Chapter 49 Concubine Poisoned

Today it was time for Su Jingyao to take a medicinal bath again. She sat leisurely in the bathtub, leaning back slightly and leaning against the wall of the tub.

Nanny Li stood by and gently stretched out her hands to massage her body.

"Master, there are spies from Yikun Palace in Zhaochun Palace." Nanny Li said in a flat tone, looking down on these spies.

"Oh? How did the concubine get in?"

Su Jingyao raised the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a faint smile, with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

The noble concubine probably didn't cultivate anyone in the Eastern Palace before. The kind and simple heroine used to disdain to do these calculating things.

"Ping'er in our palace used to work in the East Palace. At first, I didn't know whether Ping'er was the concubine's person, so I didn't control Ping'er's travel very strictly."

Nanny Li said this while gently pressing Su Jingyao's shoulders.

"Ping'er thought that no one saw her going in and out of Zhaochun Palace, but in fact, I had sent someone to follow her secretly."

"She meets Qin'er, the first-class maid in the Imperial Concubine's Palace, every five days. They are also very cautious, and the forms of their meetings are always different." Nanny Li lowered her voice slightly and spoke slowly.

"Ping'er is only a second-class maid in Zhaochun Palace. She can't even enter the palace normally. Is there any news about me that she can know?"

Su Jingyao had disdain in her eyes and spoke in a slow tone.

She originally distrusted everyone in Zhaochun Palace, and almost only the people closest to her knew some of her plans and calculations.

"Ping'er naturally didn't know about the master's affairs, but I asked someone to leak some news to Ping'er, which was half true and half false. Ping'er went to see Qin'er five days later." Nanny Li continued to speak softly without stopping her hands.

"Last time, the master asked Miaoyun to tell the noble concubine that His Majesty was going to take you out of the palace on the master's birthday, and it was Ping'er who did it."

"Yes, that really has nothing to do with me."

Su Jingyao closed her eyes, her face full of satisfaction and a smile on her lips.

"Master, what if the imperial concubine does nothing?" Nanny Li frowned slightly, a trace of worry flashing in her eyes.

"The noble concubine had no plans in the East Palace before. She just wanted to be a servant, but I'm worried that she won't find a way."

Su Jingyao didn't say anything immediately, but just gave a meaningful smile.

If the noble concubine really did nothing, why would Qin'er be so eager to find out the news about her Zhaochun Palace?

Moreover, she pushed Jun Zechen to Yikun Palace on the first night of Jun Zechen's accession to the throne, just to let Ling Yue know clearly that Jun Zechen was not sharing part of his love for her with others.

Instead, he directly transferred his affection to someone else.

It is impossible for Concubine Gui to give up her feelings for Jun Zechen easily. She will only feel Jun Zechen's preference for her through certain things.

Once a woman becomes jealous, it can be very scary.

Besides, jealousy is not something Ling Yue can easily control.

The second day.

The sun is shining, and warm rays of light are pouring down.

In the courtyard of Zhaochun Palace, many magnolia trees are in full bloom. Some are as white as snow, while others are pink and delicate. They complement each other and are extremely beautiful.

"Master, His Majesty sent you three sets of folk-style dresses yesterday. Master, please choose what to wear today?"

Miaoxia spoke softly, and at the same time pushed out a hanger with three dresses hanging on it and placed it in front of Su Jingyao for her to choose carefully.

Su Jingyao raised her eyes slightly and slowly scanned the three dresses. The red ones were as bright as fire, the white ones were as pure as snow, and the light blue ones were fresh and elegant.

After thinking for a moment, she said softly, "Let's go with the white one."

She has to act pitiful today, and this white color will help her get into the role quickly.

"Yes, Master."

Miaoxia responded obediently, and then began to dress up Su Jingyao carefully.

After dressing casually yet exquisitely, Su Jingyao set off.

Because the fact that Jun Zechen took her out of the palace was not announced to the public. After all, the Queen Mother was still in power. If the Queen Mother knew about this obvious violation of palace rules, she would definitely have a bad impression of Su Jingyao.

Jun Zechen obviously took this into consideration, so he deliberately did not publicize the matter.

Su Jingyao sat in the carriage, and a eunuch beside Jun Zechen led her to a secluded place to wait.

She even brought a lot of food with her today, and even took out a book to kill time.

