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

Kunning Palace.

"Oh, the Queen Mother is ill again?"

Xie Yaoqing, who was carelessly tending to the flowers and plants in the yard, did not even move her eyes when she heard the news from the Cining Palace, but the word "again" was full of deep meaning.

"Could it be that I have irritated her so much that she fell ill? The Empress Dowager's health is really bad. She falls ill just by getting angry. I'm afraid she is too old and doesn't have much time left to live." Xie Yaoqing sneered contemptuously.

The last time the Empress Dowager fell ill was after she had a quarrel with Xie Yaoqing. She had just been to the Cining Palace this morning. It seems that the Empress Dowager has become addicted to pretending to be sick.

Juexia said, "Maybe she is really ill. I heard that Nanny Lian who was beside the Queen Mother was sent to the Ministry of Punishment."

The Ministry of Punishment was a place that everyone in the palace avoided and dared not mention. Few people who entered there could come out alive, and even if they managed to save their lives, they would definitely be skinned when they came out, and it was not certain whether their limbs were intact.

Aunt Lian? Xie Yaoqing raised her eyebrows, showing some interest in this.

An old palace official like Nanny Lian is a trusted confidant of the empress dowager, and few people can shake her position. Even Empress Xie Yaoqing has to weigh the pros and cons and treat her with caution. After all, you have to look at the owner when you beat the dog.

The Queen Mother would obviously not send someone she trusted to the Ministry of Punishment to suffer, so this must have been done by Xiao Chengxu. Xiao Chengxu has always been known for his filial piety, so it is really surprising that he would do something to someone close to the Queen Mother.

It's a rare thing, very rare.

"What's the reason?" Xie Yaoqing asked casually.

Jue Xia lowered her voice and said, "I heard that she was secretly communicating with the enemy country and was a spy hiding in our dynasty."

Xie Yaoqing curled her lips slightly.

If Nanny Lian is really a spy, then how can the Queen Mother and the Qi family behind her be free of involvement? I'm afraid the entire Qi family is a nest of spies.

This excuse was too absurd, and Xie Yaoqing was determined not to believe it anyway.

However, Xie Yaoqing had no intention of exploring what exactly Nanny Lian had done to anger Xiao Chengxu, causing him to punish her severely without caring about the empress dowager's face.

They are the Queen Mother's people. It is the Queen Mother who should be anxious. What does it have to do with her?

In the afternoon, Xie Yaoqing summoned Concubine Zhuang and Concubine Jing to discuss the selection of concubines.

Although it was called a discussion, in reality, Xie Yaoqing just wanted to get rid of this thorny trouble and decided to leave this mess to Concubine Zhuang and Concubine Jing to deal with.

The relationship between her and Xiao Chengxu has broken down and they have completely fallen out. She no longer wants to play the role of a dignified, generous and virtuous queen. It is so tiring.

Concubine Zhuang and Concubine Jing looked at each other, and their expressions looked a little strange.

Xie Yaoqing noticed this and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"What's wrong?" Xie Yaoqing asked, with a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice.

Concubine Jing replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, you may not know that this year's talent show has been cancelled."

"what?"

Xie Yaoqing suddenly straightened up with a look of surprise on his face.

The draft was canceled?

how can that be!

Xie Yaoqing opened her eyes slightly wide, not daring to believe what she heard.

Concubine Zhuang and Concubine Jing looked at Xie Yaoqing's surprised expression, which did not seem to be fake. They felt even more puzzled. Could it be that the queen really had no idea about this? What was going on?

There was no reason why the Queen would not know about something that had spread throughout the harem. After all, considering how much the Emperor loved and cherished the Queen, how could he not discuss such a matter with the Queen? Moreover, there was no need to hide it from the Queen.

However, what they didn't know was that it wasn't someone who deliberately hid the news from Xie Yaoqing, but because Xie Yaoqing herself said that she would never ask about anything related to Xiao Chengxu. Because of this, when Nanny Fang and others learned that the draft had been cancelled, they didn't mention it to Xie Yaoqing. As a result, a strange situation arose: the entire harem knew the news, but Xie Yaoqing was the only one who was kept in the dark.

Since the draft has been cancelled, there is no need to be busy with various matters related to the draft. Xie Yaoqing chatted with Concubine Zhuang and Concubine Jing for a while, and then sent them away.

Xie Yaoqing leaned lazily against the window, playing with the Nine-Turn Linglong Ball in his hands, but his mind had already flown away.

She wondered secretly, why did Xiao Chengxu suddenly cancel the draft? Wasn't he going to use this draft to balance the forces of all parties in the court and make certain aristocratic families serve him?

Taking a few concubines can easily solve a lot of troubles, saving time and effort. There is no reason for Xiao Chengxu to give up such a good opportunity. Besides, this is not the first time he has done so. For Xiao Chengxu, this method of winning people's hearts has been used more than once or twice, and he has already become familiar with it.

Everything was weird and abnormal. Xie Yaoqing felt that there must be some unspeakable secret behind the cancellation of the talent show.

Xie Yaoqing's expression suddenly became solemn.

Did Xiao Chengxu want her to take the blame and become a scapegoat?

If she obstructed the selection in every possible way, it would appear that Xiao Chengxu was helpless and was forced to compromise. By then, in the eyes of the world, Xie Yaoqing would really become a jealous queen. Not only that, the Yongchang Marquisate would also be implicated, and there would probably be many unfavorable remarks against his father and brother in the court.

Thinking of this, Xie Yaoqing couldn't help but sneered.

What a sinister and cunning Xiao Chengxu was. He actually set a trap for her and waited for her to jump into it.

However, she would not do as he wished.

This time, she was the one who most supported Xiao Chengxu's talent show. When did she ever say that she didn't want to allow the talent show to select concubines?

Xie Yaoqing immediately picked up his pen and wrote a secret letter, then sealed it and sent it out through a special channel.

On the other hand, after dealing with the empress dowager, Xiao Chengxu met with dozens of ministers.

These ministers had all come for the selection of concubines. Ever since Xiao Cheng said at the morning court that the selection was cancelled, all the civil and military officials were shocked and for a moment thought they had heard it wrong because of their poor hearing.