Chapter 372: Defiled Harem 1
For the next half month, Concubine Hui was no longer seen in the harem.
Judge Guo asked her to stay in bed to protect the fetus, and she really obeyed.
She closed the door to visitors and refused to see anyone who came to visit her.
It can be said that Concubine Hui was indeed very lucky. She had already had her period and her pregnancy seemed to be weak, but she was able to keep the pregnancy by using moxa fumigation three times a day.
Before Cheng Jing's 37th day, Doctor Zhang secretly sent a letter to Zhao Hua.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Hui is in good health and will probably attend the Third Prince's 37th day memorial ceremony tomorrow."
As he spoke, Yu took out a few pieces of sandalwood wrapped in plain cloth and handed them to Zhaohua, whispering:
"This is what the queen wants. There is plenty of Bo Luo Hui added to the sandalwood. Concubine Hui has a disease of bleeding and has been fumigated with moxa for a long time. If she smells this, she will most likely develop a tendency to metrorrhagia."
Zhaohua handed the sandalwood to Yunshan and asked, "You will be on duty in the palace tomorrow night. Can you keep her safe?"
Doctor Zhang was slightly surprised. "It's possible, but didn't Your Majesty go through all this trouble just to make Concubine Hui have an abortion? Why......"
"I don't want her to give birth to this child, but I don't want to do it myself and get myself dirty." Zhao Hua interrupted him with a firm voice, "After the incident tomorrow, please ask Imperial Doctor Zhang to do his best to save Concubine Hui and make sure she and her child are safe."
Although Doctor Zhang still had doubts, he did not ask too many questions and just said:
"Your Majesty, I will not let you down."
That night, Yunshan took Zhaohua's handwritten Sutra of Rebirth and went to the Fahua Hall to burn it on the pretext of praying for Chengjing.
During this time, he placed the tampered sandalwood on the top layer of sandalwood offered in front of the Buddhist shrine, to ensure that Concubine Hui could light it personally when she offered sacrifices to Chengjing tomorrow.
The next day, all the concubines gathered in the Fahua Palace to bid farewell to Cheng Jing.
And Concubine Hui once again appeared in everyone's sight.
When I saw you again today, Concubine Hui looked very haggard.
The blisters on her face caused by the hot oil splashing had long disappeared, but dark scars were left behind.
In order to cover up her shortcomings, Concubine Hui, like Concubine Yao before her, used a lot of powder on her face.
Because of this, her pale complexion made her look even worse, as if the pain of losing her son had dealt her a heavy blow, making her look ten years older overnight.
As she was burning incense with tears in her eyes to pay tribute to Cheng Jing, Zhao Hua heard Concubine Ying and Concubine Yun whispering:
"The sudden death of Cheng Jing has dealt a heavy blow to Concubine Hui. She was the youngest and most beautiful among us, but now she looks like she has been drained away. It's really pitiful."
"Who can bear to watch their own child being boiled in oil? But looking at Concubine Hui's old and tired appearance, I'm afraid it will be difficult for her to be favored in the future..."
"After all, she is blessed. She is pregnant now. If she gives birth to another prince, even if she is not favored in the future, she will have hope for the rest of her life. It's not like us..."
Zhaohua listened quietly, without saying a word.
Her eyes fell on Concubine Hui's shriveled face, but she didn't feel that she was old at all.
I'm already a woman in my thirties. How much older can I get?
Rather than saying that it was Cheng Jing's 37th day, it would be better to say that the concubines joined forces to put on another big show.
How they had laughed at Concubine Hui behind her back, but now they showed their sisterly love in front of Concubine Hui, offering words of comfort as if it was they who had lost their sons, and their tears flowed freely.
Zhaohua felt a headache after seeing this, so he said he was not feeling well and went back to the palace first.
After returning to the palace, Xiao Fuzi handed a picture album to Zhaohua with a mysterious look on her face.
Zhao Hua saw his smiling face and asked curiously, "What is this?"
As he spoke, he opened the album.
But the moment the portrait came into his eyes, his eyes turned red.
On the first page of the portrait, a boy is seen riding on a red-brown horse, smiling innocently, galloping across the vast grassland.
Scroll back.
I also saw boys shooting arrows with bows, reading and writing, and playing with their friends...
The album has 16 volumes, each of which is full of vivid paintings.
Zhao Hua recognized it at a glance. The little man in the portrait was her son whom she had been thinking about day and night.
She wiped away her tears with a smile and asked Xiao Fuzi:
"Where did it come from?"
Xiao Fuzi said, "His Royal Highness Prince An came to the palace today to discuss the affairs of the previous dynasty with the emperor, and asked someone to secretly give this item to me."
