After hearing Song Qu's words, Gu Qilan frowned slightly, called the palace servants to help him dress, and said to Ning Yuxi: "I will go to Jingyang Palace to take a look, you go to sleep first."
Ning Yuxi also summoned a palace maid to help her change her clothes and said to the emperor, "I will go with you."
She wanted to go and see what had happened to Concubine Xin. She was fine just now, so why did she suddenly faint and become unconscious?
Gu Qilan had no objections. Concubine Yi had always been kind and never made enemies. When she was managing the harem, she was dedicated and responsible to every concubine in the harem. This was the reason why he let her manage the harem.
After packing up, the two of them went together to Concubine Xin's Jingyang Palace.
On the way, Gu Qilan couldn't help thinking. From what Song Qu said just now, it seemed that Concubine Xin suddenly became seriously ill because of the Tianshan Snow Lotus, and the Tianshan Snow Lotus was given by the Queen. Could it be that this matter was related to the Queen?
Since the Queen started to take charge of the harem affairs, everything has been more perfect than before. Whether it is towards the concubines or the palace maids, she is very considerate in every aspect and no one can find any fault.
The treatment in all aspects is better than before. Now, in just over half a month, no one in the harem fails to praise her and express gratitude for the queen's kindness.
So why would the Queen want to harm Concubine Xin? Not only is this not in line with the Queen's current style, but it's also too obvious.
Just as she was thinking about it, the Queen's voice came from the front: "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."
Gu Qilan was brought back to his senses by the Queen's greetings, and then he realized that he had already arrived at the gate of Jingyang Palace, and the Queen had also arrived at the gate of Jingyang Palace and was paying her respects to him.
Gu Qilan got off the dragon chariot and said lightly, "Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." After the Queen stood up, Ning Yuxi had already gotten off the sedan chair and was paying her respects to the Queen.
The queen still maintained a decent expression. She looked at Ning Yuxi kindly and gently raised her hand to signal her to stand up. Then she turned her gaze to the emperor with a look of deep remorse on her face.
"Your Majesty, it's all my fault. I didn't know that Concubine Xin's body would be so weak that it couldn't be nourished. I just saw Concubine Xin coughing so hard that I couldn't bear it.
This Tianshan Snow Lotus is a superb cough-relieving and lung-tonifying medicine, so it was given to Concubine Xin. If I had known her condition, I would definitely not have given her this Tianshan Snow Lotus. This is my fault, and I beg Your Majesty to punish me."
As she spoke, the queen actually knelt straight on the ground, the look of self-blame and regret on her face was extremely moving.
Ning Yuxi was very surprised when she saw this scene. The queen's behavior was really reckless, making everyone who saw it think that the queen did it unintentionally.
After all, she was the queen of a country, and she actually knelt down in public at the gate of Jingyang Palace. Unless she really didn't know about it in advance and felt guilty about it, no ordinary person could do this.
As expected, the Emperor saw the Empress kneeling down to apologize and hurried forward to help her up. "What are you doing? You mean well, but the Imperial Physician didn't find out Concubine Xin's condition beforehand. This is unforeseen, and I can't blame you."
As he spoke, the Emperor used his arms to pull the Empress up: "Hurry up, the most important thing now is to go and check on Concubine Xin's condition."
The Queen had no choice but to stand up and said, "Yes, this is my fault. I will definitely have someone take good care of Concubine Xin."
The emperor and the empress walked towards Jingyang Palace together. Seeing this, Ning Yuxi remained calm and hurriedly followed them.
As the group entered Concubine Xin's bedroom, the imperial physician and palace maids inside hurried forward to pay their respects.
Gu Qilan waved his hand to signal them to stand up, and asked directly: "How is Concubine Xin? Is she still not awake?"
Doctor Zhang looked troubled, but he didn't dare delay and stepped forward, bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid Concubine Xin is... I'm afraid... not well."
When these words were spoken, both the emperor and the empress were shocked.
Ning Yuxi was also very surprised. Is this bad? It's only been more than two hours since he fainted. He was clearly fine a few days ago.
Gu Qilan said in a deep voice: "What happened? Have you found out the reason?"
Imperial Physician Zhang hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I am incompetent. Lady Xin is now at the end of her life. Even Hua Tuo could not save her."
"As for the reason, Concubine Xin has not had any abnormalities recently except for taking Tianshan Snow Lotus and some common medicines.
Those medicines are what Concubine Xin has been taking since she fell ill, and nothing has happened for so long. So it seems the problem is most likely with the Tianshan Snow Lotus."
Having said that, Doctor Zhang raised his eyes slightly and glanced at the Queen beside the Emperor, his tone a little cautious.
"I have also checked the uneaten Tianshan Snow Lotus and found nothing wrong with it. It seems that it is probably because Concubine Xin is too weak to be nourished."
Hearing this, Gu Qilan was silent for a moment.
The Queen lowered her head and wiped away her tears silently, her tone extremely self-blaming: "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have given Concubine Xin the Tianshan Snow Lotus..."
For a moment, there was no other sound in the hall except the queen's soft sobbing.
Just then, a loud noise reached everyone's ears.
Gu Qilan's brows were tightly furrowed. Before he could speak, Song Qu turned and walked out of the hall, leading his men to the source of the sound in the backyard.
About half a minute later, Song Qu came back and brought with him several palace maids and eunuchs.
"Your Majesty, these are the people who were making a noise in the backyard. This matter shouldn't have been brought before Your Majesty, but I discovered that they were involved in Noble Lady Xin's case, so I brought them here. Does Your Majesty want to have them tried?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Qilan's majestic eyes gently fell on the palace maids and eunuchs kneeling below, which made the palace maids and eunuchs feel their scalps tingling and they dared not breathe.
He said in a deep voice: "Trial!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Song Qu sternly said, "All of you, quickly tell us everything that happened. If you dare to tell a lie in front of the emperor, you know the consequences!"
Song Qu was the top official in the palace, so the palace maids and eunuchs naturally didn't dare to object to his words. They hurriedly told him what had just happened, trembling.
A young eunuch bowed his head first and said, "Your Majesty, I am a eunuch serving Lady Xin. I was busy in the backyard when I saw Fang Cui sneaking out with something in her arms. I thought she was stealing something, so I followed her to see what she was doing.
It turned out that she was holding the medicine that Concubine Xin often drank and was about to destroy it. I thought that my master had suddenly fainted and was unconscious, and I was afraid that she might have taken something wrong, perhaps related to this medicine, so I went forward and argued with Fang Cui.
As he spoke, the young eunuch pointed to an ordinary-looking palace maid kneeling on his left. Obviously, this was the Fang Cui he was talking about.
As soon as he finished speaking, the palace maid named Fang Cui shuddered, with obvious panic on her face.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
