Chapter 82 Sister, where is the sachet you took away today?
He Yanchen sat on the high seat, and it was Ji Ming who spoke: "Empress Zhaoyi, Jiang Ronghua, I heard that you went to Zhuoyu Palace today."
Upon hearing this, the two knew they were under suspicion. Concubine Shen quickly stood up and knelt in the palace. "Your Majesty, Sister Yu sent Zi Su here today. She said she was bored in the palace and wanted me to go and talk with her. I happened to be with Jiang Ronghua at the time, so I asked Jiang Ronghua to go with me to the Jade Palace."
Jiang Ronghua knelt beside her and nodded hurriedly, "That's right. It wasn't us who took the initiative to propose going to the Jade Palace."
He Yanchen didn't want to listen to any excuses and ordered a body search.
"Your Majesty, why not let my men search?" the Queen Mother said at the right moment. "The Imperial Guards are all men. If we let them search, it would damage the reputation of the Imperial Concubine."
The Queen Mother knew that He Yanchen could not trust anyone else and that only the Imperial Guards were under his control.
He Yanchen looked at the Queen Mother, who swallowed hard. Just when she thought he was going to refuse, she heard him say, "Thank you, Queen Mother. Ask Madam Yang to take them down for a body search."
The Queen Mother hurriedly ordered Madam Yang, "Go quickly and search carefully."
"yes."
While the palace maids were searching people, Chu Yi led the imperial guards to search Yihua Palace and Zhaoyang Palace thoroughly. Apart from finding some medicinal herbs to fill sachets in Shen Zhaoyi's palace, they found nothing.
After carefully examining the herbs, Court Judge Xiao said, "They are all tranquilizing herbs. Furthermore, when the people from Concubine Zhaoyi's palace came to collect the herbs, the Imperial Hospital kept a record of them. There is no mistake."
At this time, Nanny Yang also came out. She shook her head and found nothing unusual.
The queen was a little frightened. She hadn't found out who did it.
It was done so flawlessly, there is such a talented person in the palace.
"Your Majesty, I remember that when I was playing chess with Sister Yu in the courtyard today, she casually mentioned the fragrance of flowers in the yard." Zhaoyi Shen emerged from the side hall, her face showing no sign of humiliation from the body search. Instead, she analyzed the situation with a determination to uncover the true culprit. "But when I went to the side hall just now, I accidentally glanced at the courtyard and saw only crabapple blossoms planted by the square stone table."
"The crabapple has no fragrance."
When Shen Zhaoyi said this, everyone was silent for a moment.
If the crabapple has no fragrance, what does Yu Zhaorong smell?
He Yanchen's eyes darkened, and he winked. Chu Yi immediately went out and brought in a few pots of crabapple flowers.
"Where do these flowers come from?"
Little Lizi's face was filled with remorse, and he dropped to his knees with a thud. "Your Majesty, I brought these flowers from the greenhouse yesterday. Your Majesty said there weren't many flowers in the yard this season. When I passed by the greenhouse, I saw the crabapple blossoms they were cultivating, though out of season, were blooming beautifully, so I brought a few pots back."
"I didn't know there was something wrong with this flower. I deserve to die!"
He Yanchen was too lazy to listen to his nonsense. To him, he didn't need to regret or beg for mercy for anything. It was the servants' dereliction of duty if they failed to serve their master well.
But he thought that this little chestnut was usually quite popular in front of Yueli. If he was beaten to death, Yueli would think he was too cruel.
"Take him away and wait until Yu Zhaorong wakes up before dealing with him."
Court Judge Xiao leaned over and sniffed the crabapple blossoms. Indeed, there was a faint fragrance. He discerned it for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty, this crabapple blossom has Chuanxiong on it."
"Chuanqiu promotes blood circulation and removes blood stasis, making it a good medicine for regulating menstruation. However, Chuanqiu and Huozhong counteract each other. Taking them together can have a contraceptive effect, but using them during pregnancy can cause hemorrhage."
Judge Xiao looked around the hall, but he was puzzled as he couldn't find Huo Zhong.
"Your Majesty, perhaps Consort Yu had accidentally come into contact with Huo Zhong these past two days. Some people in this palace have always been at odds with Sister Yu. Why don't we send someone to search each palace?" the Queen suggested.
The eyes of many people below changed. Even if they had not harmed Yue Li, every palace had its own secrets. If something else was discovered, it would be an unexpected disaster.
