To everyone's surprise, Zhe Zhe remained calm, and it was impossible to tell whether she was happy or angry.
Zhe Zhe slowly sat down and picked up a pair of chopsticks beside her, saying, "Was it merely to invite me here for a meal?"
After saying that, she casually picked up a piece of fish in front of her and was about to put it in her mouth when she was stopped by Brother Zhen.
Zhe Zhe was puzzled and frowned as she looked at Zhenge.
Zhen Ge smiled and said, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten the imperial physician's instructions? You must not eat meat or fish after taking the medicine."
Zhe Zhe was a little stunned. How could she not know whether there was any medicine or not? But considering that Brother Zhen was always loyal, she still cooperated and said, "Look at my memory, it's getting more and more confused."
After saying that, she put down her chopsticks and stopped talking.
Hailanzhu smiled faintly and returned to the previous topic, "Aunt, do you know why I look so haggard?"
Zhe Zhe shook her head, annoyed, "How would I know?"
Hailanzhu smiled and took Zhe Zhe's hand, placing it on her lower abdomen. "Because Lan'er is pregnant."
"What?" Zhe Zhe's voice suddenly rose, a look of surprise flashing across his face. "How many months pregnant?"
“Almost three months,” Hailanzhu said truthfully.
Zhe Zhe suddenly chuckled, "You're quite good at keeping things a secret, but it's for the best. The first three months are unstable, so this is necessary."
"Is that so?" Hailanzhu's smile gradually faded. "Even though Lan'er was so careful, she was still secretly harmed."
"Who dares to touch your child?" Zhe Zhe slammed his hand on the table, knocking the rice bowl to the side.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of her child, and she had completely forgotten what Hailanzhu looked like on her deathbed.
Seeing this, Hailanzhu felt that Zhe Zhe might really be unaware, but she was also afraid that she was hiding something, so the plan continued.
"Aunt, did you really know nothing about this?" As soon as she finished speaking, Hailanzhu spat out bright red blood. She pointed at the dishes on the table and said, "Wasn't the poison in these dishes put on you?"
Upon hearing this, Zhe Zhe took two steps back in surprise, her chopsticks falling off the table with a crisp sound. Without bothering to pick them up, she said in a panic, "Hailanzhu, what nonsense are you talking about? I did not do this."
Hailanzhu clutched her stomach and curled up on the ground. "Then why didn't you eat? You must have known all along that the food was poisoned!"
At this moment, Zhe Zhe realized what was happening and quickly looked at Zhen Ge, "Do you know something?" She finally understood why Zhen Ge had stopped her.
Seeing that Hailanzhu was beyond saving, Zhen Ge stopped pretending and said, "Of course I know, because it was I who ordered the poison to be administered."
"Why?" Zhe Zhe asked, puzzled.
Zhen Ge knelt down, "Your Majesty's kindness to this servant is as heavy as a mountain, how could this servant let Your Majesty suffer such grievances?" Then she angrily pointed at Hailanzhu and said, "Who do you think you are? Just a concubine, how dare you sit on equal footing with the Empress? You are pretentious enough, but you also have to steal the Emperor's heart, leaving my lady to spend every night alone in her empty room, washing her face with tears. Do you think you deserve to die?"
Hailanzhu was speechless. This was clearly Huang Taiji's favoritism, yet she was the one being resented. She wanted to refute it,
But Zhen interrupted him, saying, "You wouldn't have died so soon. If I had done it my way, you could have lived for another three months. Blame it on your greed for taking that piece of jade that originally belonged to the Empress."
After thinking about it carefully, Hailanzhu immediately realized that it must be the large piece of glass-type jade worth hundreds of millions from yesterday. So she smiled bitterly and said, "This was a gift from the Emperor to me. What do you mean that I took away the Empress's jade?"
To prove the truth of the poisoning, Hailanzhu coughed up another mouthful of blood.
“If it weren’t for you, that jade would belong to the Empress. Tell me, didn’t you take it?” Zhen Ge said sternly.
Such sophistry left Hailanzhu shaking her head helplessly, unwilling to argue with this madman any further.
However, Zhen Ge's kindness did not earn Zhe Zhe's gratitude. Instead, Zhe Zhe slapped Zhen Ge hard across the face and glared at her with a cold look, saying, "You lowly servant, when did it become your place to make decisions on your own?"
Upon hearing this, Hailanzhu thought Zhe Zhe had a conscience, but her next words chilled her to the bone.
Zhe Zhe said coldly, "If you want to poison her, you should wait until she gives birth. What you're doing will ruin my plans."
Zhen Ge touched her swollen left cheek. She didn't blame Zhe Zhe for treating her this way. "This servant understands your thoughts, but it can only be said that she was too clever for her own good. If she had told you yesterday, she wouldn't be dead today."
Having said all that needed to be said, Hailanzhu stopped pretending to be a dying woman, sat up straight, and sneered, "Anyway, I'm going to die sooner or later, so what difference does it make? Do you think I should regret living a few months less?"
A ruthless glint flashed in Zhen Ge's eyes. "If you ask me, you shouldn't be alive in this world. You're smart, but unfortunately, you realized it too late."
"Haha..." Hailanzhu burst into laughter, as if she had heard the best joke.
When Zhen Ge heard Hailanzhu's laughter become strong and powerful, he couldn't help but feel nervous. "What are you laughing at?"
Hailanzhu's expression suddenly turned serious. "I'm laughing at your lack of quick thinking. If I were really poisoned, wouldn't the first person I call be the imperial physician?"
Zhen-ge was ultimately a step behind; if it had been Zhe-zhe, she would have been suspicious the moment she stepped into the palace.
"You...you're not poisoned!" Zhen Ge's voice trembled; she hadn't expected Hailanzhu to be so cunning.
"You think you can kill me? Let me tell you, I already knew when you first poisoned the honey." Hailanzhu stood up and looked down at Zhenge.
"I'm going to kill you." Zhen Ge suddenly stood up, enraged and embarrassed, and tried to ram into Hailanzhu, but was grabbed by Zhe Zhe.
"Fool, do you really think there are only the three of us in the palace?" Zhe Zhe was indeed a clever person. When Hailanzhu made it clear that she was not poisoned, she already knew that an ambush had been set up in the palace.
No sooner had she finished speaking than Huang Taiji's voice came from outside the door, "I had no idea you were thinking this way, Empress. You've hidden it too well."
Although Zhe Zhe didn't administer the poison, it was ultimately related to her.
This time, Zhe Zhe did not bow, but turned her eyes and said, "Now that we've finally met, Your Majesty, are you happy?"
Huang Taiji narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Gao Xing, the Empress's scheming is probably unmatched by any Empress in history."
Zhe Zhe could easily hear the sarcasm in his voice, but she refused to back down, saying, "The Emperor's favoritism is something that no emperor in history could match."
"Hmph!" Huang Taiji couldn't argue with Zhe Zhe, so he could only let out a cold snort.
Seeing the two staring at each other and mocking each other, Hailanzhu was too lazy to pay attention anymore. At this moment, all she wanted to do was figure out how to deal with Zhe Zhe so that she would no longer have any murderous intent towards the original owner after leaving the original owner's body.
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