Chief Steward Wang dared not disturb the Emperor, fearing that he might lose his head if the Emperor became displeased, so he could only wait quietly to the side.
After about half a cup of tea's time, the Emperor finally came to his senses, raised his head, coughed lightly twice, and said, "Steward Wang, has Qi Guze been brought here?"
Upon hearing this, Steward Wang hurriedly replied, "We have been brought here for quite some time and have been waiting for you."
Only then did the emperor notice Qi Guze, who was bound hand and foot below, and he stood up abruptly, saying, "Everyone, get out."
"Your Majesty, the matter of the Regent's rebellion is still unclear. It would be best to leave a few guards here to protect you," Chief Steward Wang said with concern.
"I know what I'm doing. Everyone, get out. Besides, look how he's tied up. How could he possibly hurt me?" the Emperor said with a smile.
"But..." Steward Wang wanted to say something more, but was frightened out by a look from the Emperor and hurriedly left, then slammed the door shut behind him.
Only the Emperor and Qi Guze remained in the Imperial Study. After thinking for a while, the Emperor picked up a cup of tea from the table, walked over to Qi Guze, loosened the ropes binding him so that he could free one hand, and then handed the tea to him.
"How have you been thinking these past few days in prison? Are you willing to plead guilty?" Seeing him take the document, the Emperor turned around and asked indifferently.
"No need to consider it. I still stand by what I said: I have absolutely not colluded with the Mingyue Kingdom, and I will never betray His Majesty." Qi Guze reiterated his previous statement. After finishing his sentence, he drank the tea in his hand in one gulp, then looked at the teacup and then at His Majesty with a solemn expression.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor sighed and said in a low voice, "I know that everything was done by Marquis Ningyuan, but I can only imprison you for now. Marquis Ningyuan's power is already very great, and he has become too powerful to be controlled. We cannot rashly turn against him." After a pause, the Emperor continued, "I have been thinking of a way to get you out of prison these past two days, and then we will make further plans." After saying this, he patted Qi Guze's shoulder heavily.
Upon hearing this, Qi Guze knew that the Emperor still trusted him, and he immediately felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He rolled his eyes and said, "I know what the Emperor was thinking when he looked at the water stains on the ground just now."
"What are you thinking about?" The Emperor asked with a smile.
"His Majesty is thinking, why is this tea so unpalatable?" Qi Guze replied, frowning.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor burst into laughter, while the guards outside were completely bewildered, wondering why the Emperor was laughing so loudly.
...
At the same time, Xu Yuehuai realized that she could no longer sit idly by. Since the Emperor had proposed that they go to the Mingyue Kingdom, it meant that the clues to prove Qi Guze's innocence were also in the Mingyue Kingdom. Therefore, she had to quickly resolve the matters in the harem.
She thought about it and decided to take a risk.
She went straight to the gate of Consort Min's palace. At that time, Pingping was scolding a new palace maid in the courtyard. When she saw Xu Yuehuai, she turned around and went in to report to Consort Min.
Unfortunately, Xu Yuehuai spotted her immediately and called out to her, "Pingping, why are you walking so fast? Did you do something to offend me?"
Although she was smiling, her words were deliberately probing.
Pingping panicked as expected, but still managed to remain strong and calm: "Princess Heyue, what are you saying? This servant didn't see you, otherwise I would have come to greet you long ago... The Imperial Concubine is taking a nap right now, why don't you come later?"
These words were clearly meant to send the person away.
"Since the Imperial Concubine is still asleep, it's the same if I talk to you for a while." Xu Yuehuai said, taking the person's hand and smiling, "Your room is over there, isn't it?"
"This..." Pingping couldn't figure out what she wanted to do for a moment. Just as Pingping was about to follow the person into the house, Consort Min's voice suddenly came from inside the house.
"Pingping, I'm a little hungry. Go to the kitchen and make me a bowl of steamed egg custard."
Xu Yuehuai looked at Pingping beside her with a leisurely air and said with a smile, "Look, the Imperial Concubine has woken up."
"Then please, Princess." Pingping could only extend her hand.
After this ordeal, she almost lost her composure.
She lifted the curtain and said, "Your Highness, Princess Heyue has arrived. You just woke up. I will attend to you first. Tell the palace maids to go."
She knew that Consort Min was impatient and was afraid that Xu Yuehuai would make her lose her composure with just a few words, so she also gave her a look.
“That’s not appropriate.” Consort Min shook her head. “Those people are clumsy and have no idea what I want to eat. You should go there yourself.”
“But…” Pingping hesitated, but unexpectedly Xu Yuehuai interrupted her, “Miss Pingping, is there something else? I heard from the palace maids that you are the most capable head maid. But after seeing you today, why are you the kind of person who makes excuses?”
"This servant dares not." Pingping dared not stay any longer and had no choice but to turn and leave.
But as soon as the others left, Consort Min's gaze towards Xu Yuehuai turned sour, and she sneered, "What wind blew Princess Heyue here today? Could it be for Xu Mingzhi again?"
"Ha, even the Emperor has restored his official rank, which shows that he is truly talented. Even if you say that I bought his rank, it's useless." As she said this, her eyes were full of provocation, and even a hint of disdain.
Seeing her smug look, Xu Yuehuai couldn't help but chuckle: "Why did Your Highness suddenly bring this up? If I wanted to expose this, it would have been common knowledge long ago. How could it have remained completely secret until now?"
"Then what happened today..." Consort Min narrowed her eyes, her gaze filled with vigilance.
"Naturally, I'm here because of Consort Jia's matter—" Xu Yuehua deliberately dragged out her tone, then smiled and said, "Consort Jia's miscarriage is too suspicious. His Majesty ordered me to investigate this matter. In the past few days, I have also found some clues. Your Highness, tell me, how come there is so much hair oil on the cobblestone road?"
Upon hearing this, Consort Min panicked instantly: "What nonsense are you talking about?!"
"How can that be nonsense? Many people saw that Consort Jia miscarried because she stepped on hair oil. The Imperial Concubine manages the six palaces; she shouldn't be unaware of these things." Xu Yuehuai pressed on relentlessly.
She has no evidence at the moment, so all she can do is blow it up.
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