"Your Majesty, we have not found the secret recipe you mentioned in Guanju Palace."
Upon hearing the guard's report, Da Yu'er collapsed to the ground.
She had lost even the last glimmer of hope.
"Heavens, why are you treating me like this? My husband doesn't love me, and now I, an old man, have to bury my son. You are so cruel!"
In the candlelight, her hair seemed to have many more white strands.
Seeing his mother's dejected and desperate appearance, Fulin felt very sorry for her.
But for the sake of their own plan, they had to endure it no matter how reluctant they were.
The two remained silent for a long time before Wan'er finally broke the silence.
"Your Majesty, no one in the palace has contracted smallpox recently, and the Emperor has been well cared for. Isn't this smallpox outbreak too suspicious?"
In the past, Da Yu'er was always somewhat displeased with Wan'er, feeling that she was too kind-hearted and soft-hearted and unlikely to amount to anything. But after her performance in the past month or two, her opinion changed considerably. Especially when Fu Lin fell ill, while the other concubines avoided him, only Wan'er took care of him, which made Da Yu'er look at her with new respect.
Thinking about all this, her impression of Wan'er improved considerably, and even her tone of voice was no longer as cold as before.
She pondered for a moment, then said, "Now that you've reminded me, I think it makes sense. But with so many people in the palace, finding out who deliberately caused Fulin to contract smallpox will be quite difficult." She paused, then added, "Do you have someone you suspect?"
As expected of Da Yu'er, she grasped the crux of the matter in just one sentence.
Wan'er lowered her eyes to conceal her emotions and said softly, "Actually, I have some suspicions about someone, but I don't know whether I should report it to the Empress Dowager."
Upon hearing this, Da Yu'er's heart immediately went on alert. Her expression turned serious, and she asked, "Who? Just tell me, and I will definitely investigate thoroughly."
Wan'er bit her lip lightly, "Three days ago, Mother sent me a message saying that someone in the Dong'e County government had contracted smallpox. Fearing it would cause panic, the Dong'e County government burned him alive overnight. If Mother hadn't been unable to sleep, given his meticulous way of handling things, we probably wouldn't have discovered this."
"So...you suspect Dong'e County?" Dayuer believed Wan'er's words without a doubt, after all, Dong'e County and Dong'e Shuo's mansions were only separated by a wall.
Unfortunately, not a single word of these words was true, but Wan'er was not afraid. She firmly believed that Dayu'er would not call her mother in the middle of the night.
Indeed, from beginning to end, Da Yu'er did not investigate the veracity of Wan'er's words.
"Your Majesty, I dare not make any guesses. Perhaps it is just a coincidence."
Da Yu'er frowned, lost in thought.
Upon seeing this, Wan'er quickly gave Fulin a wink.
Fu Lin understood. He coughed twice, then pretended to be weak as he got out of bed. "This is no coincidence."
"What's wrong?" Da Yu'er quickly helped him up, her eyes full of worry.
"Wan'er's suspicion may be correct, because I visited Dong'e Songdan three days ago, and since then I have been feeling unwell."
Upon hearing this, Da Yu'er's eyes widened instantly, her anger flaring. "You, Dong Ejun, I never expected you to be like this."
She would believe Fulin's words without a doubt, but there were some things she couldn't understand, so she frowned and said, "I just don't understand his intention in doing this."
"It must be because seven days ago, I refused to let his other daughter become a concubine. He was afraid that he would lose power, after all, Dong E Song Dan is already a useless pawn!" Fu Lin narrowed his eyes, but a dangerous light flashed in the depths of his eyes.
Just then, the sound of footsteps approached from afar.
Soon, a young eunuch stopped outside the door and said, "Your Majesty, this servant was entrusted by the Imperial Noble Consort to secretly guard Zhongcui Palace, and indeed intercepted a suspicious letter."
"Bring it here!" Da Yu'er opened the door, her tone very calm. She glanced at Wan'er out of the corner of her eye, but seeing that Wan'er was silent with her head down, she looked away.
The young eunuch responded and then took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Dayuer, saying, "Your Majesty, please take a look."
Seeing that it was Xiao Kangzi who had always served Fulin, she began to dispel her doubts about Wan'er.
He believed that Wan'er had sent someone to secretly observe Dong'e County because she suspected him. Besides, Xiao Kangzi was someone he had sent to serve Fulin, so he certainly wouldn't be bribed by Wan'er.
Da Yu'er took the letter and her expression changed drastically after just one glance.
She returned to her room, placed the letter on the table, and instructed, "Bring the Dong'e County to me."
"Your Majesty, what did the letter say?" Wan'er asked innocently, though she knew everything in her heart.
The letter was forged by someone imitating Dong Ejun's handwriting, and its contents are as follows:
The Emperor is doomed. Find a way to infect Xuan Ye with smallpox, and then have someone tamper with things to cause Dong E Wan'er to miscarry. In this way, only Fu Quan will be able to inherit the Qing Dynasty, and our clan will be able to prosper forever.
Da Yu'er sneered and replied, "His ambitions are written all over the letter!"
Wan'er feigned surprise, "Could it really be him who harmed the Emperor?"
"Hmph, who else could it be but him!"
The more Da Yu'er thought about it, the more furious she became. She wished she could rush out of the palace and tear Dong E Songdan to pieces, but reason made her suppress her excitement for the time being. "I want to see what he has to say."
Wan'er felt a surge of pleasure, but on her face she pretended to be sad.
Before long, Dong'e County was brought into the palace.
"Long live the Empress Dowager." He knelt and bowed, then said, "I don't know..."
"What important matter does Your Majesty wish to discuss with this old minister?"
Seeing his respectful demeanor, Da Yu'er felt that the more she looked at him, the more fake he seemed.
Especially since he dared to enter the Hall of Mental Cultivation without even wearing a veil, she found him even more terrifyingly hypocritical.
Wan'er stood behind the screen, carefully observing the situation in the hall. This time, she was determined to make sure he had nowhere to escape.
Fu Lin also closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Da Yu'er said worriedly, "I'm afraid the Emperor is not going to make it. He summoned you here overnight because he wants your help with something."
Dong Ejun was taken aback. "What is it? Your Majesty, please speak frankly. As long as this old minister can do it, this old minister will do his utmost."
He was an old fox, and it wasn't hard for him to guess Da Yu'er's intentions. He was secretly overjoyed, but on the surface he maintained a calm demeanor.
"Good!" Dayuer nodded in satisfaction. "For the sake of the Qing Dynasty, I have thought long and hard and decided to make Fuquan the emperor, with you as his advisor." With that, she poured a cup of tea and handed it to Dong'e County.
In the past, Dong Ejun would have accepted the cup before him long ago, but now that Fulin is suffering from incurable smallpox and is using cups from his palace, how could he dare to accept it?
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