Chapter 127 Xian'er... I hope it really isn't you.
The atmosphere inside Kunning Palace was almost frozen.
Shuixian blurted out instinctively, "Yongning is poisoned? How could Yongning be poisoned when he was perfectly fine?"
She quickly looked at the Emperor, her voice filled with undisguised urgency, "Your Majesty, has the imperial physician come to see me?"
Before Emperor Zhaoheng could answer, the Empress said, "Although Yongning is fine, it is a fact that she was poisoned. Consort Jin, do you know anything about Yinzhu's poisoning?"
Although the Empress was ill and frail, her voice, questioning Shui Xian, echoed clearly throughout Kunning Palace.
Only after confirming that Yongning was alright did Shuixian feel somewhat relieved.
Narcissus didn't know what had happened, but she knew Silver Pearl and knew that Silver Pearl was definitely not the kind of person who would do such a thing.
She noticed Emperor Zhaoheng's gaze, subconsciously touched her lower abdomen, and then knelt before the Empress.
"Your Majesty, what makes you say such a thing? Yongning is my own flesh and blood. I love and cherish her dearly. How could I possibly harm her? There must be some misunderstanding!"
After speaking, Shui Xian looked at Emperor Zhaoheng sitting next to the Empress, her eyes reflecting a hint of grievance.
"I beg Your Majesty to see the truth."
"well!"
The Empress sighed deeply, and she reached out her thin hand to tightly grasp the hand of Emperor Zhaoheng beside her.
She seemed extremely disappointed and said with great distress:
"Your Majesty! I didn't believe it at first either, but the evidence is irrefutable..."
She gestured for Granny Sun to come forward.
Granny Sun immediately brought over a tray with two items on it: a small porcelain bottle no bigger than the palm of her hand and a box of dried medicine dregs.
"This dregs of medicine were found under Yinzhu's bed in front of many people. The imperial physician has confirmed that it is exactly the same as the poison that Yongning was poisoned with."
As she spoke, the Empress pointed to the porcelain bottle, "First, we found the dregs of the medicine, so I had the palace searched. The poison in this porcelain bottle is the same as the medicine in the dregs."
The Empress gripped the Emperor's hand tightly with her other hand, her heart filled with coldness.
"Yinzhu was so careful that she hid the porcelain bottle in the flower bed in the backyard of Kunning Palace. If someone hadn't found the dregs of medicine she had hidden in her room, I'm afraid I wouldn't even know that Yinzhu was secretly poisoning Yongning!"
Narcissus instinctively said, "Silver Pearl wouldn't do that!"
Yinzhu would never hurt anyone, and besides, how could she possibly poison Yongning!
"Consort Jin, I still somewhat believe that even tigers don't eat their cubs, but you're making an explanation for her... I really have to believe that this was something the two of you conspired to do!"
The Empress coughed lightly a few times, making her appear even more frail and sickly.
Shui Xian sensed something was amiss; she vaguely noticed a flaw in the Empress's words.
"Your Majesty, just now you kept saying that I ordered this servant to poison Yongning, how come you suddenly trust me now?"
The Empress's face was slightly pale. She clenched her fist and coughed heavily, "Cough cough... When I saw Yongning being poisoned, I was anxious... cough cough."
The Empress looked at Emperor Zhaoheng with teary eyes and said with sorrow, "Your Majesty, since winter began, Yongning has been prone to catching colds. I have been worried about her for a long time and have been unable to sleep at night."
"I always thought it was my negligence and inadequate care, but now it seems that it was someone with ulterior motives who was behind this... cough cough."
The Empress only said that it was someone with ulterior motives, but she deliberately kept it vague, referring to either Yinzhu or the narcissus who instructed Yinzhu to poison her.
Emperor Zhaoheng's eyes were dark and deep. He hadn't said anything since Shui Xian entered the palace, and had been watching the Empress and Shui Xian argue back and forth.
