Zhou Defa quickly came in to await his orders. The emperor ordered him, "Except for the Fengyang Palace, all the concubines and their personal servants in the other palaces should be brought to the Ministry of Discipline and tortured."
Zhou Defa withdrew as ordered. Princess Jinyi sighed inwardly and suggested, "Father, I'm worried about Mother. Please accompany me to visit her. And Xiaoba, it's time for him to see her too."
The Emperor led Princess Jinyi to Fengyang Palace. There, she knelt down on the ground and kowtowed three times before she stood up, holding Zishu's hand. She walked up to Empress Jing'an and said, "Mother, I'm late."
Empress Jing'an waved to Princess Jinyi, hugged her and cried bitterly. The Emperor glared at Jinyi and stepped forward to comfort Empress Jing'an: "Fangting, don't cry, isn't the baby here? You must take good care of yourself, the child is still young and needs your care."
Princess Jinyi wiped her tears and took out a handkerchief to wipe the tears of Queen Jing'an. The two of them snuggled up against the head of the bed. The emperor glared at Princess Jinyi again, but Princess Jinyi pretended not to notice and asked with concern, "Mother, do you have any medicine?"
Empress Jing'an nodded and motioned for the emperor to leave. The emperor touched his nose and left the room, but did not leave Fengyang Palace, but went to the side hall.
The newly transferred palace maid from the side hall served the emperor tea and then withdrew. Zhou Defa stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, the palace maid next to the Imperial Noble Consort just confessed that the Second Prince's death was also related to the Imperial Noble Consort."
The emperor held a white porcelain teacup in his hand. He gently put it down and said, "Continue to investigate and see what evil she has done. Her great-uncle is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, right? Investigate him thoroughly as well."
The emperor gazed at the rooftops and recalled the days when Empress Jing'an had just married him. Back then, the palace was small, just the two of them, yet they had lived so happily and carefreely. Later, he took concubines, and after becoming emperor, he selected new concubines during each selection. The palace was so vast, and so crowded, but its size and abundance had killed their child.
He was already forty years old. Few emperors could live long. He himself did not believe in those "Long live the emperor" chants. It seemed that these people could not be kept. If they were kept in the palace any longer, the Eighth Prince and Princess Jinyi would be next in line.
At dinner, the family of four gathered. The Eighth Prince looked at Empress Jing'an with admiration, his face blushing as Empress Jing'an held his hand. The Emperor looked at the Eighth Prince with dissatisfaction. The usually clever Eighth Prince didn't even notice the Emperor's gaze. The Emperor bit hard on the beef tendon in the cold dish.
"Mother, this tastes delicious. Please try it." Princess Jinyi used her serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of fresh vegetables and offered it to Queen Jing'an. The Eighth Prince saw this and was about to start eating, but the Emperor on the other side quickly picked up a piece of chicken stewed with matsutake mushrooms.
Empress Jing'an said with a smile, "Everyone, please concentrate on your meal and don't worry about me."
Despite the emperor's unhappy look, the eighth prince silently served a bowl of West Lake beef soup to Queen Jing'an. After Queen Jing'an thanked Princess Jinyi and the emperor, she also thanked the eighth prince.
The atmosphere in the room was harmonious and peaceful, but Zhou Defa, standing outside, was feeling a wave of anxiety. He hadn't expected that there wasn't a single good person in the entire palace. They had all been involved in Empress Jing'an's affairs, either the original culprit, an accomplice, or even someone who had taken advantage of her misfortune.
Zhou Defa could imagine the Emperor's reaction after he reported this. But if he didn't take advantage of the Emperor's good mood and report it, he would be implicated by those lunatics. The Emperor's wrath would cause millions of corpses to float on the surface. Even if he had done nothing wrong, he would still be punished. What had he done to provoke him?
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