Queen

"Why is there still a mouse? Didn't we catch one yesterday?!"

Yu Heyi protected Princess Shaolin and once again ordered Wanqi Si to catch mice.

Reluctantly, he leaned over and threw the mouse out the window.

After getting up, he wiped the toilet paper with disgust, and suddenly his expression froze.

Then he slowly squatted down and picked up a string of jewelry from under the couch.

"This is... Concubine Jing's jewelry!"

Princess Shaolin covered her mouth and exclaimed.

According to the emperor, Concubine Jing had dined with him before, but under no circumstances should the two of them bring the food into the bedroom.

Therefore, this piece of jewelry could not have been left behind during a meal.

"Is there something wrong with Concubine Jing?" The emperor also gasped in disbelief.

Among the concubines, only Concubine Jing was the most gentle and sensible, and was more favored by the emperor. Who could have thought that such a beloved concubine would have the idea of ​​killing the emperor?

The emperor had just recovered from the poison, but the remaining poison in his body had not been completely eliminated, so he was extremely weak.

In order to prevent anyone in the palace from having ill intentions, Princess Shaolin volunteered to serve food to the emperor personally every day.

This went on for a few days, and the dissatisfied medical officer in the side hall finally exploded.

"How could Princess Shaolin be so willful? Your Majesty's illness is a serious matter, how could we allow those two charlatans to intervene?"

"Who knows what they're thinking? Maybe they're thinking something harmful to the royal family!"

"This is clearly delaying His Majesty's treatment!"

There was a commotion in the side hall, and a medical officer named Lin Jian stood up. He raised his hands above his head and called on all the medical officers to go to the emperor's bedroom to fight against the two itinerant doctors.

"What a noise! ​​What nonsense!" Princess Shaolin stamped her feet at the side hall door. She sneered and said, "Don't worry about my father. These two wandering doctors are highly skilled, far surpassing the Imperial Hospital staff. I get along very well with them."

"If the Imperial Hospital physicians are alright, please leave on your own accord. Do not cause trouble in the palace and disturb our father's rest."

"Princess, don't be fooled by those two charlatans!"

"I don't want to repeat what I just said!"

She glanced at all the medical officers in the side hall with a cold gaze.

After all, she was a powerful princess, so even if the doctors of the Imperial Hospital were dissatisfied, they dared not disobey her orders.

But there was one person in the crowd with a serious expression, and a hint of cruelty flashed in his eyes.

Concubine Jing happened to pass by the side hall and saw the quiet atmosphere in the side hall. She became puzzled and went into the hall to inquire about the situation and show concern for the emperor's condition.

She smiled and said, "What's wrong with Shaolin? Who has upset our princess and made her so angry?"

"Your Highness, Concubine Jing, you've arrived just in time. I have something to ask you."

Princess Shaolin had never shown such an expression in the palace, as if someone had offended her.

She clenched her fist and held it in front of Concubine Jing, then slowly opened her hand.

The jewelry shone brightly in her palm, and it was obvious that it was worth a lot of money.

Concubine Jing was surprised and said, "Isn't this the jewelry that His Majesty gave me? I lost it for several days, and it turned out to be in your hands, Shaolin."

"Did Concubine Jing's jewelry get lost, or did it end up in my father's bedroom?"

She didn't understand what Shao Lin meant for a moment.

Princess Shaolin's gaze was as cold as an icicle, and she looked as if she was coming to call for an explanation.

Thinking of this, she suddenly realized: "Is Shao Lin suspicious of me?"

"If Your Majesty had not been so careless and accidentally left the jewelry in Father's bedroom when you committed evil, I really would not have discovered your evil ambitions."

"Shao Lin! How could you think that? How could I possibly frame His Majesty?!"

"How did Concubine Jing's jewelry end up in my father's bedroom?"

"I'm also curious about the reason. Father dotes on the Empress so much, how could you be so cruel as to harm him?"

This conversation shocked the medical officers outside the side hall, and they all gathered together to comment on Concubine Jing.

A woman was walking towards him, wearing a hairpin with nine phoenixes holding pearls and rubies on her head. She was also wearing a xiapei, a zhai robe and a green silk skirt. The phoenixes embroidered on the clothes with gold thread looked lifelike.

——It’s the Queen.

All the medical officers knelt down and saluted.

Princess Shaolin turned around after hearing the noise and respectfully called out "Mother" to the person who came.

The queen didn't know what had happened to cause such a commotion in the side hall.

She looked at the kneeling medical officer with a sullen face: "Who gave you the ability to give orders in the palace?"

"Get out!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the medical officers hurriedly got up and rushed to leave the palace.

Everyone knew the queen's temper. Even her own daughter, Princess Shaolin, was so willful and unruly, so she was certainly no less so.

"Mother, you haven't visited my father in a long time." Princess Shaolin walked up to the Queen and said in a coquettish tone, "I found Concubine Jing's jewelry in my father's bedroom, but my father said that Concubine Jing hasn't been in his bedroom for a while. So where did this jewelry come from?"

"Your son suspects that Concubine Jing is trying to frame my father."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Jing beside her knelt down crying and wailing, "Princess, you are wronged! Even if I were given a thousand courage, I would never dare to do such a thing! Please, Queen, investigate!"

"Clear?"

The Queen sneered, raised her hand, turned around and slapped her.

With a light "pa" sound, Concubine Jing fell to the ground, covering her cheek with her fingers, and the slap mark was clearly visible.

She said in disbelief: "Empress?!"

"I've disliked you for a long time. You pretend to be good and try to seduce His Majesty every day, but you're actually a bitch with evil intentions!"

