The Queen sealed her heart and locked up her love, and the Emperor was trapped in the crematorium

Qionghua Palace.

With a crisp "bang" sound, Concubine Qi suddenly threw the teacup in her hand to the ground, and it broke into pieces in an instant.

"What did you just say? Did my cousin send someone to Kunning Palace to give gifts? How could she, a fierce and jealous woman, receive such a gift?"

Concubine Qi's originally beautiful face was now twisted and hideous due to anger. She clenched her teeth tightly, her eyes full of resentment and unwillingness.

If she had not been so young and not worthy of her cousin, the position of queen should have belonged to her. Whether in terms of family background, appearance or talent, she was in no way inferior to any other woman in the capital.

But just because of the age difference, she missed the opportunity. If she had reached the age of marriage, her cousin would have married her and the position of queen would have been hers.

It was all because of that bitch Xie Yaoqing. Not only did she take away her cousin's affection, she also bewitched his heart with sweet words and even made a vow to him of "together for life".

Humph, this is ridiculous! How can such a selfish, narrow-minded, and cruel person deserve the love of her cousin? She is selfish, jealous, and narrow-minded, but she is still the mother of a country, suppressing her.

She had been in the palace for more than three months, but her cousin had no intention of caring for her and had never stayed in the Qionghua Palace for a night. Not only that, he sent people to inquire around and found out that none of the other concubines in the palace had ever been favored by the emperor and slept with him.

Everything must be caused by Xie Yaoqing. She relied on her cousin's favor and monopolized her cousin.

What's even more hateful is that although she is favored by the emperor, she is like an old hen that can't lay eggs, and has not yet given birth to a child for her cousin.

If such a jealous and childless woman had married into the Qi family, she would have been kicked out long ago. It was a pity that my cousin was blinded by lard, and only Xie Yaoqing was in his heart.

The only thing that made Concubine Qi feel a little relieved was that for several days in a row, Xiao Chengxu had not set foot in the Kunning Palace, but he also did not favor other concubines. Concubine Qi did not see him when she went to the Qianqing Palace to deliver cakes.

Even so, Concubine Qi still felt a little happy. What she couldn't get, no one else could get, especially Xie Yaoqing.

……

Five days later, Xie Yaoqing felt that her injuries had mostly healed, so she decided to restore the custom of the concubines in the harem paying respects to her.

Early that morning, before dawn, Xie Yaoqing was soundly sleeping when Nanny Fang dug her out of bed. The palace maids filed in and proceeded in an orderly manner.

Sitting in front of the dressing table, Xie Yaoqing was still drowsy. She yawned while letting the palace maids wash and dress her.

Juexia had a pair of deft hands, and she skillfully and gently combed Xie Yaoqing's long, black, shiny, smooth hair and neatly arranged it into a dignified yet beautiful and elegant bun. Adding some exquisite pearl and jade jewelry to it, Xie Yaoqing's temperament was even more elegant.

After washing up, Xie Yaoqing slowly raised her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror carefully. The woman in the mirror had a bright and beautiful face, red lips, white teeth, skin as white as cream, and eyebrows as bright as lotus. At this moment, her face did not show any resentment or anger, nor did she have the kind of disgusting and hideous face.

"My queen, all the palace masters are here."

Hearing this, Xie Yaoqing nodded slightly, gently held Nanny Fang's arm, and slowly walked out of the inner room.

"Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen, may Her Majesty be blessed with good health and good health."

As the uniform greetings rang out, the concubines knelt down and saluted. For a moment, the entire palace was filled with a solemn and dignified atmosphere.

Xie Yaoqing responded softly: "No need to be polite."

The sound is crisp and pleasant, like jade falling on a plate.

After hearing this, the concubines thanked him one after another and then stood up and sat down again.

Xie Yaoqing's eyes slowly swept over the people present, and a complex emotion surged in her heart. These women were once her rivals. They fought openly and secretly for Xiao Chengxu's favor. However, now, looking at their beautiful or elegant faces, Xie Yaoqing suddenly felt a little ridiculous.

Do you resent? Do you hate?

But at this moment, Xie Yaoqing was more filled with emotion and helplessness.

If they were not in this palace, if they were not bound by the identities of queen and concubine, perhaps they could have become friends who admired each other.

These women have their own merits, and not all of them are like Concubine Qi, who only wants to enter the palace to win favor. Many times, they are also forced to do so by their family interests and cannot resist the arrangement of fate.

At this time, I only heard Concubine Qi pretending to be concerned and asked: "I heard that the Queen is ill. I wonder what is wrong with her? I am very worried about you."

Her charming peach blossom eyes revealed an unconcealable sense of gloating.

The news was strictly blocked. Except for the few people in Kunning Palace and Xiao Chengxu, no one else knew that Xie Yaoqing was actually injured, and it was an accidental injury during a dispute with Xiao Chengxu. It was announced to the public that the queen was just slightly ill and needed to rest for a while.

However, few people in the harem believed it.

The emperor went to Kunning Palace, and then the news came that the queen was ill. Not only that, but even visits were not allowed. If you say that these two things are unrelated, I am afraid no one would believe it.

