Chapter 295 Wei Yanwan 35
"I pay my respects..."
Wei Yanwan slowly moved up, holding onto the handrails. She squatted down with difficulty and prepared to salute, but Hongli held her back and said, "Your foot is still injured. No need to salute."
Yan Wan followed his hand and stood up. She held Hongli's large hand tightly with her backhand, her face showing genuine concern: "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."
"I understand, but I can't help but feel sad."
Hongli carefully supported her and they sat on the couch together.
"How are the arrangements with the Queen going?"
"I was injured and walked slowly. When I arrived, Concubine Xian and Concubine Jia had already arrived. I believe they must have already discussed it."
"Oh, I'm afraid they still have something to argue about."
Hongli frowned slightly, then nodded Yanwan's forehead with an angry smile: "You know how to make amends for them. You were clearly standing outside and didn't dare to go in."
"I simply don't want to argue about this. Besides, if I had gone in then, I'd have been a target of some trouble. We all live together every day, and while there are bound to be some friction, it's best to live in harmony. Isn't that what Your Majesty wishes?"
"I naturally hope for harmony among the six palaces, but human nature is always insatiable and its desires are hard to satisfy..."
"emperor……"
Before Yan Wan could open her mouth to comfort her, an aunt came up the stairs. Who else could it be but Aunt Yu Hu?
Yu Hu immediately glanced at the emperor when she saw her. Hongli understood and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "You should go back and rest first."
"Yes, then I'll take my leave first."
Yan Wan did not hesitate at all and immediately walked down slowly holding the handrail.
Hongli then looked at Yuhu and asked, "What did you find out?"
"I only managed to track down a young eunuch regarding the tung oil incident, but unfortunately, it was too late. He had already fallen into the water and drowned."
"Falling into the water? What a fall into the water! The person behind this is really neat and tidy."
"Yes, but even the wisest man can make mistakes. Just now, when I was investigating, I heard Lianxin report that Su Lian, who was with the Empress, had disappeared. I followed them in the search, and unexpectedly, we found Su Lian in a secret place, having committed suicide by hitting a pillar."
"Are you sure it was suicide?"
"The coroner said it could be suicide, or it could be a murder... that's fine."
Although Yu Hu said this, she knew that her master would not believe that this was just a suicide. She also knew that if she could not make a breakthrough discovery, it would only be a manifestation of her incompetence.
"But I found scratches on Su Lian's hands, and found something on the ground."
Hongli then turned around and looked at her. Yu Hu raised her hand high, which contained a few scattered beads and a conspicuous, pure and warm white jade gardenia.
"This bead is just ordinary. Many people in the palace use it as an ornament for the pearl flowers on their heads." Hongli said as he picked up the gardenia. Only then did he realize that it had fallen apart and even had one or two pieces missing. Yu Hu had only managed to piece it together roughly.
"This white jade gardenia was badly broken, and Su Lian died in a place with lush vegetation near the water. I sent people to search everywhere, but only found these."
"It looks like a pearl flower, and it looks quite familiar..."
Hongli smiled meaningfully: "It's a pity there's only one pearl flower. What can it mean?"
"This servant is incompetent."
"It's not that you are incompetent, but my harem is full of talented people."
Wei Yanwan, who had returned to the ship, didn't care about what happened afterwards. She just hid in the house to rest every day, or joined everyone in mourning, and never got involved in any power struggle.
This revealed Concubine Xian and Concubine Jia. Like Yan Wan, they did not show any anxiety. One was the Concubine with the highest status but was at odds with the Queen, while the other was Concubine Jia, who was close to the Queen and had made contributions to childbearing, but unfortunately her position was slightly lower than hers.
Regardless of whether they were truly unwilling or pretending to be unwilling, they were put on the stage. The two of them shirked their responsibilities, but in the end, Hongli made the final decision, and Noble Consort Xian was to take full charge, with Consort Jia, Consort Ling, and Consort Mei assisting.
"Your Majesty, why didn't you let Hailan assist you? She's the only one among the concubines who didn't receive your orders. Wouldn't that make people laugh?"
As soon as Ruyi sat down, she asked Hongli directly. Although she knew that Hongli had always been like this, she couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. "I think Concubine Yu used to be weak-willed. Although she has improved later, I'm afraid she'll be scared if I leave this important matter to her. If she makes a mistake, I won't be able to punish her, nor will I be able to not punish her."
"You haven't even let her try, so how do you know Hailan isn't capable?" Ruyi carefully studied Hongli's face, as if understanding something. "You haven't... forgotten Hailan, have you?"
"She gave birth to my Seventh Prince, how could I have forgotten? Ruyi, am I such a cold-blooded and heartless person in your heart?"
Hongli's voice suddenly became louder, and Ruyi immediately apologized to him guiltily: "I am sorry for my words and have made the emperor sad."
"Forget it, don't I know what kind of personality you have?"
Ruyi finally smiled and followed Hongli's hand, sitting down beside him again. Hongli patted the back of her hand and said something serious: "Ruyi, about the Queen's matter before..."
If it was Wei Yanwan who was here at this moment, she would definitely be able to discover the other party's superb PUA skills. Unfortunately, it was Ruyi who was present at this moment. She was clearly dissatisfied with the emperor for once again putting herself in a difficult position, but she still agreed to the emperor's decision to make a big deal out of a small matter.
At this moment, she did not realize, or was unwilling to believe, that to Hongli, his face was more important than the life of her so-called lover.
The Empress's funeral was extremely grand, even surpassing all previous Qing dynasty rites over the past century. This could be attributed to the Emperor not forgetting their past love, or perhaps it was Ruyi's way of saying that someone's death reminded her of her past kindness.
But in Yan Wan's view, this was simply due to his pitiful inferiority complex. Because of this inferiority complex, he only dared to vent his true feelings towards the dead.
Wei Yanwan knelt on the ground and listened to the words that the wine-offering ceremony was over and everyone could rest for a while. Then she slowly stood up and turned around to see Concubine Jia and the slightly embarrassed Concubine Su leaving together.
This is really, why does Concubine Jia always bully this person? And Su Lujun is also only interested in eating and not in beating, so how could she be fooled by a few words from others?
Wei Yanwan stirred the sweet soup in her hand and found that Concubine Xian and Concubine Yu were also missing. She laughed in her heart.
This is easier than her previous missions. As long as she keeps a low profile, they will fight to the death on their own and there is no need for anyone to instigate them.
"Drink it while it's hot. If you stir it again it will get cold."
Concubine Mei coaxed Jingyan to finish drinking, then looked at Yanwan who was smiling maliciously. She almost stirred the bowl of sweet soup until it lost its heat, and shook it in front of her in a bad mood.
"Oh, I see~"
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