Su Maowen quickly lowered his head and responded.

I cursed in my heart, those self-righteous fence-sitters!

It's enough to cook a good meal for the master, but you dare to interfere in everything! You flatter the powerful and bully the weak, but now you have hit a wall, right?

It's simply courting death!

Chu Yao walked back with a gloomy face, and on the way he met Chu You who was returning from Concubine Liang's palace.

"Third brother, what happened?"

When he saw him, Chu Yao told him that someone had poisoned Yaoyao.

After that, he was worried that his sister would not have enough food to eat or warm clothes to wear in the future.

After hearing this, Chu You secretly made a note of Zheng Jia in his heart, and then patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Father only said that we are not allowed to enter the Qionghua Palace, but we can always leave something at the door."

After hearing this, Chu Yao's eyes lit up and he nodded heavily.

“That’s right!”

Su Maowen was very efficient in his work. In less than half a day, many people from the imperial kitchen, from the head chef to the small kitchen servants, were arrested.

The chief chef of the imperial kitchen knelt on the ground, wiping his cold sweat, his whole body shaking like a sieve.

Could it be that his bullying of the palace maids was discovered?

Or was it that his nephew outside the palace was found to have committed murder?

He looked at Su Maowen flatteringly.

"Manager Su, why is this?"

Su Maowen looked at him coldly and counted the banknotes he had found in his room.

"This palace can only accommodate two kinds of servants, one is the honest and dutiful ones, and the other is the truly smart ones!"

The chief chef of the imperial kitchen suddenly collapsed to the ground, his face was completely drained of blood, as pale as paper, and the last glimmer of hope in his eyes was completely extinguished.

There were many people in the palace who changed their attitudes according to the situation. He was just going with the flow and doing a favor as usual.

He really didn't understand why a concubine and princess who had already been disliked by the emperor would bring such a disaster upon himself?

Seeing his expression, Su Maowen sneered in his heart.

Can't figure it out? Then go to the underworld and ask the King of Hell!

There were suddenly fewer people in the imperial kitchen, but more people came in one after another. However, no one was curious, and no one dared to ask.

In such a huge palace, a few people missing is nothing. It's normal.

As it was getting dark, Su Maowen served a cup of strong tea and prepared to leave.

Just when he thought that the emperor would stay in the imperial study again tonight, Emperor Qixuan spoke lightly.

"Go to Yunshui Palace, go to Zheng's palace."

Hearing this, Su Maowen's heart was pounding.

The Emperor wouldn’t want it?

Although he had a lot of thoughts in his mind, his expression reacted very quickly.

"Yes, I will send someone to inform Zheng Ronghua right away."

Emperor Qixuan stood up and walked out from behind the desk. "No need, just go over there."

As he spoke, he pressed his lips into a straight line and his eyes were cold.

Seeing this, Su Maowen became more certain of his guess and quickly lowered his head and followed behind.

In a side hall in Yunshui Palace.

Zheng Ronghua walked around the room anxiously, with a look of uneasiness and more anticipation.

She stirred her handkerchief, "Why hasn't there been any news yet?"

"Are you sure you put it... in?"

Yuzhu nodded and replied, "I bribed the imperial kitchen manager and personally administered the medicine."

Suddenly, a loud shout came from outside: "The Emperor has arrived!"

Hearing this voice, Zheng Ronghua was overjoyed. She quickly checked her clothes and makeup, and quickly picked up the lip balm to apply it.

Then he hurried out to welcome the emperor.

As she walked, she thought: Sure enough, only when Li Wanzhi is gone can the emperor see them! She walked to the steps, knelt on the ground with a smile on her face, and spoke in a gentle and melodious voice.

"I pay my respects to His Majesty."

Emperor Qixuan lowered his eyes and glanced at her coldly, then said "hmm" softly and walked directly into the hall.

But Zheng Ronghua didn't think much about it. When he looked up, he saw the palace maids sent by other concubines in Yunshui Palace to observe secretly.

She glared at them haughtily, then returned to the hall with a smug look on her face.

In another side hall of the Yunshui Palace, Concubine Zhao, who was still under house arrest, was gritting her teeth.

