Wearing a book, hooking him up

Fuquan has been staying with His Majesty these past few days because Anshun is leading people to investigate the matter of Concubine Chunshu.

Today, Jun Zechen was sitting on the dragon chair in the imperial study, reviewing memorials.

Fuquan bowed his back slightly and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, Anshun has something to report about Concubine Chunshu."

Jun Zechen paused as he held the pen. "Let him in."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Fuquan responded and turned to leave.

After a moment, An Shun came in respectfully and bowed in front of the table: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"Get up." Jun Zechen waved his hand.

An Shun stood up and began to report: "Your Majesty, I interrogated Li Shangfu in the Ministry of Punishment. She said that Concubine Ling told her to only pay attention to the Queen Mother's palace dress, and not to pay too much attention to the palace dresses of Concubine Chun Shu, An Zhaorong and other concubines."

He paused and carefully observed His Majesty's reaction.

Jun Zechen frowned, his face looking somewhat gloomy.

Because of jealousy, Ling Yue actually personally ordered her subordinates not to care about the concubines' palace costumes. He originally thought that Ling Yue just didn't care, but he never expected that she did it on purpose.

Anshun couldn't tell anything was wrong with his majesty's expression, so he continued.

"Afterwards, Li Shangfu handed Concubine Chun Shu's palace dress to the palace maids Cuizhu and Cuilan of Yaxiuxuan. The two of them, together with three other embroiderers Jingxin, Jinglin, and Jingxi, made the palace dress for Concubine Chun Shu."

Jun Zechen became even more annoyed when he heard this.

Even if Ling Yue is jealous of someone, she should still do her duty. One of the four concubines was so despised by the Shangfu Bureau. Where is the palace rule? Where is the dignity of the superior?

Seeing that Jun Zechen had a slightly unfriendly look on his face, Anshun did not dare to say much. He just paused and continued to report.

"Your Majesty, the maid who was found drowned in the well was Jing Xin. The other four should have known in advance that Concubine Chun Shu's palace dress was poisoned. When I interrogated them at the Ministry of Punishment, they all said that they had seen the deceased Jing Xin touch the embroidered palace dress alone."

"But we cannot rule out the possibility that Jing Xin is dead and they are throwing all the dirty water on Jing Xin."

Anshun couldn't help but sigh when he said this.

"But I checked Jing Xin's background. Jing Xin comes from an ordinary family and has simple interpersonal relationships. She doesn't look like someone who would do something like poisoning a concubine."

His words brought silence to the hall.

The more Jun Zechen listened, the more annoyed he became.

Although he is in a superior position, he controls the life and death of everyone.

But as an emperor, he maintained stability in the world and also wanted to provide a relatively fair environment for the world.

However, the struggles in the harem often implicate many innocent people, and because of the powerful family background and status of the concubines in the harem, the palace maids are as insignificant as ants to them.

Jun Zechen is a typical example of 'the officials are allowed to set fires, but the common people are not allowed to light lamps'.

He could kill at will, but he could not tolerate the viciousness and cruelty of the concubines in the harem.

"If Jing Xin has nothing to do with this incident, her family should be comforted." Jun Zechen said lightly, his tone calm.

Then, he continued impatiently, "As for the details, once you have investigated them thoroughly, just report all the details. What are you here for today?"

"Your Majesty, I am here today because all the evidence I have found recently points to Shen Ronghua." Anshun spoke, but his tone was a little hesitant.

The reason why he wanted to lay the groundwork was just to let His Majesty understand what happened, because Anshun himself could not convince himself that Shen Ronghua would do these things.

As an old man in the Eastern Palace, Shen Ronghua really has no need to do such things after a new person enters the palace.

Now that Concubine Ling is under house arrest and Concubine Chunshu has had a miscarriage, the obvious beneficiary is the new concubine. After all, His Majesty had never summoned the old lady of the Eastern Palace before the new concubine entered the palace.

Jun Zechen naturally thought of this as well. He looked at Anshun sharply and motioned him to continue.

An Shun was afraid of missing anything, so he continued, "Your Majesty, the juice on Concubine Chun Shu's palace dress is the juice of Amaryllis. Amaryllis is rare, and the imperial physician has never paid attention to Amaryllis, nor does he know that the juice of Amaryllis is poisonous."

"And Shen Ronghua's maid Yinrong had been injured by the juice of Amaryllis before, so she knew that the juice of Amaryllis was poisonous."

He paused and continued, "In addition to this reason, Shen Ronghua and Jincheng Lin Ronghua were close friends. This is what I discovered after investigating Shen Ronghua, because after Lin Ronghua entered the palace, she did not appear to have any interactions with Shen Ronghua."

"I originally wanted to continue investigating Lin Ronghua, but if Lin Ronghua was secretly contacting Shen Ronghua, then I would need to interrogate Shen Ronghua before I can continue investigating..."

Anshun became a little conflicted when he said this.

After all, Shen Ronghua is a concubine after all. If there is a queen in the harem, then the queen can investigate with justification.

But he was a eunuch, and although he served the emperor closely, if he wanted to interrogate the concubines, he still had to ask the emperor for permission.

He looked up at His Majesty, whose brows were furrowed and his face was gloomy.

"Your Majesty, do I need..." Anshun spoke cautiously.

