"Your Majesty, something has happened!" A palace maid rushed to the Empress.
"What's wrong?" The Queen paused slightly as she was pruning the branches.
"Your Majesty, Eunuch Li...he's been sent to prison by His Majesty!"
"What?!" The scissors in the Queen's hand slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground.
Her legs gave way and she collapsed onto the wicker chair.
"How could he be imprisoned? Your Majesty is so intelligent, can't you see that Eunuch Li was framed? As the chief eunuch by my side, would he be so poor as to steal that jade?"
The Empress noticed that a palace maid was hesitating whether to speak.
"Anything else? Tell me all at once!"
The usually gentle empress now exuded a terrifying aura, and the palace maids immediately knelt down.
"Your Majesty, it seems to be more than just theft."
"I heard from the people in Guangming Palace that on the way to the prison, Eunuch Li was being escorted by two guards. He kept shouting that he was innocent and said something about... Gu poison..."
The empress gripped the armrests of the rattan chair tightly with both hands, as if she wanted to crush them.
"Really...he mentioned these things..."
"Yes." The palace maid tentatively raised her head and asked, "Your Highness, why don't you go and plead with His Majesty? His Majesty has always respected you. Perhaps if you go and plead with His Majesty, he will release Eunuch Li."
"I've heard about that prison. It's dark and gloomy inside, and the interrogations are extremely torturous. I'm afraid Eunuch Li won't be able to handle it there."
The empress's expression gradually hardened from tense to resolute.
She said, almost as if murmuring, "Yes, Eunuch Li is frail and can't handle it..."
————
In prison, there is no sunlight.
Only a few flickering oil lamps provided illumination.
A man wearing dirty prison clothes was squatting in the corner.
His disheveled hair obscured his face, and he continued to repeat to himself, "This servant is wronged, this servant is wronged."
Just then, a tall woman in a black cloak walked toward the cell carrying a food box.
The jailer stepped forward and opened the cell door.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty has ordered that no one is allowed to visit the prison. Opening the door for you is already an act of disobeying orders. Please... hurry up and get to the point."
The empress lifted her black cloak and took out a few golden melon seeds from her sleeve, placing them in the jailer's palm.
"Thank you for your trouble. I won't take long and I won't make things difficult for you."
"Remember to keep my presence here a secret."
The jailer accepted the gold melon seeds and laughed greedily, "Of course."
After saying that, he quickly left.
The Empress frowned upon seeing the prison's environment, feeling disgusted and annoyed at the thought of taking even one more step forward.
But she still patiently walked to the man in the corner.
As she approached, the man immediately prostrated himself on the ground, saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty. Why have you come to this filthy place?"
The Empress knelt down. "Of course, I came for you, Eunuch Li."
"This servant...this servant has never allowed Her Majesty the Empress to worry about me like this!" His voice choked with emotion.
The Empress put down the food box. "You are the person I trust most. Over the years, you have been my only confidant."
"Yes... I could never repay Her Majesty the Empress for her great favor."
"No, you're finished." A hint of ruthlessness appeared in the Empress's eyes, but in this Hunan prison, no one could see the cruelty on her face.
Without pausing, the Empress continued, "Eunuch Li, do you know why I have entrusted you with all matters, big and small, for so many years, without delegating a single thing to anyone else?"
"Naturally...it's because Her Majesty the Empress trusts this servant and is unwilling to entrust important matters to people she doesn't trust."
The Empress smiled and shook her head, taking out a white silk ribbon from the food box, and said, "This is only one of the reasons."
"Another reason is... the fewer people who know the secret, the easier it is to eliminate them."
After saying that, without waiting for the man to react, she took the silk ribbon with both hands and put it directly around his neck.
The queen crossed her hands in the air, then quickly turned around and forcefully pulled her hands away from her back.
She heard the sobbing and struggling of the person behind her, but remained unmoved.
He said coldly, "If you have someone to blame, blame yourself for not being able to keep the secret and daring to talk about Gu poison in front of His Majesty!"
"Your mouth isn't tight, who knows what else you might say? Eunuch Li, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
As she spoke, she tightened her grip even more.
But just then, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her waist, as if she had been pricked by a needle.
She cried out in pain, her strength instantly giving way, and she collapsed to the side.
"You...how could you..."
She turned around and looked at the "Eunuch Li" in front of her, only to find that this Eunuch Li was somewhat unfamiliar.
The light in the dungeon was too dim, and Li Gonggong's hair was messy and covered her eyes, plus the jailer was leading the way for her.
She was completely convinced that the person squatting in the corner of the cell was Eunuch Li!
But now, looking at him, this person is nowhere near Eunuch Li.
"Who are you?!" the Empress asked in terror.
Outside the cell, a woman's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"It's normal that Her Majesty the Empress doesn't recognize him. He's not Eunuch Li, but one of His Majesty's imperial bodyguards."
The guard stiffened instantly, knelt on one knee, and placed one hand on his knee. "This humble servant greets Your Majesty and Consort Zhao."
The queen's eyes widened, and her head stiffly turned towards the direction from which the sound came.
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