"Come here! Give her eight hundred lashes! And then throw her in jail! Let Concubine Jing learn a lesson and stop having any thoughts she shouldn't have!"

After the Queen gave the order, the guards on standby outside the side hall immediately walked in and, regardless of Concubine Jing's struggle, took her to the execution platform.

She was tied up on the stage by the guards.

Two guards stood on the execution platform, one on the left and one on the right, holding a thick board.

One blow from the board almost took half the man's life.

Although Princess Shaolin was furious, she subconsciously asked, "Mother, isn't eight hundred lashes too much? Concubine Jing will be beaten to death."

"Killing her would be too easy for her. She dared to frame your father. Who knows, she might come after me and you one day."

Thinking that the emperor was in a daze and confused when he was ill, which was all due to her, Princess Shaolin chose to turn a blind eye.

If I hadn't done anything wrong, why would I be beaten?

"ah!!"

The boards fell on Concubine Jing one after another, and she couldn't help but scream.

Her clothes were stained with blood and were in tatters.

Concubine Jing's back was covered in blood and flesh. By the 99th blow, her entire back was already torn apart.

She cried out, "The Empress and Princess Shaolin are wise... I would never dare to do such a thing..."

"I have done nothing wrong..."

When the 100th board was about to fall, the boards in the hands of the two guards suddenly disappeared.

The two looked at each other, looking at their empty palms in confusion.

"Your humble servant greets Her Majesty the Queen."

The queen looked up and saw a young girl standing at the door of the side hall. The girl had a smile in her eyes and held two blood-stained boards in her hands.

It was the board that disappeared from the guard's hand.

The queen was furious: "Where did this wild girl come from?"

"The Empress is probably a little impatient. She hastily judged Concubine Jing guilty based on just a piece of jewelry. Judging from her attitude, does she want to beat her to death?"

"When will it be your turn to question my decision?!"

"My Lady, Princess, when have you ever seen a murderer so careless as to leave something like this at the scene that could identify the murderer at a glance? Do you think the murderer is stupid?"

Yu Heyi raised his chin and threw the board aside.

She and Wanqi Si both believed that the matter was not as it seemed. The jewelry fell into the emperor's bedroom, which looked like someone had done it deliberately.

Originally, they were going to investigate the medical officers of the Imperial Hospital together, but they never expected to hear halfway that the Empress and Princess Shaolin blamed Concubine Jing and threatened to beat her to death.

There was no choice but to split into two groups.

He went to try to investigate the identity of the medical officer of the Imperial Hospital, and she went to deal with the matter of Concubine Jing.

"What's impossible? She wanted to harm His Majesty, sneaked into His Majesty's bedroom and poisoned her, and then accidentally dropped her jewelry when she came out. What's impossible about that?"

"Empress, I don't think I ever told you that Your Majesty was poisoned?" Yu Heyi asked with a half-smile, then tilted her head, "Princess, did you tell me that?"

Princess Shaolin shook her head subconsciously.

She patted the blood stains on her palms from gripping the board, raised an eyebrow, and said, "The doctors at the Imperial Hospital have determined that Your Majesty has no signs of poisoning. I and the princess only learned about it recently, and there's no need to mention Your Majesty. He's in poor health and there's no way he could have told Her Majesty."

"Also, I just heard someone say that the Empress has not visited Your Majesty for a long time."

"Then how did Your Majesty know that His Majesty was poisoned?"

There was a moment of panic in the Queen's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. She looked down upon the other person and snorted softly, "The eunuchs in the palace take care of His Majesty. How could I not know His Majesty's behavior? His Majesty looks like he's been poisoned, what else could he be?"

"So that's how it is. It seems I misunderstood the Queen."

Yu Heyi looked at her with a smile, not afraid of the other party's threatening eyes.

"Mother, this is the itinerant doctor I met. He has been treating my father's illnesses lately."

The Queen looked at me with disdain: "I don't care what kind of itinerant doctor you are. If you dare to offend me, you will be punished for disrespect."

“——Someone come!”

"Your Majesty, don't do that! Ah Yi saved my father's life and is the benefactor of the royal family!"

Princess Shaolin immediately stood in front of Yu Heyi and prevented the guards from approaching.

Help?

The queen looked at Princess Shaolin suspiciously, as if trying to determine whether her words were credible.

Then she shook her head, concluding that Princess Shaolin was deceived by the girl in front of her.

But the guards did not dare to step forward rashly after hearing this.

If what the princess said was true, they had touched His Majesty's savior, which would probably incur His Majesty's wrath.

The Queen rolled her eyes and beckoned Yu Heyi forward: "Since Shaolin said so, I will ask you a few questions. If you answer well, I will spare your life."

Seeing Princess Shaolin's worried expression, she tugged at the corner of her clothes and told her with her eyes not to worry.

He whispered to the other party to take Concubine Jing away.

She strode forward and walked to the queen's side.

As expected, she had a faint scent of poppies on her body. If she hadn't been suspicious of the Queen, she probably wouldn't have noticed it.

"Shao Lin said you were His Majesty's savior. Do you know how long His Majesty has been poisoned, and what kind of poison it was?"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty has been poisoned for over a few months. I don't know what poison he was poisoned with."

"—It's an extremely rare poison called the Twin Poison."

As soon as she finished speaking, the queen's face instantly became extremely ugly.

Twin poisons are rare, and almost no one in Yandong knows about them. How could this person know about them?

The queen came to her senses and waved her hand, signaling her to leave.

The moment she turned around, Yu Heyi quietly took the sachet from her waist.

After opening the sachet, it was found to be filled with peony flowers.