Chapter 91 An Lingrong 32
"Your Majesty, look..."
Su Peisheng held the things he had found in his hands with a bitter look on his face. He thought that the matter was over after finding the evidence, but he didn't expect that this was just the beginning.
Su Peisheng sent someone to search Concubine Hua's palace and found an unburned note buried at the bottom of the incense burner where she burned Huanyi incense. Although only half of it was left, the general meaning could be guessed:
...pregnant...really
It was probably true that Concubine Hui was pregnant. But since this was true, and everyone in the palace knew it, was it worth it for someone to personally tell them?
Furthermore, Concubine Hua cleaned the incense burner once a day, no later than two days. Since the note and incense ash were still there, it meant that the note must have been passed in during these two days.
Considering the changes in the plan that Fuling had just found, the meaning behind this is very intriguing.
Even Cao Qinmo began to suspect when she saw the words on the letter. She wondered if Concubine Hua had learned yesterday that Concubine Hui was really pregnant, and simply ordered Fuling to abort Concubine Hui's baby.
"What do you mean by real pregnancy? Can this pregnancy be faked?" Concubine Qi whispered doubtfully to Noble Lady Fucha beside her, but in this quiet hall, it was obvious that her deliberately lowered voice was not that low.
"Concubine Qi is right," the Empress said to the Emperor with a serious face, "This matter seems to be very serious. It concerns the heir to the throne. I ask Your Majesty to investigate it thoroughly."
"Okay, okay, okay!" Yinzhen stared at the note. He didn't expect that Concubine Hua could give him another surprise. "Concubine Hua, please explain to me what it means to be truly pregnant. Why did Concubine Hui become truly pregnant only yesterday?!"
Concubine Hua had no choice but to kneel this time. The opposite was true for Zhen Huan. As if remembering something, she replied to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report this. Yesterday, I went to visit Sister Mei. Unexpectedly, I found that she had a poor appetite and was vomiting violently, so I ordered Liu Zhu to call the imperial physician.
"I didn't expect that Liu Bin, who was in charge of Sister Mei's pregnancy, was away, so I grabbed a young imperial physician to take a look."
"After taking Sister Mei's pulse, he said the pregnancy seemed to be in the wrong month, a month later than reported."
Mei Jie and I were blaming Liu Zhu for hiring such a young imperial physician whose medical skills were so mediocre that he couldn't even diagnose the month of pregnancy. Later, after leaving Xianyue Pavilion, we stopped by Chunyu Pavilion. I'm afraid that when Lingrong and I talked about this, this treacherous servant heard us.
Ling Rong also took over the conversation: "Yes, Sister Mei used a prescription to help her conceive that day. She said she got it from an imperial physician named Jiang Cheng and had Liu Bin look at it. Now it seems that there may be something wrong with this prescription as well."
As they talked, with the emperor's permission, Caiyue took Su Peisheng to get the prescription, but unexpectedly, the original one was missing. Fortunately, Zhen Huan had copied a copy, thinking that if it was really a good prescription, it might be useful in the future.
When Zhen Huan ordered someone to bring the prescription, everyone in the Imperial Hospital turned pale when they saw it, and they didn't want to be the first to take action.
In the end, he pushed the young man out.
"Is this prescription a medicine for pregnancy?"
"...Your Majesty, this prescription, this, this is... this is a prescription for inducing false pregnancy in women." The young man spoke nervously, then spoke out without hesitation. "Following initial use, women will experience dizziness, nausea, dietary changes, and delayed menstruation. The symptoms are similar to those of a woman who is pregnant, but the effectiveness will wear off after two months."
"You just checked Concubine Hui's pulse. Is she really pregnant?" The Queen's words were what everyone was most concerned about. Even the Emperor looked at the imperial physician kneeling on the ground.
"We have all examined Consort Hui's pulse and have confirmed that she was indeed pregnant."
Now things become clear.
Originally intending to frame Shen Meizhuang for a fake pregnancy, she unexpectedly found her lucky and it became a real pregnancy. Concubine Hua, of course, refused to let this go and decided to go all the way by ordering Fuling to put safflower in Concubine Hui's soup.
If she hadn't been unlucky, the note in the incense burner wouldn't have burned out. Based on the evidence of the scent of Huanyi found in Fuling and Xiao Luzi's room, Concubine Hua only needed to insist that Zeng had missed something, and even the Emperor wouldn't be able to do anything to her.
"I ask you again, do these have anything to do with you?"
Yinzhen looked at Concubine Hua. There was no big change in his tone. He only sighed slightly at the last sentence: "Don't let me be disappointed in you again and again."
His words seemed to drain all of Hua Fei's strength. She actually went limp and knelt there without saying a word.
"Hua Fei, you have plotted to murder the heir to the throne and deceived the emperor. For the sake of your brother Nian Gengyao, I will strip you of your title, demote you to a noble lady, and confine you to the Yikun Palace. You may not take a single step outside without my permission."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Shilan has never harmed Concubine Hui's child, Your Majesty."
Hua Fei seemed to have just woken up from her dream. She could not accept her fate of falling from a high position, at least not to be blamed for others. Unfortunately, the emperor thought she was still making excuses, and he was just annoyed.
Thinking of the war in the northwest, she added, "All treatment will be the same as that of a concubine."
After saying this, he stood up without even looking at Noble Nian lying on the ground. He just turned around and told the Queen: "The rest of the matter is left to the Queen. I have other matters to attend to in the front court."
"Farewell, Your Majesty."
As soon as the emperor left, Nian Shilan also stood up. Even though she had been demoted to a noble lady, she still did not give the queen face and actually returned directly to Qingliang Palace with the servants around her.
This grand drama ended in such an anticlimactic way.
………
"We painstakingly convicted her of two serious crimes, yet she only received such a mild punishment."
Shen Meizhuang, who was a little weak, felt a chill in her heart. She couldn't think of any other way to move the mountain named Nian Shilan.
"In fact, stripping her of her title is probably a serious crime for her." Zhen Huan comforted her listlessly, but she couldn't continue.
"Look, even you can't continue." Mei Zhuang lazily lay on the bed, feeling a little disheartened. "What does this kind of punishment mean to her? Now she's imprisoned, and with the imperial concubine status the emperor personally requested, I'm afraid she'll be more comfortable than if she were released."
"Yes, promotion or demotion, in the final analysis, is just a word from the emperor." Zhen Huan also lost her energy and leaned on Ling Rong's shoulder, not wanting to talk anymore.
Ling Rong patted them both and said, "I think we can't just judge by the present."
"If you want to take something, you must first give it. The Emperor is a person who wants those he loves to live and those he hates to die. He is reluctant to punish Concubine Hua because of their long-standing friendship and the Nian family behind her."
Ling Rong spoke gently, patting Zhen Huan's back gently. "No matter how much affection there is, it will eventually wear off. The Nian family's achievements have overshadowed the emperor, and they may turn from a help into a burden in the future. We are still young, so take it slow and don't be impatient. Step by step, we will eventually get the results we want."
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