Eunuch Sun repeatedly cried out in injustice: "I'm really not a slave! I'm innocent!"
The young eunuchs quickly argued, recounting where they had met, who was present, and who might have seen them.
"It was indeed Eunuch Sun who asked us to do this! Your Majesty, please investigate!"
The Fourth Prince kicked Eunuch Sun sideways, knocking him to the ground. "You serve in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Who's in charge of you? When something happened, you didn't go to him, but went to my mother instead? Tell me, who ordered this!"
Eunuch Sun covered his chest, unable to breathe and utter a word. He knew that his life would end here.
Thinking of his family, he made up his mind and bit his tongue to commit suicide.
Eunuch Zhang was the first to notice something was wrong. He immediately stepped forward and pinched open his jaw, but half of his tongue fell out and the man was already dead.
Eunuch Zhang turned and knelt. "Your Majesty is dead. He was the eunuch in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. He was angry that he had failed to govern properly. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
The emperor looked at the body gradually cooling down on the ground, his eyes growing colder. "You'll get ten beatings from the sticks later."
He looked at the Fourth Prince again, and curled his lips: "Fourth Prince, you are very anxious."
The Fourth Prince knelt down, his knees aching from the impact of the gold bricks, but he didn't even frown. "Father, I'm just worried about Mother. Now that Mother is seriously ill, the harem is in turmoil. Mother was worried that the Crown Prince would do something wrong, so she rushed and got into trouble. I beg Father for mercy!"
Xie Qing looked at the Fourth Prince. Did he want to get away with it by pushing the blame on a dead man?
He stepped forward and said, "Father, when I was taken to the side hall, I smelled a strange fragrance. Inside the side hall, I was also smelling the same fragrance. I ordered someone to collect this fragrance and give it to the imperial physician for examination. The imperial physician said that it was mixed with some banned drugs that can make people lose their minds and become addicted to sex."
The emperor looked up at Xie Qing and said, "Bring it up."
Xiao Luzi quickly came in with a tray with two pieces of incense on it: "The small one was found on the road to the side hall, and the large one is inside the side hall."
The imperial physician also arrived and explained the origins of the spices: "The main spices are from foreign lands, brought thousands of miles across the sea. There aren't many of them, and they're very rare. This medicine has only one effect, which is to accelerate blood flow, and has no other medicinal effects. That's why the Imperial Hospital doesn't have this medicine on hand."
Qin Wan looked at the Fourth Prince, then glanced at the statue-like Fourth Prince's wife beside him, and finally her gaze fell on the imperial physician: "Spices are rare, so who brought them in, who sold them, and where they were purchased from? Can we find out?"
The imperial physician hesitated for a moment and said, "That's the theory."
The emperor said, "Then investigate. The person is dead, but the thing is alive. There are traces to follow, so we can always find it."
As soon as the emperor said this, Concubine Li's shoulders shook almost imperceptibly.
No one spoke for a moment, only the body that had just died on the ground gradually became cold and stiff.
suddenly.
The Fourth Prince's wife sank to her knees. She glanced at Concubine Li, then turned back to look at the Fourth Prince behind her. Her heart was broken as she said, "My daughter-in-law acted on her own initiative and bribed Eunuch Sun to do this. Mother and the Fourth Prince were never aware of this."
The Fourth Prince looked at the Fourth Prince's Consort in horror, as if he had never known her before. "How could you do such a vicious thing! You are a woman yourself, you should know how important a woman's innocence is! How could you do such a thing! You harmed the Crown Prince, Lord Yu, Madam Yu, and even Sixth Sister!"
The Fourth Prince's wife closed her eyes, a tear rolling down her cheeks. "I'm just resentful. I can't marry the one I love, but why can you all marry the ones you love? I can't stand seeing Sixth Sister doing well, the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess doing well, and Young Master Yu and Madam Yu being so affectionate. I accept the punishment."
The Fourth Prince looked at the Fourth Prince's Consort in shock. The surprise in his eyes was no longer fake. He wanted to move away from her, but he suppressed his nausea and moved closer to her. Then he kowtowed to the Emperor, "Father, it's my fault. I hurt her heart, so she did this. Please, for the sake of me and our children, forgive her!"
The emperor looked at the fourth prince deeply without saying a word.
Xie Qing and Qin Wan exchanged a glance, and only then did they see clearly that the Fourth Prince's wife did not kneel down on her own, but someone had hit her knee.
As for who could make the Fourth Prince's wife kneel down in the Palace of Heavenly Purity without alerting anyone, one has to be on guard.
The Fourth Prince's wife and the Fourth Prince were in the same boat. Even if she was reluctant, she had to take the blame and help Concubine Li deal with the matter.
If the matter is investigated further, more scapegoats will emerge: those who bought and sold spices, those who handled spices, those who arranged spices...
What's more, after investigating to the end, there was still no clue and no way to kill Concubine Li.
Of course, Xie Qing and Qin Wan also knew that this matter would not kill them, so they did not say anything about it.
After a long while, the emperor finally said, "The Imperial Concubine has been lax in her rule and has acted rashly. She is demoted to Zhaoyi and moved to Yinghua Palace. The Fourth Prince's wife is stripped of her title and imprisoned in the Fourth Prince's mansion. She is not allowed to leave unless summoned."
Yinghua Palace is located in a remote area, and who lives there now? It's the insignificant person who was thrown there, Lu Linglong. What's next to Yinghua Palace? It's the cold palace.
If Li Zhaoyi moved there, it would be tantamount to falling out of favor.
Lord Yu knew that this was the greatest explanation the emperor could give to the Yu family. As for whether Concubine Li lived or died, or whether she would be favored again, it had nothing to do with the Yu family.
Lord Yu bowed deeply and said, "I thank Your Majesty for your grace."
The emperor nodded slightly and looked at Young Madam Yu again: "Young Madam Yu has been wronged. I have someone draft an imperial decree to confer her the title of Seventh Rank Consort. I will also grant her a phoenix crown."
It had been a long time since the emperor had rewarded anyone with anything other than a jade ruyi. This was the first time he gave Madam Yu a phoenix crown, which showed his sincerity.
Everyone in the Yu family prostrated themselves on the ground and kowtowed to express their gratitude.
The emperor raised his hand to let them go. When the door of the hall was closed, he choked and coughed, spurted out a mouthful of blood, and slowly fell on the dragon throne.
The Fourth Prince was covered in blood and stood there in a daze.
Xie Qing hurriedly called out "Imperial Physician" repeatedly, then picked up the emperor and put him back on the bed.
Qin Wan looked at Li Zhaoyi and said, "Empress Zhaoyi, it's busy here, you should leave."
Li Zhaoyi's eyes flashed, and she rushed to the bed: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Your Majesty is ill, I can't leave!"
The Fourth Prince also knelt down before the bed and said, "Can we at least listen to the imperial physician's diagnosis?"
The director of the court was waiting outside and was well prepared. When he heard the noise, he immediately rushed in to rescue the emperor. When he saw the emperor's eyelids move slightly, the director's heart finally settled down.
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