Chapter 157 A Green Hat
Hongzhao's eyes lit up when he heard the sound, and he immediately turned to look at the door.
It's my mother! And she's with my older sister too!
Lü Jiaying strode inside, pulling her daughter along by the hand. Her cheongsam fluttered in the wind with each step, and the jewelry on her head jingled. Hongjin followed closely beside her, her small face serious. Her expression softened when she saw her younger brother, and she winked at him playfully as usual.
"Your Majesty, I am late. Please forgive me."
Seeing her serious demeanor, Yinzhen's eyes showed a hint of satisfaction. He raised his hand to signal her to stand up—"It's alright. Yongshou Palace isn't close by anyway. But what did you mean by asking about investigating? And why did you bring Shuer along?"
Upon hearing his father mention him, Hongjin stepped forward and spoke up, “Father, it was I who came with Mother Empress. Mother Empress’s lateness is also due to me.”
“My daughter went to see Consort Rou to look at the embroidery patterns. When she came out in the evening, she heard the sound of something falling to the ground in the empty courtyard. My daughter ordered people to look for her, but they couldn’t find anyone. They only found this token under the wall of Consort Kang’s courtyard.”
Chunxi took the opportunity to hold the token in her hand, walked around the crowd with her head down, walked to the emperor's side, knelt down, and presented the token to the emperor with her head held high.
Yinzhen lowered his eyelids to conceal the turbulent thoughts in his eyes, staring intently at the earth-gold token. He clenched his fist tightly and endured for a long time, but finally couldn't help but raise his hand and knock the token to the ground.
The plaque that rolled on the ground a few times caught Hongzhao's eye. He hadn't looked at it closely when Hongjin handed it to him earlier. The plaque was only carved with a carp pattern, with no words on the front or back. It wasn't used to distinguish status; it was just a pass for walking around the inner palace.
Hong Jin rarely walks in front and has rarely seen anyone like him. Even he himself naturally assumed that it must be one of the guards, but today it seems that there may be other candidates.
With a clang, the crowd, having already knelt down, didn't stand up again, and now they just knelt even more firmly.
Seeing his father's anger, Hongzhao wanted to stand up as well. But the slightly damp, sweaty hands holding him under his sleeves pressed down with a little force, and Hongzhao sat back down without even leaving the stool.
Lu Jiaying felt a little comforted as she watched Hongzhao's small movements rise and fall. "Your Majesty, our Shuer is young and doesn't know how serious this matter is. She only told me about it today after hearing that Consort Xia had injured the imperial fetus. I didn't dare to delay and rushed to investigate, which is why I'm late."
"Speak." Yinzhen closed his eyes, his brows furrowed tightly, and exhaled heavily, as if trying his best to calm his surging and clamoring emotions.
Lu Jiaying's face showed embarrassment and indignation, but she spoke without holding back, telling the whole story in detail.
"The time was too short, and I couldn't immediately determine who the person who had secretly met with Consort Kang in the middle of the night was. However, judging from the many fine and dense creases on the locust tree outside the courtyard, it must have happened countless times. It was just that this time someone accidentally knocked something over and that's when it was discovered."
After hearing her finish speaking, Yinzhen sat in silence for a moment, his eyes filled with a chilling aura that seemed to be brewing a storm. He stood up and strode to the gauze curtain in the inner room. He swung his hand and flung the curtain open with such force that a "rip" was heard. The fragile gauze curtain tore open with a loud thud, and the entire curtain fell down, with a corner still attached.
Inside, Kang Changzai sat on the bed with bloodshot eyes, her long legs propped up as if she had nowhere to put them, her whole body stiff, her gaze fixed on the cold, knife-like man in front of her with extreme fear.
"Who is the adulterer?"
The maids and imperial physicians inside knelt timidly to one side, all looking utterly silent and unwilling to raise their heads.
Even now, Li Ying still maintains her anxious expression and tries to defend herself.
Her hands trembled as she supported herself, her eyes wide as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, and her jaw chattered as she opened her mouth—"Your Majesty, are you really going to judge me to have committed such a heinous crime based on a token that can be found anywhere? Your Majesty, do you really believe that the Empress hastily came up with a lame excuse to frame me in order to save her son from punishment?!"
As she moved, she accidentally touched her stomach, and her expression immediately became more determined, as if she had suddenly found a powerful backer—"I am pregnant with the Emperor's son! It is your son! You have not had a child for many years! It is I who have made you feel like a father again! Does Your Majesty not care about our child at all?"
Her words caused Lü Jiaying and Consort Jing behind her to exchange a glance... "Has it been a long time? The Seventh Prince Hongyan is only two or three years old."
If we're talking about a really long time, it should be when the Crown Prince was born. That was when everything was in the right place at the right time. After the Emperor had the Third Prince, he really couldn't have any children for many years. And when he finally had one, it was a stain on his life. Under those circumstances, Hongzhao was truly a "timely rain".
"Su Peisheng!" Yinzhen's voice could be described as exasperated. This shout startled Su Peisheng, who hurriedly stepped forward, feeling that the next thing he would say was either to throw Li Ying into the Shenxing Division or to execute her directly. In any case, he was about to deal with her.
Hongzhao's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he called out softly from behind him, "Father Emperor."
Yinzhen was about to speak, but the words he had already uttered were swallowed back. He turned to look at his son, Hongzhao, who stepped forward with worried eyes. His worry wasn't for the woman who had cuckolded his father, but rather for the woman whose love he poured all his emotions into his father.
"Father, please don't upset yourself. This matter is indeed of great importance, concerning the face of the royal family and the bloodline of the imperial family. I think I should first ask Physician Zhou to examine the pulse of the woman inside and see if there is anything wrong with her gestational age or pulse before making a decision."
Yinzhen felt a burning anger rising in his heart, making it almost impossible for him to speak. He nodded in agreement, and Zhou Qi, following orders, went to the inner room.
He first glanced at the kneeling doctor beside him, then, not gently, grabbed Li Ying's wrist through the handkerchief as she tried to pull it back.
Before long, he stepped back with a solemn expression and knelt before the emperor.
"Your Majesty, there are no problems with the pregnancy's timing. However, her pulse shows no signs of instability, and it's impossible to tell how severe the impact she suffered. Her physical strength is among the best."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the hall turned their attention to the imperial physician who had spoken.
The two people are telling completely contradictory things, so one of them must be lying. As for who it is... it shouldn't be hard to tell.
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