Before this, the emperor had been to the Qionghua Palace and heard that a palace maid had died in the palace. He was afraid that the queen's illness was related to Concubine Qi.

Xie Yaoqing pursed her red lips and said calmly, "Thank you for your concern, Imperial Concubine. It was just a minor illness and I have recovered. If I was really unwell, why would I summon you sisters today? Imperial Concubine, you must not neglect the discipline of your subordinates in the future, lest those who take advantage of others' power and pretend to obey but actually disobey will take human lives lightly."

As he spoke, Xie Yaoqing signaled with his eyes, and several young eunuchs came in, escorting a palace maid.

A sharp-eyed concubine recognized her as an aunt in charge of the Qionghua Palace.

In connection with the palace maid who died a few days ago, some concubines seemed to understand something.

Concubine Qi's expression changed slightly, and her voice became sharper: "What do you mean, Madam?"

Xie Yaoqing answered slowly, "Lu Ping, a maid in the Imperial Concubine's palace, was beaten with a stick ten times, and then she died. I thought this was very strange, so I sent someone to investigate. It turned out that this evil servant had stopped Lu Ping from seeking medical treatment, and even imprisoned and tortured her, deliberately murdering her. Poor Lu Ping fell into the hands of this evil servant. I just don't know if this evil servant is so vicious by nature, or if he followed someone's instructions to do such a cruel thing?"

In fact, the death of the palace maid that led to another quarrel between Xie Yaoqing and Xiao Chengxu was indeed very strange. That day, Xie Yaoqing was upset and went to the imperial garden to relax. Suddenly, he heard a noise coming from not far away. He found that several palace maids were whispering and gossiping together. One of the palace maids was Lu Ping from Qionghua Palace.

Before this, she had just learned that Xiao Chengxu had summoned Concubine Qi to play chess in the morning. She was already feeling a little annoyed, so she directly punished those palace maids, giving each of them ten strokes of the cane.

However, what Xie Yaoqing never expected was that after ten strokes of the cane, Lu Ping actually died.

Her original intention was just to give a small punishment as a warning to everyone in the harem to be careful with their words and actions, and she didn't intend to cause a loss of life.

Even though Xie Yaoqing is the mother of a country, she cannot take human lives lightly and act recklessly.

Moreover, her reputation in the palace was not good. In the eyes of many concubines, this queen was harsh and strict, and had ordered several palace maids and eunuchs to be beaten to death. Although there were reasons for this, it was undeniable that the punishments for some of them were indeed too harsh.

Because of the incident of beating a palace maid and a eunuch to death, Xiao Chengxu had warned Xie Yaoqing many times to be more lenient to others and not to be too harsh when managing the palace servants.

Xie Yaoqing more or less listened to some of it. Otherwise, if her temper had been like that during the first two years after she ascended the throne, if a palace maid dared to criticize the empress, she would have been punished with far more than just ten lashes.

Normally, ten strokes of the cane would not kill a person, but this time Lu Ping actually lost her life. Concubine Qi seized this opportunity to make a big fuss, and ran to Xiao Chengxu crying and looking pitiful.

Xiao Chengxu thought Xie Yaoqing was still acting without measure like before and had killed someone again, so he went to Kunning Palace to argue with Xie Yaoqing, and his words were full of blame. Xie Yaoqing thought that Xie Yaoqing was speaking up for Concubine Qi. Both sides were emotional and their words were fierce, and a fierce argument broke out. In the end, the quarrel ended with Xie Yaoqing accidentally getting injured, and Xiao Chengxu hurriedly left.

In the previous life, Lu Ping's death was not investigated in detail. After Xie Yaoqing woke up from her coma, she had a big fight with Xiao Chengxu, which lasted for nearly half a month. During this period, no one had the time to find out whether there was anything suspicious about the death of a palace maid.

However, this time the situation was different. Xie Yaoqing stopped making a fuss and was no longer angry, and realized that Lu Ping's death was full of mystery.

There were several palace maids who were punished. Strangely, the others were all alive and well, only Lu Ping died.

So Xie Yaoqing sent someone to investigate. As expected, after an in-depth investigation, the truth surfaced.

Not only was Lu Ping not given the rest she deserved after being tortured, she was even imprisoned without any medicine or medical treatment. Eventually, her injuries worsened and she died.

Since the abuse of palace maids took place in the Qionghua Palace, the mastermind behind it would naturally be the queen of the Qionghua Palace - Concubine Qi.

Feeling the strange looks from the concubines, Concubine Qi suddenly stood up and slapped the palace maid angrily.

The crisp sound echoed in the palace, causing everyone present to look sideways.

Then, Concubine Qi knelt down without hesitation and apologized in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, I am really wronged. I only thought Su Jin was steady and reliable, but I never thought she was such a vicious person. Poor Lu Ping was killed by this innocent hand, and I failed to find out the truth in time and give her justice. This is all my fault. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Concubine Qi knew very well in her heart that she was in the wrong today. She had abused the palace maids and even ordered murder. At the very least, she was guilty of negligence.

But in comparison, admitting one's own negligence might win some sympathy and understanding. If one is involved in a murder, it would be difficult to extricate oneself and one would get into trouble.