Wan Jingrong, who had never dreamed that this matter was related to his aunt, had now turned into a sculpture. He didn't know what to say or do to help his aunt get rid of the crime.
Forced into a corner by Yu Zizhen, Xiao Lu had no choice but to adopt a fair attitude. She took a deep breath and signaled the imperial physician to check the two plates of flower cakes.
The imperial physicians dared not breathe a word. After a careful examination, the leading imperial physician first consulted his colleagues for their opinions, and then said to everyone with a humble look:
"Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Queen Mother, and Her Majesty the Empress, the plate of flower cakes on Prince Yu's table is not made with thorny roses, but with azaleas. If ingested, they will experience nausea, vomiting, and difficulty breathing. In severe cases, they may die from the inability to breathe. As for the plate on the ground, after inspection by you, I confirm that it is a normal thorny rose flower cake."
The imperial physicians didn't dare to offend Consort Wen and the Wan family, and carefully weighed their words. However, Yu Zizhen wasn't afraid of them. She bowed and said, "Your Majesty and the two queens, please grant justice to this humble minister."
The mascot emperor rubbed his brows and looked at the Empress Dowager Da Lu, waiting for her decision with a respectful look. The Empress Xiao Lu looked at the Empress Dowager Da Lu with eyes full of suggestion and pleading, hoping that she could help her save Wan Jingrong's aunt Wen Zhaoyi.
It’s not that she has any “sisterly feelings” for Wen Zhaoyi, she just doesn’t want any new concubines to enter the harem to share the emperor with her.
At least she had complete control over Concubine Wen, unlike the emperor's other concubines, who all racked their brains to give birth to children by bypassing her strict surveillance.
They knew that little Lu was jealous and that the Lu family wanted to completely control the emperor's harem, but as the saying goes, wealth and honor are sought in danger. For that position and for the supreme glory of their mother's family, they and the families behind them wanted to fight and make themselves the second Lu family.
Xiao Lu was very annoyed with these people, but she couldn't just kill them all and be done with it, regardless of what people in the world said.
Finally, there was a Concubine Wen who only followed Xiao Lu's orders. Xiao Lu wanted to keep her to occupy the position, lest if she stepped down, other ambitious women would take the position and cause trouble for Xiao Lu.
However, compared to her little selfishness, the eldest Lu family obviously cared more about the relationship between the Lu family and the Zhenbei Palace.
A sharp light flashed in her old eyes, "Take that slave away for questioning."
"Yes." Da Lu's trusted nanny responded, and someone immediately came forward and picked up Wen Zhaoyi's maid.
Wen Zhaoyi wanted to hint something to her, but before she could make any move, Mrs. Lu threw the teacup at her.
The elder Lu had accumulated great power. Compared with the arrogant and domineering younger Lu, Wen Zhaoyi was more afraid of the elder Lu, who always looked kind and gentle.
She fell to her knees with a thud, and never dared to play tricks under Mrs. Lu's nose again.
The nanny trusted by Mrs. Lu was obviously a resourceful person. In less than a quarter of an hour, the palace maid she had dealt with confessed.
After whispering a few words in Da Lu's ear, the nanny stood behind Da Lu again as a background board.
Da Lu put down the teacup that the maid had just replaced for her and asked, "Wan, do you admit your guilt?"
Wen Zhaoyi was still struggling in her last moments, "I have failed to discipline my subordinates. I beg the Empress Dowager to forgive me."
This is clearly an attempt to shift the blame to the servants.
Yu Zizhen sneered and stared at the Queen Mother Da Lu with burning eyes.
When Mrs. Lu saw her attitude, she knew that Yu Zizhen would not buy into Wen Zhaoyi's clumsy tricks.
She immediately punished Consort Wen. "Are you lax in your management of your subordinates? You've clearly repeatedly harmed others, yet you refuse to repent even after the incident! Considering your attempted crimes, I will confine you to house arrest for six months and make you copy the palace rules ten times. As for your rank, I will temporarily demote you from Consort Zhaoyi to Consort Changzai."
Wen Zhaoyi was horrified. She could find someone to copy the palace rules for her, and she didn't care about being confined to the harem. After all, she didn't rely on the emperor's favor to survive in the harem, so there was no need to worry about whether she would be in a difficult situation if the emperor forgot about her.
But she could not accept that her status had dropped so much from Zhaoyi to Changzai. When she was unable to give birth to a child for the emperor, she didn't know what she should do to get her status back.
Wen Zhaoyi was very panicked. She knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly to the Empress Dowager Dalu, begging her not to demote her from Zhaoyi to Changzai.
Empress Lu also pleaded for her. The two of them pestered Empress Dowager Lu, who was very upset. She cursed them several times in her heart, "Two stupid people who can't see the situation clearly!"
Was she trying to demote Consort Wen's position? Didn't she know that Consort Wen was her niece's lackey? Didn't she have to give Yu Zizhen an explanation?
Instead of going to Yu Zizhen to find a solution, these two idiots just kept pestering her and begging her to show favoritism. Did they lose their brains when they were born?
Da Lu was secretly cursing her niece and Wan, but Wan Jingrong, who had finally come to his senses, suddenly did something that made Da Lu look at him with admiration.
"I'll give you money!" He walked sideways to Yu Zizhen and negotiated with him anxiously, "I'll use the money in exchange for you letting bygones be bygones against my aunt."
Yu Zizhen hummed, "But she's already hurt me three times. And the reason she hates me is ridiculous. She said I bullied you as soon as I came to the capital... So tell me, who bullied whom first? As the saying goes, he who teases first is the meanest. You've even tried to kill me, so shouldn't I seek justice and an apology for myself?"
Being pointed at in the nose and called "cheap", Wan Jingrong was both angry and depressed. If he didn't need help from Yu Zizhen regarding his aunt's matter, he really wanted to slap Yu Zizhen's ugly face hard.
He took a deep breath and said, "As long as you can let my aunt go, our Wan family is willing to prepare an apology three times the amount of last time."
Yu Zizhen touched her chin, feeling that this deal was not impossible. She said, "But the Queen Mother has already made the decision. Isn't it a bit late for me to accept your compensation now?"
She thought to herself, don't think I can't see that you, an old witch, are deliberately keeping a gloomy face and not saying anything just to give them the opportunity to attack me.
It's a pity that the two women were used to being arrogant and could neither think of nor do they could bow to her, a "hostage". Unlike Wan Jingrong, who had been cheated of a lot of money by her, when he encountered troubles related to her, his subconscious thought was to please her and spend money to avoid trouble.
Yu Zizhen does love money, but she will not allow herself to be controlled by others just because of her love for money.
She could accept the deal, but the initiative of the transaction had to be in her hands, not in the hands of Queen Mother Da Lu.
She said this on purpose in order to force the Empress Dowager Da Lu to personally give her a way out.
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