Now is the season when plum blossoms are in full bloom.

In the imperial garden, a group of concubines were dressed up beautifully and wandered around the plum garden in the hope of being noticed by His Majesty.

"Two days ago, His Majesty passed by the Plum Garden and met a concubine. He summoned her that night. It is said that plum blossoms are dazzling, and the color and beauty of the flowers are three times better than before." Shunpin sighed softly and looked at the new concubines:

"They are all more beautiful than each other."

Many concubines wanted to take advantage of the beauty of the plum blossoms to reflect their beautiful faces and become the second person chosen by the emperor. The Plum Garden was particularly lively.

Shunpin also came out to enjoy the flowers today. She had a glimmer of hope for the chance to be favored.

With the second princess around, the emperor occasionally sees her. If he could give birth to another prince...

As Shunpin thought about this, she suddenly felt a little uncomfortable on her face.

She didn't care much.

But the itching sensation became stronger and stronger.

"Master, you have a rash on your face... on your face..." Chunque shouted in panic.

Shunpin was anxious and said in panic, "Hurry up and call the imperial physician!"

At the same time, a concubine nearby also shouted in panic: "Hurry up and call for the imperial physician."

…

A quarter of an hour later.

Several imperial doctors from the Imperial Medical Bureau came together.

There were five concubines who suffered accidents this time. Some had red and swollen cheeks, while others had serious injuries, including a rash.

In addition, some of the palace maids and eunuchs who accompanied them were also infected, making a total of ten people.

The Criminal Justice Department rushed to investigate immediately.

When Helian Qi heard that several concubines in the harem were poisoned, he also came to the harem.

After examining the patient, Judge Zhao reported:

"Your Majesty, this is a rash caused by the faceless powder..."

As soon as the three words "no face powder" came out, all the concubines panicked.

During the time of the previous emperor, a concubine in the harem created this poison using herbal pollen. In order to win favor from the emperor, she destroyed the face of a beautiful concubine.

A sensation.

Then this thing was lost.

I didn’t expect that someone knows how to make faceless powder!

Shunpin's eyes went dark and she almost fainted, "What? Faceless powder? My face..."

It’s over!

How can you be favored if you are disfigured?

The remaining four concubines were all newcomers to the palace this year, two beauties and two noble ladies, all of them were in a state of panic and despair.

Once disfigured, their lives are ruined.

"Fortunately, the dose was light, and the concubines were not seriously poisoned. After cleaning and applying ointment, they will recover in a few days at the shortest, or a month at the longest." Zhao Yuanpan continued.

The concubines who were almost frightened to death finally breathed a sigh of relief.

If facial powder is applied directly and in large quantities on the cheeks, it will cause disfigurement, just like the tragedy that occurred during the time of the previous emperor.

But nowadays, not many concubines are infected and the amount is very light, so it is not serious.

Wu Mi, the chief of the Criminal Court, had already checked the plum garden and broke off a plum branch to report back: "Your Majesty, after my investigation, I found that this plum tree was sprinkled with faceless powder."

The colorless powder falls on the flowers and is as fine as pollen.

There are hundreds of plum trees in the plum garden, but only one is covered with colorless powder, which does not attract much attention.

Five concubines, including Shunpin, were strolling in the Plum Garden and stayed under this plum tree for long or short periods of time, which caused the face powder to stain their cheeks.

But the other concubines in the Plum Garden were all frightened when they heard this.

They were just lucky and happened not to pass by that plum tree, otherwise wouldn't they have ended up like Shunpin and the others?

Something happened in the harem...

Wen Shutang rushed over as soon as possible. When she heard that the incident happened in the Plum Garden, she knew something was wrong.

Because the plum blossom viewing banquet is coming...

The plum garden had been handed over to Wen Shutang in advance.

This is a custom in the palace.

The first thing to do is to clean the plum garden to prevent the appearance of insects and snakes that might scare the concubines.

Second, we must ensure that the plum blossoms are thriving, so that there won’t be any unlucky signs of plum blossoms withering on the day of the plum blossom viewing banquet.

In order to prevent possible accidents during the plum blossom viewing banquet...

The plum garden would be handed over to the concubines who were preparing for the plum blossom viewing banquet in advance, and palace servants would be arranged to clean the plum garden and tend to the flowers and plants to ensure that everything was in order.

Helian Qi's face was as gloomy as water, and he looked at Wen Shutang: "How do you manage the Plum Garden?"

Several concubines were almost disfigured.

Since the emperor ascended the throne, there has never been such a serious collective poisoning incident in the harem.

"I admit my guilt." Wen Shutang immediately knelt down and pleaded guilty.

She guessed that someone might be targeting her.

Fortunately, ever since she took over the power of the six palaces, she had been on guard against someone deliberately framing her and had a backup plan.

Kangpin, who was accompanying her, saw that several concubines were poisoned. She felt very guilty and knelt beside Wen Shutang to plead guilty:

"Your Majesty, please allow me to report that the Plum Garden is under my charge. It is my negligence that has caused me to fail to live up to the trust of Concubine Lan."

In order to share the responsibility, Wen Shutang specifically gave the task of managing the plum garden to Concubine Kang.

The plum blossom viewing banquet was successfully held thanks to Concubine Lan, and Concubine Kang was able to get some praise.

If anything goes wrong, Concubine Kang, who is in charge of the Plum Garden, will be to blame and can take the blame.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Kang was just trying to help out of kindness. This was all my negligence. You can't blame Concubine Kang." Wen Shutang took all the responsibility and deliberately cleared Concubine Kang from the blame: "I was killed, and I have no choice but to take responsibility. Your Majesty will punish me."

She knew that those in higher positions didn't like people who shirked their responsibilities.

So, on the surface, she took full responsibility, but in fact, the Plum Garden was managed by Concubine Kang.

The one who is truly incompetent is Concubine Kang.

At most, she hired the wrong person.

However, Wen Shutang also felt that Concubine Kang was indeed useless.

The plum garden had been tampered with, but she was totally unaware.

If you take personal responsibility, you may not be able to be taken advantage of by others.

Helian Qi looked at the two people kneeling in front of him, his brows slightly wrinkled. He was naturally satisfied with Wen Shutang's character of not shirking responsibility.

But the emperor asked you what was wrong...

I don't want to hear you say, "It's my fault." I want to see if you have any plan to deal with it and find the person who poisoned me.

But Helian Qi thought about it again...

Tracking down the murderer is actually the responsibility of the Criminal Justice Department.

She didn't think of how to check, so she wasn't wrong.

However, when Ning Wanyin was in charge in the past, she always had her own set of plans to deal with any problems that occurred in the palace.

Helian Qi got used to it in a short while.

Helian Qi paused for a moment, then turned to look at Wu Mi: "Investigate thoroughly."