Harem Daily Life

The Queen was shocked: "Your Majesty, is it that someone poisoned the festival gift to Fengyi Palace?"

The Queen said in fear, "I didn't have much appetite that day, so I didn't eat the rice dumplings or glutinous rice balls that were sent to me. Alas, it's been a long time, and I just thought that Yue'er didn't wash her hands before taking the food, which caused her stomach to get upset. I didn't check whether there was poison at all. If there was poison, it certainly wouldn't be aimed at Yue'er, it should be aimed at me."

At this point, the queen's eyes were red. "But don't think too badly. Maybe... maybe Yue'er didn't wash her hands after playing with insects."

Even if He Linzhang wanted to investigate, he couldn't find anything now. He could only comfort her, "Since Yue'er has recovered and it has been a long time, investigating further will not help. You should be more cautious about the food you eat in the future."

The queen nodded. Seeing that it was late at night and not wanting to disturb the queen's rest, He Linzhang gave her a few more instructions and left Fengyi Palace.

Sitting on the imperial chariot, Eunuch Zhang was about to ask where to go when he saw He Linzhang pinching his brows and asked, "Dragon Boat Festival, you are in the palace, right? Did you know that Yue'er had a stomachache?"

Eunuch Zhang immediately reported back, "This festival gift is the same in all palaces, and the one sent to Fengyi Palace was a random one among hundreds of gifts. I was very careful at the time and checked it carefully, but I didn't find any tampering during the transportation process."

He Linzhang frowned slightly: "Then, could it be that Yue'er didn't wash her hands cleanly?"

Eunuch Zhang didn't know what to say. He just felt it was strange at the time, so he went to check. He found out that Concubine De didn't send anything to Changle Palace at all.

After thinking for a while, Eunuch Zhang said, "I did check, and I didn't find anything wrong with the gifts sent to Fengyi Palace. However, maybe Concubine De forgot to send gifts to Changle Palace, so the eldest princess and the second prince didn't get to eat that day."

"What?" He Linzhang said in disbelief, "How could this be possible? Why did she miss Changle Palace? Those two children don't have a mother to take care of them. How could she do this?"

Eunuch Zhang tried to smooth things over, saying, "Perhaps they were too busy and had forgotten. Otherwise, how could Concubine De give herself to criticism over such a small matter? Your Majesty, shall we go straight back to the Imperial Study now?" Eunuch Zhang saw that the Emperor looked unhappy, so he changed the subject.

"Go to Changle Palace, and send someone to take the urgent memorials to Changle Palace." He Linzhang thought that the concubine would definitely ask about what happened in Changle Palace in the past few months when she came back. The Dragon Boat Festival is the most important festival in the first half of the year, and the people below cannot possibly hide it. Maybe the concubine is already very angry, so he had to go and take a look.

Tao Yanyan didn't expect He Linzhang to come at this time. She tiptoed out from between the two little guys, put on her clothes and went out to greet him: "Your Majesty, why are you here so late? Aren't you tired?"

He Linzhang held Tao Yanyan's hand and led him all the way to the study: "I have something to tell you."

Holding the man in his arms and sitting him on his lap, He Linzhang said, "I just learned tonight that the Changle Palace was left out of the Dragon Boat Festival gift. Yan Yan, I'm sorry for letting you suffer."

Tao Yanyan thought it was something else and put her arms around his neck. "I have already asked, the two children were not seriously affected. Caiyun cooked glutinous rice and made them sweet and salty rice balls. It can be considered as eating zongzi. Your Majesty does not need to worry anymore."

He Linzhang liked her righteous and unconcerned character very much, and could not help but kiss her: "Yan Yan is magnanimous, but Concubine De did not handle this matter well, and there were indeed mistakes. Not only did you miss it that day, but Fengyi Palace also had some troubles. Yue'er had a stomachache, but we did not investigate it at the time, and now we can't find the cause even if we investigate it now."

Tao Yanyan's eyes darkened. Ever since the former imperial concubine guessed that the queen had deliberately tied a sachet of tuberose on the second princess to attract snakes, Tao Yanyan actually had reservations about the queen.

In the past, I thought that someone who could become a queen must have the character of a mother to rule the country. But now, it seems that people’s selfishness is so terrible that sometimes in order to maximize their interests and victory, some people sell out their character and are not hesitant to use their own children as a raft.

Therefore, Tao Yanyan didn't think that Concubine De was responsible for the stomach upset during the Dragon Boat Festival. She even thought darkly, if the queen directed and acted in it herself, then what was her purpose?

Could it be that they wanted to remove Concubine De from power? After all, Concubine De now has a son.

As the eldest son, he also has the support of the Rong family and military power behind him, so his strength should not be underestimated. It would be much easier to take down a Defei while he is still young than to fight against her in the future.

Or is it that he wanted to put the blame on other concubines? Nothing is known.

"Your Majesty, it's been so long, it's useless to think about these things." Tao Yanyan rubbed his brows for him: "Empress Defei is in charge of the harem affairs, and it's understandable that she makes a small mistake occasionally. She works hard, your Majesty should not doubt her. It's getting late, if your Majesty wants to rest here, I guess you can only sleep in the study. My bed is occupied by the children."

He Linzhang hugged her and said, "Then you will sleep with me in the study tonight. You go to sleep first. I am still waiting for memorials. Some of them are urgent and must be approved tonight."

Seeing how tired he was, and that he hadn't had a good rest since returning to the capital, Tao Yanyan said distressedly, "Then I'll lie down first. If Your Majesty is bored later, you can ask me to get up and accompany you."

He Linzhang covered her with a blanket, and the memorials were delivered. Fortunately, there were only five or six of them. He took a quick look and wrote down a few compromise opinions.

After I finished reviewing the memorials and washed up, I came back to find Tao Yanyan already fast asleep, with his little face sunken into the pillow, looking indescribably adorable.

He Linzhang lay down gently, and waited until he felt a little warmer before he held the person in his arms.

The next day, the two children woke up and didn't see their mother, so they were a little unhappy. Qingfeng and Mingyue comforted one of them and told them that Concubine Tao was in the study, and the two were relieved.

Tao Yanyan struggled to get up and send the children to primary school. After returning, Chang Tai came to report: "My queen, the one who was watching outside our palace gate was followed by Little Li Zi and found to have returned to Li Jieyu's Baozhi Pavilion."

Tao Yanyan narrowed his eyes: "She moved?"

Chang Tai nodded: "After returning from Mount Qixia, His Majesty was seriously injured and wanted to rest. The Queen Mother demoted Li Jieyu's position and ordered her to move to Baozhi Pavilion to reflect on her mistakes for three months. According to her position, she can no longer live in the original Changxin Palace."

Tao Yanyan smiled and said: "Well, he is probably unwilling to give in and wants to make trouble again. You guys keep an eye on him and make sure nothing happens recently." Chang Tai agreed.

At this time, Li Jieyu took the thing in her hand and looked at it: "Can this really defeat her?"