Mid-Autumn Festival
The emperor held a family banquet to symbolize family reunion.
As the emperor's brother, Prince Chai naturally has to attend with his entire family.
Before getting on the carriage, Su Man saw Yin Hong, whom she had not seen for a long time. Now he had lost his status as the prince and was not wearing court clothes. He got into the carriage as soon as he left the house.
Although Prince Chai had been ignoring the princess because of the previous incident, she was Prince Chai's first wife after all, so she attended the event with Prince Chai.
In the main hall, the emperor sat on the dragon throne, with the empress beside him. Further down was the crown prince.
Because of his close relationship with the Crown Prince, Azhi sat below him, and Suman, his wife, sat with him. Yin Hong, on the other hand, could only sit below Prince Chai and his wife, a full head shorter than Azhi. The wife's expression was uglier than a shoe rake.
After the song and dance performance, the princess winked at Yin Hong, who stood up and toasted, "Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. I wish our emperor a life as long as the heavens."
The emperor raised his glass and took a sip.
Seeing the emperor's indifferent reaction, the princess's face turned even uglier. While drinking, she glanced at the maid behind her, who nodded. When she turned back, a hint of satisfaction appeared on her face.
Su Man observed the princess's actions, remained calm, and just exchanged a look with Azhi that only the two of them understood.
After three rounds of wine, dessert was served. Because the prince was not in good health, a sweet soup to warm the stomach was made, and the palace servants placed bowls of it on the tables of the relatives.
The Queen was worried about the Prince's health and advised, "It's cold in the evening, so drink more soup to warm yourself up, and Ah Zhi should do the same."
"Thank you for your concern, mother. I will definitely drink more."
Although the prince looked sick, he still looked noble. He picked up the soup and was about to drink it when Ah Zhi suddenly held his hand. "Even though it's a family dinner, we still have to be careful. Where is the eunuch who tested the poison?"
Although the prince did not understand why Azhi suddenly wanted to test the soup, he believed that Azhi must have his reasons, so he let go and asked the eunuch to test it.
When the princess saw this scene, she unconsciously clenched her hands under the table.
After a moment, the eunuch took out the blackened silverware and fell to his knees. "The soup is poisonous!"
Everyone in the room was horrified. The emperor was furious. "How could the emperor's soup be poisonous? Someone, check it for me!"
The eunuch took the order and left. A moment later, he returned with a troubled look on his face. "Your Majesty, the people in the Imperial Kitchen said that the soup was ready and delivered. However, the soup was brought out of the Imperial Kitchen, passed through the palace maids in the kitchen, and then given to the eunuchs in charge of serving dishes outside. The eunuchs then took it to the back hall, where the palace maids distributed bowls, and then it was handled by the eunuchs serving at the night banquet. It is really difficult to tell."
The emperor naturally knew that everyone in the palace had their own duties, especially at night banquets, where there were countless palace servants serving. Mistakes could occur in every link, and it would not be possible to find out in a short time.
Just when the emperor was having a headache, Yin Hong suddenly stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I have something to say but I don't know whether I should say it or not."
"explain."
Yin Hong glanced in Azhi's direction and said, "A bowl of sweet soup has passed through countless hands, and there's no way to trace it. But this person wants to harm the crown prince, which is naturally beneficial to him. So, Your Majesty, you might as well investigate the source."
This statement did not directly mention anyone by name, but it was also a hint at the emperor.
Although the Crown Prince's health has improved recently, he has been bedridden for many years and his body has long been weak. Even if he uses ginseng every day to keep him alive, it will only last for a year or two. As the Emperor is getting older, the issue of appointing a crown prince has become a controversial issue among the ministers.
The emperor's own children have died, so he can only choose from the side branches. Currently, the most popular candidate is Azhi. If the crown prince dies...
Sure enough, as soon as Yin Hong finished speaking, the way people around him looked at Azhi changed.
At this time, Concubine Li suddenly spoke up, "Second Master Yin, you are so cruel that you actually want to murder the prince."
As she spoke, there was unconcealable hatred in her eyes.
As for why Concubine Li hated Azhi so much, it all started with her mother's family. Coincidentally, she was Wang Er's sister.
The Wang family had been prosperous because of her favor, but ever since Wang Er caused a scene at Azhi's family recognition banquet, several families united and wanted to submit a joint memorial, but the Wang family was all-powerful and the memorial could not be delivered at all.
Unexpectedly, Azhi informed the prince, and the prince came forward in person. The emperor was furious after hearing this. Not only was Wang Er exiled, her father was demoted several levels, and even she was demoted from the status of noble concubine to concubine because of her plea. How could she swallow this humiliation?
The Queen said coldly, "Concubine Li, the matter has not been decided yet. Please be cautious in your words and actions."
Concubine Li sneered, "Your Majesty, I'm not talking nonsense. It's just that the maidservant beside me once saw something, and now I think it has a lot to do with what happened today."
"Oh?" The Queen raised her eyes slightly, her dignity evident without anger. "What is it that Concubine Li is talking about?"
Concubine Li turned to her maid and said, "You say."
"Yes, yesterday, I was ordered by Concubine Li to deliver some tonics to the Crown Prince. Unexpectedly, I ran into Second Master Yin and a eunuch secretly discussing something. That eunuch happened to be Eunuch Deng, who had just served the soup to the Crown Prince."
The Emperor turned to Eunuch Deng, who was standing beside him, and asked in a deep voice, "Is this true?"
Eunuch Deng knelt down and begged for mercy, "Your Majesty, please spare my life. Yes, it was Second Master Yin who threatened me to do this."
The queen subconsciously looked at Azhi. Although she didn't believe that Azhi would do such a thing, the current situation was too unfavorable for him.
Yin Hong suddenly spoke up, "Empress, since the matter has been concluded, why not take Yin Zhi away and torture her severely..."
"Shut up!" Prince Chai lowered his voice and scolded, "How can you be so presumptuous in front of His Majesty!"
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