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

"The imperial concubine was indeed negligent." Xie Yaoqing said in a flat tone.

This sentence sounded light and indifferent, but to Concubine Qi, it was like being slapped in the face. She clenched her teeth tightly, and the humiliation in her heart became stronger and stronger.

She was actually being scolded by Xie Yaoqing, a bitch, in front of so many people, and became the laughing stock of the concubines in the harem. She would remember the humiliation she suffered today, and would definitely repay Xie Yaoqing double in the future.

Just when everyone thought that Xie Yaoqing would take this opportunity to take revenge and severely punish Concubine Qi, Xie Yaoqing suddenly changed his attitude.

"However, the Imperial Concubine has not been in the palace for long and is still young, so it is understandable that she would be deceived by such a vicious servant. Since the Imperial Concubine has already known her fault, she should be confined to her house for a month. During this period, she should copy Buddhist scriptures every day to reflect on her faults. I wonder if the Imperial Concubine accepts this punishment?"

Concubine Qi forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty is broad-minded and handles things impartially and selflessly. I am willing to accept the punishment."

Xie Yaoqing smiled secretly in his heart.

Perhaps in the eyes of other concubines, these punishments were insignificant, and they might even think that such punishments were too light. But for Concubine Qi, not being able to take the initiative to look for Xiao Chengxu for a whole month was like a knife stabbing her heart. After all, her love for Xiao Chengxu was sincere and deep. If it weren't for this deep affection, how could she have insisted on entering the palace regardless of everything?

She gave up being the mistress of a prominent family and would rather be a concubine to enter the palace. Doesn't this just show her infatuation? In the end, Concubine Qi won as she wished and was successfully promoted from a concubine to a wife. It can be said that she got what she wanted.

The concubines were shocked and looked incredulous. As everyone knows, Concubine Qi had been at loggerheads with the Queen since she entered the palace. She wanted to compete with the Queen in everything. Even though she knew she had little chance of winning, she never stopped making trouble for the Queen. The Queen also disliked Concubine Qi and often tried to trip her up.

Everyone secretly speculated that the Queen would not let Concubine Qi off easily this time, and might take the opportunity to severely punish her.

However, surprisingly, the queen just raised it high and put it down gently, which seemed a little abnormal no matter how you looked at it.

Xie Yaoqing didn't even bother to look at the aunt in charge of affairs, and issued an order without hesitation: "Su Jin has a vicious heart and abused the palace maids, causing Lu Ping's innocent death. According to the palace rules, she is ordered to be beaten with 80 sticks and expelled from the palace."

Suddenly, a sharp voice broke the silence.

"Empress, please think twice. Su Jin was specially appointed by the Queen Mother to serve the Imperial Concubine. If you order her execution now, I'm afraid you will have a hard time explaining to the Queen Mother when she returns to the palace."

Everyone turned to look and found that the person who spoke was Concubine Yi.

Xie Yaoqing's mouth corners slightly raised, revealing a half-smile, and glanced at Concubine Yi with cold eyes, and said in a cold tone: "Concubine Yi's intention is to protect this vicious servant who deceives his superiors and subordinates? If I remember correctly, the imperial concubine is the master of this evil servant. Concubine Yi is so worried, is it because of some connection with this evil servant?"

Xie Yaoqing was not at all surprised by Concubine Yi's offense and defiance.

As the niece of the Empress Dowager's family, Concubine Qi naturally received more care and favor because of her relationship with the Empress Dowager.

However, some concubines in the palace, such as Concubine Yi, had already attached themselves to the Queen Mother, obeyed her orders, and completely ignored her, the Queen, who was the master of the harem.

Xie Yaoqing once thought that the Queen Mother was a kind and benevolent person with a amiable face, and she was also a rare good mother-in-law in the world. Others could not understand her persistence in finding a true lover and living together forever, but only the Queen Mother could put herself in her shoes, give her comfort, guidance and advice.

But who knew that she was just a chess piece in the hands of the Queen Mother, a knife that she could use at will. She wanted to use her sharp knife to stir up the bloody storm in the harem, while she watched the show leisurely, just like watching people fighting cocks and crickets. All the concubines in the harem were clowns for her entertainment.

Concubine Qi stared at Concubine Yi intently, her eyes flashing with undisguised malice and suspicion. She wondered to herself, could it be that this woman in front of her was behind all this?

If the truth is not uncovered in the end, then the blame can be attributed to the Queen's excessive punishment of the maid; and once the truth is revealed, she will be dragged into the muddy water. No matter what the result is, there is no loss for Concubine Yi, but it is a perfect scheme that is sure to win and benefit herself at the expense of others. Maybe this is a conspiracy trap carefully designed by Concubine Yi to deal with her and the Queen.

Facing Xie Yaoqing's sharp gaze, Concubine Yi's face turned pale instantly, but she still gritted her teeth, forced a smile and explained: "Your Majesty has misunderstood, I have no such intention. I am purely concerned about your Majesty. It is really not worth it to cause a rift between the Queen Mother and your Majesty because of a little palace maid."

It sounds like she is really thinking about Xie Yaoqing, but in fact, there is something else behind her words! As the saying goes, "When you beat a dog, you have to look at its owner." As a daughter-in-law, she dared to kill the useful person who used to be around her mother-in-law on her own initiative. This would inevitably make her mother-in-law dissatisfied.

