Chapter 18 Who will surrender first?

The virtuous concubine said bluntly.

Li Yueyao stretched and leaned back in the chair to rest as if she had no bones.

"The Imperial Concubine is a big problem. Nanny Qin heard her talking with someone. She must be a spy from another country, but I have no evidence.

I need you to help me pull out her tail."

Xian Fei sneered after hearing this: "I did have doubts back then, but the Emperor didn't listen. We had a falling out over this, and you know that.

Even if we catch the Imperial Concubine's little tail this time, I'm afraid our good Majesty won't believe it."

Li Yueyao smiled and said, "Hey~ This time is different. Do you know what happened in the Taimiao yesterday?"

"Um."

"So this time, with our ancestors keeping him under control, he'll be more alert, and I'll give him more advice. And..."

Li Yueyao hesitated for a moment after saying this.

"And what?" asked the virtuous concubine.

"Moreover, the Imperial Concubine had a miscarriage many years ago because the child she was carrying was not your Majesty's, and she was afraid that it would be discovered after the birth.

She deliberately aborted the baby and falsely blamed it on Nanny Qin."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Xian's expression changed drastically: "Are you saying that the Imperial Concubine is defiled in the harem?"

“Well, so, you have to keep a close eye on the people entering and leaving Fanghua Garden.

Now I am preventing her from seeing His Majesty. If you push her in the harem, she will definitely do something unusual and will definitely contact that person.

All eunuchs, maids, palace maids, and guards who have recently entered and exited Fanghua Garden must be closely monitored."

The virtuous concubine took a sip of tea, her expression regained its composure, and she said, "Don't worry about that."

Then he asked, "I want to know if your Majesty's poisoning is related to the imperial concubine?"

"I haven't found out about this yet." Li Yueyao said, sitting up straight.

The virtuous concubine frowned when she heard this.

"Then is it certain that Concubine Shu's illness, no, Concubine Shu's poison, and Your Majesty's poison were caused by the same person?"

"The poison your majesty was infected with is called 'Decease', and the poison Concubine Shu was infected with is called 'Red Beauty Drunk'. Both of these poisons originated from the Southern Li region."

Xian Feifei let out a long sigh and said, "So that means the imperial concubine is a spy for Nan Li?"

Li Yueyao shook her head and said, "Not necessarily, the one who poisoned her might not be the Imperial Concubine.

Once I find out how and where the drug was administered, I can further narrow down the cause."

The virtuous concubine nodded and said, "Let's assume for now that the person who poisoned the concubine is a different person. Let's investigate them separately."

Li Yueyao nodded.

"By the way, isn't the Right Prime Minister the last disciple of your old tutor? What's his situation?"

After hearing this, Concubine Xian suddenly laughed.

"Oh, you mean my junior uncle. He's a playboy, a talented and passionate man, and he hasn't even started a family in all these years.

Before my grandfather passed away, the thing he was most concerned about was his marriage. After he passed away, my father was responsible for taking care of him, but I saw that my father was unable to do so.

Otherwise, this guy is the same age as you, still unmarried, and just messing around all day."

Li Yueyao listened for a long time and said, "That's it?"

Concubine Xian frowned and looked at Li Yueyao and asked, "What else do you want to know?"

Before Li Yueyao opened her mouth, Concubine Xian thought for a moment and said:

"When he was young, he once went out to play with my grandfather on his back. He was bitten by a poisonous snake by the Cang River and was in critical condition.

Suddenly, a woman passed by on the roadside, riding a horse in a heroic manner, threw him a bottle of detoxification pills, and saved him.

He was deeply attracted to this woman and tried to find out about her from many sources, but it seemed as if this woman had disappeared and there was no news of her since then.

He has been searching for this woman for all these years, which is why he has been wasting time until now. I don’t know if he has given up now.”

Li Yueyao laughed when she heard this. This was not the common plot in novels where a hero saves a beauty, but she gave herself to the hero in order to repay the hero's life-saving grace.

But with Feng Shenyu, the situation is reversed, the beauty saves the hero.

Then he continued, "That woman is so heroic, riding a horse, and casually throwing a bottle of detoxification pills. You can tell with your toes that she is a noble lady.

