Yixiu is reborn, fights against her elder sister, and becomes the queen mother

This matter already involved the dragon fetus, and the chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not dare to speak out, so he could only report to the Queen Mother honestly:

"To answer the Empress Dowager, there's no record of why Noble Nian received cinnabar from the Imperial Household Department. Perhaps the people below weren't doing their job well and forgot about it. Why don't you ask Noble Nian?"

The Queen Mother glared, and her voice unconsciously took on a chill.

"How dare you! I didn't even know that I didn't need to declare the purpose of receiving things from the Imperial Household Department. This shows that you, the chief eunuch, are incompetent, neglecting your duties and not taking the imperial mission seriously!"

Anyone who can reach this position is naturally a shrewd person. The chief eunuch also knew that the Queen Mother had taken the wrath out on him, so he knelt down and slapped himself twice.

"This slave deserves to die, this slave deserves to die, please forgive me, Her Majesty the Queen Mother!"

Before, Nian Shilan’s family was very powerful. In this harem, even the Queen had to give in. Why did Yiku Palace need a reason to get something from the Ministry of Internal Affairs?

Nian Shilan gave a lot of silver as a reward, so if he wanted to take something, he just had to tell someone.

Although the Nian family is now in decline, the emperor still dotes on Nian Shilan the most. The palace maids and eunuchs in the harem know this clearly. In addition, they have all received rewards from Nian Shilan before, so when Yikun Palace asks for things, as long as the request is not too excessive, they will agree to it.

Yixiu frowned. Now all the evidence pointed to Nian Shilan. It seemed that Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang were well prepared. Looking at the attitude of the Queen Mother, it seemed that she wanted to kill Nian Shilan in one day.

The emperor's face was obviously worried, and he didn't want to offend the empress dowager in public, so he had to turn his gaze to Yixiu, hoping that Yixiu could say something.

Yixiu responded to the emperor with a smile, and finally said to the queen mother in a gentle voice:

"I think the people in the Imperial Household Department didn't check and didn't write down the purpose of Concubine Nian's cinnabar. Why don't we send someone to the Yikun Palace to summon Concubine Nian and ask her what exactly she used the cinnabar for?"

The Queen Mother hesitated for a moment, then said with a half-sneer, "How can a nobleman be so arrogant? Tell Noble Nian to come here quickly."

.........

Nian Shilan hurried over, looking a little anxious and restless.

She knelt down and saluted the Empress Dowager, saying, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you. May you be blessed with good health."

Then, she saluted the Emperor and Empress, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty be blessed with good health. Your Majesty, I pay my respects to the Empress. May your Majesty be blessed with good health."

The emperor looked at Nian Shilan who was bowing politely, and suddenly felt a little sad. He said softly:

"I called you here this time because I wanted to ask you what you were going to do with the cinnabar you requested from the Ministry of Internal Affairs a few days ago."

Nian Shilan was stunned for a moment, unable to react. When had she gone to the Imperial Household Department to ask for cinnabar?

But seeing everyone's eyes on her, Nian Shilan also realized that something was wrong. She quickly knelt down and explained:

"I don't remember asking for cinnabar. Perhaps one of my servants went to the Imperial Household Department to collect it."

The Queen Mother angrily cried, "How dare you! I think you are too frivolous. You are relying on the Emperor's favor to act lawless! Zhuxi, beat me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Xi walked out from behind the Queen Mother, stepped forward and slapped Nian Shilan hard.

"You dare to hesitate when asked by the Empress Dowager? Since you don't know the rules, then I will teach you a lesson."

Zhu Xi slapped Nian Shilan so hard that her face was almost turned sideways. The red slap mark was left on Nian Shilan's fair little face, which looked a bit shocking.

The emperor opened his mouth, but looking at the empress dowager's expression, he finally chose to shut up.

"I see you're not going to answer properly today. Since you claim you don't know whether anyone in your palace has received cinnabar from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I will take all the people in Yikun Palace to the Ministry of Punishment and torture them severely until they reveal the truth."

Concubine Hua was completely panicked now. All those left in Yikun Palace were her confidants. What would happen if they were all taken to the Ministry of Punishment?

The punishments of the Ministry of Punishment were extremely harsh. Even if the person did not die, he would still be skinned alive.

Nian Shilan quickly looked at Yixiu, hoping that Yixiu could plead for her.

Yixiu's expression froze, but she finally spoke, "The Empress Dowager has always been kind. I think it's too harsh to detain all the palace inmates in the Ministry of Punishment. Why not let the Imperial Household Department interrogate them first, and then discuss other matters."

The Emperor also responded appropriately, "The Queen is absolutely right. What if this matter is just a misunderstanding? The Empress Dowager has always been kind-hearted. If these palace maids and eunuchs are innocently implicated, I think the Empress Dowager will also feel uneasy."

The Queen Mother snorted coldly and said nothing.

The emperor quickly called on Su Peisheng to interrogate the palace maids and eunuchs in Concubine Hua's palace to find out who went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to withdraw cinnabar and what they used it for?

The room suddenly became quiet, and Yixiu took this opportunity to observe the expressions of everyone present.

After taking several glances, Yixiu guessed that Zhen Huan and Shen Meiyu were indeed well prepared. No wonder they were so confident today. It turned out that they had joined forces with the Queen Mother and wanted to put Nian Shilan to death.

It was a perfect plan. If Nian Shilan had not joined me, today would have been her death day.

After a while, Su Peisheng came in with a palace maid who was crying bitterly.

Su Peisheng replied to his masters, "This is Lu'er, a maid from the Yikun Palace. She is usually responsible for sweeping the yard. This is the cinnabar she requested from the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Nian Shilan felt a surge of anger in her heart. She glared at the palace maid angrily. Why did she go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ask for cinnabar for no reason? She almost killed herself!

Lu'er trembled as she saluted the Emperor, the Empress, and the Queen Mother. "Your servant pays respects to the Queen Mother, to the Emperor, and to the Empress. Your servant...your servant..."

Yixiu stared at Lu'er coldly, and a sense of pressure unconsciously emanated from him.

"Did you ask the Imperial Household Department for cinnabar? And what did you use it for? Tell the truth! If you dare to lie, I will not forgive you!"

Lu'er trembled even more violently, and tears flowed unconsciously from her eyes. She looked extremely frightened and looked so pitiful.

Nian Shilan was furious. "The Queen is asking you a question, so just say it. Why are you crying?"

Lu'er still said nothing, but just kept crying.

Concubine Qi asked, "Could it be that this palace maid used cinnabar to harm Ru Ying? Otherwise, why didn't she tell us where the cinnabar was used?"