But if you think about it carefully, you will find that this is also a kind of sarcasm.

As the queen of a country, she has to be so cautious and careful to deal with a mere palace maid who made a mistake. It is really cowardly. How can she have any dignity that a master of the harem should have?

If the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law became distant just because of such an insignificant little palace maid, it only shows that the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was cold and fragile.

Concubine Yi has always been very confident. If we talk about the person in the palace who can surpass the Queen, apart from His Majesty the Emperor, it is probably only the Empress Dowager.

Since the Queen Mother is not in the palace, I cannot let her people suffer in vain. Moreover, I can take this opportunity to embarrass the Queen. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?

Whenever Concubine Yi saw the queen's arrogant and conceited face, she couldn't help but feel disgusted.

If it was Xie Yaoqing in her previous life, she might really be hesitant because the empress dowager valued Concubine Yi and she was close to the empress dowager, so she naturally regarded Concubine Yi as her own.

Xie Yaoqing raised the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a cold smile, with a cold light flashing in her eyes, "Does Concubine Yi think that I, the Queen, no longer have the authority to deal with a mere servant?"

Then, without giving Concubine Yi a chance to catch her breath, Xie Yaoqing continued to ask, "Or does Concubine Yi think that the Queen Mother is too ignorant to distinguish between good and evil, and will definitely protect a servant who has committed a crime? So in Concubine Yi's mind, the Queen Mother is such a person. The Queen Mother has always loved Concubine Yi in vain. If the Queen Mother knew, I'm afraid she would be disappointed."

This sentence exploded like thunder, shocking Concubine Yi's face pale. Her lips trembled but she could not utter a complete sentence. She could only mutter in a low voice: "Your concubine...no."

Seeing that her plan failed and that she could no longer use the Queen Mother's power to suppress the Queen, Concubine Yi could not help but feel secretly regretful in her heart.

"What do you think? Does anyone else have anything to say? If you have, please speak up."

Xie Yaoqing's gaze was as cold as a star. He slowly scanned the surroundings. Everyone lowered their heads and remained silent. No one dared to look at him.

Xie Yaoqing couldn't help but snort coldly when he saw this.

Concubine Qi suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty is wise. I dare to say something. There are good and bad people in the harem. There are probably many vicious servants like Su Jin. Only by severely punishing her can we make an example of her and make others afraid. For the sake of long-term peace and stability, you might as well stick Su Jin to death and order the palace maids to come and watch the execution as a warning to everyone."

If it is an ordinary beating with caning, there may be a glimmer of hope; however, once sentenced to death by caning, there is no doubt that he will die, and there is no way of survival.

The person who said this was Su Jin's former mistress, Concubine Qi. As the saying goes, "When the birds are all gone, the bows are put away; when the rabbits are dead, the dogs are cooked." Unexpectedly, Concubine Qi was so cold-blooded and ruthless in order to draw a clear line between herself and Su Jin.

This proposal naturally came from Concubine Qi, but Xie Yaoqing was very happy to go along with it. After all, all the infamy had nothing to do with her, so why not?

Before this, Su Jin had remained silent and didn't say a word. Perhaps she thought that she was once close to the Queen Mother and could be fearless. However, when she saw that there was really no one who could protect her, especially when even Concubine Qi wanted to take her life first, Su Jin finally panicked and knelt on the ground crying bitterly.

"My Queen, please spare my life. I know I was wrong..."

It must be said that this person is quite clever, knowing who is the real master now that the power of the palace is in the hands of Xie Yaoqing. Although Concubine Qi appears to be glorious on the surface, in reality, she only has the title and noble status of a concubine.

So, Xie Yaoqing ruthlessly pushed all the blame onto Concubine Qi.

"Your Highness is right. If I don't punish you severely, it will not be enough to clear up the bad habits in the palace."

Su Jin opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but before she could say anything, Concubine Qi spoke first. Concubine Qi suddenly screamed, "What are you slaves still standing there for! Hurry up and drag this lowly servant away! Otherwise, she will continue to stay here and defile my eyes and pollute my ears."

Hearing this, Xie Yaoqing just waved her hand, and Su Jin was soon gagged with a cloth and dragged out of the palace. Even after being pulled away for a distance, Su Jin still stared at Concubine Qi with resentment on her face, her eyes seemed to be filled with endless hatred, as if she wanted to drag Concubine Qi into hell together.

Seeing this scene, Concubine Qi's face turned even paler.

"Is the imperial concubine feeling unwell?" Xie Yaoqing saw everything but pretended to be ignorant when asking.

"Humph, maybe some people are guilty of something."

Concubine Zhuang suddenly interjected coldly.

Upon hearing this, Concubine Qi suddenly turned around and glared at her mortal enemy, Concubine Zhuang. However, Concubine Zhuang was not afraid at all and even raised the corners of her mouth slightly to reveal a disdainful smile.

Faced with the open and secret struggles between the two, Xie Yaoqing just smiled and remained silent, and did not get too involved.

A moment later, a palace maid walked into the hall and reported that the punishment on Su Jin had been executed and that Su Jin had died.

Hearing this news, Xie Yaoqing nodded to show that she understood, and then announced that today's greetings were over. Everyone stood up and left, leaving only Concubine Qi and Concubine Zhuang. After leaving Kunning Palace, they confronted each other for a while before leaving.