slowly widening. Realizing what she had done, her hands trembled, and her body trembled as well.

Calm down, calm down, there's still time to salvage the situation. She should hug Jue'er, comfort him, apologize to him, and tell him that his mother didn't mean it... Yes, yes—Consort Rong felt that she had calmed down, but in reality, all her actions were panicked, and she couldn't even control the out-of-control expression on her face.

"Pull her apart!" The Imperial Guards stepped forward to separate the two, the Emperor's voice icy cold, "Xiao Shu, that's enough! You've already hurt Xiao Wu enough, what more do you want!"

"I, I didn't, I didn't mean to, I—" Consort Rong wanted to say something, but was frozen in place by the emperor's cold gaze. "Imperial Physician Lu, take Xiao Wu's pulse."

Physician Lu responded, "Yes."

Consort Rong then noticed that the imperial physician who had taken Jue'er's pulse had entered the hall and was waiting beside her at some point. She bit her lip, trying to remain calm: "No, it can't be seen, nothing will happen..."

Physician Lu's reply was indeed ambiguous: "The Fifth Prince's pulse is weak at times, and he does seem to have symptoms of heart disease and weakness."

The emperor asked, "Can you deduce whether it was caused by Gu worms?"

Physician Lu stroked his beard and said, "If it is indeed the calamity of the Gu worms, the Fifth Prince has only had one attack, so there must be some residue in his body. We can take a blood sample from his fingertip, put it in a small cup, and then add the medicine that triggered the Gu worms. That will make it clear."

Consort De immediately tossed out the Third Prince's clothes, "This is the garment with the drug that attracts Gu worms added, can we use it?"

Physician Lu sniffed the clothes and shook his head regretfully. "I can still smell some of the scent on these clothes, but too much time has passed, so I'm afraid they're no longer of any use."

"But we still haven't found the medicine!" Consort Xian said impatiently. "Since it was Consort Rong who made it, the medicine must be in her possession. We just haven't found it yet. Why don't we search Minghua Palace again!"

"Wait, Consort Xian, you're right. The medicine must be in Consort Rong's hands." Consort De fell into deep thought.

Consort Xian thought that she had confirmed her idea, and immediately shouted happily to the Imperial Guards, "Did you hear that? Send people to search Minghua Palace again. They are all such blockheads. They don't even know how to do their jobs. I have to give them pointers."

Before she could finish speaking, all the concubines said in unison, "I know where the medicine is."

Xue Jin'an and the Fifth Prince also found out.

Amid Consort Xian's bewildered expression, everyone's gaze fell upon the bottles and jars that had been searched from Consort Rong's palace.

Physician Lu immediately stepped forward, opened each of the bottles and jars and smelled them one by one. He hesitated and said, "I did not smell a similar scent. This medicine may be made by mixing several fragrances... However, I am incompetent and have no expertise in perfumery. Perhaps we should ask a perfumer to come."

Xue Jin'an, who was entering the fragrance data one by one, thought: No need, just give him another cup of tea's time, and once all the data is imported, he can generate the same data in just one second.

But at that moment, the emperor suddenly stepped down, saying, "I'm here."

The emperor's nose seemed to have been given a cheat code. He ordered all the bottles and jars to be opened, and the mixed, pungent smell even paused Xue Jin'an's data import process. However, the emperor accurately found several bottles and mixed them together, and actually managed to create a nearly identical smell.

However, something seemed to be missing. As Xue Jin'an was pondering this, he saw the emperor hold the bottle of the mixture completely in his hand, block the mouth of the bottle with his thumb and shake it a few times. When he released it, the insect pheromone-like scent was exactly the same as Xue Jin'an remembered.

Consort Rong took a step back, her face slightly pale, and looked at the Emperor with horror in her eyes. "No, this is impossible!"

The emperor ignored her and handed the bottle directly to Physician Lu. Physician Lu took a small cup of the fifth prince's blood and then poured the mixture from the bottle into it. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the blood gradually began to boil, as if there were insects pupae inside.

"Xiao Shu, the evidence is conclusive, what else do you have to say?" the emperor demanded.

Consort Rong shook her head, still stubbornly resisting, "No, impossible, it's impossible to produce such a thing. This is fake, you're trying to trick me? Yes, you're all trying to trick me, it's impossible!"

"You really won't shed a tear until you see the coffin, so how will you explain this?" The emperor closed his eyes and sighed heavily, then suddenly lifted the cloth covering the evidence that had been found in Consort Zhen's palace but had been strangely covered all along.

It turned out to be the tenth prince's longevity lock and... a lock of hair?

Consort Rong's expression changed drastically. She glared at Consort Zhen, her voice sharper than ever before: "How dare you—"

She then tried to grab the item, attempting to conceal it as evidence.

Even Consort Xian noticed something was wrong. "What's wrong with this hair? Whose hair is this?"

A hoarse, stern voice rang out from above the main hall, "It's my hair!"

The Qian Yuan Palace suddenly fell silent.

Back then, the Empress Dowager had a falling out with the Ningguo Mansion because of Consort Rong. However, the Ningguo Mansion still felt that there was still a chance to salvage the situation, and repeatedly summoned Consort Rong and the Duchess to the Cining Palace for an audience. In the end, the Empress Dowager cut off her hair to sever ties with the Ningguo Mansion. The Duchess was so shocked that she dared not accept the hair and ran away on the spot. In the end, Consort Rong had to take it.

"Consort Rong, why is my hair, which I cut off, in Consort Zhen's Buddhist hall?" The Empress Dowager coldly looked at the person kneeling on the ground.

Consort Rong's lips trembled as she was unable to speak, but Consort Zhen finally spoke up, "The Gu worms that can harm princes need to be cultivated by blood relatives."

"This is irrefutable evidence that Consort Rong cultivated Gu worms."