Chapter 74 Life is Cheaper than Grass

Yunshan saw that Song Zhao's expression was not very good, so he said:

"My lady must have been frightened by what happened today and hasn't recovered yet. I'm cooking some soothing soup in the small kitchen. Would you like a bowl?"

Song Zhao nodded calmly and instructed her, "By the way, send some to Concubine Yao as well. She was also frightened."

Yunshan agreed and left. As soon as he left the room, Xiao Fuzi whispered to Song Zhao:

"My lord, it seems that there is something else going on here."

"Queen..." Song Zhao murmured, looking out the window with a blank gaze. His slender fingers tapped lightly on the table, making a 'knock knock' sound.

Xiao Fuzi said, "The Queen and the Concubine Chen have been at odds for a long time. After the Concubine Chen regained her favor, she looked down on the Queen even more. If the Queen wants to use Xiao Changzai to eliminate the Concubine Chen, it is not impossible. I didn't expect that the Queen, who usually seems to be non-competitive, dignified and steady, would have such thoughts behind her back..."

Xiao Fuzi became more and more excited as he spoke, and gradually he lost his composure.

Song Zhao raised his eyebrows and glanced at him, interrupting him and said in a deep voice:

"The Empress is the Empress, and we are not allowed to discuss her. And what can you say to her based on the realgar wine incident? She is afraid of cold and has heart disease. Realgar wine can dispel cold and promote blood circulation. The Empress mixed it with water and heated it up to make a hot water bottle. It is not shameful."

"My servant spoke out of turn, please don't blame me, my lady." Xiao Fuzi pretended to slap his lips twice and dared not say anything more.

Song Zhao did not continue to blame him, and changed the subject and said: "Go and prepare some realgar wine for me. There are snakes in the palace, and I would be lying if I said I was not afraid."

She closed her eyes slightly and took a deep sniff of the smell of realgar wine that had been sprinkled throughout the hall.

"I think Yunshan's method is very good."

Song Zhao was indeed very strange.

She said Yunshan's method was good, and asked Xiao Fuzi to prepare realgar wine.

But in the blink of an eye, she asked Zhihua and Xiying to open all the doors and windows of the bedroom, saying that she couldn't stand the smell and asked people to get rid of it.

After drinking the calming soup, the smell in the hall was almost gone.

Just as she was thinking about taking a short rest, a palace maid came to report that Xiao Jingheng had arrived.

Before Song Zhao stood up and walked out of the hall to greet him, Xiao Jingheng had already entered the west hall.

Song Zhao bumped into him at the door and quickly knelt down and said, "May the emperor be well."

Xiao Jingheng, as usual, took her hand and helped her up, "Didn't I tell you that you don't have to follow so many rules when you are with me in private."

Song Zhao naturally interlocked his fingers with Xiao Jingheng, looked at him with joy and asked:

"Why is the Emperor here at this time?"

"Are you scared today?" Xiao Jingheng held Song Zhao's hand tightly, his eyes full of warmth and tenderness.

Song Zhao pursed his lips and nodded with some fear, "Seeing with my own eyes how ferocious the venomous snake was, Bao Xia's death was really pitiful..."

Jamel Xiao comforted her: "The most important thing is that you are okay."

In fact, Song Zhao had expected that Xiao Jingheng would definitely come to see her today, so she dispersed the smell of realgar wine in the inner hall in advance.

The smell coming from the hot water bottle that the queen was holding in her arms today was definitely not just smelled by Song Zhao.

What if some blind concubine suspected the queen and rashly told Xiao Jingheng about it? Then Xiao Jingheng would naturally think that he had smelled the same smell in Song Zhao Palace earlier.

The emperor has a treacherous mind. Who knows if he will think that Song Zhao is telling him indirectly that there is something wrong with the queen?

Song Zhao didn't want the image of a naive and innocent girl that she had worked so hard to create in front of Xiao Jingheng to go to waste.

However, Song Zhao was sure to spread the news that the queen's hot spring bottle was filled with realgar wine.

But it was definitely not passed to Jamel Xiao.

At this moment, the two of them sat on the warm seats and listened to Xiao Jingheng's explanation:

"When Jiang Deshun told me this, he was confused. He only said that a snake was found in the Plum Garden and bit a palace maid to death. I originally thought that the people from the Flower and Bird Bureau were not doing their job conscientiously, and the ministers were talking to me at the time, so I sent him down to deal with the matter. But I didn't expect that you and the Concubine Chen were all involved."

As Xiao Jingheng spoke, Song Zhao thought to himself:

So who is Jiang Deshun?

He was the chief eunuch serving Xiao Jingheng and the most experienced servant in the entire palace.

Song Zhao is now favored by the emperor, and the concubine is always the most favored among the six palaces.

If he knew that these two people dear to Xiao Jingheng were almost in danger, how could he hide it and not report it?

Then he didn't say anything, and the only possibility is that even he didn't know the truth.

Most likely, Shuang Ruo, who was by the Queen's side, avoided the important issues when she went to the Emperor to report, and only said that a palace maid had died, and said nothing else.

Of course, the Queen had her reasons for doing so.

At that time, Concubine Chen only saw Jiang Deshun coming, but did not see Xiao Jingheng. Her expression was full of disappointment.

That's what the Queen meant.

She just wanted Chen Fei to feel that Xiao Jingheng didn't value her as much as before.

She started to worry about gains and losses again.

Although Song Zhao saw everything clearly, he still had to pretend to be a fool in front of Xiao Jingheng.

She asked Xiao Jingheng, "Has the emperor visited Empress Chen?"

Xiao Jingheng did not answer her directly, but just nodded perfunctorily and quickly changed the subject.

"Xiao's actions this time are really too vicious. I have comforted her many times because of her disfigurement, but I didn't expect that she would still do such a stupid thing."

Song Zhao asked again: "How does the emperor plan to deal with her?"

Xiao Jingheng said: "I originally wanted her to have the same fate as Li, but considering that her father Xiao Bin is also a descendant of the royal family and works diligently without making any mistakes, I decided to do it.

In addition, the Queen also came forward to plead for her, asking me to be lenient with her because she was upset and confused for a moment, which led to the serious mistake. Therefore, I decided to show mercy and spare her life, but only banish her to the cold palace as a lesson. "

What this means is that Xiao Jingheng not only met the Concubine Chen, but also the Queen.

In terms of his ranking in his heart, Song Zhao is at most third.

But she was also satisfied.

After all, she had only been in the palace for more than three months, compared to the Queen and the Concubine Chen, who had been in the palace for almost four years. She did not feel that she had lost anything to them.

However, compared to these rankings, Song Zhao saw one thing more clearly in Xiao Jingheng this time.

It turns out that if you make a mistake in the palace, as long as you can gain Xiao Jingheng's love and respect, it is equivalent to having a golden ticket to immunity from death.

Xiao Jingheng believed that the broken strings of the pipa were the work of Concubine Chen. This incident not only ruined Xiao Changzai's face, but also destroyed the relics of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager, which was a serious crime.

But because she was the Concubine Chen, Xiao Jingheng only ignored her for a month and didn't even give her a symbolic punishment.

On the other hand, this time, Xiao Changzai made a mistake, but Xiao Jingheng could just banish her to the cold palace so lightly?

Looking back to the past, when Xiao Changzai won the emperor's heart with her Kunqu Opera, wasn't she also a beauty that Xiao Jingheng treated with special favor?

Now I have lost my voice and ruined my appearance.

Even though she was a beautiful woman, she could be thrown into oblivion in a blink of an eye. Her life was truly even more worthless than grass...