Chapter 159 Double Kill Plan 1

Hearing the imperial physician's words, Song Zhao's eyes were filled with fear and panic.

Her legs were a little weak, and she had to rely on Xiao Fuzi's help to sit on the chair.

"Musk is harmful to the fetus, I have never used it!"

Then he anxiously asked Liu, the imperial physician, about the situation of the heir to the throne.

"Is the heir in my belly injured?"

Imperial Doctor Liu said, "Fortunately, it was discovered early. I will prescribe two doses of medicine for you to take to remove this substance from your body. From your pulse, the musk smell is external, not internal. This means that the musk is not present in your daily diet, but must have been contaminated from the things you touch on a daily basis."

Xiao Jingheng looked serious and asked in a deep voice: "Daily contact? What do you mean?"

"It should be applied or smelled. Judging from the situation, the queen should have been exposed to this substance for ten days, but the dosage is gentle and slow, not a strong medicine, so the queen did not feel any discomfort. But the imperial physician comes to check the queen's pulse once a month. If this matter is not discovered today, I am afraid the consequences will be disastrous after a month..."

When Doctor Liu said this, he sighed several times, thinking that this matter was indeed dangerous.

Song Zhao hurriedly shook his head to deny his analysis.

"Impossible. I have stopped using water-based powders and spices since I became pregnant. If you say I smelled something... I have been staying in my own palace for a while and rarely went out. I only went back to pay my respects to the Queen two days ago. During this time, I didn't smell any special smell."

Speaking of taste, Xiao Jingheng remembered something.

When he went to Song Zhao Palace a few days ago, he happened to see Xiao Fuzi burning mugwort leaves everywhere in the palace.

Xiao Jingheng only found out later that the idea of ​​fumigating with moxa was actually first proposed by the Queen.

Fumigation with moxa can stabilize the pregnancy. It happened to be the Waking of Insects period during those days, when there were many snakes, insects, rats and ants, and it could also drive away evil spirits.

So the Queen herself did the fumigation in the palace, and also asked Concubine Xiao and Song Zhao to come with her.

The smell of burning mugwort is quite strong. If there really was musk in Song Zhao Palace, it might have been covered by the smell of mugwort.

So he said in a deep voice: "It's not that you didn't smell it, it's that you can't smell it."

As he spoke, he looked at Lady Xiao who was lying on the sickbed and told her to take good care of herself.

Then he took Song Zhao's hand and said, "Come on, I'll go with you to take a look at your palace."

Concubine Chen hurriedly said, "Your Majesty...how should Concubine Shu be punished for this matter?"

Xiao Jingheng thought for a moment and said casually, "The matter of Concubine Xiao falling into the water has not been investigated clearly. After the Ministry of Punishment has asked Qingyue, we will make a decision on this matter."

What he meant was that he was only concerned about who was trying to murder Song Zhao and had no time to care about anything else.

Later, Xiao Jingheng and Song Zhao returned to Changle Palace, and the Queen asked Concubine Chen and Concubine Shu to go with them.

After returning to the palace, everyone sat in the main hall, and the people in front of the emperor began to search the palace according to the order.

One of the places that was focused on the search was Song Zhao's bedroom.

About a quarter of an hour later, Jiang Deshun and his men came out to answer.

"Your Majesty, I found a scented bag under Concubine Yi's bed, which smelled very strange."

Doctor Liu took the sachet and examined it carefully, and soon came to a conclusion.

"Your Majesty, this sachet contains musk kernels, which have a very strong fragrance and can activate blood circulation and dissipate blood stasis. If you smell it for a long time, it will cause serious damage to the fetus! The smell is pungent, and Your Majesty should have noticed it long ago. Perhaps it is because of the moxa fumigation in the palace recently that the smell is covered up."

Xiao Jingheng took the sachet from Doctor Liu with a gloomy expression.

The moment he lowered his eyes, he saw the embroidery of a kirin embracing the sun on the sachet.

His eyes widened, veins popped up on his neck, and he said angrily:

"presumptuous!"

After a scolding, he threw the sachet at Shu Fei's face.

Shu Fei was stunned. After she came to her senses and picked up the sachet to check, she felt as if she was filled with lead. She stood there in a daze.

"How could it be..."

The Queen asked in confusion, "You wear this sachet with the unicorn holding the sun every day. How could it have gone under Concubine Yi's bed?"

Song Zhao was also full of grievances, choking and muttering: "Madam Shufei...I have always respected you very much, why do you want to..."

"This matter has nothing to do with me! Don't make random accusations!" Shu Fei sternly stopped Song Zhao from complaining, and then raised the sachet and said to Xiao Jingheng emotionally:

"I accidentally lost this sachet a few days ago. I left a record in the palace the day I found it and reported it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asking the embroidery workshop to make a new one for me. Everything I said is true. If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can ask someone to check!"

"Huh?" Concubine Chen laughed awkwardly and said with disdain, "You could have put this thing in Concubine Yi's palace first, and then report it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. That way, you can clear yourself of suspicion after the incident."

"I have no grudge against Concubine Yi, why would I want to harm her? Besides, even if I did it, I could just wrap the dirty stuff in plain cloth and put it under her bed. Why would I use my own personal belongings? It would only arouse suspicion!"

After a brief panic, Shu Fei defended herself very clearly.

She knelt in front of Xiao Jingheng, tears welling up in her eyelashes.

"Your Majesty, all the things that happened today are directed at me. Don't you think it's too strange?"

Xiao Jingheng did not respond to her words.

His eagle-like sharp eyes quickly swept over the people in the hall.

Song Zhao shed tears sadly, the Queen tried to comfort him, and Chen Fei sneered and waited to see Shu Fei's joke.

He pondered this to himself:

Even if Shu Fei wanted to harm someone, she wouldn't do it so conspicuously. With such irrefutable evidence, it seemed like someone was framing her.

His hesitant gaze finally fell on the queen.

Doctor Liu said that the musk in Song Zhao's body should have accumulated intermittently over the past ten days.

About ten days ago, Song Zhao was injured by a sedan chair in the corridor, and she was so afraid of leaving the palace that she was afraid to leave.

During that period, Song Zhao had seen her when the Queen was the only one who came to visit.

The burning of mugwort leaves in the palace was initiated by the Queen.

Connecting all the things together, this harmful chess game vaguely took shape in Xiao Jingheng's mind.

Could it be that...

It was the Queen who took away Shu Fei's sachet and then added musk kernels that could harm the fetus into it.

While visiting Song Zhao, he secretly placed the sachet under Song Zhao's bed.

After this, in order to prevent Song Zhao from finding out, he ordered all six palaces to burn mugwort leaves, and deliberately asked pregnant concubines to burn more.

It seems to be for pregnant women to keep the fetus safe.

Is it actually to cover up the smell of musk?

Thinking of this, Xiao Jingheng's suspicion of the queen grew stronger.

His face was solemn, his tone was extremely cold, and he ordered:

"Jiang Deshun, have someone take Concubine Shu away. She is not allowed to leave Zhongcui Palace without my order. Go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and check if Concubine Shu has ever reported the loss of this sachet."