Every moment the emperor remained silent, the people present felt guilty.
Ge Yuanhui hated herself to death. Why had she claimed credit for something at that time? Even if Xue Zhiyi was praised by the emperor, so what? He was just a lowly servant who could never be compared to her in her lifetime! Now, if His Majesty blamed her, how would she end up? She had made a move that couldn't have been any more stupid!
Lan Ying, who was standing behind Xue Zhiyi, was already in a state of panic. Looking at Xue Zhiyi's back, there was a hint of unspeakable fear in the resentment in her eyes.
It must have been Xue Zhiyi who did it! It must have been!
She hated Xue Zhiyi and couldn't help but feel resentful towards Ge Yuanhui. He dragged her into this for no reason. When the emperor came to ask for punishment, Ge Yuanhui had a father like Duke Dingguo, who had made great military achievements, to plead for her. She was afraid that she would also implicate her father!
The gazes behind him were scorching, but Xue Zhiyi just stood there calmly.
At that time, Lan Ying did something bad and destroyed the palace flowers, just to make her mess up her job and be blamed by the Queen Mother.
So when she was repairing the palace flowers, she secretly tied the bait she was wearing and Lan Ying's beeswax together under the golden thread.
Her original plan was to secretly hide a little bit of bait on Lan Ying after the Qionglin Banquet started. In this way, the magpie would not only peck at the palace flowers, but also chase Lan Ying.
In this way, she was able to put the blame on Lan Ying, making His Majesty suspect that Lan Ying and Concubine Song had colluded to create an auspicious sign, so the hairpin was contaminated with bait, which could be considered as Lan Ying's own fault.
But later, she changed her mind.
She didn't expect Ge Yuanhui to be so greedy that he would even want to monopolize such a small benefit. This actually saved her trouble.
Even though everyone in Jianzhang Palace saw that it was Xue Zhiyi who repaired the palace flower, Ge Yuanhui still insisted that she was the one who repaired the palace flower.
After all, if not, Ge Yuanhui would have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor when he was in Jianzhang Palace.
Looking at Ge Yuanhui who looked frightened at the moment, Xue Zhiyi suppressed the smile on his lips.
However, Xue Zhiyi himself was involved in this matter, which was still very dangerous. Fortunately, the people in the Royal Beast Garden were bribed by Huo Wuyou in advance. Even if a detailed investigation was conducted, the only person who wanted the bait recently was Concubine Song.
Thinking of this, she glanced at Huo Wuyou quietly, but saw that Huo Wuyou was also looking at her. They looked at each other, and he blinked his right eye calmly.
The last time she left the palace, she did not tell him the whole plan, but only asked him to help bribe someone in the Beast Garden who could be used for her own purposes.
At that time, Huo Wuyou asked her what bad idea she was planning, but she did not answer and just told him to wait and see.
I wonder if he enjoyed watching this play?
However, Huo Wuhui, who was standing next to Huo Wuyou, was looking at his brother with a puzzled expression: everyone was trembling with fear, and no one knew what his brother was secretly laughing at. He clearly looked a bit silly, and no one knew how they had the nerve to call him stupid?
At this moment, the emperor on the high platform suddenly changed his expression. He stood up and said with a smile, "Today's incident happened suddenly. Just think of this magpie as warding off disaster for you. Don't worry about it. As for the palace flowers."
He called out, "Queen."
"Your Majesty is here." The Queen had no idea what the Emperor was thinking at the moment, so she could only maintain her usual virtuous appearance and respond respectfully.
The emperor said, "This batch of palace flowers is unlucky. I have ordered a new batch to be made and sent to the residences of the ministers."
"yes."
Then the scholars gathered their composures and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The concubines once again looked at each other in bewilderment, especially Concubine Ge. Before today, she had never thought that Concubine Song would dare to have second thoughts behind her back. She was thinking that His Majesty, who believed in celestial phenomena so much, would surely be furious if he knew that someone dared to use celestial phenomena to fool him.
The evidence is now conclusive, but Your Majesty seems to want to cover it up?
This was too irrational, so irrational that it made her feel uneasy.
Concubine Ge was unwilling to give up. She forced a smile as usual and said, "Your Majesty, the things on the palace flowers look really suspicious to me. I think..."
At the same time, during the meal, Ge Yuanhui's heart was pounding: her aunt didn't know about this yet. If she really persuaded His Majesty to continue the investigation, how should she respond?
But the emperor interrupted with a smile: "My Lady, today is the Qionglin Banquet, don't miss the time."
Seeing the emperor's ambiguous smile, Concubine Ge was a little frightened and could only reply, "Yes, I made a mistake."
At this moment, Concubine Song's face was still full of panic. She thought that the auspicious sign she had created was foolproof, but she never expected that the same bait she had prepared would inexplicably appear on the palace flowers.
But just when she thought her life was hanging by a thread, His Majesty actually revealed the matter again?
"Noble Concubine Song."
At this moment, the emperor's soft call made Concubine Song almost shudder: "...I am here!"
The emperor looked at her with those majestic eyes and said, "You don't look well. Go back to Cuiwei Palace and rest early."
The more gracious the emperor was, the more oppressive people felt. Concubine Song stood up with trembling lips: "Your Majesty, I obey your command. Thank you... Thank you, Your Majesty..."
When she was helped away by the palace maid, her legs were weak.
Faced with this result, Xue Zhiyi understood: the emperor believed in astronomical phenomena, but he also valued his face. Did he want him to get angry on the spot, punish Concubine Song who fooled the emperor, and then behead Ge Yuanhui and Tu Lanying who were involved in this matter?
Of course not.
He himself acknowledged the auspicious astronomical signs of Concubine Song and rewarded her greatly for it.
If Concubine Song was punished, it would be tantamount to admitting that the so-called celestial phenomena were all caused by human power, and it would also be tantamount to admitting that he, the emperor, was fooled and played tricks by his own concubine, in front of all the civil and military officials in the court and the new scholars who were about to enter the court.
The emperor also has to save face.
However, whether it is Concubine Song, Tu Lanying or Ge Yuanhui, they don't have to feel lucky. After all, they cannot be punished openly, but it does not mean that they cannot be investigated and dealt with privately.
Ge Yuanhui and Tu Lanying looked at each other from a distance, both with pale faces.
No one dared to mention what had just happened, as if everyone had lost their memory of it.
As the banquet began, delicious dishes were served one after another, the sounds of stringed instruments and orchestras rang out, and the Imperial Garden became lively and peaceful again.
Gu Shichong and Gu Shimin pondered over today's events, casting suspicious glances at each other, which was a kind of tacit understanding.
But immediately, they looked at each other with disgust and looked away.
As the emperor's expression gradually relaxed, the concubines finally regained some of their spirits and began to drink and chat.
Hearing the Queen Mother cough lightly, Xue Zhiyi also methodically served the hot snow pear soup and whispered, "Her Majesty, please have some."
The Queen Mother only glanced at her sideways, and there seemed to be a deeper meaning in her eyes.
Xue Zhiyi said nothing, but just kept his eyes down.
After a moment, the Queen Mother also withdrew her gaze.
Xue Zhiyi felt guilty: these little tricks of hers really couldn't escape the Queen Mother's eyes.
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