The queen is sober in the world, and she is winning every step of the palace fight.

"Then who is Concubine Zhao?" the emperor asked again.

"Your Majesty, Consort Zhao was a maid bought by my family. Since entering the palace, she has been serving as a maid for my daughter, and later followed my daughter into the palace."

Yu Zhong answered without hesitation.

"Sir Yu, there's something I'm not clear on. The suicide note just now said that Concubine Chun... Oh, no, Yu Gengyi is not your biological daughter, but adopted. How could you send your adopted daughter into the palace as your legitimate daughter and deceive the royal family?"

At the table, an official from a different faction from Yu Zhong came forward to criticize him.

Even if Minister Yu did not deceive the emperor in the matter of Concubine Zhao, Yu Gengyi could still be considered to have deceived the emperor!

Yu Zhongyan said, "Your Majesty, I have absolutely no intention of deceiving the royal family.

It was because after losing her own daughter, my wife was heartbroken and adopted Yu Gengyi. She raised her wholeheartedly as her own daughter. This is also recorded in the family tree, so Yu Gengyi is indeed my legitimate daughter! "

An official who was close to Yu Zhong sighed, "It is a pity that all people in the world are so caring. Lord Yu's behavior is understandable."

However, someone said, "An adopted daughter is an adopted daughter, and a legitimate daughter is a legitimate daughter. Even though Lord Yu thinks they are the same, they are actually different. When Yu Gengyi was selected to enter the palace, Lord Yu should have reported the truth to the emperor, but he kept it a secret from the royal family, which allowed Yu Gengyi to be promoted to Noble Consort. If she was really just an adopted daughter, how could she be qualified to be a Noble Consort?"

Yu Zhong immediately retorted, "Throughout the dynasties, some empresses and concubines came from commoner families, while others were originally palace maids. Why can't the adopted daughter of a minister be a noble concubine? When your majesty appoints a concubine, you look at a woman's virtue, not her family background."

The other party retorted, "So Concubine Yu has become Yu Gengyi. I guess Your Majesty has discovered her bad character? Lord Yu is a poor parent, yet he still speaks with confidence. I admire your generosity!"

It has to be said that officials of this dynasty are quite good at quarreling.

Fei Wan watched as the topic was led off track.

Of course I have to give it back.

"Your Majesty, this is all my fault. My identity was in doubt, causing a disturbance and disrupting the Queen Mother's birthday banquet. I beg to be fined three months' salary."

She stood up and apologized, which made the emperor look approving.

"Zhao Qing, don't blame yourself. This is someone else's fault. Since you're here, please offer a toast to the Queen Mother."

"Yes."

Fei Wan stepped forward respectfully, picked up the wine pot, and added more wine to the Queen Mother. "Please enjoy it, Queen Mother. I apologize to you."

The Queen Mother's expression was cold.

He looked at her carefully and said slowly, "Looking closely, your face does bear some resemblance to Minister Yu."

A lady at the table said, "Actually, she is somewhat similar to Madam Yu."

Coincidentally, Mrs. Yu, who had secretly left the table to visit Yu Tingjin at Chuntang Courtyard, received the news passed on by Bai Yuan and returned.

As soon as she arrived, she was stared at by many people.

There was a lot of whispering among the people at the table.

The Zhongqing Earl's Mansion is the Queen Mother's maiden family, so naturally they speak according to the Queen Mother's wishes.

Lady Zhongqing said, "That's right. Concubine Zhao looks like Lord Yu, and from the nose down she resembles Madam Yu. Perhaps they're actually related. Yu Gengyi, on the other hand, doesn't look much like Lord Yu and his wife. It turns out she was adopted. No wonder."

Fei Wan responded softly, "I was just a maid in the Minister's Mansion. It is my blessing to be able to look like Master Yu and Madam Yu."

Emperor Xiao Yu couldn't help but look at Fei Wan's face as everyone was talking.

The fragrant hair is half-sunken in a bun, and the clouds in her temples are about to cover the snow-white cheeks.

As pretty as a peach in spring, as pure as a chrysanthemum in autumn.

