After swallowing my anger and taking the blame, I became the lucky little queen

Li Zhongquan entered the imperial study and said that a spy had reported that the specific details were related to the queen.

The emperor closed his eyes and enjoyed it. He was not on guard against Concubine Ning and directly asked Li Zhongquan to bring the person in.

But Concubine Ning knew her limits. She didn't listen to what she shouldn't listen to and didn't ask what she shouldn't ask. She silently withdrew her hand and went around to the desk to clean up the half-drunk ginseng soup.

The spy came in, bowed, and said loudly: "Your Majesty!"

The emperor slowly opened his eyelids, one hand still supporting his forehead, and waved lazily, "Get up. Tell me, what's the matter."

Ever since Nian Susu was arrested and imprisoned in Tianlao, he had sent people to keep an eye on Zhongcui Palace to prevent her from making any excessive moves. This spy was one of them.

The spy glanced at Concubine Ning who was packing up slowly. Seeing that the emperor didn't say anything, he no longer hesitated, "Your Majesty, a few days ago, I saw Prince Ren break into the Zhongcui Palace with a sullen face. It seemed that he had an argument with the queen in the palace, and he left in a rage."

"What's strange is... when Prince Ren broke into the Zhongcui Palace, no one dared to stop him." The spy said hesitantly, but the implication was obvious.

As a concubine and the head of the harem, the queen should set an example and not meet with men outside the harem in private. Otherwise, if other concubines behave like this in the future, how can she discipline them? How can she convince the public?

To put it more seriously, Prince Ren is the emperor's younger brother, and he should avoid suspicion with his brother-in-law. How could the queen not understand this?

The emperor's already haggard face showed a hint of anger.

"Did you hear why they were arguing?"

"No?" The spy lowered his head. "But Prince Ren didn't stay for too long. He only went in for a while and then came out."

Concubine Ning put the glass cup back into the food box, but she didn't hold it firmly, and the lid and the cup collided with each other, making a harsh noise, and most of the remaining soup spilled out.

She subconsciously pulled her hand back and looked at the emperor cautiously, her pitiful eyes silently begging for mercy, but when the emperor looked at her, she quickly withdrew her gaze guiltily and hurriedly put away her things, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was distracted for a moment and did not keep my composure. I did not mean to offend Your Majesty."

The emperor frowned. Concubine Ning was not a clumsy person, and the way she looked at him just now was not right. He glanced at the spy. Combined with what the spy had just said, Concubine Ning might know something and that was why she was so flustered.

"You go down first." The emperor said this to the spy. He turned around and took Concubine Ning's hand, gently stroking the back of her hand, "Ning'er, do you have something to say?"

Concubine Ning became even more panicked and quickly said "No", even as she was about to burst into tears.

The emperor was more certain of his guess, so he pulled Concubine Ning over and asked her to sit on his lap. "Ning'er, tell me, what do you know?"

Concubine Ning stopped when she saw that things were going well. After all, she was not a delicate and dainty person. She pursed her lips and said proudly, "Then I said that the emperor is not allowed to suspect that I have ulterior motives."

When a concubine speaks ill of another concubine, it is usually for a purpose and with ulterior motives. The emperor has seen this too many times. Concubine Ning does not want the emperor to think that way about her, even though she did it on purpose.

But sometimes, being honest is better than hiding things all the time.

"Okay." The emperor's stern face finally relaxed and he showed an indulgent smile.

Concubine Ning twirled a strand of her hair and told him in a casual conversational tone, "Two years ago, when Mulan was hunting, I saw Prince Ren enter the Queen's tent late at night. The Queen also transferred the guards away, leaving only a few to guard from a distance and not let anyone get close."

She glanced at the emperor, her eyes showing some worry, "I thought it was related to the mad imperial horse, but the secret guard did not give out the Empress when he was interrogated in public, so I thought I was suspicious and did not tell the emperor."

"I just heard what the spy said. After thinking back over the past few years, I also feel that the Empress and Prince Ren are too close. Even the Third Prince has a better relationship with Prince Ren than with you."

After hearing what Concubine Ning said, the emperor seemed to be thinking about something.

During the hunting expedition two years ago, he did suspect that the Queen and Qin Zehai were in collusion. Later, because Qin Fengtian was involved, he thought that it was because of Qin Fengtian that the two of them had such close contacts. Now it seems that this is not the case.

After Concubine Ning left, the emperor thought about the relationship between the queen and Qin Zehai alone.

The two of them can be considered childhood sweethearts.

Qin Zehai had stayed in Nanchu for a period of time when he was young, and that was when he met Mu Zelan. As for what happened between them, the emperor had no idea.

When Mu Zelan married him, he was not yet the emperor and was absorbed in factional struggles. It was not until someone spread the rumor that his wife and his younger brother had once had an affair that he learned that the two were old acquaintances.

However, he trusted his wife and brother and did not pay attention to the matter. Gradually, those groundless rumors were refuted.

The emperor was so angry that his face turned green when he thought about it now. What made him trust Mu Zelan and Qin Zehai so much at that time? He himself had forgotten.

It turns out that everything is traceable.

……

In late April, the weather gradually became hot and humid. Nian Susu's injury was almost healed, and Qin Junyu personally sent her back to the Nian Mansion.

She came suddenly and left in a hurry. Nian Susu didn't bring anything with her. She just went out with a small bag on her back. The bag contained the pastries made by Wanyue for her. Because she liked them, Wanyue made some extra for her to take home.

Nian Susu felt it was worth it as he could make a friend by living in the East Palace for half a month.

Qin Junyu was waiting for her at the door. His first reaction when he saw her was: "Why are you wearing so little? What if you get cold?"

Nian Susu was helpless, "Don't you see what month it is now? Wear more clothes or I'm going to get a heat stroke."

He scratched his head awkwardly, chuckled, and didn't refute her. He just said, "You've lost a lot of weight."

The two walked towards Xizhimen together.

"I can't eat anything when I'm sick. I'm so thin from starvation. I must have a good meal when I get home!" Nian Susu said in a sonorous and powerful voice.

Qin Junyu was unhappy: "You said it as if I abused you and didn't give you food. What would Prime Minister Nian and Madam Nian think of me if they heard it?"

“Oh my, oh my.” Nian Susu looked like he saw through everything. “You’re worried that I’ll ruin your image in front of my parents, right?”

He didn't deny it, and his face turned red all the way to his neck.

"How many years have you been my father's colleague? You've been fighting to the death in the court, deceiving each other, but you're not afraid of your bad image, but you're afraid of a casual word from me?"

"No..." Qin Junyu retorted weakly: "I have never had any conflict with Prime Minister Nian."

Nian Susu smirked: "Then you should be thankful, my father holds grudges very well."

Qin Junyu was terrified, and his mind was frantically trying to think whether he had ever offended his future father-in-law.