The Queen of the TV Series: Take turns to sit in my house this year

Yueli slept well all night, and the noise from the West Six Palaces did not wake her up.

The next morning, she learned of the deaths of Qi Yuebin and Song Zhi. At that time, she was leaning on her pillow, hugging the stove to wake herself up.

"Hmm~ Songzhi went too?" There was still a hint of sleepiness in her voice.

"Yes. Miss Songzhi did not leave after setting the fire yesterday. After the emperor came, she stood up and took all the blame and spoke up for the emperor. Her words were fierce, and she mentioned the pregnancy-maintaining medicine and Huanyi incense." Danzhu knelt on the bed, giving her a massage to relieve her fatigue while reporting.

Yueli was not surprised that Songzhi knew these secrets. Just as An Lingrong was able to glimpse the truth about Chunyuan's death from the Queen's few words, how could someone as perceptive as Cao Qinmo not see through the secrets of Nian Shilan's miscarriage and Huan Yixiang?

And how could Cao Qinmo, who was at the end of her rope, let such a huge secret go unused? So it was no surprise that Song Zhi knew all this.

Danzhu's voice continued, "And Nian Da Ying, Songzhi said that Nian Da Ying was completely unaware of what happened last night. In order not to implicate the master, she gave Nian Da Ying sleeping pills."

"Sleeping pills, this is the way out Songzhi left for Nian."

After Cao Qinmo betrayed her master, Nian Shilan was left with only Songzhi to serve her. As long as Songzhi insisted that it was her own decision and the emperor was willing to protect her, Nian Shilan would at most be punished for not governing her subordinates properly.

After all, it was only Concubine Duan who died, not the innocent Zhen Huan.

"What has the Emperor learned from the investigation into the Suiyuxuan incident?"

"Everything is just as your Majesty expected." Danzhu flattered him and continued, "Before her death, Concubine Xiang had calculated the Empress's intentions. Songzhi's setting fire to Yanqing Palace, which led to Concubine Duan's death, was enough to make Concubine Nian unable to get back on her feet. Putting the blame on Concubine Nian for burning down Yuxuan is unnecessary. On the contrary, it is more in the Empress's interest for Concubine Wan and Concubine Hui to stage their own act.

So the young eunuch who had set fire to the Suiyu Pavilion last night confessed everything before he was even tortured. He said Miss Songzhi had only instructed him to cause some noise in the pavilion, but not to actually burn it down. The young eunuch had even prepared a bucket of water in advance and immediately began putting out the fire.

Jiang Fuhai, who was serving the Queen, immediately sent someone to investigate the fire in Suiyuxuan after learning about it. He discovered that what the young eunuch said was true. Instead, the fire in the main hall of Suiyuxuan spread from the inner room to the outside. They even found a box of osmanthus hair oil and the remains of curtains that were obviously burned after being poured with hair oil.

Therefore, today at the hour of Yin, all the servants of Suiyuxuan were taken away for interrogation by the Ministry of Punishment."

"Brilliant." Dangui couldn't help but sigh after hearing this. "Setting fire to the palace alone is a serious crime, not to mention that Wanpin's self-torture scheme even involved the emperor. To put it more seriously, this is a crime of deceiving the emperor. Wanpin is in trouble now."

Cao Qinmo's killing moves came one after another. She lured Zhen Huan into setting fire and used Nian Shilan to kill Concubine Duan, who coveted Wen Yi. She also used Yixiu to convict Zhen Huan of setting fire to the palace, causing Zhen Huan to lose the position of concubine that was within her reach and the trust of the emperor.

Yue Li was even more eager to watch the fun and took her precious son to the Cining Palace. Not only did she eat and take things, she also instigated the Shen and Zhen families to bleed heavily.