His Zhaoqing is so beautiful and graceful, how can she be compared to the Yu couple?

It is true that a golden phoenix flies out of a chicken coop, and good bamboo shoots come out of bad bamboo!

Fei Wan felt the emperor's gaze and looked back.

The moment their eyes met, the tenderness in the man's eyes made Fei Wan blush and she quickly looked away.

The emperor had a smile on his face.

Zhaoqing looked extremely beautiful when she was shy.

"Madam Yu, where have you been? Is Concubine Zhao your biological daughter? I'd like you to explain!"

Among the concubines, there were some who wanted to see Fei Wan in trouble and to please the Queen Mother, so they took every opportunity to speak up for her.

She also asked the palace maid to take Yuan's blood letter to Madam Yu for her to see.

Madam Yu glanced through it quickly, then knelt down in front and firmly denied it:

"That's impossible. My daughter was lost long ago and may be dead now. Yu Gengyi is the daughter I raised with great care!"

"Whether it's true or not, why not call a witness to ask?" the concubine said, "Yuan's suicide note mentioned a monk named Huizhen, who was the one who found her daughter. So why not find Huizhen?"

The virtuous concubine frowned. "What are you talking about! Has the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet become a courtroom for investigating a case? We can investigate this matter later. Isn't celebrating the Empress Dowager's birthday more important today?"

The concubine fell silent in anger, not wanting to provoke the virtuous concubine.

Unexpectedly, the censor who "accidentally" dropped Yuan's suicide note said:

"To facilitate the palace's investigation, I sent someone to notify Huizhen last night and told her to wait outside the palace gate today. I believe Huizhen has arrived by now."

The Queen Mother said, "Then bring it in and ask for clarification. Emperor, what do you say?"

The emperor remained silent.

Then a palace maid followed the order and went outside to summon Huizhen.

Yu Zhong and his wife looked at each other secretly, both feeling a little nervous.

Although I've reached an agreement with Huizhen, today's incident is suspicious, and I'm afraid Huizhen will go back on her word...

But a moment later, the palace maid who went to summon him only brought back the censor's servant.

"What's going on? Where is Huizhen?" the censor asked.

The servant fell to the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Master, please forgive me! When I saw Huizhen was late, I went to the nunnery to look for her, but I didn't know she was already dead!"

This morning, while frying offerings in their nunnery, the nun in charge of the cooking was careless and the flames in the oil pan escaped, catching fire on the window paper. Not only did the nunnery burn, but the entire twenty-odd households where the nunnery was located were also burned, a whole half of the street!

When the fire was extinguished, Master Huizhen disappeared. Later, a charred corpse was dug out from the ruins of her meditation room..."

"How could this happen!" Fei Wan was the first to cry out in shock, asking, "What about the others? The monks in the nunnery, and the people on the street, are there any casualties?"

The servant replied, "The village head has counted the bodies. Aside from the houses burned, no one else was hurt. Only Master Huizhen died."

Fei Wan burst into tears and sobbed.

"Amitabha, I've met Master Huizhen a few times before. She was very kind and gentle, and treated everyone very well. How could she..."

Those who were on good terms with the Empress Dowager's family, the Zhongqing Earl's Mansion, began to speak out.

Yan said, "If you think about it carefully, this is quite scary. Why didn't that nun meet with disaster sooner or later, but only when she needed to prove her identity as Lady Zhao?"

Upon hearing this, the censor who delivered Yuan's suicide note stomped his feet in regret:

"It was my negligence! I shouldn't have informed Huizhen last night. I'm afraid someone got wind of it and did something to it overnight. I've ended up getting that monk into trouble!"

The concubine who was suppressed by the virtuous concubine came out to add fuel to the fire:

"Yuan's suicide note said Hui Zhen was the one who returned Concubine Zhao to the Yu family. That made her the only reliable witness! But she was murdered...

Could it be that someone killed someone to get rid of the "crime of deceiving the emperor"? In this case, could it be that Concubine Zhao is really the daughter of the Yu family!?

Yu Zhong and his wife quickly and loudly denied it.

Both of them were terrified.

