Rebirth of His Royal Highness Prince Chenghu

The Empress Dowager nodded slightly, a look of relief on her face: "That's good, Xuanye is the backbone of us mother and daughter! As long as he is okay, I will feel much more at ease." She patted the armrest of the chair and looked at Qingyao in front of her with soft eyes.

Qingyao quickly bowed, her face awash with guilt as she said, "Your Highness, please don't blame me. This is truly my fault. I've been so busy lately that I only just found time to come and pay my respects to you. I hope Your Highness will forgive my negligence."

The Empress Dowager said: "How could I blame you? Qingqing, you are a good child. You are the Queen. Xuanye has you to take care of him personally. I am relieved."

Qingyao: "Empress Mother, once it's warm, I'll have Chenghu and his wife bring the child to pay their respects to you, so you can come and see them in person."

The Empress Dowager said: "Okay, I will wait. My dear, your Royal Madam has gone. Xuanye is unhappy. Please try to persuade him."

Qingyao: "Yes, Empress Dowager, once your daughter-in-law finds out, she will persuade His Majesty more."

Just as Qingyao was about to speak again, the eunuch announced from outside, "The Emperor has arrived."

Kangxi strode into the hall and bowed to the Empress Dowager. Then, seeing Qingyao there, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes: "I wanted to come and see the Empress Dowager today, but I didn't expect the Empress to be here too."

Qingyao bowed and said, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."

Kangxi helped her up and turned to the Empress Dowager, saying, "My dear Queen, I am not feeling well. Thanks to the Empress, you have managed the affairs of the harem and kept them in order. I am able to rest easy."

The Empress Dowager smiled and nodded, "The Emperor has a good eye. I was just talking about you with the Queen. Your Royal Majesty has passed away. You must not be overly sad. You must put your health first." Kangxi agreed.

At this time, Qingyao whispered, "Your Majesty, Chenghu and his wife have always been thinking of the Empress Dowager. When the weather warms up, they will definitely bring their grandson to pay their respects. I believe the palace will be even more lively and festive then." Kangxi was delighted. "That's great! I haven't seen my grandson for a long time."

After chatting about some family matters, Kangxi accompanied Qingyao to leave the Empress Dowager's palace. The two of them strolled back to the palace, discussing palace affairs along the way. The friendship between the couple seemed to have deepened a little.

Qingyao's eyes sparkled with anticipation, and she whispered, "This year, my husband, you should have one or two more lovely grandchildren! If they all come into the palace and rush to ask you to hold them, it will be a lively scene! I really want to see how you will respond to so many little darlings begging for a hug!" She chuckled as she spoke, covering her mouth with her hands, as if she had already seen that warm and interesting scene.

Kangxi looked at Qingyao lovingly and said, "The Queen's idea is quite interesting."

Just as they reached the corner of a garden, they saw a little palace maid walking by in a hurry. She even forgot to greet them when she saw them.

Kangxi's face darkened slightly, and the eunuch beside him immediately scolded: "You bold servant, how dare you be so rude to His Majesty and the Empress!" The little palace maid was so scared that she collapsed to the ground, kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Qingyao gently tugged at Kangxi's sleeve and said softly, "Your Majesty, perhaps this little girl has something urgent to say. It would be a good idea to listen to what she has to say first."

Kangxi nodded slightly. The young maid said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I was originally serving Concubine Hui. She suddenly had severe abdominal pain, and I was anxious to find the imperial physician, so I disturbed your presence. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Kangxi frowned. "Is Concubine Hui ill? I'll go see her." Qingyao hurriedly followed, her doubts lingering but her face concealed. Arriving at Concubine Hui's residence, she found her pale and sprawled on the couch. Tears welled up at the sight of Kangxi. Kangxi stepped forward to offer his words of comfort, while Qingyao quietly surveyed her surroundings, sensing a deeper, more complex situation. A surge of conflict surrounding the harem's favor seemed to be brewing.

Qingyao calmly approached Concubine Hui's bedside and asked with concern, "Sister Hui, your illness came on so suddenly. Did you eat anything special today?" Concubine Hui's eyes flickered, and she hesitantly said, "Nothing special, just an ordinary meal."

Kangxi: "I have sent for the imperial physician to come and will see you get better soon."

At this time, the imperial physician hurried over and after a brief examination, he looked troubled. Seeing this, Kangxi said sternly: "What is the disease that Concubine Hui has? Tell me the truth."

The imperial physician replied tremblingly, "Your Majesty, it seems that Concubine Hui has accidentally consumed something that is incompatible with her health. However, I still need to conduct further investigations."

Qingyao glanced at the maids and servants beside her and spoke slowly, "There are dedicated people in charge of food in this palace. How could someone accidentally eat something that was incompatible with the food? I think someone must have been playing tricks on me." Upon hearing this, Concubine Hui began to sob, "I don't know who I offended to suffer such a cruel fate."

Kangxi frowned and looked at Qingyao, "Empress, I leave this matter to you to investigate thoroughly. You will never allow anyone in the harem to act so recklessly." Qingyao responded respectfully, knowing that this would be the beginning of a complicated harem struggle, and she must be careful to deal with all undercurrents.

Qingyao first ordered all the maids and servants in Concubine Hui's room to be taken into custody, and then began to interrogate them one by one. One of the young maids was so frightened that she trembled and fell to her knees with a plop, "Your Majesty, I know something."

Qingyao gestured for her to continue. The maid stuttered, "I was supposed to deliver bird's nest soup to Concubine Hui today, but it was intercepted by a maidservant beside Concubine An. She said Concubine An wanted to try some freshly made dim sum from the imperial kitchen and wanted to exchange food with Concubine Hui."

Qingyao's heart moved, it seemed that Concubine An was quite suspicious.

She brought people to Anpin's residence. When Anpin heard that the queen had arrived, she hurried out to greet her, her face full of panic.

Qingyao didn't waste any words and asked directly, "I heard that you and Concubine Hui exchanged meals today?"

Concubine An's face turned pale and she quickly denied it, "Your Majesty, there is no such thing. It must be that the maid falsely accused me."

Qingyao sneered, "Whether it's a false accusation or not, we'll know if we search it." Soon, the servants found the remaining bird's nest soup in Concubine An's room. The evidence was irrefutable, and Concubine An collapsed to the ground, crying out that she was wronged and that she was being manipulated. Qingyao thought to herself, there must be a mastermind behind this; this palace strife is far from over.

Qingyao narrowed her eyes and looked at Concubine An, "Who ordered you to do this? If you tell me the truth, I might give you a lighter sentence." Concubine An bit her lip and hesitated for a moment before saying, "It was Concubine Liang. She gave me a lot of gold, silver and jewelry and asked me to do this. She also said that she would take care of it afterwards and nothing would happen." Qingyao wrote down the name and took people to Concubine Liang's residence again.

Concubine Liang was leisurely drinking tea in the room. When she saw Qingyao and her men barging in, she pretended to be calm and saluted. Qingyao told her the reason for the incident, but Concubine Liang looked innocent and said, "Your Majesty, Concubine An is trying to frame me. I have no grudge against Concubine Hui, why would she harm her?" Qingyao watched Concubine Liang's performance and said nothing. At this time, the palace maid beside her whispered a few words in Qingyao's ear. It turned out that the palace maid found a secret compartment in Concubine Liang's room, which contained letters between Concubine An and Concubine Hui, and the letters vaguely mentioned the incident of framing Concubine Hui.

Qingyao took the letter to question Concubine Liang. When Concubine Liang saw that the matter was exposed, she collapsed to the ground and begged for mercy.