"Empress Dowager, the treasury is currently low, and the renovations of Yanqing Palace and Suiyuxuan are costly. Concubine Wan and Noble Concubine Hui have committed such a serious offense that they will not be able to convince the public without punishment. However, the Emperor has great compassion for them and cannot bear to punish them too harshly. How about asking them to donate silver to atone for their sins?"

The Queen Mother hesitated, wondering if it was too shabby to ask the concubines' families to pay for the renovation of the palace.

But Fat Ju and Yixiu didn't think so! Especially the Queen. Making Shen Meizhuang and Zhen Huan bleed profusely was secondary. She cared more about the fact that it was Concubine Yi who proposed this matter to the Queen Mother. It was obvious that Concubine Yi was jealous of Huanbi for snatching the midwife away. Yixiu wished that the grudge between the two would grow bigger and bigger!

Yue Li's words soon reached the ears of Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang.

If the emperor and the empress dowager really didn't want the concubines to pay, they would not have let this word spread. The two of them, who understood the emperor's attitude, were quite tactful and jointly apologized to the empress, and took the initiative to pay for their mistakes out of their own pockets.

"How can this be possible? How can I take your silver? It's not right, not right." Yixiu waved her hands repeatedly. "Although the national treasury is empty, we still have 400,000 or 500,000 taels of silver to build the Suiyu Pavilion. If we pool our money, we can still have it."

Five hundred thousand taels! Even though they had been prepared, this huge sum still made them gasp. But the Emperor's intention was already clear. What could Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang do? They could only repeatedly say that they had to pay the money. If the Empress refused to accept it, it would mean they would not be given a chance to make amends.

The Shen and Zhen families each contributed 250,000 taels of silver for the construction of the Suiyuxuan. Furthermore, the Empress Dowager issued an imperial decree: Concubine Wan and Concubine Hui had acted inappropriately; effective immediately, their authority as assistants to the Six Palaces would be stripped, and each would be fined for six months. During this period of fines, Concubine Wan and Concubine Hui would be required to copy a volume of the Buddhist Mother Sutra daily.

The full text of the Buddha Mother Sutra has 3768 words. Reading it once a day is not a big punishment, but 25 taels of silver is not a small amount.

The Shen family has been an official family for generations, with many children and many serving as local officials. The family has considerable wealth, so although the 250,000 taels of silver is a pain in the neck, it is not a major loss. However, the Zhen family has few members, and their families have served as noble civil servants in the capital, and the family tradition is also upright, so the 250,000 taels are really not something they can come up with.

Fortunately, Zhen Huan had been favored in recent years and had saved some money, and with the private subsidies from Pang Ju, she was able to barely scrape together 20,000 taels of silver, and Concubine Jing also sent 18,000 taels of silver.

Zhen Huan knew that if she accepted the money, she would have completely bought off the favor she had previously given Concubine Jing to become a concubine, but she couldn't refuse it because Concubine Yi was watching right beside her!

Zhen Huan was puzzled, "Concubine Yi, I believe I have never offended her, so why is she targeting me like this?"

Huanbi, who was standing by, felt a pang of fear when she heard this. She thought that the Queen might have forgotten the conflict between Princess Shouan and Zhongcui Palace when she was born.

Outside the palace, Zhen Yuandao was also very worried. The family only had 80,000 taels of cash. In order to raise money, Zhen's mother had to sell her two dowry shops and two farms in the suburbs. She also borrowed a lot from her brothers from her natal family and the neighboring Wen family, and barely managed to scrape together 160,000 taels of cash.

In the end, Guaerjia Emin secretly went to Zhen's house and borrowed 50,000 taels of silver from Zhen Yuandao, thus making up the total of 250,000 taels of silver.

For this reason, Zhen Yuandao trusted Guaerjia Emin more, and Concubine Qi, who entered the palace after the New Year, also received a lot of care from Zhen Huan.

Of course, this is a later story. Let’s get back to the topic. The pregnancy-preserving drugs and Huanyixiang that Songzhi complained about before her death made the emperor feel guilty towards Nian Shilan, and also made the empress dowager alert.

