Chapter 61: What image flashed through his mind regarding the handkerchief...
Unable to obtain any information from Consort Hui, the Emperor summoned Grand Tutor He to the palace to question him.
Upon hearing of the urgent summons from the palace, Grand Tutor He hastily washed up, changed into his official robes, and went out. On the way, he tried to inquire about the situation from the eunuch who came to deliver the message, but the eunuch kept his mouth shut, only saying that it was His Majesty's summons and refusing to say anything else.
He entered the palace without knowing why, and when he learned that Consort Hui had sent someone to kill Lin Si, he was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time.
What does this have to do with Consort Hui? Why would Consort Hui kill him?
Like the emperor, he didn't believe that the incident at the Cheng'an Marquis's residence was committed by Consort Hui or the Sixth Prince. However, now that the evidence against Consort Hui for murder was irrefutable, even if they weren't related, they were now connected.
Grand Tutor He asked Consort Hui why she did this. Consort Hui's expression was even colder when facing her father than when facing the emperor, as if she wished she could drink his blood and eat his flesh.
She knelt on the ground, looked up at Grand Tutor He, and retorted, "I'd like to ask Father, what have Hong'er and I done to wrong you, and what have we done to wrong the He family?"
When the emperor first ascended the throne, he was nothing more than a puppet, rising overnight from the countryside to the court by sheer luck. Everyone knew he was just a puppet, everyone knew he was only chosen to continue the Qi family line. Others who sat in this position either had real talent and ability or were ordained by heaven, but he was chosen because the celestial divination indicated "abundant offspring and a strong bond with children."
To put it bluntly, isn't it just about being able to have children easily?
An emperor chosen for such reasons demonstrates his utter incompetence and how little respect he was held by powerful families. What proud and ambitious young woman would willingly marry such a man?
But he was lucky enough to sit on the dragon throne. The powerful and wealthy families looked down on him, but they wouldn't look down on the throne.
Everyone hoped the next emperor would be of their own bloodline, and everyone wanted to send their daughters into the palace to give birth to a prince as soon as possible, preferably the eldest son. If they could become empresses and give birth to the eldest legitimate son, that would be even better.
Given the He family's status, there was no way they could possibly win the position of Empress. They could only send a daughter to become a concubine, and even then, her initial rank would likely be quite low.
Unable to secure the empress's position, and with the emperor being such a useless country bumpkin who knew nothing, there was no need to send their talented and favored daughter into the palace. So, after much deliberation, the He family finally chose He Lingyi, the ninth daughter of the family.
Among the daughters of the He family, He Lingyi was not particularly intelligent, but she was good-looking and healthy, making her a suitable candidate for the palace.
She knew from the beginning that she was sent to the palace to give birth to a prince, and she didn't feel there was anything wrong with it. She wasn't particularly favored in the He family. Although the He family didn't mistreat her, her food, clothing, and daily necessities weren't good either, and there was still a gap compared to her favored sisters.
Rather than marrying into a humble family, He Lingyi felt that entering the palace was better and offered more prospects. Once she gave birth to a son and rose in rank, her sisters would still have to respectfully bow to her and call her "Your Majesty."
He Lingyi was delighted just thinking about it, so she agreed without hesitation.
She certainly lived up to expectations, becoming pregnant shortly after entering the palace, becoming the first concubine in the harem to conceive.
The He family was overjoyed at the time, hoping she would give birth to a prince, thus securing her position as the eldest son of the emperor. Even if she wasn't the empress and her child wasn't born of the legitimate wife, having the title of "eldest son" would open up many more possibilities for the future.
Perhaps the astronomical calculations were indeed very accurate, for the emperor did indeed have many offspring. Shortly after He Lingyi discovered she was pregnant, another concubine in the palace also became pregnant, and according to the imperial physician, her due date was even earlier than He Lingyi's.
The He family didn't say anything after they found out. Although He Lingyi was a little worried, she knew that such things were all up to fate, so she could rest easy and have a safe pregnancy. She didn't think too much about it and just hoped that the child in her womb would be good, preferably a son, and it would be even better if he could be born a few days earlier than the other baby.
In September of that year, the pregnant concubine accidentally tripped and fell in the garden, and immediately started bleeding. She went into labor after returning home.
He Lingyi was filled with doubt and sent people to keep an eye on the baby, wanting to see if the other party gave birth to a boy or a girl.
While she was waiting for news, her personal maid, whom she had brought from home to the palace, brought her a bowl of plum juice.
Since becoming pregnant, He Lingyi had developed a craving for sour foods. However, it was not advisable to drink cold beverages after the weather turned autumnal, and the plum drink was hot and somewhat bitter. She didn't think much of it at the time, and even when she started experiencing abdominal pain, she didn't suspect the drink. She simply assumed that she had been too nervous after hearing the news of the concubine's labor and had also affected her pregnancy.
Much later, her son died at the age of seven. When the maid saw her holding the child's body, she was almost driven mad. Overwhelmed with remorse, she told the truth, and she realized that the bowl of sour plum drink was actually a labor-inducing drug.
In order to secure the position of the eldest son, the He family had prepared a labor-inducing drug for their maid well in advance, allowing her to decide whether to use it based on the situation in the palace. If He Lingyi went into labor early, it wouldn't be necessary; however, if another concubine went into labor early, the drug would be given to He Lingyi during that concubine's delivery, so that she could give birth even earlier.
Because of this medicine, He Lingyi gave birth to a baby boy prematurely.
Her child did indeed claim the position of the eldest son, but due to premature birth, he was physically weak and began taking medicine from birth. He relied on medicine to stay alive, but he only lived to the age of seven before dying in her arms.
