On the second day, at daybreak, the imperial city, which had been silent all night, began to move. The eunuchs and palace maids who were sweeping the floor all got up to work. Several palace maids walked briskly, talking to their sisters as they walked.

Suddenly, a little palace maid with sharp eyes accidentally looked towards the water and stopped in fright.

"You...! Look, is there... is there a person floating on the lake?"

Upon hearing this, the several palace maids who were traveling with her immediately looked in the direction the little palace maid pointed.

At this moment, the morning light is dim and the light is not bright. Water vapor is rising on the lake surface, and it is foggy.

But the thing on the lake was wrapped in a big red cloth, making it hard to ignore.

The timid maids looked at each other, then hesitantly took a few steps toward the lake and looked closely: "It's... a dead person! Someone has drowned!"

The scream attracted many palace maids and eunuchs to watch the fun. A few brave young eunuchs took bamboo poles from the lake and worked together to carry the corpse to the shore little by little.

"Who could this be? How could he drown here?"

Taiye Pond is an artificial lake in the Imperial Garden. The water is not shallow. On weekdays, apart from the masters who come here to enjoy the scenery, few people come here alone.

"Who knows? It looks like a female. Could it be... some unlucky person who made the master unhappy and was..." a little maid said hesitantly.

This kind of thing is not uncommon in the palace. People here regard human life as worthless. There are many unlucky and short-sighted palace maids and eunuchs who have displeased their masters and have been dealt with by them at will.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Another young maid secretly stopped him, "Don't talk nonsense about this kind of thing."

If someone with ulterior motives hears it, you might be the next unlucky person.

Among a group of young eunuchs, one of them bravely used a bamboo stick to pick up the hair on the female corpse's face, revealing her true face.

For a moment, the lakeside was silent, with only the sound of people gasping for air.

"How could this be...how could it be the Queen...Her Majesty?" The little palace maid looked at her companion in disbelief, wanting to confirm if she had seen it wrong, but her companion's eyes told her that it was not the case.

Everyone was dumbfounded. The empress, who had just taken the throne for less than a month, died quietly in the Taiye Lake in the Imperial Garden.

The drowning of the Empress of the Central Palace was a big event. A group of palace maids and eunuchs who were watching the excitement immediately scattered when they saw it. Only Cui'er, a palace maid from Yilan Palace, stood by the lake and watched Nanyue's death, feeling extremely happy.

Ever since this Nan inexplicably became the empress, she has been making things difficult for the Imperial Noble Consort in every way. Not only has she ordered the Imperial Noble Consort to visit her morning and evening every day, she has also tried several times to take the Seventh Prince away from her. The Imperial Noble Consort has been unable to sleep for many days and nights and has lost her appetite.

Now that Nan Yue is dead, finally no one will bother the Imperial Concubine anymore.

Over in Changning Palace, early in the morning, the palace servants entered the hall to wait to help Nanyue get up, but after waiting for half an hour, there was no movement from behind the curtains.

The head palace maid in charge looked at the time and felt something was wrong. At this time every day, Nanyue would have served the meal long ago, but today she had not yet gotten up so late. The head palace maid was afraid that something had happened to Nanyue, so she ignored etiquette and went forward to lift the curtain to check.

There was no one inside.

Changning Palace was in chaos for a while, and the maids and eunuchs were looking for Nan Yue everywhere. At this moment, a little maid in green ran up to the head maid of Changning Palace and said breathlessly: "Sister Aning, please go to Taiye Lake and check it out. There's an accident. The Queen has drowned!"

Upon hearing this, Aning hurriedly went to Taiye Lake with the green-clad palace maid.

In addition to the palace maids and eunuchs, there were also many concubines gathered here. Nan Yue's ascension to the throne was not legitimate, and she had no true friends in the palace, so most of the people here were just watching the fun.

He gloated over Nan Yue's corpse.

At this moment, Consort Xian, supported by her maid, also rushed over. As soon as she appeared, she quickly walked to the front of the corpse and said in a sad voice, "Poor Yue'er, how could this happen? She was fine yesterday, but how come you and I, aunt and nephew, are separated by the Yin and Yang just one night later!"

Concubine Xian cried with all her heart, but no one present was a fool. Everyone knew that ever since Nan Yue took the throne of Queen, she had ignored Concubine Xian. Not only that, she also tried her best to suppress her. On the contrary, she often took care of Prince Liang, and it was obvious that she wanted to win him over.

Concubine Xian had been holding a grudge against this for a long time, and she was just pretending now.

However, no matter how illegitimate and unreasonable Nan Yue's position as queen was, she was still the person written in the royal jade book, and no one dared to take her death lightly.

But now the emperor is seriously ill and unconscious, and there is no elderly person like the empress dowager in the palace. For a moment, everyone doesn't know who to find to handle this matter.

In the crowd, Concubine Le stood up and said confidently: "Noble Concubine Xian is the aunt of the Empress, and she is also the Imperial Concubine in the palace. It is reasonable that this matter should be handled by Noble Concubine Xian. What do you think, sisters?"

"This..." The palace concubines looked at each other with disapproval in their eyes. Although Concubine Xian was Nanyue's aunt, the relationship between the two was not close. Although the queen had died in the palace, there was still Imperial Concubine Lu above Concubine Xian. No matter how you looked at it, this matter should not be handed over to Concubine Xian.

Everyone knows that Concubine Xian is narrow-minded and is trying hard to get Prince Liang to the throne. She might use this incident to eliminate dissidents, so it is not safe to let her deal with it.

This was the idea that Consort Xian had in mind when she came, but when she saw that everyone was hesitant and unwilling to make a decision, she immediately drooped her face and said unhappily, "Why? Don't you sisters trust me?"

Qin Xuelin, who had been standing in the crowd and kept silent, stood up at this moment and said to Concubine Xian: "Your Majesty cares about the friendship between you and the late Queen. We all understand this, but this matter is too serious. His Majesty is seriously ill at this time, and the palace is already in trouble. Fortunately, the Imperial Concubine is still here."

Qin Xuelin looked at Consort Xian and bowed calmly: "Sister, please don't blame me for being outspoken, but this matter still has the Imperial Consort to decide. According to her position, Consort Xian should not be the one to handle it. What do you think, sisters?"

The concubines looked at each other, talked a lot, and finally nodded and agreed with Qin Xuelin's words.

After all, Imperial Noble Consort Lu is a relatively upright person in the harem, and she rarely goes out. She has good relations with many concubines. In addition, the Imperial Noble Consort once assisted Qin Xuelin in managing the six palaces. No matter how you look at it, she is more suitable to take charge of the overall situation than Consort Xian.

Seeing this, Madam Lu stood up with a sad face and said sadly, "Since you sisters trust me, I will not refuse. After all, the dead are the greatest, and it is not appropriate to start a dispute at this time."