"Brother..." Zhao Hua closed the album and held it tightly against his chest.
This was the closest she had ever been to Cheng Yu in all these years.
The painting was cold, but it was enough to warm her heart.
Xiao Fuzi whispered to her, "Everything is fine, young master, don't worry, madam."
Zhaohua smiled and nodded, then carefully flipped through the volumes again.
She stroked Cheng Yu's handsome face in the portrait, regretting that she had missed so many important moments in her child's life, but she was also secretly glad that her child was still alive and living a peaceful and happy life.
After reading it once, Zhaohua resolutely handed the album back to Xiao Fuzi.
"Burn it. I can't keep this thing with me."
Xiao Fuzi respectfully agreed, and whispered to Zhaohua:
"There is one more thing. Your Majesty's plan has come to fruition."
Hearing this, Zhao Hua sneered with disdain, his eyes filled with endless sarcasm.
On that day, Xiao Jingheng was furious because of Cheng Jing's sudden death.
He originally wanted to kill the two palace servants from the Machinery Workshop who were responsible for the "Qilin Offering Auspiciousness" to vent his anger, but in the end, the emperor changed his mind before the execution and only gave them a hundred lashes of the cane, threw them out of the palace and never used them again, and ended the matter hastily.
Zhao Hua was suspicious at that time. Given Xiao Jingheng's character, how could he let the two of them live?
He did this, probably because he was suspicious and was trying to find out something.
Zhaohua knew that Xiao Jingheng had been keeping an eye on Prince Qi's mansion recently because Chun Lan, the loyal maidservant beside Concubine Hui, had had an interaction with Prince Qi.
So Zhaohua took advantage of the situation and staged a big drama outside the palace.
The palace servants in the Jiqiaofang were severely injured and would definitely go to the doctor for treatment after leaving the palace.
So Zhaohua secretly arranged for a doctor who had had contact with the servants in Prince Qi's mansion to treat the palace ladies.
While treating the illness, the doctor used inappropriate herbal medicine on the palace maid's wounds, causing the wounds of the two to become infected, and they both died soon after.
After the others died, the doctor also disappeared with the silver given by Zhaohua.
Xiao Fuzi said: "From the surface, it seems that Prince Qi hired someone to kill the two palace servants from the Jiqiao Workshop. If the emperor knew about this, he would definitely suspect Prince Qi of the death of the third prince.
The emperor spared the lives of the two palace servants because he probably thought there was something fishy about the third prince's death. After all, there was a child inside the iron ball, and they didn't even notice the difference in weight?"
Zhao Hua sneered, "They can't detect the difference in weight, which means they are careless in their work. They don't work hard in the palace, and the end is death. I want to ask you, what do you think the emperor will think when he hears the news that Prince Qi killed the palace maid from the Tianji Office?"
"The Emperor will naturally suspect that Prince Qi has something to do with the Third Prince's death. In addition, Chun Lan, who had risked her life to protect the Third Prince, also had an encounter with Prince Qi. I'm afraid the Emperor will even suspect Concubine Hui..."
"What do you suspect about them?" Zhao Hua asked again.
Xiao Fuzi smiled slyly and said, "The only thing that can make a mother cruelly kill her own flesh and blood is that the existence of this child has threatened the mother's life. For example... the third prince is not the emperor's biological son at all, and Concubine Hui is already worried about raising him. Now that she is pregnant again, she is afraid that her secret will be discovered sooner or later if she keeps the third prince by her side, so she has such a crooked idea..."
Although Cheng Jing was Xiao Jingheng's biological son, Xiao Jingheng never doubted his bloodline during his lifetime, so he did not ask the imperial physician to check. In the entire palace, the only person who knew that Cheng Jing was Xiao Jingheng's biological son was the imperial physician Zhang.
Doctor Zhang had been secretly investigating this matter at Zhaohua's behest.
If the truth comes out in the future and Cheng Jing's identity is questioned, Doctor Zhang will just sit back and pretend he knows nothing.
"Yes, if a person is dead, there is no way to verify whether he is her biological child or not. Isn't Concubine Hui the best at making things up and killing people without anyone noticing? Well, today, I will let her have a good taste of what it feels like to have dirty water poured down her face and be unable to defend herself."
Zhao Hua casually fiddled with the amethyst on her armor, smiling brightly as she said, "Tell the Tianji Office to tell the emperor the truth about what they found out. My brother is still in Chaoyang Palace right now, so you can tell him a message for me."
After saying that, he leaned over to Xiao Fuzi's ear and whispered softly.
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