Lingxue Pavilion.

"Master, Concubine Cen has taken the eldest prince away..." Lian Rui hurried in to report.

Pengqi was surprised and said, "Shufei treats the eldest prince like a treasure. Is she going to fight with Cen Zhaoyi now?"

"Not necessarily." Ning Wanyin thought.

After dealing with Concubine Shu for nearly a year, Ning Wanyin had a general understanding of her temperament and weaknesses.

She has always been very cautious towards the Xue and Cen families, not wanting to offend them to death.

Even if the most precious thing was taken away, they were afraid of the power of the Cen family and did not dare to take it back directly.

In order to reassure the Cen family and prevent them from suspecting her, she might choose to stop for the time being.

And now that Cen Ruoyu has control over Concubine Shu's son, he will feel much more at ease with her.

For Cen Ruoyu, she still had to deal with herself and the concubines of Xue's party, so it would be nice to have a capable concubine to serve her.

So, after the incident of fighting over their son, the two might have reached a truce.

Shufei is a smart person who can judge the situation. It is not easy to get her to take action.

But it doesn't matter.

She took action on behalf of Concubine Shu.

…

The news about the eldest prince was immediately transmitted to Ganxin Palace.

"Your Majesty, the eldest prince has gone to Concubine Cen's place..." Wang Degui reported carefully.

Helian Qi's face was as gloomy as water, showing no trace of joy or anger.

Why did Cen Ruoyu dare to ask Concubine Shu for a son? Was it because her Cen family was so powerful that even one of the four concubines had to give her a son?

No, Concubine Zhuang can refuse, and even Concubine Shun can refuse.

She didn't dare to refuse, because a puppet had no choice.

"Since Concubine Shu is willing, then let her do as she pleases." Helian Qi's eyes were dark and no emotion could be heard in his voice.

At this moment...

A guard came in hurriedly and handed over a letter tube, "Your Majesty, an urgent secret letter from a thousand miles away!"

Wang Degui quickly took the letter tube and handed it to Helian Qi.

Helian Qi opened the secret letter and read...

This was the first time Han Xun sent a letter after arriving at the southwest border.

"I suspect... the matter involves Liang State. I dare not make any rash judgments. I have sneaked into the enemy country alone to find out the truth for your Majesty."

After reading it, Helian Qi's eyes showed a hint of caution.

If it is really as Han Xun guessed, then he needs to make some adjustments to the deployment on the southwest border...

Helian Qi threw the note into the charcoal brazier and burned it.

He picked up his pen and wrote a secret letter to a general garrisoning in the southwest, asking him to secretly meet Han Xun.

This person was a chess piece that Helian Qi had laid out on the border when he was still in the palace.

There were many people like this who were secretly trained by Helian Qi and then sent to the border, but now he is the only one alive.

One general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers.

Wang Degui sealed the secret letter with lacquer and handed it to the courier.

Helian Qi stood up and looked at the map of the territory hanging on the wall behind him with a solemn expression.

…

Although Helian Qi was always worried about Han Xun's investigation, he did not show it on the surface.

As the year draws to a close, rewards are bestowed lavishly, and the entire harem is filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

Early in the morning, Wang Degui led the eunuchs and carried several heavy boxes to Lingxue Pavilion.

"Your servant pays his respects to Concubine Ning! His Majesty recently ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to cast a batch of gold ingots in the shapes of ruyi, lotus, and plum blossom, and specially gave you six boxes." Wang Degui said happily.

During the New Year holidays, there are places to give rewards everywhere.

Ning Wanyin is now in charge of the Imperial Household Department. She not only rewards the palace maids in Lingxue Pavilion, but also the managers of various departments in the Imperial Household Department.

Helian Qi knew that she had been spending a lot of money recently, so he gave her a few boxes of gold ingots he made.

Ning Wanyin was slightly stunned, then smiled happily:

"Your Majesty is so kind to me. I will go to thank you in a moment. Thank you for your hard work in the heavy snow, Eunuch Wang..."

When the emperor gave her gifts, they always touched her heart.

Six boxes of gold, whoever receives them will be happy.

Lian Rui tacitly stuffed a bag of gold leaves into Wang Degui's pocket.

Wang Degui took it with a smile on his face, said a lot of auspicious words and then went back to report.

"Master, I'm worried that I don't have enough money to spend..." Lian Rui said happily: "Your Majesty really thinks of you all the time..."

Xiao Guizi also said happily, "I heard that the gold ingots that His Majesty specially sent are only available in our Lingxue Pavilion, except for Linlang Palace!"

"Everyone has worked hard this year. Lianrui, give everyone some reward money." Ning Wanyin said with a smile.

The palace maids in Lingxue Pavilion were all delighted.

While there was laughter and joy in Lingxue Pavilion, there was a solemn atmosphere in Qionghua Garden.

Cen Ruoyu was poisoned!

If she had not noticed that she was not in good spirits recently and specially summoned the trusted imperial physician of the Cen family, she would not have known that she had been infected.

"Master Cen has been poisoned by benzoin! This poison is very similar to ordinary tranquilizing incense, both of which have the effect of calming the mind and helping sleep. If you don't light it and carefully distinguish it, it's hard to find any clues." After taking the pulse, Imperial Doctor Qian said:

"Benzoin only causes mental fatigue and drowsiness at first, which is difficult to detect. But once the poison enters the heart and lungs, death will occur suddenly."

"Fortunately, your Excellency discovered it in time. Now all you need to do is drink a few doses of medicine to recuperate."

Cen Ruoyu's face turned pale.

Ever since she entered the palace, she has been using the spices distributed by the palace according to the quota.

Unlike Xue Jinyan, who made a separate Ruyi incense.

In order to avoid being framed.

But I didn't expect that using my own incense would cause trouble, and using the palace's incense would also cause trouble...

"Doctor Qian, please take a look. This is the calming incense that the master has been burning before going to bed at night recently." Bi Qing quickly handed the remaining spices to the imperial physician.

According to the allotment of Zhaoyi, the palace was given two boxes of calming incense, two boxes of two kinds of fumigating incense, and two boxes of four kinds of refreshing incense every month.

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