Chapter 129: Gift from His Royal Highness

Xiao Jinyu went to Fengyi Palace early in the morning.

As soon as the emperor left after visiting the empress, Xiao Jinyu strode in.

"Mother." Xiao Jinyu was extremely worried when he saw the queen lying on the bed.

The queen had just finished her breakfast and was a little surprised to see her little son. "Yu'er, why are you here?"

Xiao Jinyu saw that the Queen's face was red, the same color as his, and although he was confused, he did not bother to ask.

"Why didn't you tell me that something happened to my mother? It was my brother the Crown Prince who told me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known that my mother was poisoned."

"Did the prince tell you?" The queen thought about how the prince had taken the initiative to go out and look for Datura to detoxify him last night. She was surprised when she thought about it now.

"Well, the Crown Prince went out early in the morning. I couldn't wait to come and visit you, mother. Don't worry, mother. With the Crown Prince around, you'll be fine." Xiao Jinyu soothed.

The Queen nodded, "I know, and I hope the Crown Prince will return soon."

Xiao Jinyu glanced around to make sure there were no outsiders in the palace. He leaned close to the empress's ear and whispered, "Mother, you were poisoned by the incense you lit in your palace. Someone poisoned the incense."

Upon hearing this, the Queen looked at the incense burner beside the bed. Incense is a must-have every day, and if poison was put in the incense, it would not be easy to detect.

Qingying has always been in charge of incense. Qingying was her dowry maid and had been with her for many years. It couldn't be her.

She looked at her son in confusion, "Yu'er, how did you know there was something wrong with the incense?"

Xiao Jinyu said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "It was my brother the crown prince who told you to check who had the incense. Catching the person who poisoned it is the most important thing."

The queen did not expect the prince to be so attentive. She called Qingying and said, "Change the incense."

"I understand." Even though the empress didn't say it explicitly, Qingying guessed it. She obeyed the order and left, extinguished the lit incense, and replaced it with a less commonly used incense.

The Queen said, "Now that I was poisoned, the three palaces and six courtyards probably all know about it. They dare not take action now. When the prince comes back and I am safe, the person who poisoned me will definitely be restless."

Xiao Jinyu said: "That's what the prince said too."

Xiao Jinyan led his men out of the palace before dawn and divided them into several groups to look for Mandragora.

Finally, two days later, he came back with Mandragora.

After Mandragora was found, he was immediately handed over to Doctor Yu to prepare an antidote.

After the queen drank the antidote, Doctor Yu took her pulse again and confirmed that the toxin had been completely eliminated.

"Your Majesty, the poison has been completely eliminated and there is no serious problem." Doctor Yu said with a faint smile on his face.

The queen heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this. She looked up at the prince standing beside the bed and said with relief, "This time it was all thanks to the prince for finding the antidote in time. You have been very tired these past two days."

Xiao Jinyan lowered his brows and nodded: "These are what I should do. I am relieved that my mother is safe and sound."

Although the emperor had three palaces and six courtyards and many beauties.

But there is only one empress. When the emperor was still the crown prince, the empress, as the crown princess, always stayed by his side, restrained her temper, and helped him manage the affairs of the Eastern Palace.

Until the emperor ascended the throne, the Crown Princess became the Empress and the Emperor's first wife, and she managed everything from the East Palace to the Back Palace in perfect order.

It is naturally a cause for joy that the Queen is safe.

The emperor looked at the prince with admiration in his eyes: "The prince's ability to handle affairs is getting stronger and stronger. He is worthy of being my son."

Xiao Jinyan bowed and said, "Thank you, father, for the compliment."

After a few peaceful days, the poisoning incident was settled.

The Queen ordered, "Qingying, go check who got the incense?"

After Qingying came out, she checked the incense. There was still some left from last time. She usually went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get more after using them up.

She put the remaining incense into a small bottle and called Cui'er, "Go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and get some incense."

"I'll go get it right away." Cui'er turned and went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Qingying followed all the way to the Imperial Household Department and saw with her own eyes Cui'er taking the brand new incense from Eunuch Wang.

Qingying saw the entire process of getting the incense.

The Queen asked, "You mean the person who poisoned the food might be from the Imperial Household Department?"

"Your Majesty, it was Cui'er who always went to get the incense and then handed it to me. No one else touched it." Qingying said.

The queen thought about it carefully and ordered, "Go and check the background of eunuch Wang."

“Yes.”

When Qingying came back again, she had already found out Eunuch Wang's background.

"Eunuch Wang is a distant relative of Concubine Qi. Five years ago, he entered the Imperial Household Department through Concubine Qi's backdoor and got a lucrative job."

The Queen thought of Concubine Qi and immediately understood.

"Concubine Qi is really a wicked woman. When we were both in the Eastern Palace, she wanted to compete for the position of Crown Princess."

"Catch the man and torture him to extract a confession."

"Yes." Qingying brought a group of eunuchs to tie up Eunuch Wang and started interrogating him.

At first he was stubborn and refused to say anything, but later he could not bear it any longer and gave in and revealed the identity of Concubine Qi.

With witnesses and evidence, the empress took people to Huayu Palace.

At this time, Concubine Qi was dressing up and preparing to go to the emperor to pay her respects. When she saw the empress and a group of people coming in, she immediately said unhappily, "Your Majesty, what are you doing?"

The queen said nothing but ordered, "Come here, bring Concubine Qi to me."

"I'll see who dares to touch me." Concubine Qi slammed the table angrily and stood up, glaring at the eunuch who tried to get close to her, "Your Majesty, what grounds do you have to arrest me?"

The Queen said coldly: "It is clear that you asked Eunuch Wang to drug me. With the evidence gathered here, do you still want to make excuses?"

Concubine Qi was so frightened that she fell down on her chair. It was not until the eunuch grabbed her that she reacted, "I want to see the emperor, I want to see the emperor."

The Queen said, "Don't worry, Concubine Qi. I have already handed over the evidence to the Emperor. The Emperor will decide how to deal with it."

In the study, the emperor had just finished reading the confession when he issued an edict: "Concubine Qi is arrogant and domineering, coveting the position of empress, and is too scheming. She will be stripped of her title, demoted to a concubine, and imprisoned in the cold palace."

The Empress was quite satisfied with the decree. As for Concubine Qi, she was dragged by the eunuchs and imprisoned in the cold palace without even seeing the Emperor.

It has been four days since Xiao Jinyan went out and came back to Xiyun Pavilion.

Shen Chuwei was extremely happy. She didn't have to learn how to play chess, nor did she have to get up early to greet people. She could just sleep until she woke up naturally. It was simply wonderful.

Just a few days later, Xiao Jinyan came to Xiyun Pavilion with a big thing wrapped in cloth.

When Shen Chuwei saw Xiao Jinyan bringing such a big thing, she thought it was a reward from Xiao Jinyan for her previous contribution.

She stared at the long thing for a while and knew at a glance that it was not food.

"Your Highness, just come if you want to, what gift do you bring?" In fact, she was still quite curious about what Xiao Jinyan gave her.

Xiao Jinyan saw her expectant and curious eyes and whispered, "Xiaojiu, open it and take a look."