After learning the truth, she questioned the He family, but they turned around and asked her why she hadn't taken good care of the children, which led to the early death of the eldest prince.
"Other people's premature babies are raised well. You live a life of luxury in the palace, the eldest prince eats and uses the best food, and has the imperial physicians taking care of him. Why couldn't you save him? Isn't it because you, as a mother, were irresponsible!"
"They say a baby lives to be born at seven months but not at eight. Princesses born at eight months have all survived, but your prince, born at seven months, couldn't even stand up. And you still have the nerve to blame us?"
"Using that labor-inducing drug was for your own good. If you hadn't given birth to the eldest prince, would you have lived so well all these years? Would you have been able to rise to the rank of concubine?"
"If it weren't for the clan sending you to the palace, if it weren't for the clan's constant support, you wouldn't have your current position."
They verbally attacked her, blaming everything on He Lingyi, refusing to admit that they were wrong.
The concubine who was pregnant at the same time as He Lingyi gave birth prematurely to a baby girl, a princess. Even if she hadn't been induced, she would have been born the eldest son of the emperor.
The He family's eagerness for quick success forced her to have a premature birth, resulting in her child being born weak. After her child died from illness, they blamed her for not taking good care of him.
He Lingyi hated the He family to the core at that time, but she already had the sixth prince, Qi Jinghong. If she severed ties with the He family, her sixth son would lose the support of his maternal family and would be as helpless as Consort Shu's children in the future.
No, her sixth son would be even worse than Consort Shu's child.
At least Consort Shu's children had the Emperor's favor, but what about her sixth son?
For Qi Jinghong's sake, He Lingyi suppressed her anger, enduring it for over a decade. In the end, instead of receiving the He family's full support, she was dragged down by them to this point…
If only I had known... If only I had known...
Thinking of the letter she had received a few days ago, Consort Hui closed her eyes, bit her lip hard, and swallowed back the resentment and curses surging in her heart.
Grand Tutor He was puzzled when she fell silent after questioning him. He asked her several times but couldn't get any more information. He wished he could crack open her head to see what she was thinking and why she would kill Lin Si for no reason.
Consort Hui was determined not to speak, and in the end, Grand Tutor He could only kowtow to the emperor and apologize, saying that he had failed in his duty to educate his son and was willing to be punished.
The emperor watched from the sidelines, unsure whether the father and daughter truly resented each other and were unaware of what the other had done, or whether the old man, Grand Tutor He, knew something but deliberately kept it a secret.
However, Grand Tutor He was a senior official in the court, and without concrete evidence, he couldn't detain the person in the palace for interrogation. As for Consort Hui... although she killed Lin Si, Lin Si was just a gambling den owner, a local ruffian, and killing him didn't warrant death. Even if he was involved in the Cheng'an Marquis's affairs, Qi Jingxuan and Shen Yan only suffered some criticism as a result, without any substantial harm.
The emperor could demote Consort Hui's rank, strip her of her title, and banish her to the cold palace for this, but he could not torture her to extract the truth. All he wanted to know now was the truth!
In the end, the emperor sent Grand Tutor He away, while Consort Hui was imprisoned in her own palace and forbidden from stepping out of the palace gates without permission.
Now that Qi Jingxuan is asking him why Consort Hui committed murder, even the emperor is completely baffled. How should he answer?
"Although we don't know why she took action, there are only a few people who could coerce her. I guess they threatened her with Qi Jinghong, which is why she was so compliant and didn't dare to reveal their identities afterward."
Consort Shu spoke from the side.
Although she and Consort Hui were not on good terms, she knew that Consort Hui cared deeply about her children. Especially after the early death of the eldest prince, she kept a close eye on Qi Jinghong. Later, when Qi Jinghong got old, she was reluctant to let him leave the palace to establish his own residence. It was only because the emperor couldn't bear to see it that he insisted on moving him out.
"Your sixth brother has been out of the city for the past few days and is not in the capital. I have already sent someone to summon him back. When he returns, let him go to the palace to persuade his mother and see if he can get any information out of her."
"The emperor said."
Qi Jingxuan frowned, a hint of disdain on his face: "He's even dumber than me. What could he possibly ask? Besides, if someone were to threaten Consort Hui with the Sixth Prince, she probably wouldn't say a word to him."
Everyone understands this principle, but there's no other way at the moment, so we can only give it a try.
Qi Jingxuan entered the palace full of questions, but ultimately, apart from realizing that he was useless, he couldn't solve any problems.
He dejectedly bid farewell to the emperor and Consort Shu, and absentmindedly walked out. As he turned a corner, he did not notice the person coming from in front of him and bumped into the Third Princess Qi Yunying who was walking towards him.
Qi Yunying was nearly knocked off her feet, but a palace maid nearby caught her and helped her regain her balance.
She thought some reckless palace servant had bumped into her and was about to scold him when she saw Qi Jingxuan standing in front of her.
Normally, if Qi Jingxuan bumped into someone, he would curse them for not being able to see properly. But today, he seemed to have lost his soul. Not only did he not utter a word of abuse, but he also bent down to pick up the handkerchief that she had dropped at his feet, tossed it to her, and then slowly continued walking forward without saying a word.
Qi Yunying looked at his puppet-like figure, unsure whether to curse him or not. In the end, she resigned herself to her bad luck, spat, and left.
Qi Jingxuan shuffled out step by step, wondering how he would tell Shen Yan the terrible news when he got back. As he was thinking, a scene suddenly flashed through his mind, and he stopped in his tracks, turning around abruptly.
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