Chapter 512: Thunderous Means, King's Awesomeness
The palace door was pushed open.
"Oh? I didn't realize when Concubine Liu became so enthusiastic that she actually prepared the medicine for Concubine Shu herself."
Chu Ruohan's voice came slowly, followed by Su Wan and an old doctor carrying a medicine box.
When the palace maid saw the Queen and Chu Ruohan, her face turned pale and her hand holding the soup bowl shook, almost causing her to drop her grip.
"Your servant greets the Empress Dowager and the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo." Concubine Shu stood up and saluted as if she had seen a savior.
"No thanks." Su Wan raised her hand, but her eyes fell on the bowl of medicine.
"I heard that my sister, Concubine Shu, was unwell, so I specially asked Imperial Physician Zhang to come and see her. What is this? It smells quite nice."
Chu Ruohan walked forward, took the soup bowl from the palace maid, and handed it to Doctor Zhang behind her.
"Doctor Zhang, could you please take a look at this medicine and see if it will be beneficial to the dragon fetus?"
Doctor Zhang took the soup bowl, smelled it first, then probed it with a silver needle, and then his face changed.
He took out several kinds of medicinal powder from the medicine box and tested them carefully. After a moment, he bowed to Su Wan and Chu Ruohan and said:
"Your Highness, Madam, this decoction contains a trace amount of safflower. Although its medicinal properties are masked by other herbs, if a pregnant woman consumes it, she will experience persistent abdominal pain within an hour, which could lead to miscarriage!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the palace maid's legs went limp and she collapsed to the ground, her face as pale as death.
"Catch him!" Chu Ruohan shouted sternly.
The guards outside the palace immediately rushed in and pinned the palace maid down.
Almost at the same time, a high-pitched announcement came from outside the palace: "Your Majesty has arrived!"
Zhao Yunci, dressed in a dragon robe, strode in with thunderous fury.
His cold eyes swept over the palace maid collapsed on the ground and the bowl of medicine that was conclusive evidence of the crime, and his face was so gloomy that water could drip out of it.
"Good, very good!" He laughed in anger, "How dare you murder the heir to the throne in my palace!"
He kicked the palace maid: "Tell me! Who ordered you to do this?"
In less than half an hour, Concubine Liu from Yonghe Palace was urgently summoned here.
When she saw the scene in the palace, especially the trusted palace maid kneeling on the ground and crying and confessing, her pretty face instantly lost all color.
"Your Majesty!" Concubine Liu knelt on the ground and cried while trying to remain calm.
"Your Majesty, this matter has nothing to do with me! This lowly maid must have accepted bribes from others and is trying to frame me!"
"Frame-up?" Zhao Yunci's voice was cold.
The captured palace maid had already lost her mental defenses under the emperor's thundering power. When she heard the virtuous concubine's denial, she burst into tears and screamed.
"Your Majesty! It was you! You were the one who asked me to add the medicine to the soup! You were also the one who asked me to contact the distant relatives of Lord Zhou's family to impeach the Empress in the court!"
"And the fire in the cold palace? It was you who provided the source of spices from the Western Regions. You said you wanted to teach the Empress a lesson! Your Majesty, it was all your fault!"
Concubine Liu trembled all over, knowing that the situation was hopeless. She suddenly raised her head, stared at Su Wan with resentful eyes, and screamed loudly.
"It's her! It's you! The Queen and the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo teamed up to frame me! Your Majesty, Su Wan is a commoner, how can she be the Queen!"
"She was jealous of my prominent family background and that I was more favored by the Emperor than she was, so she devised such a vicious scheme!"
Just as Concubine Liu was biting frantically, Concubine Shu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke. Her voice was trembling, but extremely clear.
"Your Majesty, the Concubine is lying."
Everyone's eyes were focused on her.
Shu Fei held her belly and said word by word, "It was Xian Fei. She coerced and bribed me into lying that I was pregnant with a dragon seed. She used this to disrupt the harem and frame the Empress."
"She promised me that after the matter was accomplished, she would ensure that my mother and I would be rich and prosperous."
"She also told me that if she had the chance, she would cause my unborn child to 'accidentally' miscarry and put the blame on the Empress!"
"She even knew long ago that the child in my belly was not the heir of the dragon!"
This last sentence was like a thunderclap, exploding in the hall.
When Zhao Yunci heard that Concubine Liu dared to use a fake dragon heir to plan all this, anger rose to the extreme on his handsome face, but he laughed instead.
"What a Concubine Liu, what a daughter of the Minister of the Imperial Observatory!" He nodded slowly, and the murderous intent in his voice made the temperature of the entire side hall drop to freezing point.
"Come here! Imprison the guilty concubine Liu in the Heavenly Prison and await your punishment! Consecrate everyone in Yonghe Palace and all their followers. Arrest and investigate thoroughly!"
Concubine Liu collapsed to the ground, unable to utter a word.
Su Wan looked at the scene that took a sudden turn for the worse, feeling mixed emotions.
The cruelty and ruthlessness of this war without the smoke of gunpowder gave her a deeper understanding of this magnificent prison.
The storm subsided temporarily, and Chu Ruohan did not relax after returning to Chaofeng Palace.
She looked at Su Wan, who was still frightened, and said softly, "My Lady, it's not over yet."
"Concubine Liu has fallen, but her father, Lord Liu of the Imperial Observatory, is still alive. A mad dog isn't a scary thing; what's scary is whether there's a powerful master behind it. We still need to be vigilant."
The next morning, at the court session, the atmosphere in the pilgrimage hall was solemn.
All officials bowed their heads and no one dared to speak.
Zhao Yunci sat upright on the dragon throne, his face as calm as water, and he looked majestic without even getting angry.
"Concubine Liu, with a vicious heart, framed the Empress and plotted to murder the heir to the throne. Her crimes are unforgivable!"
Zhao Yunci's voice was not loud, but it hit everyone's heart like ice.
"Her father, Liu Shikang, the Imperial Observatory's Censor, was a poor parent and was implicated in this case. He must be immediately dismissed and investigated!"
As soon as these words were spoken, there was a dead silence in the court.
Zhao Yunci's cold gaze slowly swept across the ministers below the stairs, and she spoke again, "The Queen is the mother of the country, my first wife."
"From today onwards, any concubine in the harem who spreads rumors or plots against the emperor will be severely punished!"
"Anyone who criticizes the Empress or threatens the foundation of the nation, whether in or outside the court, will be considered treasonous and killed without mercy!"
As soon as the words "Kill without mercy" were uttered, all the civil and military officials in the court knelt down and shouted "Long live the emperor", but they were already silent in their hearts.
When the news spread in the harem, everyone felt insecure.
Those concubines who once looked down on Su Wan, the commoner queen, were now trembling with fear.
Zhao Yunci then issued another decree: "Appoint Zhenguogong Gu Junze as the imperial envoy to immediately quash the rumors within the court and the public, and thoroughly investigate the remnants of Concubine Liu's gang. All those implicated in the case, regardless of rank, will be apprehended!"
Gu Junze walked out from among the officials, bowed and received the order, his expression solemn: "Your Majesty, I receive the order."
He acted decisively and within a few days, dozens of officials and palace maids who spread rumors were arrested in the capital.
After examining the evidence, the leaders were executed in public according to Zhao Yunci's order.
For a time, the atmosphere in the capital was cleared up, and no one dared to criticize the queen in public...
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