In fact, Emperor Kangxi had long since discovered Empress Hesheli's true nature, but he was unwilling to believe that his wife was such a person. In his mind, the empress was gentle, virtuous, dignified, and understanding, who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him, rather than the later Empress Xiaochengren.
The next morning, Kangxi issued an edict to investigate all palace servants and slaves, saying that there were remnants of the Heaven and Earth Society in the inner palace, and that no suspicious eunuch or palace maid should be spared.
"My child, my child, why? He's so young, why are you treating me like this?"
When Consort Tong woke up, she discovered that her child was gone. She had been so hopeful for it, so why was her dream shattered? Consort Tong's eyes were lifeless, filled with tears, and she was heartbroken.
"Your Majesty, it's alright, it's alright, you'll have another child."
Granny Tong looked at her mistress with heartache. She was also looking forward to the arrival of the young master. She had already embroidered a set of clothes and was thinking that the prince would look handsome in them.
"Granny, tell me why!"
Consort Tong cried even harder. Granny Tong hugged Consort Tong and patted her shoulder, as if to comfort her.
"Your Highness, cry! It will make you feel better after you cry." After an unknown amount of time, Consort Tong slowly stopped crying.
"Your Majesty, the most important thing for you now is to take good care of your health and get pregnant again. What's gone is gone."
Granny Tong knew that Consort Tong couldn't accept reality all at once, but she didn't want to be replaced, so she had to pull herself together quickly.
"Granny, my heart aches! I've gotten used to him inside me." Consort Tong said, as if she was about to cry again.
"Does Your Majesty think that just by grieving here, you can bring the young prince back? Aren't you just causing pain to your loved ones and joy to your enemies?"
Seeing that Consort Tong was still depressed, Granny Tong disregarded the difference between mistress and servant and spoke much more bluntly.
"Your Majesty, think about it. The Heaven and Earth Society has already been destroyed. How dare they still cause trouble? They are just trying to cover up a shocking secret in the inner palace."
Having experienced the intrigues and schemes of the inner palace, Granny Tong naturally saw through some of the tricks of the trade. She used to be a palace maid by Empress Xiaokangzhang's side before leaving the palace and going through several twists and turns before finally entering the Tong family as a nanny.
"What? Are you saying that my child wasn't killed by the remnants of the Heaven and Earth Society?"
Consort Tong excitedly grabbed Granny Tong's arm, gripping it so tightly that it hurt Granny Tong.
"Your Majesty, think about it! The Emperor and the Empress Dowager have uncovered so many things, how could they possibly let people spread rumors that it was done by someone from the inner palace? Wouldn't that make the royal family lose all face?"
Tong Mama's idea was that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were trying to cover up the scandal by blaming it on the remnants of the Heaven and Earth Society.
"But who has such great ability to scheme against the entire harem so thoroughly?" Consort Tong asked doubtfully, pondering the question.
"This old servant does recall someone who might have that ability."
Granny Tong thought of all the concubines in the harem, and suddenly remembered something from the past.
"Who? Consort Zhao? Although she has the ability, she has only recently taken over public power, and she took over at the same time as me. Her big moves could not escape my notice." Consort Tong racked her brains but still couldn't figure out who it was.
"Your Majesty, it should be Empress Xiaochengren."
"Herseri! That's right, besides her, I'm afraid no one else has such great abilities." Upon hearing Tong Mama's words, Consort Tong suddenly realized that only the late Empress had such abilities. She had controlled the palace for many years, and it would have been easy for her to take action against the concubines.
"This old servant once heard that Empress Xiaochengren's hemorrhage was caused by human intervention, not a sudden event. This old servant thinks that so many of the Emperor's sons and princes died before, and so many concubines miscarried. It is likely that everyone in the harem knew that the late Empress had harmed their offspring, which triggered the resentment in the entire palace."
By piecing together all these events, Granny Tong came to a fairly accurate understanding of the whole situation.
“Your Majesty, musk has been added to your incense. This old servant asked the imperial physician, and the musk is extremely strong. Just a little bit can cause a pregnant woman to miscarry. If Your Majesty continues to use incense with this substance, it will be difficult for you to have a happy pregnancy. So this must have been done by someone in the inner palace.” Granny Tong had already asked about this when Imperial Physician Lu discovered the presence of musk.
"Who killed my child?"
Consort Tong thought to herself with a gloomy expression, and coupled with her pale face, she looked terrifying.
"Your Majesty, let's start by investigating from within. First, we'll find out who is disloyal and treacherous, and then we'll investigate who is causing you trouble. Those who are at odds with Your Majesty are just a few."
"Fine, I'll listen to you, Granny. As long as I find out who it is, I will not let their whole family off the hook," Consort Tong said viciously.
Hesheli Palace
"How is it?" Consort Guargia, the mother of Emperor Xiaochengren, asked her confidante anxiously.
"It's done. Consort Tong has miscarried. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor are not suspicious at all, and they've even blamed the Heaven and Earth Society, remnants of the previous dynasty." The trusted nanny told Consort Hesheli the news she had found out.
“However, the Princess Consort lost contact with our spies in the palace yesterday, which might mean something bad is going to happen,” the trusted nanny said worriedly.
"It's alright. Perhaps the Emperor has blocked the news because this matter is too big. We'll contact him again once things have calmed down. The Tong family has come up with a prince to threaten the Sixth Prince (Yinreng). Let's see if this maternal grandmother is willing to agree." Consort Guarjia said in a good mood. After all, she had been planning for almost half a month to accomplish this, and now that she finally saw the result, it was naturally something to be happy about.
"Is Yuexi Garden still behaving itself?" Guarjia Fujin suddenly felt annoyed thinking about that Yue Fujin, who was so shrewd yet repeatedly fell into that vile woman's hands.
"There's been no movement for now." Yue Fujin's full name is Suo Zhuolun Yue Ying. She is the legitimate daughter of a collateral branch of the Suo Zhuolun family. She is ten years older than Wan Yi. She caught the eye of Gabula (Empress Hesheli's father) and was asked to become his concubine. Gabula liked her very much.
"Keep a close eye on her for me." She had to find a way to get rid of that vile woman.
"yes."
On the other side, Kangxi discovered that Consort Tong had miscarried. All the clues pointed to the Hesheli family, the third son of Sony, the backyard of Gabula, the Left Censor of the Third Rank Censorate. The eunuch's testimony and all the evidence were thrown at Sony, who was kneeling below.
"Your Majesty, what... what's going on?"
Sony picked up the papers from the ground with a puzzled look and began to read them quickly. The more he read, the more horrified he became. When he saw that it was about his third son's wife, Guarjia, causing Consort Tong to miscarry, he finally understood why the Emperor had been so furious with him just now.
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. It is my son's fault for failing to properly educate my wife, which led her to commit such a heinous crime. I beg Your Majesty to punish him."
Sony knew that Kangxi had summoned him alone because he wanted to settle things privately and didn't want to escalate the situation.
"Are you all failing in your teaching? They've even dared to extend their reach into my harem. I've certainly got some nerve."
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