Seeing that a young eunuch was about to come in and drag the maid away, the imperial concubine finally spoke, "Forget it, don't kill her. I will give you one last chance. Serve me well.
If you make me angry again, I won't beg for you next time!"
"Okay, my beloved concubine said not to kill, then I won't kill. Please withdraw."
The old emperor waved his hand and the two young eunuchs retreated.
The maid collapsed to her knees and kowtowed to the imperial concubine, "Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After bowing, the palace maid retreated covered in cold sweat.
"Your Majesty, how is the matter with Mei Cui going?"
The imperial concubine took the initiative to bring it up.
The old emperor put his arm around the imperial concubine's shoulders and played with her hands.
"I came here to talk to my beloved concubine about this matter. The secret guards have interrogated Mei Cui and found out the result.
The person who bribed Mei Cui to poison you was Concubine Shu.
Mei Cui only said that it was Concubine Shu who ordered her to do it, and then she bit her tongue and committed suicide. No other questions could be asked.
My beloved concubine, have you ever had any conflicts with Concubine Shu? "
The imperial concubine was stunned. "Meicui bit her tongue and committed suicide?"
“Yes, Mei Cui was very stubborn. In order to get the truth out of her, the secret guards used all kinds of torture on her.
Finally, she said that it was Concubine Shu who ordered her to do so. When the secret guards continued to interrogate her, she bit her tongue and committed suicide.
Originally, I wanted to keep Mei Cui's body and let you, my beloved concubine, see it.
After all, Mei Cui was your maid who had been with you for decades, but she was tortured and her body was horrible. I was afraid it would scare you, so I asked them to deal with it.
I wonder what benefits Concubine Shu promised Mei Cui that would make her bite her tongue and commit suicide rather than say anything more about Concubine Shu.
The old emperor's words made the imperial concubine's throat sore, and her heart was filled with pain and sadness of being betrayed.
These days she has been wondering why Mei Cui betrayed her.
But she couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she thought!
The imperial concubine took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, do you have any plans for Concubine Shu? Or do you want me to endure it?"
The imperial concubine was too lazy to beat around the bush with the old emperor and asked directly.
The old emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, "How could I let my beloved concubine endure this? As for Concubine Shu, I will order her to be interrogated. As long as she confesses, I will punish her."
"What if she denies it? What if she destroys all the evidence that proves she ordered Mei Cui to poison me?
So will Your Majesty not punish her? Or will you let me pretend that this incident never happened?
After all, Concubine Shu is the Empress's cousin."
The imperial concubine changed her usual docile nature and questioned the old emperor in every sentence.
The old emperor frowned, "My beloved, what's wrong with you today? Why have you become so unreasonable?
Do you not believe me, or do you not believe that I am on your side?"
The imperial concubine closed her eyes and tears fell, landing on the back of the old emperor's hand.
The warm touch made the old emperor's hand tremble.
"Your Majesty, because of Concubine Shu, my little granddaughter almost got into trouble!
It doesn't matter if something happens to me! But my granddaughter is only one month old!
It was because Concubine Shu wanted to plot against me that Jiuer was implicated!
Your Majesty, even if you don't consider this concubine's sake, please punish Concubine Shu for the sake of your little granddaughter!
I kneel before you!"
As the imperial concubine spoke, she was about to kneel on the ground and kowtow to the old emperor.
The old emperor grabbed the imperial concubine and stopped her from kneeling.
"My dear, you are hurting my heart!
Jiuer is also my little granddaughter! I promise you, no matter whether Concubine Shu admits it or not, no matter whether I can find evidence or not, I will punish Concubine Shu and teach her a lesson! "
After hearing what she wanted to hear, the imperial concubine stood up and saluted the old emperor.
"I thank the emperor for taking the decision for me and Jiu'er. If Prince Kang's family knew about this, they would definitely be very grateful to the emperor."
The old emperor sighed, "You are just relying on my favor. If it were someone else who dared to speak to me like this, I would have had him dragged out long ago."
The imperial concubine sat back down beside the old emperor and massaged his arm. A smile graced her well-maintained face, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
"I am just arrogant because of my favor. Who made the emperor favor me?"
The old emperor stayed with the imperial concubine for a while before leaving.
After the old emperor left, the smile on the imperial concubine's face immediately disappeared.
Did Concubine Shu instruct Mei Cui to poison her?
Oh, she doesn't believe it.
Even if she really was Concubine Shu, the old emperor knew about it and even condoned it!
Otherwise, Jiuer wouldn't have said in her heart that she had clearly died of poisoning in her previous life, but the old emperor did not allow her to investigate the cause of death, and deliberately poured a basin of dirty water on her for having an affair!
Isn't this just covering up for the person who poisoned her?!
How blind and incompetent was she in her previous life to think that she was the most favored concubine by the old emperor!
The emperor's favor is arsenic, but also a shield!
The imperial concubine closed her eyes, adjusted her mood, and called the palace maid in.
The palace maid had just escaped death and was now much more submissive.
"What are your instructions, Madam?"
"I don't care who your master is. I just saved you and gave you a new life.
From now on, I can only be your master.
If I find out that you are in Cao's camp but your heart is with Han, I will ask the emperor to kill you once, and I can also kill you a second time!"
The imperial concubine's voice was cold and majestic. The maid fell to her knees with a plop, her eyes drooping, and she flashed, "Yes! Your Majesty is my only master!"
There was some insincerity in what she said, and only she knew it.
On the other side, An Yi arrived at Prince Kang's Mansion.
Prince Kang had met An Yi before. In the past, when the old emperor had something to tell him, he would either ask Eunuch Fuquan to convey the order or An Yi would come quietly.
When King Kang saw An Yi appear, his heart still skipped a beat.
The snowstorm wasn't over yet, and my father suddenly sent An Yi to visit...
This makes me feel a little panicked.
"An Yi, does the Emperor have any instructions?"
King Kang asked first.
An nodded, "Prince Kang, the assassin who appeared at your daughter's full-month ceremony that day has confessed that he was ordered by the Minister of Rites, but the assassin also committed suicide.
He also poisoned the Imperial Concubine and implicated your daughter, Mei Cui. After revealing that the mastermind behind this was the Imperial Concubine Shu, she bit her tongue and committed suicide.
The emperor said that because the assassin committed suicide, there was no other evidence except the assassin as a witness to prove that it was the assassin sent by the Minister of Rites to kill your daughter at the full moon ceremony.
Therefore, the emperor could not order the arrest of the Minister of Rites.
Prince Kang, please find evidence yourself. As long as there is evidence, the Emperor will deal with it.
As for the matter of Consort Shu, His Majesty will inform Consort Gui, and let Consort Gui decide how to handle it. Prince Kang, you don't need to worry about it."
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