Chapter 66: Thunderous Fury
Su Li paused.
"Father, Concubine Liang has been in the palace for many years but has never been favored. My fourth sister is in the emperor's favor and is pregnant with the heir. I don't think she has anything to fear..."
"You think too simply."
Su Yan frowned, "It's precisely because Ci'er is pregnant that I'm worried. When she entered the palace, the Queen gave her musk beads. Fortunately, she didn't like wearing these pearl hairpins and jewelry since she was a child, so she escaped the danger. Then she was poisoned in the other courtyard and pushed into the lake at the poetry gathering. She couldn't have escaped with less luck."
"Prime Minister Song is a veteran of two dynasties, intelligent and decisive. In the past, he was under the thumb of the Empress Dowager and the Shen family, but now the Empress has committed numerous evil deeds and has been imprisoned in the cold palace. It is only a matter of time before she is deposed. The eldest prince is mediocre and cannot be used for any major role, and it is difficult for the virtuous concubine to make a comeback. Therefore, the position of the successor will only be between the good concubine and the virtuous concubine. One of them must be chosen."
Su Li was stunned and slowly frowned.
"Fourth sister is pregnant now. Compared to the unfavored and infertile Concubine Liang, she naturally has a better chance of succession. If she gives birth to a prince in the future, the position of empress will be in her pocket..."
"right."
Su Yan exhaled and nodded: "That's why I, your father, can't say it."
"...Father, so Fourth Sister had us secretly investigate Prime Minister Song and Master Lingyun. Was this premeditated?"
Su Li looked slightly surprised: "But the Queen and Consort Xian didn't know at that time... Could it be that Fourth Sister can predict the future?"
"Father is also quite puzzled by this matter."
Su Yan shook his head: "Ci'er has been smart since she was young, maybe she noticed something long ago and prepared for it, but this is good for her and our Su family."
"The situation in the court is full of hidden dangers. We must be more cautious in what we say and do, manage our servants well, and not hinder the Empress in the palace. Also, send a few more trustworthy people to Lingyun Mountain to investigate the details of the interaction between Prime Minister Song and Master Lingyun as soon as possible."
…
Xuanhou Mansion.
Chu Yunzhou frowned slightly and looked at Qingyi.
"Chu Lin said that people from the Su Mansion are secretly investigating around Lingyun Mountain?"
Qingyi nodded. "Young Master Chu has been in Lingyun Mountain for many years and has many acquaintances. He noticed that the people in the Su Mansion showed no signs of causing trouble, but were just secretly investigating Master Lingyun's affairs. Therefore, he did not alert them. He said that Minister Su was a member of the court and was afraid that he had some connection with you, the master, so he sent a letter back to inform you."
"...Master Lingyun is a man of the Jianghu, indifferent to fame and fortune. Why would the Su family want to investigate him?"
Chu Yunzhou lowered his eyes and thought for a moment: "Write back to Chu Lin and ask him to secretly help the people in the Su Mansion."
"…yes."
Qing Yi hesitated and glanced at the thinner man: "Master, you haven't slept much these past few days, why don't you go back to your room and rest for a while?"
Although he thought that the resemblance between the person in his master's dream and Concubine Shu was just a coincidence, his master seemed to be possessed by a demon. Not only did he risk getting hurt to save Concubine Shu at the end-of-year palace banquet, he also seemed to have lost his soul and could not eat or sleep well all day long. He would always hide in the study and be in a daze on weekdays.
That day, when the news spread in the palace that Concubine Shu was pushed into the lake and diagnosed with pregnancy, the master even locked himself in the room and got drunk...
"No."
Chu Yunzhou turned around and said, "Don't reply to the letter. Pack up and set off for Lingyun Mountain today."
**
Thai Royal Palace.
Xuanchen's narrow eyes flashed with suspicion.
"You said that holding a poetry gathering was not Concubine Shu's original intention?"
The pale-faced young eunuch nodded slightly. "Everyone in Concubine Xian's palace has confessed. It was Concubine Xian who heard that Concubine Shu missed her mother at home, so she instigated Concubine Shu to organize a poetry gathering and invite the officials' families to the palace. Concubine Xian contracted a strange poison from the wife of the Marquis of Runan. The incense combined with the poison in the wine will make people appear drunk, fall asleep and never wake up. Even after death, no clues can be found."