He raised his eyes and looked at Narcissus, who was kneeling alone in the center of the hall.
She still had a body, yet she was forced to kneel on those hard gold bricks...
"Help him up."
Emperor Zhaoheng spoke in a deep voice, and Feng Shunxiang quickly stepped forward to help Shuixian up from the ground.
The Empress started coughing again. Seeing this, Granny Sun quickly put down the tray beside her and picked up some cough medicine from the side.
Just then, the Empress was coughing while leaning on Emperor Zhaoheng's lap, and for a moment she couldn't straighten up.
Seeing this, Emperor Zhaoheng reached out to Granny Sun and said, "Give me the medicine."
The Empress then noticed that the medicine, which she drank from Emperor Zhaoheng's hand, had barely stopped her cough after taking two sips.
Emperor Zhaoheng put down the medicine bowl before asking Shui Xian in a deep voice, "Yinzhu was someone you arranged to come here. Now the Empress has found poisoned medicine residue under her bed. Are you aware of this?"
Emperor Zhaoheng had actually given Shuixian a way out. He didn't ask Shuixian whether she had instructed Yinzhu to poison the poison; he asked whether Shuixian knew about it.
Subconsciously, Emperor Zhaoheng no longer believed that Shui Xian would let Yin Zhu poison Yong Ning.
However, Yinzhu was no stranger.
Looking at Yinzhu, whose face was scarred, Shuixian could still clearly remember the process of Yinzhu's blood staining her hands in her previous life, initially burning hot, and then gradually cooling down.
There are some people and some things she cannot give up!
Shui Xian still insisted, "Your Majesty, I am unaware of this, and I do not believe that Yin Zhu is such a person."
She stood up and curtsied, saying, "Your Majesty, may I ask Yinzhu myself?"
Emperor Zhaoheng nodded. With his approval, the two burly old women who were pressing the silver beads took a step back and released their grip.
Shui Xian stepped forward, afraid of hurting Yin Zhu, and carefully took out the coarse cloth stuffed in Yin Zhu's mouth.
"Yinzhu, I ask you, did you really bring those dregs out of the small kitchen where the medicine was brewed?"
Yinzhu has no knowledge of pharmacology, so why would she go to the small kitchen to take out the dregs of medicine?
Shui Xian believed that someone must have slandered Yin Zhu and placed the item under Yin Zhu's bed.
However, to her surprise, Yinzhu slowly nodded.
"This servant did bring out the dregs of the medicine, but this servant felt that the medicine was somewhat strange..."
Before Yinzhu could finish speaking, she was interrupted coldly by Granny Sun.
"Everything the princess takes, including food and medicine, undergoes rigorous inspection. How dare you, you lowly servant, frame Kunning Palace?!"
The Empress, following up on what Granny Sun had said, cried out in anguish, "Your Majesty! I have truly raised a tiger that will cause me harm!"
"I shouldn't have allowed Yinzhu to come and serve me in the first place... Who knew... who knew she harbored such wicked intentions! If Yongning hadn't been lucky, she would probably already be... already..."
The agitation caused her to cough again, and the Empress blurted out, "This is clearly someone's doing! In the harem, people will even harm young children to win favor... How is this any different from the late Emperor's Consort poisoning her own daughter to gain favor..."
Upon hearing the words "the late Imperial Concubine," Emperor Zhaoheng's expression suddenly turned grim.
"Empress!"
Shui Xian felt a chill run down her spine. How could two people, the Princess Consort of Duanqin and now the Empress, mention that she resembled the late Imperial Noble Consort in one day?!
Despite her pregnancy, she knelt down again, "Your Majesty, please understand! The Empress said that the late Imperial Concubine poisoned her own daughter... I would never have harmed Yongning!"
"Moreover, there are many suspicious points in this matter. If Yinzhu poisoned the medicine, why would she put the dregs in such an easily discoverable place?"
"Yinzhu only said one sentence, so why did Granny Sun interrupt her so urgently? Is there something you're ashamed to say but can't say?"
