I am the Holy Poisoner, the Empress advised me to calm down

[Current Poison Master Points: 10 points]

[Do you want to exchange for Shadow Step? ]

"Not for now." Zhou Qing shook his head. Now is not the time to reveal his strength.

When the night was still, Zhou Qing quietly walked towards the Imperial Garden. The palace was exceptionally quiet at night, with only the occasional patrol of the imperial guards passing by.

The Plum Blossom Pavilion is located in the deepest part of the Imperial Garden. It is a place for concubines to rest during the day, but few people come here at night.

As Zhou Qing approached the Plum Blossom Pavilion, he heard low voices coming from inside.

"Are you sure that the attendant discovered something?"

"Indeed. His Majesty suddenly became violent today. It's obvious that someone is behind this. And Zhou Qing has been behaving very strangely since he entered the palace."

Zhou Qing's heart skipped a beat. Were they talking about him?

"What should we do? If this matter is discovered..."

"No. No one knows where the money went except us. As long as we hold on tight, not even His Majesty can find out anything."

"But that attendant..."

"He's just a small attendant, what kind of trouble can he cause? But to be on the safe side, we still have to deal with it."

Hearing this, Zhou Qing's heart began to beat faster. These people were actually going to attack him?

"How to deal with it?"

"It's simple. Just create an accident. When he's on night duty tomorrow, arrange for a few people to..."

"Shut up!" Suddenly, a majestic female voice sounded.

Zhou Qing was shocked. He was very familiar with this voice. It was Empress Xu Feihong!

The Plum Blossom Pavilion suddenly became quiet, and then there were the sounds of hurried footsteps and kneeling.

"Your Majesty? Why are you here?"

"Why can't I be here?" Xu Feihong's voice was as cold as ice. "What are you guys plotting here in the middle of the night?"

"Your Highness... Your Highness is just..."

"You just want to kill my attendant?" Xu Feihong sneered, "Zhang Wenyuan, Qian Weixin, you are really getting bolder and bolder."

It turned out that the people in the pavilion were Zhang Wenyuan and Qian Weixin! Zhou Qing suddenly realized that there was indeed a big problem behind these two people.

"Your Majesty, we have absolutely no such intention..."

"No? Then what do you mean by 'creating an accident'?" Xu Feihong's voice grew colder. "Do you think I can't hear you?"

From the pavilion came the sound of heavy kowtows: "Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life!"

"Spare my life?" Xu Feihong sneered. "My good ministers, do you know what crime it is to embezzle money from the national treasury?"

"Your Majesty, that money was indeed used to build the imperial mausoleum..."

"Enough!" Xu Feihong shouted angrily, "You're still lying! I ask you, where did the 500,000 taels of silver go?"

Five hundred thousand taels? Zhou Qing gasped when he heard this from outside. This number was not small.

"Your Majesty...we..."

"You won't tell me, right?" Xu Feihong's voice became even more dangerous. "Come here, take them down!"

"Yes!"

With the sound of armor clashing, it was obvious that some guards had entered the pavilion.

"Your Majesty, I will tell you! I will tell you everything!" Qian Weixin's voice was already filled with tears.

"Say!"

"That five hundred thousand taels..." Qian Weixin's voice trembled, "part of it was indeed used to build the imperial mausoleum, but most of it...most of it was divided among us privately."

"Divided privately?" Xu Feihong's voice sounded murderous. "Who did they give it to?"

"We distributed it to... to some ministers in the court and some local officials. We... we just wanted to win over some people..."

"Winning over people's hearts?" Xu Feihong sneered. "Using my money to win over people's hearts, and then what to do? Rebellion?"

"No, no, no! Your Majesty, we have absolutely no intention of rebellion!" Zhang Wenyuan hurriedly explained, "We simply...we simply wish to gather more supporters within the court so that we can better serve Your Majesty."

"Working for me?" Xu Feihong's voice was filled with sarcasm. "Then why did you kill my attendant?"

"Because... because we're afraid he'll find out the truth, which will affect the stability of the government..."

"The government is stable?" Xu Feihong laughed in anger. "You are corrupt and form cliques for personal gain, and you still have the nerve to say that the government is stable?"

The sound of kowtows came from the pavilion again: "Your Majesty, spare our lives! We know we are wrong!"

"You admit your mistakes now? It's too late!" Xu Feihong said coldly, "Come here, take them to jail and have them tried in court tomorrow!"

"Yes!"

As the footsteps faded away, the pavilion returned to silence.

Zhou Qing waited for a while, and only walked out cautiously after making sure that everyone had left.

"Zhou Qijulang."

Suddenly, Xu Feihong's voice sounded behind him, scaring him so much that he almost jumped up.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty?" Zhou Qing turned around and saw Xu Feihong standing under the plum tree. The moonlight shone on her, making her look exceptionally beautiful, but her eyes were dangerous.

"How long have you been here?"

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty just arrived." Zhou Qing didn't dare to tell the truth.

"Really?" Xu Feihong walked closer. "Then how did you know someone was going to have a secret meeting here?"

Zhou Qing's heart tightened. It seemed that the empress had already known that someone had passed him a note.

"Your Majesty, someone sent me a note, asking me to meet here."

"Where's the note?"

Zhou Qing took out a note from his arms and handed it to Xu Feihong.

Xu Feihong looked at the note and said, "I asked someone to give this to you."

"What?" Zhou Qing was shocked.

"I've long suspected something was wrong with Zhang Wenyuan and Qian Weixin, but I've never had any evidence. Your reminder today has made me determined to investigate, and I've indeed discovered some clues." Xu Feihong smiled slightly. "I need a witness, so I asked you to come here."

So that's it! Zhou Qing suddenly realized that the empress was using him.

"Then His Majesty has been lying in ambush here for a long time?"

"Of course." Xu Feihong nodded, "I want to hear them confess their crimes with my own ears."

[Poison Master System Tip: The host has been detected being exploited by advanced political means, but more information has also been obtained. 15 Poison Master points will be awarded.]

[Current Poison Master Points: 25 points]

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhou Qing said respectfully, but in his heart he was thinking about the impact of this matter on himself.

"Mr. Zhou Qijulang." Xu Feihong suddenly called him.

"The minister is here."

"Have you remembered everything that happened tonight?"

"I've noted it all down."

"Okay. At court tomorrow, I want you to read out what you heard tonight."

"The minister obeys the order."

Xu Feihong nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "Come with me, I have something to say to you."

Following the empress into the palace, Zhou Qing felt both excited and worried. He was excited because his toxic scholar rating had increased, but he was also worried because he seemed to be drawn into a larger political vortex.

However, this is exactly what he wants. To become the most powerful poison master in history, one must be adept at political struggle.

And tonight is just the beginning.