By the end of March, Xu Lejin's belly was getting bigger.

Yingchun helped Xu Lejin walk along the palace wall and said worriedly, "Your Highness, please slow down. You are pregnant and should take care of the imperial heir in your womb."

Xu Lejin sighed.

"Human life is at stake. If we had been a step later, Eldest Sister and Fifteenth Sister might have lost their lives."

After saying that, Xu Lejin continued to hurry toward the embroidery room in the palace. Along the way, she encountered many palace maids and eunuchs who bowed to her, but Xu Lejin had no mind to pay attention to them at the moment.

At this moment, all she could think about was her eldest sister Chu Jin and her fifteenth sister Fu Jin in the embroidery room.

The eldest sister, Chu Jin, had been working in the palace for ten years. She was an outstanding embroiderer in the Imperial Household Department's embroidery workshop and was always careful and cautious. How could she have dropped a needle in the clothes while sewing palace dresses for Consort Hesheli of Changchun Palace?

The fifteenth sister, Fu Jin, assisted her eldest sister, Chu Jin, in learning embroidery skills. Since it concerned the palace attire of Consort Hesheli, she was not even allowed to touch it.

But today, news came from the embroidery workshop that a needle was hidden inside the palace dress that the eldest sister had sewn herself, injuring Consort Hesheli. Consort Hesheli, along with the palace servants from Changchun Palace, came to the embroidery workshop to demand an explanation...

Inside the embroidery room of the Imperial Household Department, it was in complete chaos.

Xu Chujin and Xu Fujin were held captive by several burly palace maids, kneeling on the ground with their heads hanging down, while Consort Hesheli looked down at them.

With a cold snort, Consort Hesheli said in a deep voice, "Was it when you were sewing clothes for me that you left a needle inside the garment, injuring my body?"

“Reporting to Consort Hesheli, after I finished sewing your palace dress, I carefully checked it and found no missing needles inside. Mengling, the embroiderer who shared a room with me, can testify to this.”

Xu Chujin replied respectfully, her eyes clear.

Consort Hesheli's face darkened, and she coldly asked the head maid of the embroidery workshop, "Who in your embroidery workshop is Mengling?"

"Reporting to Consort Hesheli, Mengling is unwell, and this servant has specially granted her permission to rest and recuperate in her room."

The head maid replied respectfully.

Consort Hesheli snorted coldly, "No matter what methods you use, my neck has been injured by a needle hidden in my clothes. The culprit must be found, otherwise I will have no choice but to have the embroiderer Xu Chujin and the little embroiderer Xu Fujin who assists Xu Chujin taken away today!"

"Yes, this servant will immediately send someone to invite Mengling to be a witness."

The head maid paused, considered for a moment, and then spoke softly, "Consort Hesheli, the embroidery workshop I manage always hands over the palace gowns to the laundry department after we've finished sewing them for the ladies of the harem."

"This servant dares to guess, perhaps one of the palace maids in the laundry department accidentally dropped a needle into your clothes, causing injury to your noble body?"

Consort Hesheli sneered and looked sarcastically at the head maid and Xu Chujin and Xu Fujin who were kneeling on the ground.

"Your embroidery workshop is good at shirking responsibility. The clothes you made have harmed my health, yet you're trying to shift the blame to the laundry department. Let me tell you the truth, the person who washes my clothes in the laundry department is my cousin. How could my cousin deliberately put needles in my clothes to harm my body?"

The headmistress paused, opened her mouth as if to say something, but was stopped by Xu Lejin's voice!

Xu Lejin sneered; her voice preceded her arrival.

"Sister Hesheli, you just mentioned the laundry department. Is the person washing your clothes your cousin from the same clan? Sister Hesheli is a concubine appointed by the Emperor, entitled to be served by servants and maids. Yet your cousin is washing your clothes in the laundry department!"

With a knowing smile, Xu Lejin glanced meaningfully at Consort Hesheli and continued, "Human hearts are unpredictable. Sister Hesheli is high and mighty, while her cousin is a laundry maid."

"Over time, it's understandable that Hesheli's cousin would poison Hesheli's clothes and put embroidery needles in them, intending to harm Hesheli's precious body and vent her resentment and anger."

Upon hearing Xu Lejin's words, Consort Hesheli's expression froze.

Then, Xu Lejin smiled and said, "Sister Hesheli, my eldest sister, my fifteenth sister, is always careful and cautious in everything she does. She would never leave a single embroidery needle in your clothes."

"Sister Hesheli, if I may be so bold as to say this, Sister Hesheli has been in the palace for many years and has served the Emperor for a long time, so why have you not conceived yet? Sister Hesheli, why don't you go back to the west side hall of Changchun Palace and carefully examine your clothes..."

Consort Hesheli looked thoughtful.

After a long while, Consort Hesheli snorted coldly and said, "Sister Xu, although I have no evidence to prove that it was your sister who deliberately left the needle in the clothes, my body was injured because of the clothes they sewed."

“Sister Xu, for the sake of us both being imperial concubines, I will let bygones be bygones regarding the embroidery needle in my clothes. However, while they may be spared the death penalty, they will not escape punishment. I will report to Her Majesty the Empress and have your sisters expelled from the palace.”

Xu Chujin and Xu Fujin, who were kneeling on the ground, changed their expressions upon hearing this and looked up at Xu Lejin for help.

Xu Lejin gave them a look that said, "Take it easy."

After thinking for a moment, Xu Lejin smiled and said, "Sister Hesheli, it's good to be lenient. You were injured because of the palace dress my eldest sister sewed. My eldest sister may have made a mistake, but it's not enough to warrant being kicked out of the palace."

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