"Interrogate Shen Ronghua!"

Jun Zechen interrupted him, his voice was chilling, "I will get to the bottom of this matter!"

If there is no strict investigation and severe punishment this time, Yaoyao is simple-minded and has never been on guard against others. Now that she is favored in the harem and has the eldest prince, many concubines in the harem are afraid of being jealous.

I don’t know what plan he will come up with next time. Even if he is an emperor, he will sometimes be powerless when facing these women.

Most of his energy is still on the previous dynasty, so it is impossible for him to put too much thought into the small harem.

However, Jun Zechen naturally understood Anshun's meaning. Now that the Queen Mother has handed over the Palace Administration to Concubine Chunshu, Yaoyao should have been the one to investigate such things that happened in the harem. However, Yaoyao was the victim this time, so Jun Zechen took all the responsibility on himself.

However, it was always inappropriate for Anshun to interrogate concubines, he then said.

"I will ask Jinhua, who is by the Queen Mother's side, to investigate with you, and let Jinhua interrogate the concubines."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhaochun Palace.

"My Lord, these past few days, His Majesty has stayed in the Qianqing Palace every day except for visiting you in the Zhaochun Palace during the day, and has not summoned any concubines."

When Miaoyun said this, she was quite satisfied with His Majesty's behavior.

After all, the mistress has had a miscarriage and is unable to sleep with you. If Your Majesty still wants to summon a new lady, that would be too much.

Su Jingyao placed the amaryllis sent from the greenhouse in a vase and fiddled with it slowly.

She turned her head, her eyes moving, and looked at Miaoyun with a smile: "Miaoyun thinks your majesty has done a good job?"

"Your Majesty has now demoted Concubine Ling's rank, and the master is already the number one in the harem. Even though there are many new people in the harem, Your Majesty has never cared. I can feel that Your Majesty cares about the master."

Su Jingyao chuckled, her eyes full of teasing: "Miaoyun is steady in handling things, but she can't read people's hearts. If you reach the age in the future, I will let you out of the palace. Miaoyun will not be deceived by a man, right?"

As she spoke, she muttered to herself, "Well, in the future, I will personally look after you and grant you a marriage. I will be your strongest support."

Su Jingyao didn't believe in men's long-term love, especially in this feudal ancient times, where men could naturally have three wives and four concubines.

If Miaoyun gets married in the future, with her power, she will give Miaoyun a perfect marriage. Even if Miaoyun's future husband doesn't like her anymore, the man can only bear it.

"Master, I will stay with you forever! I will never marry."

When Miaoyun heard this, she couldn't help but get anxious and shook her head repeatedly.

Seeing this, Su Jingyao just smiled and shook her head, and said no more. When the time comes, ideas will always change, and she doesn't need to force it now.

"Then, master, do you think that His Majesty is not a good person?" Miaoyun continued to ask.

Su Jingyao shook her head.

"Your Majesty is well."

As a feudal emperor, he treated her quite well.

It's just that the emperor's "kindness" is too illusory, and Jun Zechen's kindness to her was all calculated by her. She would not believe it, and dared not believe it.

The more Miaoyun listened, the more confused she became.

Since the master also thinks that Your Majesty is very good, why doesn't the master care whether Your Majesty favors other concubines?

As the master's maid, Miaoyun would be happy for her master if His Majesty did not favor other concubines.

If His Majesty favors other concubines, she would feel disappointed for her master and even think that His Majesty is heartless and unfeeling.

However, although Miaoyun was confused, she would not ask questions to get to the bottom of it. Her master would naturally tell her what she wanted to say when she wanted to.

Then, she continued to ask, "Master, now Anshun has found Shen Ronghua, and should be able to contact Lin Ronghua soon. But the amaryllis on your palace dress should not be Lin Ronghua. I don't know what Ye Ronghua did to clear himself of all charges."

“Miaoyun, how can you be sure that Lin Ronghua is not the mastermind behind this?”

Su Jingyao narrowed her eyes and a meaningful smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

"Your Majesty, it is very difficult to investigate the matter of my palace dress because I was involved in it and I asked Doctor Jin to erase some traces."

"There are other concubines secretly manipulating this. These women are also very smart. You trick me and I trick you. Everyone is the mastermind, but no one actually carries out the operation." She said with a calm tone.

Miaoyun asked in confusion: "Then your majesty won't be able to find out?"

"Why does Your Majesty need to find out?" Su Jingyao asked back.

"The master had a miscarriage because of the amaryllis of the palace dress! If the master had not had a miscarriage, this child would have been the first son of His Majesty upon his accession to the throne. Even if she was a princess, she would be invaluable."

Miaoyun felt a pain in her heart every time she thought of her master losing her child. She lowered her head and her eyes became slightly moist.

Su Jingyao did not tell anyone about this. The fewer people who knew about it, the better, except Li Jing.

I felt a little helpless.

"Miaoyun, I will deal with these people one by one. You can't eat a big fat man in one bite. After all, I contributed to the palace dress incident this time. The more detailed the investigation, the more disadvantageous it will be for me."

Of course, these words were just to comfort Miaoyun.

She was a victim to begin with. No matter how they investigated, those newcomers would just bite each other, and Jun Zechen would not be able to find anything on her.