Palace of Heavenly Purity.

An Shun looked anxious and walked into the hall in a hurry.

At this time, Jun Zechen had already changed into folk clothes, which made him look even taller and more handsome, with his posture as straight as a pine tree.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." An Shun's voice was full of panic.

Jun Zechen couldn't help but frown, with a hint of impatience in his tone, "What's wrong?"

"The Royal Concubine is now unconscious!" An Shun's voice was trembling.

When Jun Zechen heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then he raised his legs and walked quickly towards the Yikun Palace.

His face was clouded with gloom and his eyes exuded endless coldness.

An Shun followed closely behind, his face also full of anxiety.

Your Majesty was supposed to accompany Concubine Chun Shu out of the palace today, so how come something happened to Concubine Gui at this time?

When Jun Zechen arrived at Yikun Palace, he saw Ling Yue lying bloodless on the bed at a glance, and his voice was filled with anger.

He shouted loudly: "What's going on!"

After he ascended the throne, he had always felt guilty for not naming Ling Yue as queen due to various reasons.

Now, less than a month has passed, and she is lying in bed, unconscious because of these secret affairs in the harem.

"Where is the imperial physician?" Jun Zechen asked immediately.

"Your Majesty, the imperial physician will be here soon."

Jun Zechen stood steadily beside the bed, staring intently at Ling Yue with an extremely serious expression.

There seemed to be a myriad of thoughts in his deep eyes, and his heart was like a tide, with worry, anger, and self-blame...

After a while, Doctors Hu and Li came hurriedly.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." The two imperial doctors said in unison, with respect in their tone.

"Why don't you come and show it to the noble concubine?" Jun Zechen said with a sullen face, anxiety in his voice.

Doctor Li hurried forward, knelt down beside the bed, and then began to examine the imperial concubine seriously.

His brows were tightly furrowed, his face full of solemnity, then he turned to ask Meixiang who was standing beside him with a worried look on her face.

"I wonder what symptoms the Concubine had before she fainted?"

"The master had symptoms of nausea and vomiting before he fainted." Meixiang answered anxiously.

Doctor Li combined the pulse and roughly understood the reason why the concubine was in a coma. His face was heavy and he said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the concubine has been poisoned."

Jun Zechen's eyes instantly flashed with a cold light like ice, and he asked in a low and cold voice: "Is there a solution?"

"Judging from your symptoms and pulse, you must have eaten black fungus by mistake. Fortunately, you didn't eat much, so the poison in your body is only mild. I will prescribe an antidote immediately." Doctor Li replied hurriedly.

"Go." Jun Zechen waved his hand.

Jun Zechen then turned around and told Doctor Hu, "Come over and check on the Imperial Concubine as well."

For these high-ranking officials, except for routine consultations every few days when only one imperial physician was needed, they were usually seen by at least two imperial physicians at other times.

On the one hand, it was to avoid misdiagnosis, and on the other hand, it was to prevent the imperial physician from being bribed.

Doctor Hu quickly stepped forward and carefully felt the imperial concubine's pulse. After a while, he said, "Your Majesty, my humble conclusion is the same as Doctor Li's. The imperial concubine has indeed eaten blackhead by mistake."

"How could you accidentally eat black fungus for no reason?" Jun Zechen frowned.

"Anshun, go down and check it out." Jun Zechen ordered coldly.

Afterwards, Jun Zechen slowly sat down beside the bed, quietly looking at Ling Yue who was lying on the bed.

With a long sigh in her heart, she suffered.

Suddenly, Jun Zechen suddenly remembered something. Yaoyao was still waiting for him.

But today Ling Yue was poisoned and unconscious. Under such circumstances, how could he accompany her out of the palace?

Jun Zechen walked out of the bedroom slowly with a gloomy face, and then gave instructions to Fuquan in a low voice.

"Go tell Concubine Chun Shu that the noble concubine was poisoned today and I really can't accompany her out of the palace. Let her go back to Zhaochun Palace first, and I will visit her later."

Then, he paused for a moment, and continued, "You should take the purple jewelry head ornaments and the full-body glazed mirror from my private storehouse and send them to Zhaochun Palace."

After hearing this, Fuquan was shocked. The headgear was gone, but the glass mirror was only owned by the empress dowager when the late emperor was alive. Even the concubine Shu begged the late emperor for it, but he still didn't give it to her.