Narcissus's words were all reasonable, and a hint of doubt flashed in Emperor Zhaoheng's eyes.
Narcissus pressed her advantage, "Your Majesty, why not let Yinzhu finish speaking first..."
Before she could finish speaking, she was suddenly interrupted by an announcement.
"The Empress Dowager has arrived—Consort Wan has arrived—"
The next moment, the Empress Dowager, who had reported being seriously ill and unable to attend the New Year's Eve banquet, actually walked in, supported by Consort Wan, with a solemn expression.
She glanced around the hall and sighed heavily.
"Your Majesty, I have heard everything!"
The Empress Dowager's stern gaze fell upon Emperor Zhaoheng. She didn't even glance at Shuixian kneeling beside her. "Have you forgotten the disaster that occurred during the reign of the late Emperor? It was all because of a moment of soft-heartedness and a poor judgment of people that led to this tragic palace calamity!"
"Now that the evidence is irrefutable, are you going to repeat the same mistakes and condone such evil deeds again? This trend must not be allowed to continue!"
The Empress Dowager's words reminded Emperor Zhaoheng of what the late Emperor's Consort had done in order to win the Emperor's favor.
That woman was willing to sacrifice her own daughter in order to win favor!
He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his eyes held a cold, resolute look.
"Consort Jin, faced with the evidence, I cannot show favoritism."
“Yinzhu has been with you the longest, and now that she has made a mistake, you also need to take responsibility… Effective immediately, you are stripped of your power to assist in managing the six palaces, and your seals and account books are returned to the Empress.”
"Princess Yongning is being cared for personally by the Empress. Without my decree, you are not allowed to visit her again, nor do you have the right to raise her. You are to return to your palace and be confined to your quarters for reflection. Until a conclusion is reached, you are not to step out of the palace gates!"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Yinzhu, and said in a deep voice, "You lowly servant Yinzhu, you have committed a heinous crime by plotting against the imperial heir. Throw her into the imperial prison and interrogate her severely!"
Narcissus felt a sudden dizziness; she was almost caught off guard by everything that had happened that night.
The storm surrounding the Princess Consort at the New Year's Eve banquet had just subsided when the Empress and the Empress Dowager launched a double attack, leaving her breathless.
She didn't care about losing her power in the palace, but losing Yongning... that was her fate!
She forced herself to calm down, knowing that crying and making a scene would be useless and would only annoy the emperor more.
When she looked up again, Narcissus had composed herself.
She kowtowed heavily, and when she looked up again, her face was only calm with an almost deathly stillness: "Your Majesty... I accept the imperial decree and thank you for your grace."
"But Your Majesty, I implore you to investigate the truth, to give Yongning justice, and to clear my name."
Emperor Zhaoheng nodded, seemingly as a promise to her, but then turned around and ordered someone to take Yinzhu away for questioning.
When Narcissus was asked to leave by Granny Sun, Emperor Zhaoheng did not look at her because the Empress beside him was coughing again.
As Shui Xian left Kunning Palace step by step, Emperor Zhaoheng couldn't help but raise his eyes to look at her slender back.
Emperor Zhaoheng stayed by Yongning's bedside all night until Yongning's high fever subsided before turning to attend court.
After court, he had not slept all night and his face was ashen.
In the imperial study, Emperor Zhaoheng pondered for a long time, then beckoned Feng Shunxiang with a gloomy expression and whispered, "Go, secretly find out where the poison came from and who handled it."
"And all the palace servants who testified in Kunning Palace, investigate their backgrounds thoroughly for me... Remember, it must be done in absolute secrecy, without alerting anyone."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Feng Shunxiang bowed and then withdrew.
Emperor Zhaoheng felt a throbbing pain in his temples. He raised his hand and pressed his aching temples.
He spoke softly, as if trying to convince himself:
"Xian'er... I hope it really isn't you."
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