Chapter 106 Concubine Li sees blood
After Empress Cui recovered from her illness, the emperor did not rush into the harem, but instead spent several days with her.
After accompanying Empress Cui, the emperor went to visit two concubines who had princes, Concubine Xie and Concubine Lin Zhaorong.
Just as the concubines in the harem were guessing who would be the next one, unexpectedly, Concubine Li had her period in the evening!
Upon hearing this, the emperor, empress and concubines hurried to the Bixiao Palace.
Concubine Li had been carried to the bed by the palace servants. She had long been unconscious, with her eyes tightly closed. The skin on her face was almost transparent, and only the red stain on the hem of her skirt was shocking.
Empress Cui called out twice, but Concubine Li still showed no reaction, as if she had completely fainted.
Xie Chen frowned and ordered the palace servants, "Go and urge the imperial physician again."
The concubines watched this scene in silence.
He knew in his heart that there was little chance of Concubine Li saving the baby.
The bedroom was filled with a faint smell of blood, so it was not suitable to stay there for long. The emperor and empress led the concubines to the main room.
After everyone was seated, Empress Cui began to question Concubine Li's maids: "Your Concubine Li was fine, why did she have spotting? Did she fall, or did she eat something she shouldn't have?"
Concubine Li's personal maid, Sang Zhu, knelt in the center of the hall, crying, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Concubine Li has been very careful ever since she became pregnant. I usually have my servants support me whenever I go out, so I never stumble or fall. As for my diet, it's all strictly controlled by the imperial physician, so there shouldn't be any problems."
Empress Cui waved her hand, signaling everyone to leave. She sighed and said, "Let's see what the imperial physician says."
Soon Judge Xia arrived.
After taking Concubine Li's pulse according to the procedure, he personally performed acupuncture, wrote a prescription for the palace maids to boil the medicine, and then came to the main room to report.
"Your Majesty and Empress, Concubine Li's pulse is slippery, rapid, and astringent. This is due to the use of musk, which is why she is bleeding. I have asked the palace maids to boil some medicine for her. Whether Concubine Li can keep the baby depends on God's will!"
"Musk?" Xie Chen's face darkened. He clearly knew the harmful effects of this substance. "Why would such a vile thing be found in this palace?!"
Empress Cui's eyes turned cold. Harmful things kept appearing in the palace. It was obvious that she, as the empress, had failed in her duty. She quickly stood up and knelt before Xie Chen, "It is my fault. Your Majesty, please punish me."
Since the Empress was kneeling, there was no way the other concubines could sit still. They looked at each other and knelt down one after another.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me."
There were a large number of people kneeling in the hall, and only Xie Chen was sitting in the main seat.
He held his head in silence for a moment before saying, "They have evil intentions, so naturally they tried every possible way to get things in. How can you blame the Queen for this? Queen, get up quickly."
Only then did Queen Cui stand up.
Xie Chen looked at the group of concubines below again. He wanted to scold them and make them kneel for a while, but when his eyes fell on one of the wilted faces, he was startled.
Originally, he planned to finish dealing with state affairs in advance today and go see her, but he didn't expect to be tripped up by this matter again.
Xie Chen raised his eyelids coldly: "You all should get up too."
The concubines sat back in their seats.
Judge Xia began to inspect the things in the hall.
The first thing to be affected is spices. The incense burned in Concubine Li's palace is pure pear fragrance, which has a sweet smell. If it is mixed with strong musk, it can be smelled at once.
In a short while, Judge Xia made a decision that the spice was pure and not mixed with anything else.
After checking the spices to no avail, Judge Xia moved on to other things. He searched even the beaded curtains and draperies, but found no trace of musk.
There was silence in the hall.
Concubine Xie was the first to break the silence. She looked puzzled and said, "Since there is no trace of musk in this palace, then where did Concubine Li smell the musk?"
Empress Cui asked Sang Zhu again, "Does your Concubine go out often? Where does she like to stay?"
Sang Zhu recalled the incident carefully, feeling puzzled. "Our Concubine usually stayed in the palace and never went out. Even if she wanted to go out for a walk, she would stay in the courtyard."
This is very strange. Since Concubine Li did not go out and there was no trace of musk in the palace, what was going on with her pulse?
After Queen Cui glanced at all the concubines one by one, she knelt down in front of Xie Chen again.
Xie Chen raised his hand to support her and asked in confusion, "Queen?"
Empress Cui's brows were stern and her expression was serious: "Li Jieyu, the accident happened in Fenghe Palace. I failed to supervise it properly, please punish me, Your Majesty."
Everyone suddenly realized, who said that Concubine Li never goes out? She goes out every day. Isn’t going to Fenghe Palace to pay respects counted as going out?
It's the Queen...
How could she be a virtuous and generous queen?
Queen Cui has a high prestige among the concubines, and almost all the concubines in the palace do not believe her. What is going on?
Concubine Xie then knelt down and said, "There must be something hidden. Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly."
The two concubines with the highest status knelt down, and the other concubines could no longer sit and knelt down as well.
Xie Chen's eyes swept through the hall like a sharp blade. A suffocating chill filled the hall, making it difficult for people to breathe.
After a long while, Xie Chen finally said, "I believe that Concubine Li's bleeding is not the Queen's business."
Queen Cui slowly raised her eyes.
The emperor and empress's eyes met for a moment in the palace, then quickly looked away.
Xie Chen stood up and walked to Queen Cui, personally supporting her up. "You've just recovered. If you have something to say, just speak up. There's no need to kneel."
Empress Cui said in a clear voice, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Xie Chen looked into the hall again: "Everyone, get up."
The concubines sat back in their original seats.
Concubine Xie Xian raised her eyebrows slightly and suggested, "What about the Empress? We concubines know best, but since there is suspicion, it is better to investigate, not just the Empress, but all six palaces."
Lin Zhaorong retorted calmly, "It's okay to investigate us, but the Empress Dowager is the mother of the country. The last palace search was already unfair to the Empress Dowager. If they search again, where will the Empress Dowager's reputation be?"
Listening to her words, Concubine Xie was a little impatient: "Then according to Lin Zhaorong, what should we do next? If there is no trace of musk in the six palaces, don't we have to check Fenghe Palace?"
Lin Zhaorong pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked Judge Xia, "If a concubine put musk in a sachet and wore it around her body every day to pay her respects, would Concubine Li be affected?"
Standing in the hall, Xia Yuanpan bowed and said, "What Empress Zhaorong said is possible, but it can only bring out a fraction of the musk's effectiveness. If the distance is far, even that will be lost."
Lin Zhaorong narrowed her eyes. "Court Judge Xia is saying that if the distance is close, it is entirely possible that Concubine Li will bleed?"
"yes."
Concubine Xie's eyes glared: "The one sitting with Concubine Li is..."
Two bright faces appeared in the concubines' minds.
Xie Chen wasn't quite sure about the seating arrangement of the concubines, so he asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"
Concubine Xie finished her words: "It was Concubine Liang and Concubine Pei."
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