The Crown Princess shook her head. "No, the Empress had already drunk the tranquilizing soup when I arrived. Someone in Kunning Palace told me that two timid maids fainted after seeing the Empress's appearance."
Meng Qi frowned. Could it be that she had guessed wrong again, and that the Empress had been attacked by something unclean in Hibiscus Palace? After all, the late Empress Dowager's death had been strange and sudden. She was not old and had no physical illness, yet she suddenly fell ill and passed away.
"I heard you woke up this morning?"
The Crown Princess nodded. "It was the doctor that Prince Cheng brought into the palace this morning who examined him. He's still here. I don't know what he told the Emperor, but the Emperor didn't ask much. He just came to see me this morning and told you all to come into the palace to tend to the patient."
Meng Qi hummed, "I thought it was the Queen's idea, but it turns out it was the Emperor's."
"Who knows if this is the Emperor's intention or the intention of my fifth brother and his wife?" The Crown Princess said with a hint of sarcasm. "Everyone knows that the late Empress Dowager was a very kind person. The Emperor visits Hibiscus Palace several times a year, but he's never heard of anything like this. Isn't that strange?"
Meng Qi understood the Crown Princess's intentions. If this were true, it meant the Empress was lacking in virtue or had done something wrong in the past, which was why she was trying to frighten the Empress. However, the late Empress Dowager had been gone for so many years; was it really necessary to frighten the Empress now? If this was false, then regardless of whether the idea came from the Empress or Prince Cheng, it was testing the Emperor's limits. Everyone knew how much the Emperor respected the late Empress Dowager, so how could he allow others to question her like this?
But considering the Emperor had just ordered them to attend to the sick, it was likely that the Empress had indeed been attacked. Of course, it wasn't necessarily the late Empress Dowager. After all, after she passed away, few of her attendants survived. Especially after that rumor spread, even more people disappeared inexplicably.
Meng Qi felt her brains were running out. If this was a man-made event, what was the Queen and Prince Cheng's purpose? Couldn't they simply summon them all to the palace? How was this any different from any other Grand Day event? It wasn't like they were forcing the emperor to abdicate, gathering the family members together to threaten and manipulate them.
"Perhaps everyone's physique is different. The Emperor is the Supreme Ruler, protected by a golden dragon. You also know that many people go to Hibiscus Palace. The East Wing Hall was where the people favored by the late Empress Dowager lived. And after she left, those people..."
Meng Qi turned to look at the Crown Princess, and both of them showed an expression of understanding.
"Where are the prince and the prince?"
"Except for my fifth brother, everyone else has gone to court with the Emperor." The Crown Princess patted Meng Qi's shoulder. "You're old and can't stand the hardship anymore. Although you went back to the East Palace to rest last night, you didn't sleep well that night, and now you still have a severe headache."
"How old are you, Crown Princess, to say such a thing? In my opinion, you are now in the prime of your life."
The Crown Princess smiled softly, "Now you are becoming more and more talkative."
"Even if I can't speak it, I have to learn. I can't let the prince confine me again. It's just a matter of saying nice things. I'll learn it if I try." Meng Qi said in a depressed tone.
The Crown Princess patted her on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry about them. No matter how many nice things you say, they'll always find fault. But that one gossipy person is the one who prevented you from attending the Second Young Lady's wedding. I heard the wedding was a lively one."
Meng Qi nodded. "The Princess of Shen County is so kind. She said she took care of everything herself from beginning to end. Many of the furnishings in the room were made by the Third Miss Zhou herself. With such a mother-in-law and sister-in-law, I'm afraid my second sister's life will be smooth."
The Crown Princess glanced at Meng Qi's expression. Was she truly clueless or was she just playing dumb? Who in the capital didn't know that Princess Hu, the Princess of Shen, regarded Zhou Yu as a thorn in her side? But then, thinking back to her behavior, especially when her relationship with Zhou Yu was still intact, she was often invited to the Zhou household by Hu. Perhaps Hu was so good at faking it that she didn't notice?
After Meng Qi finished saying this, she raised her head and looked around. Everyone was chatting in groups of three or four. Princess Duan also rarely came to pick a fight with her. She sat there alone, looking at the door, wondering what she was thinking.
"Do you know how we should take care of the sick?" Meng Qi turned around and asked.
The Crown Princess shook her head. "I don't know. The Imperial Concubine and the Virtuous Concubine are in the room. We just have to wait for the news."
As the two were talking, they saw Yong'an and Fanghua come in. Yong'an's swollen eyes were red and bloodshot. It seemed that the Queen Mother had really scared her yesterday.
Fanghua had suddenly lost a lot of weight, and her big eyes were lifeless. Meng Qi was shocked at first. Could it be that Fanghua had been with her last night? Then she thought, Fanghua had a stomachache, which was why she didn't attend Princess Cheng's birthday ceremony. She must have been very upset.
When everyone saw Yong'an coming in, they all gathered around him, chattering with concern. Princess Jing even took Yong'an's hand and said, "Don't worry, dear sister. Didn't the imperial physician say that as long as he wakes up, he will be fine?"
"Yes, the Queen has always been upright and respectable. As the mother of a country, she is naturally not afraid of those evil spirits." Princess Duan came over at some point and said in a shrill voice.
After the incident at Prince Cheng's mansion, Meng Qi and Song Chengze both agreed that Princess Duan's hostility toward Meng Qi was somewhat inexplicable. If her repeated targeting of Prince Duan or her instructions to the Imperial Concubine were understandable, she certainly went too far, especially during the incident at Prince Cheng's mansion, even seeming unreasonable.
Therefore, both of them felt that there must be other hidden secrets in this matter. Song Chengze also arranged people to investigate, but after all, it was a matter between a couple from another prince's mansion. Meng Qi thought that even if Song Chengze had someone else he could use hidden in Prince Duan's mansion, such a thing would be difficult to investigate unless Princess Duan revealed herself.
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