Upon receiving the news, Wanyi smiled inwardly. With the Crown Prince gone, Kangxi would probably be less cautious now that they were on opposing sides! Furong hurriedly changed into light-colored clothes and rushed to the study.
"Greetings, Your Majesty! I wish Your Majesty good health!" When Wanyi arrived, most of the concubines had come. However, since the crown prince of the country had passed away, and it was obvious that he had been poisoned, they naturally all came to see him and comfort Emperor Kangxi.
Kangxi was in no mood to deal with the concubines. Besides being heartbroken, he was furious. Despite his layers of protection, someone had still managed to harm his crown prince. Did they not even know if it was because they disliked him that day or how he died?
"Your Majesty, please accept my condolences!" The Imperial Noble Consort didn't know what to say, and could only continue...
While comforting Kangxi, she had some thoughts running through her mind. Before, she thought that since Kangxi had already established a crown prince, she could not have a child if she wanted to become empress. But now it was different; she had a child, and that would be her chance.
“Yes! Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has passed away. The most important thing now is to find out the cause of his death. We cannot let the Crown Prince die in vain.” Wanyi echoed, though she also had her own thoughts.
"Investigate! Turn the place upside down and find that vicious person!" Kangxi almost roared.
Yuqing Palace
All the concubines were gathered in the main hall of Yuqing Palace. Their maids were taken away, and only Kangxi's men were serving tea and snacks. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Kangxi was really determined to dig three feet into the ground to find the real culprit.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Kangxi's sudden appearance startled the tense crowd.
"I cannot rest easy. I never knew there was such a vicious person in my harem. If I had offended you that day, you would have killed me too!"
When Kangxi received the confession, he couldn't believe it. After all, that was his own aunt! How could she do such a thing?
Everyone knelt down, not daring to breathe. Only Wanyi, who was at the front, realized how terrifying it was for Kangxi to be angry. She prayed in her heart that he would not find out about her.
"Your Majesty, who is so vicious? Even executing their entire family wouldn't be an exaggeration!" the Imperial Noble Consort said angrily. In fact, she was acting on impulse; otherwise, remaining silent would only have made Kangxi angrier.
"Consort Xi, I have never treated you badly! The Crown Prince is also your sister's child, why?" He still couldn't understand why Consort Xi would poison the Crown Prince.
"Your Majesty, are you joking? I am the Crown Prince's aunt, how could I possibly harm her!"
Consort Xi was startled, but she pretended to be relaxed, walked to the center and knelt down, looking at Kangxi with a surprised expression.
"I also want to ask, why?" He had ordered people to investigate how the Crown Prince was getting in her way, but they couldn't find out the reason. Only Consort Xi herself knew.
"Your Majesty, have you heard someone falsely accuse me? I love the Crown Prince dearly, how could I possibly harm her!"
Consort Xi went through the whole thing in her mind but couldn't find any loopholes. She thought that it was possible that the Emperor was bluffing her!
"You really won't admit your mistakes until you see the coffin! Bring it up here!"
Emperor Kangxi had already named her by name, but she still refused to confess. In order to compensate the Hesheli clan, he made her a concubine during the grand conferment of titles upon the six palaces. Although he did not show her much favor, he would occasionally bestow gifts upon her in her palace.
"Gasp!" Everyone gasped when they saw the person behind Liang Jiugong.
"Your Majesty, I'm so sorry!" Liang Jiugong had two eunuchs escort Dai Tao in and place her next to Consort Xi. She was covered in blood; it was more like she was being stripped down than being forced in. Her legs were probably broken!
"Dai Tao!" Consort Xi looked at Dai Tao beside her in a panic, thinking to herself, "It's over."
"Ugh, cough cough! Ugh." An inappropriate sound rang out, and everyone looked over to see Sun Daying, who was pale-faced.
Wan Yi's face was also pale, but she looked better than Sun Yingying. It wasn't that she was alright; it was just that she had secretly added some spring water while drinking tea.
"Have the imperial physician examine her!" Kangxi didn't order her to be taken away. This time, Kangxi wanted to show them the consequences of plotting against the imperial heir. He then looked at Wanyi and, seeing that she was only pale, didn't say anything more.
"Your Majesty, Consort Sun is fine. She was just a little frightened and is experiencing some pregnancy symptoms!" Physician Lu, after taking her pulse, reported to Emperor Kangxi.
"Then let's continue! Tell her what your master did, and let her hear it too, so she might remember something!" Kangxi saw that she was alright, and then looked at Dai Tao who was lying below.
"It was Consort Xi who instructed me and a familiar purchasing eunuch to bring it in. My brother works as a doctor outside the palace, so it's very easy for him to get his hands on poison!"
Dai Tao had already explained it once, but this time, with Consort Xi present, she spoke haltingly.
"Consort Xi had someone poison the Fourth Prince's first birthday banquet. It seems she killed two birds with one stone: the Crown Prince died, and the Emperor also disliked Consort Chen and the Fourth Prince, thus cutting off Consort Chen's chance of becoming Empress. I just don't know why the poison, which should have taken effect immediately, took so many days to work. I think it's because the Crown Prince didn't eat enough, which is why it took so long to take effect." After Dai Tao finished speaking, she stopped talking. She was enduring excruciating pain, with blood seeping from all over her body. She was in extreme discomfort, and the guilt she felt towards her mistress for betraying her was tormenting her mentally, almost driving her to the brink of collapse.
"How dare you! Who has bribed you to slander me so brazenly? Your Majesty, I truly did not poison the Crown Prince. Dai Tao must have been bribed!"
Consort Xi knew that Emperor Kangxi was aware of the situation, but she still wanted to try her best to survive, even if there was only the slightest chance.
"I have already investigated and found out the truth. I even checked it again because I still didn't believe it. I just didn't expect you to be so vicious as to poison even your own relatives. You are unworthy of being the Crown Prince's aunt!"
When the evidence and testimonies were laid out on the table, Kangxi was very glad that he hadn't let Consort Xi come into contact with the Crown Prince as soon as she entered the palace. At first, he was trying to prevent others from using Consort Xi to harm the Crown Prince, but it turned out that the very person he had guarded against was Consort Xi.
“My dearest! Ha, hahaha.” Consort Xi suddenly burst into laughter, laughing until tears streamed down her face before she stopped, looking at Emperor Kangxi with resentment.
"Isn't that right?" Kangxi wondered if this was an imposter, not a member of the Hesheli clan.
"My closest relatives were the ones who, when I entered the palace, my father personally served me a potion to make me drink because I couldn't have children in the palace. They wanted me to be able to enter the palace and treat the Crown Prince like their own son, to take care of him, to love him, and to cherish him. But I just don't want to do what they want. Don't they care a lot about the Crown Prince? I'm going to destroy what they care about!" Consort Xi's eyes were red as she calmly spoke the most vicious words.
"This is utterly absurd! They treated you like this, why don't you take revenge on them instead of harming my crown prince?"
Emperor Kangxi was so angry at Consort Xi's words that he almost laughed. Putting aside the fact that Yinreng was the Crown Prince, even if he wasn't, he was still a child! How could he bear to do such a thing?
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