A few minutes later, the man in black removed the quilt, reached out his hand to feel the baby's nose, and after finding that there was no breathing, he threw a sachet aside and left quickly.
*
Xie Shizhu sat next to Yan Chou. Yan Chou looked down at her and slowly picked up some food for her. Only after he started eating did the other ministers dare to start.
Yan Xiuran and Fang Yiran walked towards the crowd and toasted everyone in turn.
Half an incense stick of time later, he had already arrived beside the emperor and the empress.
Yan Xiuran raised his wine glass, a smile on his lips, and glanced at Xie Shizhu's face, then quickly retracted his gaze and said, "Your Majesty, Empress, I offer you a toast."
Yan Chou picked up the wine glass on the table and played with it with his bony fingers.
Xie Shizhu hurriedly stood up and was about to drink the wine when Yan Chou snatched her cup away and whispered, "I drank this glass of wine on behalf of the Queen because she is trying to conceive and shouldn't drink."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Xiuran's forced smile froze. He took a deep breath in his heart, raised his head and drank the wine.
Yan Chou raised his eyebrows slightly, put his thin lips close to the wine glass, and took a sip.
Fang Yiran looked at Yan Chou, still feeling somewhat unwilling, but things had come to this point, and since she had given birth to the Regent's child, she could only be content to be the princess.
After the toast, Yan Chou put down his glass, sat down and held Xie Shizhu's hand.
Suddenly, a scream came from the mansion, breaking the relatively calm atmosphere.
Then, a middle-aged servant stumbled out of the mansion into the courtyard and knelt on the ground with a pale face. She said intermittently: "Regent, I just went into the house and found..."
Her next words stunned everyone present.
"I found... the child was not breathing..."
Fang Yiran opened his eyes wide, his body softened and fell to the ground. After a few seconds of daze, he got up from the ground and ran into the mansion.
Yan Xiuran asked again in disbelief: "What did you say?"
The middle-aged servant trembled with fear, his shoulders shaking nervously as he took out the brocade bag he had found on the ground. "The child is dead... This is something I found in the house."
The Queen Mother hurried over and took the brocade bag from the servant. She looked at it for a few seconds, then turned to look at Xie Shizhu with a fierce look in her eyes.
"Queen, if I remember correctly, this is a treasure bag that only the Cang Yue royal family can possess."
Hearing this, everyone gasped and looked towards the Queen in disbelief.
Xie Shizhu sneered in his heart: "These people are really cruel and ruthless."
The system nodded in agreement.
Xie Shizhu stood there in a daze, accepting the strange looks from people around her. Her eyes gradually turned red. She bit her lip and her face turned as pale as paper.
Yan Chou frowned, looking at the brocade bag in the Queen Mother's hand. He then stood up, walked to the Queen Mother's side, took the brocade bag from her hand, and said slowly: "The Queen's brocade bag has long been in my hands. This has nothing to do with the Queen."
As soon as he finished speaking, the faces of the ministers present turned even paler.
Yan Xiuran was stunned for a moment, and looked at Yan Chou in disbelief, with a hint of hatred in his eyes.
The ministers looked at each other, and no one dared to act rashly.
Fang Yiran fainted in the house. When the empress dowager heard about it, she quickly summoned the imperial physician.
Chang Qing sat on the chair, staring down at the white wine in the glass, as if thinking about something.
Everyone suspected that Yan Chou had sent someone to kill the regent's child. Yan Chou, who had changed his character during this period, had returned to being a tyrant who killed people without blinking an eye.
The surroundings were exceptionally quiet, and even the chirping of sparrows flying by could be heard clearly.
No one dared to tell the truth.
Yan Chou behaved calmly. He returned to Xie Shizhu, sat down slowly, and looked at her with lowered eyes.
The Queen Mother was silent for a long while, as if she was struggling with something. It took a long time before she spoke: "Emperor, you are my child. I know you have resentment towards the Regent, but that is all in the past. The Regent has already started a family, and you and the Queen are in love. There is no need to harm the Regent's child now."
Only when the Queen Mother spoke did everyone dare to breathe.
The Queen Mother sighed, "As the saying goes, the emperor is guilty of the same crime as the common people. This can be considered as my failure to discipline him..."
The others present carefully savored the meaning of the Queen Mother's words, and then realized that there was such an emotional entanglement between the Regent, the Queen, and the Emperor.
Could it be that because of this incident, the emperor has always harbored hatred towards the regent?
The Prime Minister boldly echoed, "The Queen Mother is absolutely right. The Emperor is also a human being. If we don't blame him, we won't be able to stabilize the people's hearts."
The others nodded in agreement.
Yan Chou didn't seem to be affected by their words at all. His dark eyes were as calm as water, and he was as calm as ever.
He is also used to being criticized by everyone.
Amidst the chorus of approval, a woman's voice interrupted everyone. Her tone was a little fluctuating and panicked, but her eyes were extremely firm.
"This matter has nothing to do with the Emperor. Last time, the Emperor got hold of my brother's brocade pouch. I begged him to give it to me, and the Emperor angrily threw it to me. But when I left the palace last time, I accidentally lost it..."
Xie Shizhu paused, looked up at Yan Chou, and when she saw the surprise in Yan Chou's eyes, she pursed her lips and continued, "That day, the Emperor, General Chang, and I were all outside the palace, staying at the Regent's Mansion that night. When I returned to the palace, the brocade bag was gone."
The Queen Mother's expression froze, with a hint of anger in her eyes, and she scolded: "What you said is nonsense."
As soon as the words fell, Chang Qing's gentle voice rang out: "Replying to the Queen Mother, I was indeed traveling with the Queen and the Emperor that day. After the brocade bag was lost that day, I searched for it outside the palace, but I couldn't find it. I can testify for the Emperor and the Queen."
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