I don’t know who is plotting against the Yu family.

It would be more terrifying if Huizhen died than if she went back on her word while alive.

He could still make excuses if he went back on his word, but now that the person was dead, the Yu family would be suspected of murder to silence him!

Yu Zhong's political enemies stood up and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, although today is the Queen Mother's birthday and we shouldn't spoil the fun, if this matter isn't clarified, I'm afraid you, Lord Yu, will no longer be able to hold your position as Assistant Minister of War.

Because military affairs concern the rise and fall of the country, we cannot be careless.

If Lord Yu really sent his own daughter into the palace disguised as a maid as rumored, in order to seduce the emperor and plot evil, then it is worth considering what exactly he was plotting.

The commander-in-chief currently fighting against the enemy in the northwest was the one strongly recommended by Lord Yu.

In less than two months, Concubine Zhao was promoted from a palace maid to a fifth-rank concubine. If she were to rise even higher in the future...

The palace, the court, and the army all worked together...

I dare not think too much!"

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

There was a sudden uproar in the hall.

The crime of deceiving the emperor, the evil concubine's rebellion, the inside and outside collusion...

This is to torture the Yu family and Concubine Zhao to death.

Executing the entire family is a light punishment, and exterminating all nine generations of the clan is also a matter of course!

Concubine Jian pretended to be surprised and covered her mouth in astonishment:

"But unfortunately, Huizhen, who could prove Zhao Guiren's identity, died this morning!"

The virtuous concubine glared at her fiercely.

Concubine Jian lowered her head and fell silent.

I felt very dissatisfied.

I feel that Concubine Xian is really out of her mind. What's the point of helping Concubine Zhao? Is she waiting for Concubine Zhao to be promoted to Concubine Zhao so that she can compete with her?

It is better to cut it off early to prevent future troubles!

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am afraid..."

Fei Wan, with tears in her eyes, knelt down in front of the emperor.

She sobbed and pleaded that she didn't know whether she was a daughter of the Yu family, but she had absolutely no intention of seducing the emperor.

"I am so fortunate to have received His Majesty's favor. However, I am unlucky and fear I cannot bear the Emperor's grace. In such a short period of time, so many people have criticized me, and even implicated Lord Yu..."

"I also ask Your Majesty to remove my position as a concubine. I am willing to obey the Queen Mother's orders and go to the temple to practice as a nun. For the rest of my life, I will pray day and night for Your Majesty and the Queen Mother, and for Daliang!"

She cried till she was in tears.

She feels delicate and aggrieved.

But he was clear-headed and calm in his heart, and secretly praised the Queen's methods.

Yuan has been dead for a long time, but he can still be used. It seems that his value has been squeezed out even after his death.

There's no way to verify whether Yuan left a blood letter for the emperor in the torture chamber. After all, the people who collected the body and the palace maids who later collected Yuan's belongings didn't notice and simply returned the deceased's belongings to Yuan's family.

The Yuan family, facing a demotion and a chaotic situation, were understandably neglectful of counting the family's belongings. Later, the Yuan family stumbled upon the suicide note and presented it to the censors for review, hoping to bring down Concubine Zhao, who had brought the family downfall. That's perfectly normal, isn't it?

Whether things succeed or fail, it’s all the Yuan family’s doing. The Queen hiding behind the scenes has nothing to do with it!

As long as the queen does not leave any traces when she sends people to instigate the Yuan family, even if the Yuan family fails and blames the queen, there will be no evidence.

Fei Wan sneered secretly.

The part where Huizhen is killed is a stroke of genius.

It left the Yu family and her speechless.

Regardless of the final outcome, whether the emperor would vent his anger on her or not, once the suspicion of "murder to silence" was left in his mind, if time went on and he got someone new and got tired of her...

At that time, this sin will be exposed and become one of the huge rocks that crushes her!

"Zhao Qing, you get up first."

The emperor spoke in a cold voice, his expression also cold.

The smile on his lips disappeared, and he looked like an emperor.

"Your Majesty..." Fei Wan's eyes were filled with tears.

The emperor looked at her with no more lingering eyes, and just said: