Chapter 403 Let’s Die Together
An Yi knelt on one knee and said, "Your Majesty, I did see it. Just as the palace maid who was exorcising insects said, the young lady from the Gu family sneaked into the back hall and kept knocking on the door. She also said some... some inappropriate words and even tried to break down the door."
"But what Miss Gu didn't know was that the Regent of the Great Zhou wasn't actually inside. Instead, he went to the small kitchen to prepare a midnight snack for the Regent Princess."
"When the princess returned with the young prince and princess, Miss Gu did indeed pull a dagger from her sleeve and stab the princess. The princess, in a panic to protect the two children, kicked her. It was Miss Gu herself who lost her balance and stabbed herself with the dagger, resulting in her death."
"This is what happened. If the Queen or Madam Gu doesn't trust me, you can call all four secret guards who were here last night to question them one by one."
Secret Guard 1: Yes, there are four secret guards, not just me. Good brothers, we work together and die together.
The Queen looked at Madam Gu, who was slumped on the ground. "Do you have anything else to say? If not, take Miss Gu back with you to arrange her funeral. As for Miss Gu's assassination of the princess and your confrontation with her, the Emperor will investigate after he wakes up."
"Empress... no... that's not the case... I want to see the Imperial Concubine, I want to see the Imperial Concubine..."
The Queen snorted softly, "Concubine Zhang gave birth to a stillborn baby last night due to poisoning. She will never get pregnant again. I'm afraid she doesn't have the time or the mood to see you right now."
Mrs. Gu looked at Gu Lingxiu's motionless body and realized that her daughter was really dead. She threw herself on Gu Lingxiu, wailed, and fainted.
The Queen waved her hand and said, "Come here, carry Madam Gu and Miss Gu out of the palace and send them directly back to the Gu residence. Then, tell Master Gu everything in detail and tell him that I said so. Have him liquidate the family property and apologize to the princess. As for whether they should be implicated, we will have to wait until the Emperor wakes up before we can make a decision."
The troublemakers left, and the queen nodded slightly to Bu Ruo and prepared to leave.
"Your Majesty, please stay~"
The Queen turned around in confusion, thinking that the other party had some other request, but unexpectedly, Bu Ruo came over with a smile and gently held her hand: "I was unwell last night and disturbed the Queen. I haven't thanked you yet."
The Queen was slightly startled, then smiled and said, "That's all right, Princess. You're too polite. Princess, I'm your guest in Beining, and I'll take good care of you. If you need anything, just send someone to see me. I still have to go see the Emperor, so I'll come and have tea and chat with you another day."
"Your Highness is right. Then I will not keep you."
The queen walked to a secluded place, waved away the palace maids behind her, and then looked at the thing that Bu Ruo had just secretly stuffed into her hands. It was a sachet tied with a red rope. It was called a sachet but it was only the size of a grape. If you looked closely, there seemed to be gold threads slowly flowing on it.
Thinking of what Zou Qianbu Ruo had said when he sent her out, that she must not let it go, she simply hung the rope around her neck and wore it close to her body. It was neither too long nor too short, just the right size.
"My lady, where are we going now?"
"According to the time, the emperor should be awake soon. Let's go check on him."
…
Inside the bedroom, the old emperor slowly woke up and looked at the queen who was sitting on a chair beside him calmly drinking tea, and then he struggled to get up.
"Your Majesty, it's best not to move around. The head of the Imperial Hospital said that if your Majesty rests now, he might be able to live for another six months. Otherwise, I'm afraid he won't live for more than two months."
The old emperor kept coughing: "How is Concubine Zhang now? Is the fire in Concubine Rou's palace out? Have they been rescued? Is the royal heir okay?"
The royal heir in Concubine Zhang's belly is gone, and his only hope now lies with Concubine Rou.
"I don't know how the Imperial Concubine is doing. The Emperor once issued an imperial decree that no one, including me, the Empress, could enter the Ninghe Palace to disturb her. I didn't dare to disobey the decree, so I didn't go to see her. So I don't know how the Imperial Concubine is doing now."
"As for Sister Roufei...I do know, but I'm afraid Your Majesty doesn't want to know."
The old emperor had a bad feeling in his heart: "What happened to Concubine Rou?"
The Queen put down the teacup in her hand and said, "This morning, the palace maids reported that the fire in the Purple Palace was extinguished by itself at dawn. The entire Purple Palace was reduced to ashes, and no one inside escaped, including Concubine Rou."
After hearing this, the old emperor's face turned pale and he coughed up a mouthful of blood...
"Master Zhao, why don't you quickly give the emperor acupuncture? Your Majesty, please take care of your health. After all, I haven't finished what I want to say."
Seeing this, Court Chief Zhao hurried over to give the Emperor acupuncture. After the Empress saw that the old Emperor had stabilized, she asked, "Your Majesty, are you feeling better? If you are, then I will continue. After all, this is a serious matter and I cannot make the final decision."
The old emperor leaned weakly on the bed and said, "Tell me, what else do I not know?"
The Queen lowered her head, playing with her armor. "After the fire in Zichen Palace was extinguished, the palace servants went in to investigate and found two charred bodies entangled together in the bedroom. That posture...tsk tsk, even I find it disgusting to hear."
"After examination by the imperial physician, one of them is undoubtedly Concubine Rou, but the other one is too feverish to be identified."
"According to the maid who delivered fruits to the Zichen Palace kitchen every day, she was good friends with a young maid who was cleaning the palace. That maid said that every three to five days, Concubine Rou would send all the palace servants away and stay in the bedroom alone. This started six months after she entered the palace."
"This time, it was because Sister Roufei sent everyone away, and I was too careless, so I didn't get out in time when the fire broke out..."
"Your Majesty, Concubine Rou has been having an affair in the palace behind your back for half a year since she entered."
The old emperor's pale face turned purple again, as if he was about to suffocate. Dean Zhao used acupuncture and pressed the acupoints, and finally stabilized him again.
Just as she was about to reassure the Emperor, she heard the Empress continue, "I remember that when Concubine Rou became pregnant with the Third Princess, it was a year after she entered the palace. At that time, the Emperor was out of the palace for an inspection for over a month. After returning, he only visited the Purple Palace once, and Concubine Rou became pregnant."
"Oh, by the way, Concubine Rou was also born prematurely when she gave birth to the third princess. What a coincidence."
The old emperor pointed at the queen and glared at her: "Impossible, Rou'er would never do this to me, you vicious woman, you must be talking nonsense."
"For so many years, you have always resented me for asking you to marry you, which prevented you from marrying your beloved. During these years of sleeping with me, you were never willing to look at me, and were extremely perfunctory. Even when I was pregnant, you didn't seem to be very happy."
"Queen, it was you who framed Rou'er, wasn't it?"
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