Hearing Emperor Jingming's question, the Empress Dowager closed her eyes for a while, then slowly opened them with a cold light in her eyes: "I heard about Fuqing's incident."

Emperor Jingming was startled and couldn't help but look at the empress.

The Queen shook her head imperceptibly.

Of course, she would not say anything to the Queen Mother, and the Emperor was obviously afraid that the Queen Mother would be suspicious, so he did not mention it either.

The Queen Mother sighed: "Such a big thing happened on the Lantern Festival in Fuqing, and you hid it from me. Fortunately, I heard it from Fourteenth Prince, otherwise I would still be in the dark..."

Emperor Jingming's face darkened: "Fourteenth girl, she's really talkative!"

The Queen Mother glanced at Emperor Jingming and said, "Why are you blaming Fourteenth? I am not old and confused yet. You didn't say a word when something like this happened. Do you think I am dead?"

This question left Emperor Jingming speechless and embarrassed.

The Queen Mother sighed: "I feel sad when I think about how Fuqing suffered such a hardship, and how he came to pay his respects to me the next day as if nothing had happened..."

Emperor Jingming had no choice but to admit his fault: "It is my fault. I should have told the Queen Mother."

The Queen Mother sighed: "Your Majesty cares for me, and I understand that."

"That Aunt Ping——"

The Queen Mother's eyes turned cold: "I heard that the one who harmed Fuqing was Qingdai, her personal maid, and I felt something was wrong——"

"Does the Queen Mother feel something is wrong?"

The Queen Mother looked at Emperor Jingming and nodded slightly: "Qingdai has served Fuqing for many years, how could she easily have the intention to harm her master? The fact that she could do such a thing is most likely related to the people she has come into contact with recently. After thinking about it, I found that the person who had the most contact with that slave girl was Aunt Ping in my palace--"

At this point, the Queen Mother's face turned ugly, and she was slightly angry: "Yesterday, I tried to test Aunt Ping with a few words, but I didn't get anything out of her. I thought it would be better not to make a fuss and to investigate secretly first. I didn't expect that she would hang herself in the west room today..."

The Queen Mother closed her eyes, her lips trembling slightly: "This slave girl deliberately died in front of me, I'm afraid she wanted to take the secret to the underworld and make it difficult for me to live well!"

Emperor Jingming slapped the edge of the bed and said, "This bitch!"

The Queen Mother had lived a life of luxury and was old, so it would have been strange if she had not been frightened when she suddenly saw the corpse hanging from the beam.

The queen frowned slightly.

Aunt Ping was related to Indigo. Now that Aunt Ping is dead, doesn't that mean that this clue is gone?

She couldn't help but glance at Yu Jian out of the corner of her eye.

Yu Jin had a blank expression on his face, and no clues could be seen.

The Queen sighed in her heart, lowered her eyes and held Princess Fuqing's hand tightly.

"My queen mother is frightened. It's all my fault. If I had found this slave girl earlier, this wouldn't have happened today." Emperor Jingming blamed himself.

Although Pan Hai had found out about Aunt Ping, he was still prepared to investigate secretly for the sake of the Queen Mother's reputation and not to make any early moves. Who would have thought that Aunt Ping would die because of the Queen Mother's temptation...

A feeling of suffocation arose in Emperor Jingming's heart.

The enemy is so cunning that it is impossible to strike back and impossible to defend against.

Seeing that the Queen Mother looked very bad, Emperor Jingming said gently, "Mother, you should have a good rest. I will take good care of Aunt Ping's matter."

The Queen Mother nodded slightly and reached out to hold the hand of Emperor Jingming: "We must find out why Aunt Ping harmed Fuqing, otherwise I will never feel at ease."

"Don't worry, mother. Your son will check it out."

After comforting the empress dowager, Emperor Jingming winked at the empress, and the emperor and empress left the empress dowager's room together.

The imperial physician waiting outside hurriedly greeted the emperor and empress.

Emperor Jingming waved his hands impatiently: "How is the Queen Mother's health?"

The imperial physician bowed his head and said, "The Queen Mother fainted due to a severe shock... I have already prescribed a calming medicine for her. She will get better after drinking a few doses of the medicine, but -"

"Just what?" Emperor Jingming asked hurriedly.

"After all, the Queen Mother is old. Extreme joy, extreme sorrow, extreme anger, and extreme shock are all taboos. It is best to remain calm..."

Emperor Jingming nodded slowly: "I understand. The imperial physician must take good care of the empress dowager."

"Yes." The imperial physician bowed and stepped aside.

Emperor Jingming nodded slightly to the empress and walked out of Cining Palace.

It was noon, and although the spring sun was not warm enough, it was just the right amount of comfort for people. But Emperor Jingming could not feel this comfort, and his heart was only heavy.

"Your Majesty, do you want to go back to Kunning Palace for some more food?" the Queen asked anxiously.

The family hasn't finished their reunion dinner yet.

Emperor Jingming shook his head: "No more eating, I'm going back to Yangxin Palace."

As he spoke, he glanced at Yu Jin and Jiang Si and sighed, "You two should go back earlier as well."

Emperor Jingming said so, so Yu Jin and Jiang Si naturally couldn't follow the empress back to Kunning Palace, and they left the palace immediately.

Emperor Jingming returned to Yangxin Palace with a lot on his mind.

A fat cat passed by his feet, and he reached out and picked it up, pressed it on his knees, and stroked its fur from time to time.

The fat cat protested twice, but perhaps he sensed that his master was in a bad mood today and was not easy to mess with, so he just narrowed his eyes and followed him.

After Emperor Jingming slapped Jixiangshun a few dozen times, he finally spoke: "Pan Hai——"

"The servant is here."

"Continue to investigate with Aunt Ping, and remember not to upset the Queen Mother."

"I understand."

Emperor Jingming tapped Jixiang's head unconsciously with his fingers.

Why did Aunt Ping want to harm Fuqing? Was it her own will, or was there someone else behind it?

If there really is someone behind the scenes, what is the relationship between that person and Auntie Duo? Perhaps the person behind Auntie Ping is the deceased Auntie Duo, and Auntie Ping's move on Fuqing is just to fulfill Auntie Duo's last wish...

Emperor Jingming thought a lot and suddenly heard a cat's meow. He lowered his head and saw Jixiang struggling to stand up. Finally, he could no longer bear it and jumped off his knees and ran away.

The fat cat ran to a distance and stood still, yelling angrily at Emperor Jingming.

If the owner knocks it again, it will be knocked dizzy!

As expected, people will push their luck further. I was really careless.

Jixiang meowed angrily a few times, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Emperor Jingming opened his mouth and shook his head.

Oops, I accidentally mistook Jixiang's head for the white jade paper on the table... It seems I can't do that again in the future.

Emperor Jingming was upset and regretful, and couldn't help but glared at Pan Hai: "Why don't you go!"

The scolded old eunuch walked out with her eyes rolled, feeling furious: she had served the emperor for decades, but was actually passed over by a cat. Her life was simply unbearable.

The queen was also in a bad mood when she returned to Kunning Palace.

With Aunt Ping's death, the investigation into the incident at Xuande Building in Fuqing will probably come to a standstill again.

Princess Fuqing also remained silent.

Noticing her daughter's abnormality, the queen stroked her hair and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Princess Fuqing said softly: "Grandmother fainted today, it was because of my daughter's matter -"

"Silly girl, don't blame yourself. Your problem is ultimately directed at me and your father...Okay, go back and rest."

As soon as Princess Fuqing left, the Queen's face immediately turned cold and she ordered someone to call the Fourteenth Princess.