So, after Concubine Duan’s funeral, Pangju left the palace alone.

Zhu Xi, following the Queen Mother's orders, went to the Yikun Palace carrying a tray. Inside the tray was a dagger, a cup of poisoned wine, and a piece of white silk.

"Young Master Nian, the Empress Dowager said that considering your service to the Emperor, no matter how much merit you have put in, you will be granted a dignified honor. Please go on your journey."

"Where's the emperor? I want to see the emperor!"

"My Lady Nian, you are aware of the crime of setting fire to the palace and murdering the Concubine. Please do not embarrass the Emperor and the Empress Dowager."

Zhen Huan soon received the news: the Empress Dowager had decreed that Nian's body should be preserved intact. However, Nian refused and only requested to see the Emperor.

Logically speaking, given Zhen Huan's cautious nature, she would not easily step forward when the emperor's attitude was unclear and she had just made a mistake.

But Cao Qinmo had planned it all along. Before her death, she had Yinxiu make plans to subtly brainwash Huanbi, and An Lingrong was instigated by the Queen to influence Zhen Huan's judgment.

So, after hearing the news that Nian Shilan was unwilling to die, Zhen Huan hesitated for a whole night, and finally went to Yiku Palace and personally exposed the truth about Nian Shilan's miscarriage and years of infertility.

Little did she know that Nian Shilan was waiting for her. After all, Songzhi had no secrets in front of her, so she was not surprised at all by Zhen Huan's heart-wrenching words.

She looked at Zhen Huan as if she were a clown. "So what? What do you want to prove by saying all this? To prove that the Emperor doesn't love me? Oh! Of course the Emperor loves me!" Nian Shilan's voice choked with sobs. "The Emperor loves Shilan, but he can't love Nian Shilan. Do you think I don't understand? I just don't want to understand. I don't want to embarrass him..."

When she said this, Nian Shilan's heart was filled with hatred. The emperor was ruthless, and it was hateful that she still loved the emperor so helplessly until today.

This love-brained behavior puzzled Zhen Huan. Although she hated Nian deeply, she felt chilled when she learned about the emperor's plan for Nian Shilan. She originally thought that Nian Shilan was a poor creature deceived by the emperor, but she never expected that the other party would be a fool deceiving himself!

"Do you think you defeated me? No! I didn't lose to you, I just lost to my desperate love for the emperor..." Nian Shilan said as she poured the remaining Huanyi incense into the incense burner.

The strong fragrance made Zhen Huan subconsciously step back and cover her mouth and nose with a handkerchief.

Nian Shilan dropped the incense box and glanced at Zhen Huan. When she saw the condescending pity in Zhen Huan's eyes, she became angry: "What qualifications do you have to pity me? Do you think you are luckier than me? The emperor at least truly loves me! But you, Zhen Huan, are nothing but a joke in this palace!"

"What did you say?"

"I said, the emperor doesn't love you at all, he just fell in love with your face, the face that looks like Queen Chunyuan!

You, Zhen Huan, are nothing more than a substitute for the Emperor to remember Queen Chun Yuan! You are not even yourself, hahahaha!"

"No, you're talking nonsense! I won't believe it."

"Nonsense? Ha, where do you think your great favor comes from? Who do you think Wanwan is her nickname? Who do you think the red plum blossoms in Yimei Garden were planted for?

Who do you think changed the phrase "If the wind blows, you will understand my feelings, don't let it be easily destroyed"? Who do you think Silang Wanwan was talking about? Who do you think the emperor was thinking of when he looked at your face? Why do you think that lowly maid Cui Jinxi recognized you as her master?!

Nian Shilan approached her step by step, and finally grabbed her shoulders and sneered, "Zhen Huan, you are the poor guy who was kept in the dark!"

Zhen Huan held her head and kept stepping back, "No, no! I don't believe it, I don't believe it!"