Concubine Zheng was the first to dissuade him: "Your Majesty, with so many palaces, who knows how long it will take to search them all. Why not think about who has conflicts with Concubine Yu?"
Jiang Ronghua sneered: "In the past, Concubine Zheng loved to offend Concubine Yu the most."
Concubine Zheng stopped talking. She thought about it and realized that it was true. Concubine Jin was still under house arrest. She was scolded by Yueli at the last morning meeting.
The quarrel between several people made He Yanchen frown impatiently. Noticing his expression, Jiang Ronghua didn't dare to say anything.
The night was dark, and it was not until an hour later that Chu Yi returned with the search team.
"Your Majesty, I have discovered Huo Zhong and Chuan Mei in Liu Lan Pavilion. Both herbs have strong fragrances. I found them in the soil in the backyard of Liu Lan Pavilion."
Liulan Pavilion is where the Huang family, formerly Huang Baolin, was imprisoned.
After dealing with the Xianwang faction, Captain Huang was held accountable, his family property was ransacked, and Huang Baolin was demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in Liulan Pavilion for life.
Chu Yi said, "The palace maids around Huang Shi explained that Huang Shi held a grudge against Yu Zhaorong. Before Huang Baolin entered the palace, the Huang family had placed a palace maid in the imperial kitchen to await Huang Baolin's orders. It was that palace maid who took advantage of her position to put Chuanxiong in Yu Zhaorong's lunch."
"The flowers in the greenhouse are placed in a sunny spot every day. There are usually fewer people guarding them at noon, which gives the palace servants an opportunity to take action."
He Yanchen didn't know whether to believe it or not, he said calmly: "Where is that palace maid?"
Chu Yi paused for a moment and apologized, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. When I arrived with my men, the palace maid had already hanged herself."
It seemed that things were becoming clear. Since the day of the palace coup, everyone knew that Huang Baolin was favored because of the emperor's deception, so there was a clear reason for her to hold a grudge against Shang Yu Zhaorong.
Moreover, the concubines were all daughters of aristocratic families or officials, so it was not surprising that they had confidants in the palace. The motives, timing, and evidence all matched.
Concubine Shen said to He Yanchen, "Your Majesty, Huang's crimes are extremely serious, and I am also at fault. Today, I saw that the weather was good outside, so I let Sister Yu go to the yard to play. If it weren't for me, Sister Yu wouldn't have suffered this punishment."
Jiang Ronghua hadn't spoken since Chu Yi came back, just listening to Shen Zhaoyi taking the blame on herself.
"Sister Yu is still young. I just hope the imperial physician can treat her well and not make it difficult for her to have children in the future."
Hearing the words "difficulty in having offspring", everyone in the hall couldn't help but think.
What the palace values most is offspring. To put it bluntly, the greatest use of concubines and the royal family is to continue the offspring. A concubine who cannot give birth is doomed to have no future.
He Yanchen looked at Shen Zhaoyi with a dark and unclear look. He felt that the investigation was going too smoothly.
Perhaps he had seen too many struggles in the harem and the previous dynasty since he was a child, and was used to the wickedness of people's hearts, so he always wanted to speculate the worst about others.
Shen Zhaoyi is so selfless to Yueli, what does she want?
He Yanchen didn't say anything, and no one dared to speak. After about a cup of tea, they heard him say in a calm voice:
"Mrs. Huang was sentenced to death, and all the palace servants who served her were beaten to death."
After the others left, He Yanchen instructed Chu Yi: "Keep an eye on Shen Zhaoyi and Rong Jieyu."
"Jieyu Rong?" Chu Yi thought he had misheard.
He Yanchen didn't say anything else. Huang was already a discarded chess piece. Who would go to the trouble of sending these medicinal herbs to her into the palace?
It may be true that she did it, but she wouldn't be the only one who did it.
*
Coming out of the Jade Palace, Shen Zhaoyi patted her chest with lingering fear: "Sister Yu is in such an unexpected disaster. Why has it got anything to do with us?"
"That Huang is really vicious. If Sister Yu gets hurt because of this, what will happen in the future?"
Jiang Ronghua seemed a little tired and only replied calmly, "President Xiao is a skilled doctor, he'll be fine."
They came to the fork in the road where they had parted ways during the day. Jiang Ronghua caught a glimpse of the sachet on Shen Zhaoyi's waist and suddenly asked:
"Sister, where is the sachet you took today?"
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