Crown Prince Jun Zechen, the Empress's legitimate son, was young and accomplished. At fifteen, he was honored as Crown Prince, and at seventeen, he led an army to war, achieving swift victory. ...
Fuquan has been staying with His Majesty these past few days because Anshun is leading people to investigate the matter of Concubine Chunshu.
Today, Jun Zechen was sitting on the dragon chair in the imperial study, reviewing memorials.
Fuquan bowed his back slightly and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, Anshun has something to report about Concubine Chunshu."
Jun Zechen paused as he held the pen. "Let him in."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Fuquan responded and turned to leave.
After a moment, An Shun came in respectfully and bowed in front of the table: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
"Get up." Jun Zechen waved his hand.
An Shun stood up and began to report: "Your Majesty, I interrogated Li Shangfu in the Ministry of Punishment. She said that Concubine Ling told her to only pay attention to the Queen Mother's palace dress, and not to pay too much attention to the palace dresses of Concubine Chun Shu, An Zhaorong and other concubines."
He paused and carefully observed His Majesty's reaction.
Jun Zechen frowned, his face looking somewhat gloomy.
Because of jealousy, Ling Yue actually personally ordered her subordinates not to care about the concubines' palace costumes. He originally thought that Ling Yue just didn't care, but he never expected that she did it on purpose.
Anshun couldn't tell anything was wrong with his majesty's expression, so he continued.
"Afterwards, Li Shangfu handed Concubine Chun Shu's palace dress to the palace maids Cuizhu and Cuilan of Yaxiuxuan. The two of them, together with three other embroiderers Jingxin, Jinglin, and Jingxi, worked together to make the palace dress for Concubine Chun Shu."
Jun Zechen became even more annoyed when he heard this.
Even if Ling Yue is jealous of someone, she should still do her duty. One of the four concubines was so despised by the Shangfu Bureau. Where is the palace rule? Where is the dignity of the superior?
Seeing that Jun Zechen had a slightly unfriendly look on his face, Anshun did not dare to say much. He just paused and continued to report.
"Your Majesty, the maid who was found drowned in the well was Jing Xin. The other four should have known in advance that Concubine Chun Shu's palace dress was poisoned. When I interrogated them at the Ministry of Punishment, they all said that they had seen the deceased Jing Xin touch the embroidered palace dress alone."
"But we cannot rule out the possibility that Jing Xin is dead and they are throwing all the dirty water on Jing Xin."
Anshun couldn't help but sigh when he said this.
"But I checked Jing Xin's background. Jing Xin comes from an ordinary family and has simple interpersonal relationships. She doesn't look like someone who would do something like poisoning a concubine."
His words brought silence to the hall.
The more Jun Zechen listened, the more annoyed he became.
Although he is in a superior position, he controls the life and death of everyone.
But as an emperor, he maintained stability in the world and also wanted to provide a relatively fair environment for the world.
However, the struggles in the harem often implicate many innocent people, and because of the powerful family background and status of the concubines in the harem, the palace maids are as insignificant as ants to them.
Jun Zechen is a typical example of 'the officials are allowed to set fires, but the common people are not allowed to light lamps'.
He could kill at will, but he could not tolerate the viciousness and cruelty of the concubines in the harem.
"If Jing Xin has nothing to do with this incident, her family should be comforted." Jun Zechen said lightly, his tone calm.
Then, he continued impatiently, "As for the details, once you have investigated them thoroughly, just report all the details. What are you here for today?"
“Your Majesty, the reason I came here today is because all the evidence I have found recently points to Shen Ronghua.” Anshun spoke, but his tone was a little hesitant.
The reason why he wanted to lay the groundwork for the previous situation was just to let His Majesty understand what happened, because Anshun himself could not convince himself that Shen Ronghua would do these things.
As an old man in the East Palace, Shen Ronghua really didn’t need to do such a thing after the newcomers entered the palace.
Now that Concubine Ling is under house arrest and Concubine Chunshu has had a miscarriage, the obvious beneficiary is the new concubine. After all, His Majesty had never summoned the old lady of the Eastern Palace before the new concubine entered the palace.
Jun Zechen naturally thought of this as well. He looked at Anshun sharply and motioned him to continue.
An Shun was afraid of missing anything, so he continued, "Your Majesty, the juice on Concubine Chun Shu's palace dress is the juice of Amaryllis. Amaryllis is rare, and the imperial physician has never paid attention to Amaryllis, nor does he know that the juice of Amaryllis is poisonous."
"And Chen Ronghua's maid Yinrong had been injured by the juice of Amaryllis before, so she knew that the juice of Amaryllis was poisonous."
He paused and continued, "In addition to this reason, Shen Ronghua and Jincheng Lin Ronghua were close friends. This is what I discovered after investigating Shen Ronghua, because after Lin Ronghua entered the palace, she did not appear to have any interactions with Shen Ronghua."
“I originally wanted to continue investigating Lin Ronghua, but if Lin Ronghua secretly contacted Shen Ronghua, then I need to interrogate Shen Ronghua before I can continue investigating…”
Anshun became a little conflicted when he said this.
After all, Shen Ronghua is a concubine anyway. If there is a queen in the harem, then the queen can investigate legitimately.
But he was a eunuch, and although he served the emperor closely, if he wanted to interrogate the concubines, he still had to ask the emperor for permission.
He looked up at His Majesty, whose brows were furrowed and his face was gloomy.
"Your Majesty, do I need..." Anshun spoke cautiously.
“Interrogate Shen Ronghua!”
Jun Zechen interrupted him, his voice was chilling, "I will get to the bottom of this matter!"
If there is no strict investigation and severe punishment this time, Yaoyao is simple-minded and has never been on guard against others. Now that she is favored in the harem and has the eldest prince, many concubines in the harem are afraid of being jealous.
I don’t know what plan he will come up with next time. Even if he is an emperor, he will sometimes be powerless when facing these women.
Most of his energy is still on the previous dynasty, so it is impossible for him to put too much thought into the small harem.
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