The Empress Dowager's expression relaxed for a moment.
"Since Your Majesty has come, then this matter will be left to you. I am old and useless, and all I feel is a headache from all this noise." The Empress Dowager pulled Mu Qianqian into her arms.
She nuzzled Mu Qianqian's nose.
The Empress Dowager made Mu Qianqian laugh.
Besides laughing.
She longed to hear what was truly in her heart.
Check if you really misheard.
"What exactly happened?" Emperor Yuanwu looked at the people in the room, his brows furrowing deeply. "There's never a day of peace in this harem."
"Your Majesty, please calm down," the concubines said in unison.
Emperor Yuanwu:...
He turned to look at the disheveled and disheveled empress: "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
The Empress trembled at the shout and knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, I was resting in my palace tonight when a fire suddenly broke out in the side hall of Yikun Palace. When the eunuchs and maids rushed out, they tore this cloak off the person who was putting out the fire."
After the Empress finished speaking, she pointed to the cloak on the ground: "What a coincidence, this cloak belongs to Consort Shu, so..."
As the Empress spoke, she wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes, feeling wronged: "So I asked Consort Shu to come and identify it."
Mu Qianqian was just giggling in the Empress Dowager's arms.
Upon hearing what the Empress said.
Mu Qianqian's expression changed, her smile vanished, and her expression even looked as if she were angry.
"Father, the Empress is a bad person."
She started this fire herself.
[The thief cries "Stop thief!" and falsely accuses my mother!]
This statement was not only heard by Emperor Yuanwu.
The Empress Dowager heard it clearly as well.
The two of them glanced at Mu Qianqian simultaneously.
"What was the result of the identification?" Emperor Yuanwu asked impatiently.
"The cloak is indeed mine," Consort Shu replied before the Empress could speak.
"If it's your cloak, why is it in Yikun Palace at this time?" Emperor Yuanwu asked, puzzled.
"Your Majesty, I do not know," Consort Shu said truthfully. "During the last heavy rain, Consort Zhen was punished by being forced to kneel in the Imperial Garden. I asked Ling'er to give this cloak and an umbrella to Consort Zhen. I do not know how this cloak ended up in Her Majesty the Empress's palace at this time."
Consort Zhen, who was suddenly called out, was startled and hurriedly stood up and knelt down next to Consort Shu.
"Consort Zhen, is this true?" Emperor Yuanwu pressed.
Consort Zhen frowned deeply, glancing at Consort Shu with some confusion: "Your Majesty... I knew nothing of this matter."
She hurriedly added after she finished speaking: "That day, my sister saw me kneeling in the Imperial Garden as punishment, but said she would bring me an umbrella. Later, Aunt Wenhui said that because of the heavy rain, she would exempt me from punishment, so I returned to the palace."
Consort Shu glanced at Consort Zhen out of the corner of her eye, puzzled.
When Ling'er returned.
She even asked specifically if the clothes and umbrella had been handed to Consort Zhen.
Ling'er's answer was also affirmative.
Could this be the problem?
"Kneeling as punishment?" Emperor Yuanwu seemed to have grasped the key point: "Why kneel as punishment?"
In the palace, when concubines made mistakes, they were usually punished by copying Buddhist scriptures or being confined to their rooms to reflect on their actions.
What did they do wrong to deserve being forced to kneel in the Imperial Garden?
Consort Zhen looked flustered; she moved her lips but didn't manage to speak.
The Empress spoke first, saying, "Your Majesty, it's getting late. Why don't we first find out about the fire in my palace so that the ladies of the palace can go back and rest? We can discuss the rest another day."
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