Chen Hushan, who is more cunning than a ghost, has never approached any of the eldest prince, the second prince and Xiao Shaoke since the news of Yang Zhengde's death came out.
He used the excuse of having stomach discomfort recently to leave the palace and return home every noon to eat the light meals that he said were carefully prepared for him by his chef.
As for the eldest princess who was transferred out of the palace because of "smallpox infection" and was of no value to Chen Hushan, Chen Hushan said that he had almost forgotten about his former classmate and this person.
He showed his attitude of seeking profit and avoiding harm so obviously that Fang Huaiying was actually a little disheartened. However, Yu Zizhen felt that the more he acted like this, the easier it would be for him to do things behind his back without him noticing.
If he came, Yu Zizhen would be worried instead, fearing that this sharp-minded guy would judge from the eldest prince's mental state that he and the emperor were not actually in the panic, fear, and anxiety of falling off a cliff.
Yu Zizhen doesn't want to have too much dealings with people who are too shrewd and good at seeking profit and avoiding harm.
On the contrary, Yu Zizhen prefers to make friends with people like Fang Huaiying, who are smart but have principles and bottom lines.
After they secretly dug the tunnel that led from the eldest prince's bedroom to the water outlet of the imperial garden, Empress Dowager Da Lu finally found out how she was poisoned.
It turned out that about three months ago, Lu Tong had already taken control of the nanny who was most trusted by her.
She brought that nanny from the Lu family. Not only had she been serving her wholeheartedly for the past few decades, but she had also been framed more than once and even beaten, forced to kneel, and tortured more than a dozen times because of her.
Da Lu's trust in her was only slightly less than her trust in herself, so she really didn't think that the other party would betray her at the beginning.
However, the evidence was there, and no matter how much she didn't want to believe it, she still had to muster up her courage to deal with the traitor.
The nanny did not try to argue and exonerate herself like other traitors who were caught. After being brought before Mrs. Lu, she cried and confessed the whole story.
It turned out that although this nanny never married and had no children, she had a surviving nephew in her mother's family.
From her story, Da Lu learned that it was Lu Tong who threatened her with her nephew's life and asked her to drug Da Lu. Lu Tong also swore to her that he did not want Da Lu's life, but just hoped that Da Lu could be less energetic and always focus on the affairs of the previous dynasty, and retreat behind the scenes to enjoy her old age after realizing that she was not energetic enough.
The nanny cried and kowtowed to Da Lu, saying that she didn't know that the medicine would gradually lead Da Lu to death, so she was confused for a moment and agreed to help Lu Tong give Da Lu the medicine.
Da Lu automatically filtered out her words. They were all veteran players in palace fighting. Hadn't they seen enough of the dramas of fathers and sons, and brothers killing each other?
Even father and son can kill each other, not to mention that she and Lu Tong are sisters from the same mother.
Mrs. Lu believed that even if Lu Tong really said such words to the nanny, the nanny would definitely not believe him.
She simply chose to protect her nephew over her old master.
Da Lu was too lazy to listen to the nanny's crying. The master-servant relationship she had with the nanny had been completely exhausted by the nanny herself the moment she learned the truth.
The only thing she wanted to know now was what kind of poison Lu Tong had given her.
The special spices mixed with poison powder were soon searched out of the nanny's room. After examination by the imperial physician, it was discovered that the poison was actually a very rare chronic poison.
This poison will cause the poisoned person's body to slowly become weak without them noticing. Once the body becomes weak to a certain extent, a person who looks healthy on the outside may die from a minor illness like catching a cold.
So cruel yet so untraceable, it was obvious that Lu Tong was thinking of taking over the power of Da Lu while killing her.
Mrs. Lu closed her eyes. Was it true that she was destined to be a lonely widower from beginning to end in her life?
Once upon a time, the man who claimed to love her took in beauties one after another, so that even though she was on guard against it, he was still tricked by her in the end.
Now, her brother, who had risen to prominence and gained power because of her, was actually coming to take her life.
Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Lu waved her hand and had the nanny dragged out and dealt with.
After a long while, in the empty and silent palace, the elderly voice of Madam Lu sounded again, "Spread the news to the public and say that I accidentally caught a cold. I've been delayed for so long that my vitality has been severely damaged and I'm terminally ill."
Her trusted palace maids, who had been holding their breath and not daring to make any sound, hurriedly whispered "yes" when they heard the voice.
One of them bowed and stepped out to talk to the imperial physician who was in charge of taking Da Lu's pulse. The others, under Da Lu's instructions, took her orders and did certain things one after another.
When the news reached the Southern Study, Yu Zizhen quietly suggested to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, why don't you issue an imperial decree ordering the Empress to take the concubines and the princes and princesses out of the palace to Huangjue Temple to pray for the Empress Dowager."
The emperor readily accepted the advice and immediately wrote an imperial edict. After receiving the edict, everyone else went to pack their luggage, but little Lu directly rejected the emperor's edict.
Next, she had important things to do, so how could she go to the temple to pray for that old immortal at this critical moment?
She said to the eunuch who came to deliver the imperial edict, "I am too busy to leave the palace. Why don't you let those useless things pray for blessings? I will stay in the palace to take care of my mother and manage the palace affairs."
What she called "useless things" were some low-ranking concubines, including the eldest princess's biological mother.
It is worth mentioning that Xiao Lu did not throw out the third prince's biological mother, Concubine Ning, whom she disliked very much, from the palace.
After the low-ranking concubines, including the eldest princess's biological mother, left, the queen immediately summoned Concubine Ning to her own palace.
She gave Concubine Ning a packet of potent poison that Lu Tong had sent to the palace. It was a deadly poison that could kill instantly upon contact with blood. "Do you know what you need to do?"
This poison was sent to the palace by Lu Tong after the news of the Empress Dowager's serious illness reached the Lu family. The person who sent the medicine to the palace also notified the Empress Xiao Lu and asked her to supervise Concubine Ning to poison the Emperor as soon as possible.
The Queen was neither surprised nor shocked by her father's decision, because it was something they had discussed long ago.
Since the Empress Dowager was about to die, there was naturally no need for the Emperor to continue to exist.
And his disabled son, they should just die together.
Thinking of this, a sinister light flashed in little Lu's eyes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
