Chapter 53 Mass Poisoning
When Concubine Yun arrived at Yonghe Palace, it was almost midnight.
When she came, she was dressed simply, not at all eye-catching like her usual fancy clothes.
As soon as she entered, she whispered to the Concubine Chen.
"Didn't we say that we should not meet in private as much as possible? You asked Yingxiang to come to my palace, aren't you afraid of being seen? You...ah!?"
'Pop'
Without waiting for Concubine Yun to finish her words, Concubine Chen raised her hand and slapped her in the face.
Concubine Yun covered her red cheeks with her hands, her eyes wide open.
"You and I share the same position of concubine, how can you hit me?"
"I will not punish you lightly if I hit you!"
The concubine pushed the food box beside her onto the ground, dropping the brown sugar gardenia cakes all over the floor.
"If these things were sent to the emperor, the slap in your face should be given by the emperor!"
Concubine Yun looked at the cakes and hadn't reacted yet.
"What is this?"
"This is a brown sugar gardenia cake, and it contains the nectar from your palace." Concubine Chen cast a sharp look at Concubine Yun, "Do you know what this is now?"
Hearing this, Concubine Yun's mind buzzed for a while and she froze in place, not knowing how to end the situation.
She just couldn't understand why something that she used to frame Song Zhao ended up in Chen Fei's palace.
Concubine Chen said, "If Song Zhao hadn't added the apricot honey you gave her to the cakes she made for me in order to curry favor with me, I wouldn't have known about your intentions! The emperor hates the concubines scheming against each other the most, so how can she get in your way? Why do you have nothing to do when you're full and do these dirty things?"
Concubine Yun said timidly: "But she has no evidence for this..."
"What's in your head?" Concubine Chen poked Concubine Yun's temple with her index finger and said uncomfortably:
"Who in the palace doesn't know that after Li gave Song Zhao arsenic, the imperial physician told him to take more brown sugar every day to nourish his blood? And you asked Zhilan to give Song Zhao the 'toad licorice' alone when the concubines were paying respects to the queen. When the truth is revealed and the six palaces are checked, only Song Zhao's health is found to be problematic. Do you think people are fools and can't see what you are thinking?"
Concubine Yun originally thought that her thoughts were flawless, but after hearing what Concubine Chen said, she felt a chill down her spine and was frightened for a while.
Seeing that her face had turned pale with fear, the Concubine Chen spoke in a gentler tone.
"I will keep this matter secret for you. You must withdraw your hands immediately and completely, and stop courting death."
Yun Fei stroked her chest and said with lingering fear: "Thank you very much for this."
Concubine Chen's fingertips brushed across Concubine Yun's still slightly red cheeks, and she said softly:
"Don't take it personally when I hit you. Think about the fact that your father occupied the land in Qizhou and became the king. Why did my father help him conceal it for so long? Isn't it because I treat you as my sister and don't want to see your family fall into poverty?"
Yun Fei pursed her lips and nodded tremblingly, "I understand all of this."
Concubine Chen smiled and said, "Okay, this matter is over. By the way, you should have used up the perfume powder I gave you, right? Yingxiang, go get some more perfume powder for Concubine Yun."
As he spoke, he took Yun Fei's hand and patted her hand twice to show his affection.
"The Queen has been getting closer to you recently. Although Concubine Ying is good at flattering her and has been given the power to assist in managing the six palaces, you and I have been at odds over the past year, and you have gained some of the Queen's trust."
She leaned close to Yun Fei's ear and whispered softly:
"She is the Empress, you should spend more time with her."
As she was speaking, Yingxiang had already taken out the perfume powder and presented it to Concubine Yun.
Concubine Yun did not respond to Concubine Chen's words, but instead tightly clenched the brocade box containing perfume powder in her hand, nodded helplessly.
After she left, Yingxiang said to Concubine Chen: "Concubine Yun really listens to the Queen. She uses the scented powder every day and is always by the Queen's side. The 'good stuff' in the scented powder will aggravate the Queen's heart disease, so that her illness will not be fully cured, but it will not make her illness too serious, and at the same time it will not be noticed by the imperial physician."
The concubine stroked her temples and said with a disdainful smile:
"Her father is brainless, and she is not smart either. If it weren't for the fact that she is a concubine and can be close to the queen, I would not be willing to take care of her mother's family's mess for her."
In fact, all along, the apparent discord between Concubine Chen and Concubine Yun was just a show for the Queen.
Concubine Chen's idea was simple. There was a medicine in the perfume powder she gave to Concubine Yun that could slightly accelerate the blood flow of anyone who smelled it.
It would not cause any harm to ordinary people if they smelled it, but the queen had a heart disease, and she kept smelling this scent, so her illness would never be fully cured.
People with heart disease cannot give birth even if they are pregnant.
Otherwise, there is a high possibility that the heart disease will worsen during delivery, resulting in two deaths.
The Concubine Chen must give birth to her child before everyone else.
It would be best for the queen to be infertile throughout her life, so that her child would have a greater chance of becoming the crown prince in the future.
*
Tonight, Concubine Yun came to Concubine Chen's palace in a very secretive manner, and they all thought that no one saw them.
Little did they know that Xiao Fuzi had been secretly spying on the movements of Yonghe Palace these days.
Now he returned to Yaohua Palace and said to Song Zhao:
"My lady's guess was correct. Concubine Yun did go to Yonghe Palace. But she came out safe and sound."
Song Zhao then realized that Concubine Chen must have discovered the trick in the brown sugar gardenia cake and chose to help Concubine Yun keep it secret.
This also confirmed that Concubine Yun and Concubine Chen were in cahoots.
But can Concubine Chen really keep this matter secret if she wants to?
Whether the harem will collapse or not has always been decided by her, Song Zhao.
Song Zhao smiled calmly, put down the pipa she was practicing, and went into the small kitchen in the night, not knowing what she was busy with.
The next morning, when the six palace maids went to pay their respects to the queen, Song Zhao was the last one to arrive.
As soon as she came in, she heard Ying Fei say unhappily:
"Mrs. Song has been paying respects to the Empress lately, but she has been coming later and later. You have always been a person who knows the rules, but how come you have forgotten all the rules after only being in the palace for so long?"
Song Zhao did not try to make excuses for himself. He first bowed to the queen, and then sincerely admitted his fault:
"It is my fault for coming late to pay my respects to Her Majesty the Queen. I am willing to accept the punishment."
"No problem." The Queen did not blame her. Instead, she saw that she had brought two servants with her to pay respects today. Both of them were holding food boxes, so she asked, "What are your servants holding?"
Song Zhao said: "It was because I made some cakes that I was late for paying my respects today."
She winked at Yunshan and Zhihua, and they brought up the food boxes.
Song Zhao smiled and said, "The Emperor and Consort Chen both thought the cakes were delicious, so I made some more and wanted to let all the ladies have a taste."
As soon as the food box was opened, Huipin, who was always greedy, was the first to come forward and take a look.
"Ah! It's the brown sugar gardenia cake!"
After saying that, he didn't care about the rules, picked up one and started eating with a smile.
Looking at the two full drawers of brown sugar gardenia cakes,
The concubine's face darkened immediately.
Concubine Yun was so frightened that she could not sit still. She kept fidgeting with the handkerchief in her hands, until her fingers turned white...
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