Chapter 78: Watching the Tiger from the Mountain 1
Late at night, the whole palace was silent.
Only the west hall of Yaohua Palace still had candles burning at this time.
Song Zhao was leaning alone on the desk, flipping through a musical instrument.
Although Xiao Jingheng's birthday has passed, she still has to practice her piano and singing skills diligently.
After all, these are all bargaining chips that can be used to please Jamel Xiao in the future.
Men always need to be kept in suspense by novelty.
When he loses all interest in you, that's when you begin to lose his favor.
'Bang, bang, bang'
There was a crisp knock on the door, and Song Zhao replied softly, "Come in."
Xiao Fuzi bowed and walked in. After carefully closing the door, he walked to Song Zhao's side and sighed in a low voice:
"My lady, you have made a brilliant plan! There is indeed movement in Zhongcui Palace."
"Oh?" Song Zhao calmly closed the music sheet. "I just asked you to watch her for two days, and she can't hold back anymore? Tell me what you saw."
Xiao Fuzi said: "I was standing guard outside the Zhongcui Palace. After midnight, I saw Qingyue put on a cloak and left the palace. She went all the way to the Thousand Carp Pond to the west of the Imperial Garden.
That place was already remote in a corner of the imperial palace, and few people went there in winter. In addition, the palace lanterns were broken two days ago and it was very dark, so even the patrolling guards were too lazy to go there.
Soon after Qingyue arrived at the Thousand Carp Pond, an eunuch came to look for her. The servant watched from the dark, but could not hear what they were talking about. He only saw that after a few words, Qingyue took out a brocade box and handed it to him.
After the eunuch opened the brocade box, a large amount of white powder spilled out of it, which seemed to be a drug. He fainted immediately after smelling it, and Qingyue kicked him into the Thousand Carp Pond. He watched him sink to the bottom before leaving in a hurry.
Song Zhao listened quietly to Xiao Fuzi's reply and asked, "No one saw you, did they?"
Xiao Fuzi said: "Don't worry, my lord, I am hiding well and have not been exposed."
She nodded slightly and sighed, "Shu Fei... I didn't take her seriously at first, but I didn't expect that she was the most vicious one."
Xiao Fuzi asked: "But I don't understand why Concubine Shu wanted to drown a young eunuch in the Thousand Carp Pond for no reason? Was he careless and offended Concubine Shu?"
Song Zhao sneered and shook his head, "That eunuch should be from the Ministry of Punishment. Yinzhi will be released from the Ministry of Punishment tomorrow. Whoever ordered Yinzhi to go to the Imperial Pharmacy to get the snake grass must not want to see her come out of the Ministry of Punishment alive.
If I'm not mistaken, it should be that Shu Fei arranged for the people of the Ministry of Punishment to secretly execute Yin Zhi, and then Shu Fei asked Qing Yue to use the excuse of giving benefits to the person who did it, and by the way, he was also killed, so that there would be no evidence. "
"My lady, do you mean that the snake incident in Meiyuan was actually caused by Concubine Shu?" Xiao Fuzi became more and more confused as he listened. He frowned and scratched his head, then asked, "But in this matter, the person we have always suspected is the Queen. When did you realize that Concubine Shu was not right?"
"Many things may seem fine at first glance, but they cannot withstand careful scrutiny." Song Zhao raised his eyebrows and looked at Xiao Fuzi, asking, "Do you remember that when the incident happened, Concubine Xiao said that it was Concubine Shu who taught her to make sachets and give them to everyone in the harem?"
Xiao Fuzi recalled for a moment and nodded repeatedly.
Song Zhao continued, "After the snake happened in the Plum Garden, when Concubine Chen fell beside me, the person standing beside me, besides Concubine Xiao and Concubine Liu, there was another person, Qingyue who was beside Concubine Shu."
Xiao Fuzi gradually understood Song Zhao's suspicion and said with a little surprise:
"So this matter was actually initiated by Concubine Shu, and the person who tripped Concubine Chen was most likely Qingyue, who seemed the least likely person!"
Song Zhao nodded calmly, lowered his eyebrows and stroked the nail polish on his fingernails.
After thinking for a while, he sorted out the matter in his mind.
"At the time, I thought this incident was aimed at me, so I rushed out to save Chen Fei. But think about it, if I hadn't rushed out that day, how would things have developed?"
Xiao Fuzi said: "Then the Concubine Chen will definitely not survive. In this case, the person who went to the Imperial Pharmacy to get the Snake Yingcao was Concubine Xiao, the person who rushed to make sachets and gave them to the concubines was Concubine Xiao, and the person who stood next to Concubine Chen when she encountered a snake in the Plum Garden and was most likely to trip her was also Concubine Xiao!
Everything is linked together, so it is natural for everyone to think that Concubine Xiao hated Concubine Chen because her appearance was ruined, so she set up a plan to kill Concubine Chen. If Concubine Chen really died, Concubine Xiao would have no chance to be diagnosed with the emperor's heir, and would have been executed by the emperor in a rage..."
Xiao Fuzi's analysis coincided with what Song Zhao was thinking.
The reason why she suspected Shu Fei was actually because of something that had always been overlooked.
She said, "On the day when we encountered the snake in Meiyuan, we always thought that the smell of realgar came from the hot water bottle in the Queen's arms. But think about it, Shu Fei came almost with the Queen that day, and she stood beside the Queen the whole time. It is not impossible that the smell of realgar came from Shu Fei."
Xiao Fuzi thought back to the scene of that day and remembered that Shu Fei was indeed standing by the Queen's side without moving. She slapped her thigh excitedly and suddenly realized:
"Yes! My lady is very wise! We only saw the Queen holding a hot water bottle, so we preconceived that the smell came from the hot water bottle. But if Shu Fei used realgar to make perfume powder, it is not impossible that the smell came from her body!"
Song Zhao pondered for a moment before saying, "This is the power of Shu Fei's move. Even if Chen Fei didn't die, Shu Fei could clear herself of the matter and even drag the Queen into the water."
Xiao Fuzi sighed: "I didn't expect that Shu Fei looked quiet and gentle on the surface, but she had so many dirty thoughts behind her back..."
"Her dirty thoughts are far more than this." Song Zhao's clear eyes gradually became shrouded in a layer of gloom, and he said in a deep voice:
"I suspect that her miscarriage in the past was also caused by her own doing."
"This..." Xiao Fuzi was very surprised when she heard this, "You mean, Shu Fei miscarried herself?"
He thought about it and felt that this was a bit outrageous. He shook his head and said, "But she has been pregnant for nearly seven months, and this is the emperor's first child, so he is a precious son. My lady, your position is only that of a concubine, and Concubine Shu really doesn't need to lose the opportunity to give birth to a precious son just to frame you."
After hearing this, Song Zhao suddenly looked up at Xiao Fuzi. She had a faint smile on her lips and raised her eyebrows at him.
"But what if she couldn't keep this baby?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com