"...If that's the case, why did Concubine Xian commit murder in public?"
Xuan Chen frowned and shook his head, "Why bother setting up a noose in the lake, leaving such a fatal flaw for nothing?"
"This servant also feels it is strange."
The eunuch shook his head. "But now the virtuous concubine is seriously injured and unconscious. The evidence of her poisoning and accusations is irrefutable. People around her have either died or betrayed her. In order to save their own lives, they have put all the blame on the virtuous concubine. Many of the details are difficult to trace."
“…Where’s the Queen?”
"Even the eunuchs in the Queen's palace confessed, saying that the Queen had added a poisonous substance called Crane's Beak Red to the poisoned wine prepared by the Virtuous Consort, intending to eliminate both the Virtuous Consort and the Shu Consort. However, as the Queen Mother, she gifted all the concubines with musk beads. Even if they were ordinary people, let alone the royal family, it would be an unforgivable crime."
"Well, go back. The situation is unclear now, so be careful."
"yes."
Xuan Chen lowered his eyes and took a sip of tea, his eyes dark.
This poetry gathering in the harem was full of loopholes and strange things.
First, it was the virtuous concubine who instigated the virtuous concubine to hold a poetry gathering with ill intentions. She had prepared poisoned wine, but she also pushed the virtuous concubine into the lake in public. This was a suspicion.
When Concubine Shu entered the palace, she was given musk beads by the Queen, but she became pregnant successfully. She also happened to break the beads at a poetry meeting and was discovered by someone. This is the second suspicion.
And Concubine Shu's pregnancy was also diagnosed by chance.
The crime of murdering the royal heir was so serious that it was enough to completely cut off all the escape routes for the Queen and the Concubine Xian.
But since he could think of it, it is impossible that Your Majesty did not notice it.
Or maybe Concubine Shu is just a pawn, and all this is secretly instigated by His Majesty...
“…Mo Xing.”
A gray-clothed servant pushed the door open silently and said, "Master."
"Evacuate all personnel in the capital and hide them. Do not act rashly without my order."
"yes."
——
Although there were rumors in the capital concerning the royal family's privacy, they were all hidden under the undercurrent and the surface remained calm.
In March, spring comes, flowers bloom, and all things come back to life.
The case of the Shen family was officially closed with the imperial decree to depose the empress. General Shen, who had just returned triumphantly from the northern border, knelt before the emperor and begged for punishment. The emperor, mindful of the merits of the young master and his ancestors, only sentenced the eldest and second sons of the Shen family to death for the serious crimes. On the same day, General Shen, the father of the deposed empress, wept and committed suicide in prison as a way of atonement.
The Empress Dowager personally issued an imperial decree, demoting Concubine Xian for her serious crime of murdering the imperial heir and sentencing her to the cold palace for life. Wei Xiuyuan and Wu Chongyuan poisoned Concubine Shu and refused to plead guilty, and were given white silk. The wife of the Marquis of Runan and her accomplice's sister, as well as the Queen's aunt and cousin, and other people involved in the case, were all punished for their crimes as accomplices.
Under the wrath of thunder, the entire capital and the imperial palace were silent.
Yufu Palace.
Guyu walked into the warm room and saw his master sitting on the ground wearing only a light green gauze skirt, staring intently at the birdcage under the windowsill while writing.
"Master, why are you sitting on the ground again? Even though it's made of wood and doesn't keep you cool, it's still hard. Yanyu, quickly bring a cushion."
"No need. That futon is covered with tiger skin. It's too hot."
Su Ci waved her black hands and changed to a small charcoal pencil, and began to draw the bird's feathers.
"What's up?"
Guyu brought over a thin cushion and said, "Ganquan Palace has sent some more stuff. They are some opera scripts. The one who came is Wutong, who works for Concubine Liang. She said her master sent them to you to entertain you."
"Oh, that's very thoughtful. Did you reward Wutong?"
"I was rewarded with two silver beads."
Guyu helped her master sit on the futon, saying, "In the past month or so, the concubines in the harem and the wives of officials outside the palace have been sending gifts one after another. I'm almost panicking with just receiving them all."
"Why should you be nervous when you are polite? The more polite the better."
…
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