And now, His Majesty is going to give the only glass mirror in the palace to Concubine Chun Shu.

Fuquan quickly responded, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will arrange it right away."

Only after Fuquan left did Jun Zechen feel a little relieved.

But I was still a little worried about her and didn't want her to have an unhappy birthday.

However, Yaoyao cared about the imperial concubine. If she knew that the imperial concubine was poisoned, she would probably understand him.

Su Jingyao, who had been waiting for Jun Zechen in the carriage, was leisurely eating flower cakes, drinking flower tea, and reading a book leisurely.

"Master, Eunuch Fuquan is here." Miaoyun reported softly.

Su Jingyao raised her eyebrows slightly, then reluctantly put away all the things.

The expression on his face gradually became a little depressed.

"Your servant greets the Empress." Fuquan bowed respectfully.

"Get up, where is His Majesty?" Su Jingyao's voice was filled with a hint of urgency.

"Your Majesty, the noble concubine of the Yikun Palace has been poisoned. His Majesty has rushed to the Yikun Palace. I'm afraid he can't accompany you out of the palace today. His Majesty asked Your Majesty to return to the Zhaochun Palace first and come to see you later." Fuquan said cautiously.

Su Jingyao's expression froze for a moment, and then a lonely look appeared on her face.

But he still asked with concern: "Is there anything wrong with Sister Guifei's health?"

"The imperial physician is already preparing an antidote for the imperial concubine, so I don't think anything will happen." Fuquan replied quickly.

"That's good. I will return to Sojun Palace now."

Su Jingyao forced a smile, but it was full of bitterness.

After returning to Sochun Palace, her beautiful face was calm.

She opened her red lips slightly and gave instructions to Miaoyun who was standing beside her.

"Miaoyun, go and close the bedroom door. Keep it closed, so that the palace people outside will think that your Majesty has gone to the Yikun Palace, while I am here in this bedroom feeling depressed and unhappy."

"Yes, Master."

Miaoyun responded obediently, and then walked towards the bedroom to close the door.

When she came back, she saw her master sitting elegantly on the couch, holding a pen in her delicate hand, writing the plan with great concentration.

Su Jingyao raised her head slightly and began to give instructions again.

"Two days later, call the six ladies-in-waiting from the Shang Gong, Shang Qin, Shang Gong, and the twelve ladies-in-waiting from the three palaces, as well as the ladies-in-waiting from the Gong Zheng Division. I want to have a good talk with them."

"Yes, Master."

At this time, Su Jingyao raised her eyes slightly and asked calmly: "What kind of poison has the concubine been poisoned by?"

"I heard that he accidentally ate blackheads."

When Su Jingyao heard this, she paused writing and frowned slightly.

Blackhead?

The poison of Aconitum is quite serious, but why is it Aconitum?

If she remembered correctly, human skin would feel a stinging sensation when the blackhead touched it.

It seems that Tang Ronghua used this to apply on the Buddhist beads bracelet.

The reason why Su Jingyao knew this was because the black hair was given to Tang Ronghua by An Zhaorong, and the spy she arranged in An Zhaorong had discovered the black hair before.

The noble concubine's head was poisoned today. Was it An Zhaorong who poisoned her or was it a self-torture trick she used?

However, Su Jingyao was more inclined to believe that this was a self-torture trick by the imperial concubine.

If An Zhaorong really wanted to poison the imperial concubine without considering the consequences, the imperial concubine would probably have died by now.

This time, the Imperial Concubine was very smart. Not only did she want to use this opportunity to tie down His Majesty and prevent him from taking her out of the palace, she also wanted to drag An Zhaorong into the water.

Su Jingyao narrowed her eyes slightly, this was a way to kill two birds with one stone.

But An Zhaorong was not stupid, and the black hair in her palace should have been dealt with long ago.

I just don't know how the imperial concubine plans to deal with An Zhaorong. Is she going to frame her?

Su Jingyao turned her head and looked out the window, her eyes a little vague.

An Zhaorong was right. Once the imperial concubine came to power, the first person she would want to get rid of would be her.

After all, when she was in the Eastern Palace, An Zhaorong had harmed the Imperial Concubine many times, and this time the Imperial Concubine finally couldn't bear it anymore.