"The Emperor actually went to her place?!"

Looking at the tall and majestic figure, Zheng Ronghua bit her lip slightly and walked over slowly.

Noticing her movements, Emperor Qixuan said calmly, "I remember that you are quite knowledgeable about tea art. Go and make a cup of tea."

Hearing this, Zheng Ronghua was delighted. She didn't expect the emperor to remember it! She immediately responded with joy: "Yes!"

Su Maowen outside the door had a serious face. The emperor asked this question suddenly, so he should not have missed anything, right?

Suddenly, the sound of porcelain breaking was heard in the store, and he quickly pushed the door open.

"Your Majesty, are you okay?"

Seeing the hands covered with tea leaves, his eyelids twitched and he quickly went to the yard to get a basin of cold water.

"Your Majesty, soak it in cold water first. I will call the imperial physician right away."

Zheng Ronghua had already knelt on the ground with a pale face.

How could this happen? The emperor was clearly sitting on a chair, so why did he suddenly appear behind her? "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I didn't mean to do that."

The burning sensation in his hands gradually disappeared, and Emperor Qixuan finally had time to look at her.

"Zheng was indecent in front of the emperor, and she shall be punished with 20 strokes of the cane. She will be demoted to a concubine and confined to Yunshui Palace!"

"No, Your Majesty!"

Zheng Changzai fell to his feet and begged desperately.

"Your Majesty, I really didn't see you. I didn't mean to do that."

"oh?"

Emperor Qixuan looked at her with cold eyes, "You mean, I should be blamed?"

Frightened by his eyes, Zheng Changzai stammered.

"I dare not."

Su Maowen asked someone to pull her away, and Emperor Qixuan strode away.

This scene was passed on to their respective masters by the palace maids in each palace.

The concubines who had just been so angry that they tore their handkerchiefs into pieces now all had expressions of gloating.

After dealing with Zheng, Emperor Qixuan felt a little relieved.

But when he thought of the real mastermind behind the scenes, he felt very angry.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

Under the moonlight, Xiao Yunxi, wearing a crescent-colored gauze skirt, walked slowly towards them, carrying a small basket in one hand and holding a lotus flower in the other.

As soon as he saw her, Emperor Qixuan clenched his hands behind his back slightly, his eyes gradually turned colder, but his tone was still as calm as usual, making it impossible to tell what his mood was.

"What is Yue Zhaoyi doing?"

Xiao Yunxi lowered her eyes, lowered her chin slightly, and said softly: "I saw lotus roots in the pond, so I picked some lotus seeds and prepared to make soup."

"oh?"

Emperor Qixuan's eyes flickered. "I wanted to ask this before. I didn't expect that Yue Zhaoyi, a princess, could actually cook?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yunxi lowered her eyelids, her eyelashes trembled slightly, she looked sad, and her voice was choked with sobs.

"Your Majesty, you don't know that although I am a princess, I grew up in the cold palace. My life is even worse than that of the servants who are able to gain face in front of the masters of the other palaces."

Seeing her behaving like this, Emperor Qixuan sneered in his heart.

Pretending!

He sighed, "It seems like it's not easy for you either."

Xiao Yunxi raised her head and shook it. The tears hanging on her eyelashes were about to fall. Her watery peach eyes made her look innocent and harmless.

Looks very pitiful.

Being looked at by such a pair of eyes, it seems as if all they see is you and they regard you as their only support.

"After coming here, especially meeting you, I feel that everything is worth it."

Su Maowen, who was standing aside, secretly sighed in his heart, this Yue Zhaoyi is really good at tricks.

But who is Emperor Qixuan? He has known the truth for a long time. How could he be fooled by a little beauty trap?

Suddenly the wind blew and Xiao Yunxi sneezed lightly.

Then she hugged her shoulders, shivering, looking very cold, and her watery peach eyes revealed a bit of anticipation.

Emperor Qixuan tightened his cloak.

"It's cold at night. I'm going home. You can go too."

Seeing him turn around without any reluctance, Xiao Yunxi stamped her feet secretly and shouted with an unwilling look on her face.

"Your Majesty, would you like to try the soup I made?"

(End of this chapter)