Seeing this, Kangxi understood everything. He stopped in his tracks, stood still, and angrily flicked his sleeve, his face turning ashen.
He snorted coldly and turned to give instructions to Liang Jiugong.
"Liang Jiugong".
"This servant is here." Liang Jiugong lowered his head, not daring to look at Kangxi's face, and stepped forward to respond.
Liang Jiugong, who was following behind Kangxi, also heard the sound coming from the bushes, and his heart pounded with shock.
What on earth could Consort An have done, to do such a thing, and then have His Majesty just happen to catch her doing it? Oh dear, tonight is probably going to be another sleepless night!
Kangxi's face was tense, and his lips were pressed into a straight line.
"Go and see what's going on." After saying that, he turned around and took two steps back, unwilling to hear the unbearable noise.
Liang Jiugong stepped forward cautiously, and the first thing that caught his eye was a pile of clothes carelessly thrown on the ground. Consort An's specially made moon-shadow gauze dress was also lying messily on the ground.
Looking up, Liang Jiugong could only see a man and a woman embracing each other in the grass, their bodies stripped down to their undergarments. If he had arrived any later, they would have been naked in the flower bushes, unsightly enough to be seen by others.
By the moonlight, Liang Jiugong could clearly see the woman's face; it was indeed Consort An. As for the other man, Liang Jiugong did not recognize him, but judging from his clothes, he should be a palace guard.
A storm raged in his heart. He had previously held a sliver of hope that if the flowers were just palace maids and guards, the Emperor would be angry but not too harsh.
It really was Consort An here. His heart sank, already imagining the Emperor's reaction upon learning of this.
It seems I'll have to keep a low profile for the foreseeable future. If I make any mistakes, His Majesty might not forgive me if he's in a bad mood.
Seeing that the two were completely unaware of his presence and were still engrossed in their actions, Liang Jiugong mustered his courage, stepped forward, knocked them unconscious, and then went back to report.
"Your Majesty, this servant has discovered... " the last part, Liang Jiugong said in a very low voice, "It is indeed Consort An, with a man..."
Kangxi remained silent, but the imposing presence and intense anger emanating from him indicated that he was not in a good mood.
Overwhelmed by the dragon's might, Liang Jiugong knelt on the ground, wishing he could shrink himself into a ball.
"Liang Jiugong, I'm leaving this matter to you. Don't let anyone else know about it."
"promise!"
After Kangxi finished speaking, he returned to the Qianqing Palace with a stern face.
The oppressive aura surrounding him dissipated, and Liang Jiugong collapsed to the ground, wiping the fine sweat from his forehead. What on earth was going on?
Upon reaching the entrance of the Imperial Garden, Liang Jiugong gave detailed instructions to the young eunuch.
After a while, the young eunuch came over with several strong eunuchs and nannies.
Liang Jiugong first instructed the nannies to go over and dress Consort An, then carry her back to Changchun Palace. He then closed the palace gates and had the nannies guard Consort An to prevent her from leaving.
The official statement was that Consort An was ill and needed to stay in the palace to recuperate.
After Consort An was carried away, Liang Jiugong finally let the eunuchs over. They had little patience for Qingxi, and the eunuchs roughly carried Qingxi away from the ground and locked her in the prison of the Shenxing Division.
That night, Liang Jiugong interrogated Qingxi severely, but Qingxi was indeed innocent, so Liang Jiugong did not get any information from him.
Liang Jiugong then went to interrogate Qingru.
Qingru was easily beaten; after only a few lashes, she confessed everything like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.
On the other side, several old women also woke up Consort An and interrogated her extensively. Consort An couldn't say anything, only loudly proclaiming her innocence and claiming that someone had framed her and was implicating Wu Yaxin Yue.
Not only did Liang Jiugong torture these few people, but he also arrested all the palace maids and eunuchs, big and small, in Changchun Palace and brought them to the Shenxing Division in hopes of getting some information from them.
That night, the Imperial Prison was filled with wails that never ceased.
After a night of interrogation and a private investigation, Liang Jiugong was exhausted.
Time was too short, and he didn't find out much. But his master was waiting for a reply, so he could only tidy himself up, wash off the smell of blood, and enter the inner palace of the Qianqing Palace with bloodshot eyes.
At this time, Emperor Kangxi had already left court and was waiting for Liang Jiugong to come and report.
After presenting the investigation report, Liang Jiugong knelt on the ground and waited for Kangxi to finish reading it.
Bang! Kangxi slammed his hand on the table and stood up angrily, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips.
"Very well, what a fine Consort An, Lady Li! The Li family is truly a fine family to me. Is this how they raise their daughter? Ruthless, vicious, jealous, foolish, and dissolute... This is my consort? How laughable!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Be careful not to upset yourself." Liang Jiugong kowtowed repeatedly, advising Kangxi with some concern.
Taking a deep breath to expel all the anger from his lungs, Kangxi sat back down in his chair, forcing himself to calm down.
He was so angry just now that he didn't think things through. Now that he's calmed down, he still has many questions about this matter.
"Wasn't this done by someone else? Was it really Consort An herself?"
Carefully choosing his words, Liang Jiugong replied, "This servant has discovered that a few months ago, Consort An asked the Li family outside the palace to find a fertility-enhancing drug for her. This drug was brought into the palace by the guard Qingxi for Consort An."
"The two did not contact each other for a while until a few days ago, when Consort An sent Qingru to contact Qingxi several times and gave her many small items that she had sewn herself. These facts can be confirmed by the palace maids of Changchun Palace and Qingxi's close friends."
"This servant has also discovered that Qingxi is Consort An's cousin. The two grew up together, which shows that Consort An and the guard Qingxi have a deep friendship and a close relationship."
“However,” Liang Jiugong’s tone changed at this point, “what happened last night, according to my investigation, is not simple.”
"According to Qingru, Consort An and Qingxi arranged to meet in the Imperial Garden last night, and Qingxi said the same thing. But Consort An denied it outright, saying that she had no contact with Qingxi."
Liang Jiugong pulled out another piece of evidence from his sleeve and presented it to the authorities.
“Last night, this servant had people examine Consort An and Qingxi’s clothing and found traces of aphrodisiac on them. It is clear that the reason they were like that last night was because they were drugged.”
"In my opinion, Consort An and Qingxi may indeed have an affair, but what happened last night was probably a deliberate frame-up."
At this point, Liang Jiugong paused.
“This servant originally intended to continue the investigation, but the palace maid named Qingru committed suicide in prison. She was Consort An’s personal maid and knew the most about Consort An’s affairs. After her suicide, this matter has become somewhat troublesome.”
"Later, this servant sent people to search Qingru's room and found this..."
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