Gu Qilan suppressed his anger, closed his eyes, and said sternly, "Where is the imperial physician? Let him answer!"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone went to call the imperial physician.
Gu Qilan angrily strode to the head seat and sat down: "There is no peace in the harem!"
Everyone bowed their heads respectfully in an instant, standing on both sides. The Queen hurried forward to apologize, saying, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. It was my fault for mismanaging the place."
Gu Qilan looked at her sullenly for a moment, then said, "Never mind. You also have to take care of the eldest prince, so it's inevitable that there will be omissions."
The imperial physician arrived soon after. He did not dare to delay and first said that the second prince's condition was now stable. Then he respectfully explained the whole cause and effect. It turned out that the second prince had been inexplicably poisoned and sick before, and there was a problem with the hundred-year-old ginseng that Concubine Rong had sent.
In recent days, the second prince was frightened by the previous incident with the poisonous snake and was a little absent-minded. He had no appetite and his body looked obviously getting thinner and thinner.
Concubine Xin then remembered the hundred-year-old ginseng that Concubine Rong had sent her, so she asked someone to cut some and boil some ginseng soup for him to nourish his body.
Unexpectedly, the Second Prince began to vomit and have diarrhea soon after eating. Concubine Xin summoned the Imperial Physician Song to check, and only then did she find out that the problem was with the ginseng.
So, after seeing that the second prince's condition had stabilized, Concubine Xin, who loved her son dearly, ran to Concubine Rong and started making a fuss.
After hearing the whole story, everyone was surprised and puzzled. How could such a simple method of harming people appear in the palace?
Gu Qilan also obviously felt that there were too many loopholes. He said in a deep voice: "Find the remaining ginseng and let Wang Yuanpan verify it personally."
Concubine Xin's heart trembled. She slowly stepped forward and stammered, "Your Majesty, I was so angry at the time that I had the harmful thing burned..."
Gu Qilan frowned tightly, his sharp gaze fixed on Concubine Xin, as if weighing a thousand pounds: "Oh? What a coincidence?"
"Yes... yes, I was so angry at that time. Your Majesty, you don't know what Chenghui looked like at that time. He was suffering from abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. When the imperial physician said it was the ginseng, I just wanted to get rid of that harmful thing..."
With the strongest evidence gone, Gu Qilan turned to Doctor Song, the only doctor who had seen the ginseng. He simply asked, "Is what Concubine Xin said true? Was the Second Prince's illness really caused by the ginseng?"
Doctor Song never faced the emperor directly. Although the emperor only had a blank expression and asked him questions without any fluctuations in his tone, he could still feel the heavy pressure. He said respectfully:
"Your Majesty, as Concubine Xin said, the Second Prince's illness was caused by the ginseng sent by Concubine Rong."
Concubine Rong couldn't help herself when she heard this. She suppressed the pain on her cheek and said, "Doctor Song, what favors did you receive from Concubine Xin that you would wrongly accuse me like this? How could I be so foolish as to tamper with the gift I gave her?"
Doctor Song said in panic, "Please don't talk nonsense, Concubine Rong. I am the imperial physician of the Imperial Hospital and I am devoted to the Emperor. How can I say that I was bribed by anyone?
As for the last question you asked... I'm sorry, I don't know. I'm just an imperial physician who diagnoses and prescribes medicine."
"You..." Rong Fei's anger grew due to his words, but she couldn't refute it. She couldn't say that she was very smart and such a cheap trick was definitely not her doing.
Just as the two sides were at a stalemate, Song Qu, who had been missing for a long time, suddenly walked in. He whispered in the emperor's ear, "Your Majesty, the other imperial physicians have found nothing abnormal when checking the Second Prince's pulse, and they did find something in the remaining ginseng soup."
The Second Emperor has almost recovered now. The imperial physician could not find anything in his body. He could only find that he had diarrhea before. However, the remaining ginseng soup that the Second Emperor drank had...
It was indeed found that something unclean was found in the ginseng slices. Now that the remaining ginseng was burned by Concubine Xin, there is no strong evidence.
Gu Qilan's face darkened a bit, and Song Qu whispered in his ear, "But I've noticed that most of the meals in Concubine Xin's palace tonight are greasy..."
Song Qu only said this, and the emperor naturally understood the rest. A six-year-old child would naturally have gastrointestinal discomfort if he ate too much greasy food. Could it be that Concubine Xin deliberately gave the Second Prince diarrhea in order to frame Concubine Rong, and then colluded with the imperial physician to falsely accuse Concubine Rong?
This was just his guess. Now that the evidence was gone, Rong Fei's mistake was confirmed. Although the method seemed crude, she could not produce any evidence, while the evidence on Xin Fei and the imperial physician's side was solid.
Thinking of this, he glanced at Concubine Xin and Doctor Song dangerously, frowned and thought for a moment, and he had already made a decision in his heart.
Last time, when the eldest prince and the second prince were inexplicably poisoned, he suspected that it was Concubine Rong's doing, but he had people investigate for a long time but found no evidence. Today, he could use this incident to give Concubine Rong a warning.
After all, although what happened today was clumsy, Concubine Xin did bite Concubine Rong, and Concubine Rong had no evidence to refute it.
He was silent for a while, then asked, "What else do you have to say, Concubine Rong?"
Rong Fei's heart trembled, and she hurriedly defended herself: "Your Majesty, I am innocent. The ginseng I sent was fine. How could you believe Xin Fei's words so easily?
How do we know if she colluded with the imperial physician to slander me? Then how did she happen to burn the remaining ginseng? Isn't this destroying evidence?
As soon as she finished speaking, Concubine Xin yelled, "Shut up! Are you saying that I colluded with the imperial physician to deliberately poison my child so that I can put the blame on you?"
"You are so evil, Concubine Rong! You are so evil-minded and you look down on others. Chenghui is my biological son. I carried him for ten months and gave birth to him. How could I possibly harm my own son?"
Hearing her say this, Concubine Rong was also stunned. Yes, Concubine Xin cares about her son the most. Would she hurt the second prince in order to frame herself?
She hesitated, and Gu Qilan also hesitated. Yes, Concubine Xin usually valued Chenghui more than her own eyes, and always pampered him, fearing that he would suffer any hardship.
He couldn't be sure whether such a mother would harm her own children. After all, the Queen Mother always treated the three siblings equally, and he grew up in maternal love.
It was only when he grew up and faced some setbacks in the fight for the throne that he felt that a mother's love for her child was unquestionable.
If Concubine Xin didn't do it on purpose, then Concubine Rong would not be innocent. It just so happens that he wants to teach her a lesson. As for Concubine Xin, he can't be sure whether she is innocent or not, but to be on the safe side, she must be separated from the Second Prince.
When the Second Prince turned five, he had already moved to Chonghua Palace. However, Concubine Xin would visit him or summon him to her residence whenever she had time.
Now in Qinghe Garden, for the convenience of care and since the princes are still young, they can live with their mother.
He solemnly issued an order: "Concubine Rong is attempting to murder the heir to the throne, but considering the Second Prince is not seriously injured, I hereby strip him of his title, demote him to a noble lady, and place him under house arrest for three months!"
After a pause, he continued, "Xin Fei, you have not taken good care of the Second Prince and have resorted to lynching. However, considering that you are wholeheartedly for the Second Prince,
Just stay in your place and reflect on the past. Chenghui will move to Xiefang Pavilion. Don't meet again unless it's important."
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