"The Right Prime Minister has been searching for it in the dust for years, but how could he have found it?"

The virtuous concubine said: "He is quite serious about this matter. When my brothers and sisters and I got married, we held countless flower viewing banquets, spring banquets, and wine-drinking banquets.

He participated in every event just to find the girl, but he never found her and was sad for a long time.

I've been living a rather unrestrained life these past few years, so maybe I should try a different path."

Li Yueyao heard this and said, "I want to ask you, what is the position of the Right Prime Minister in the court now?"

The virtuous concubine shook her head.

"I've been staying indoors these past few years and have had little contact with my family. Although I've kept in touch with him, I haven't seen him in five years.

I need to see him in person to know what he is thinking now."

After the Concubine Xian finished speaking, she looked at Li Yueyao in surprise and asked, "Why do you keep asking about my Junior Master?"

Li Yueyao said: "The court is in chaos now. I just came back from Chunshan, and the former court needs a helper.

I've looked around but can't understand this right prime minister, so I'm asking you."

The virtuous concubine asked, "Do you want my junior uncle to deal with the left prime minister?"

"Yes. But His Majesty's assessment of him is that he is both good and evil, and his actions are unclear, seemingly following his heart."

Xian Fei scoffed and said, "Your Majesty, does he have good taste?"

Li Yueyao laughed and said, "He doesn't have a very good eye for women."

Xian Fei continued, "Is it better for him to look at the court officials? For example, Princess Zhaoqing?"

Li Yueyao couldn't help laughing after hearing this.

"That makes sense. So tell me, can your junior uncle form an alliance?"

The virtuous concubine thought for a moment and said, "I have opened the palace gate and taken control of the harem. I'm sure my family members already know about this.

My mother will definitely have to go to the palace in the next two days, so I asked her to go back and pass on the message."

Li Yueyao nodded.

They both picked up their teacups and took a sip of tea, and then Concubine Xian was about to stand up and say goodbye.

Li Yueyao looked at Concubine Xian and asked, "Don't you care about His Majesty at all?"

After hearing this, Concubine Xian said angrily: "As long as you are here, he will be fine.

Besides, there was nothing wrong with my advice back then, it was just that his honest advice was unpleasant to hear.

Now that what I said back then is about to come true, shouldn't he be the one to surrender to me?"

Li Yueyao rolled her eyes when she heard this: "The harem is in chaos now, and the former dynasty is also in turmoil.

Aren't you two supposed to work together and support each other?"

The virtuous concubine said nonchalantly, "Aren't I working hand in hand with you, supporting each other?"

Li Yueyao was dumbfounded when she heard this: "You are the emperor's concubine, not my concubine."

"It makes no difference. If I could choose, I would rather be your concubine."

After hearing this, Li Yueyao rolled her eyes at Concubine Xian and started talking nonsense again.

"Your words are extremely rebellious. Be careful that His Majesty will be angry if he finds out."

Unexpectedly, Concubine Xian said indifferently: "He is still angry, I was almost angry to death a few years ago.

He didn't listen to the advice and ended up half dead, then he called you back to save the situation.

Dealing with the former dynasty and the harem, beating Princess Zhaoqing, shouldn't this be his job?

He doesn't do anything and lets you and me do everything. Why can't I say a word?"

Li Yueyao covered her head and said, "Stop talking, you are my aunt, okay.

I don't care about your affairs with His Majesty anymore. The door is over there. Goodbye, I won't see you off."

After hearing this, Concubine Xian gave a proud 'snort' and turned away.

Sun Fu just came out of the emperor's bedroom and saw a beautiful woman coming out of the west side hall. She had a noble and cold temperament.

The beauty didn't even glance in this direction.

He waved and asked the eunuch beside him, "Who is that?"

"Report to the eunuch, the virtuous concubine has been here for a long time."

When Sun Fu heard this, he thought to himself, "Oh no! This person finally came, and now he's gone. If His Majesty finds out, his life will be in danger."

Then he kicked the young eunuch and said, "You bastard, why didn't you announce that the virtuous concubine was coming?"