Seizing the throne, abolishing the adopted son, the imperial concubine rose to prominence

The two palace maids were thinking of defending themselves and begging for mercy as they had done before, but when they heard the emperor's words, their eyes were filled with fear.

The unspoken rule in the palace is that if you gag someone and beat him, you will be beaten to death. The master will not even be given a chance to confess or beg for mercy.

"Your Majesty, spare your life! Your Majesty, spare your life!"

As soon as the eunuchs held their shoulders, the two palace maids began to struggle in fear.

"Take it down."

Cao Zhong raised his hand.

"I say, I say, I really want to say it."

One of the palace maids, who knew where she got the strength from, broke free from the two eunuchs who were guarding her, and knelt before the emperor, muttering something over and over again, obviously frightened out of her wits.

"Are you really being ordered by someone? You are not telling the truth in front of the Emperor and me."

When the queen saw Gu Youning’s eyes wide open and brows furrowed, her tense mind relaxed a little.

At least Gu Youning didn't know about these two palace maids.

"I was indeed instructed by someone else to intentionally soil the eldest prince's clothes. I don't know whose master's intention was, but I saw that the eunuch had a badge from Gyeongbokgung Palace on him, and he gave me twenty taels of gold ingots. I shouldn't have been greedy and shouldn't have been so obsessed with money. I beg the emperor to forgive me."

After the shock she had just experienced, the palace maid did not dare to hide anything.

"Gyeongbokgung Palace?"

A flash of surprise crossed the emperor's eyes, and he obviously didn't expect to be asked this question.

“Yes, it’s Gyeongbokgung Palace.”

The maid thought the emperor was asking her a question and kowtowed hastily. Then she suddenly remembered something: "Oh, that eunuch said that his master couldn't stand the fact that Concubine Gu was favored by the emperor despite her humble background, so he wanted to make trouble for her."

"I didn't dare do anything else. Yesterday, when I was changing the tea at Jing'an Residence, I happened to see the eunuch from Changchun Palace opening the box. I suddenly had an idea and deliberately poured the tea on it."

"I didn't know that it was the eldest prince's clothes. I just wanted to follow that person's words and cause some trouble for Concubine Gu."

"I have told you everything I know. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me this time."

As soon as the maid finished speaking, another maid kowtowed beside her and said loudly, "Your Majesty and Your Majesty, please understand. I only helped her because of the silver hairpin she gave me. I didn't know about these things."

Gu Youning looked up. This was beyond her expectation. Fortunately, she did not do anything to the two palace maids. The queen was indeed cautious. The palace maid in front was just a mystery, and the one behind who seemed to be just greedy for money might be the queen's secret agent.

"Besides Fang Cainu, who has been banished to the cold palace, the only people living in Gyeongbokgung Palace now are Chen Cairen and Cao Yunu. Both of them are somewhat impatient."

The queen thought for a moment and said impartially.

But Gu Youning knew that this matter would probably fall on Concubine Chen. The master behind the eunuch despised her humble status. The Chen family was a noble family, but it was not as good as the four major surnames. As for Cao Yunv, her background was the same as hers.

"Announce the talented Chen and the daughter of Cao Yu."

The emperor's suspicion of the queen was not much alleviated, but at this point, he had no choice but to summon the person to question her.

The queen saw that the emperor remained expressionless after listening to the confessions of the two palace maids, and lowered his eyes to hide the gloom in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, could you please tell me what is wrong with these clothes?"

The three of them sat in silence in the side hall for half a minute, and the queen asked with a slightly anxious look.

"If this matter has nothing to do with the Queen, then the Queen need not worry about it. I will handle it myself."

The emperor said indifferently.

Gu Youning looked at the emperor in confusion. She knew that the emperor knew about what happened that year, but his reaction seemed a bit excessive, as if he didn't want to mention it at all.

Is it to cover up the royal scandal of that year and preserve the reputation of the Queen Mother?

But the emperor on the throne suddenly raised his eyes and met Gu Youning's gaze. The grief and gloom that swept across his eyes startled Gu Youning.

However, Gu Youning did not look away, but a hint of worry and sadness immediately appeared in his eyes.

"Eunuch Cao, the tea is a little cold. Can you bring me a new one?"

Gu Youning and the emperor looked at each other worriedly for a moment, then suddenly turned to look at Cao Zhongdao.

"Yes, slave, go right away."

Cao Zhong glanced at the emperor who was sitting on the throne, then bent down and went out to give orders.

After a while, he came up with three cups of tea.

Aside from the two palace maids still kneeling on the ground, all the other palace servants, including the Empress's attendant, had been driven out by the Emperor. There were no other attendants in the hall. Gu Youning stood up quite naturally, took a cup of tea from the tray, and presented it to the Emperor: "It's cold in the side hall. Your Majesty, have some hot tea to warm yourself up."

Perhaps because the Queen was there, Gu Youning calmly placed the tea next to the Emperor, but his eyes, filled with clear worry, drifted towards the Emperor's face as he blocked the Queen's sight.

The emperor reached out for the teacup and took a sip. The coldness in his eyes seemed to be slightly dissipated by the hot tea.

Gu Youning noticed that the emperor's mood had improved a little. He turned around, took another cup of tea from Cao Zhong, and offered it to the empress: "Your Majesty, please have some tea."

"Gu Jieyu is thoughtful."

The queen's face still had her usual gentleness, and her eyes swept over Gu Youning's face several times.

Gu Youning pretended not to notice and returned to his seat.

In half a cup of tea, the eunuchs of Qianming Palace brought Chen Yufei and Cao Yunv.

"Concubine to the Emperor, please give me your regards, Queen."

Chen Yufei, relying on her high position, paid her respects before Cao Yunv.

A flicker of disdain flashed across Cao Yunv's face, and she hurried forward to bow and salute, even asking, self-consciously, "I wonder what the Emperor and His Majesty have summoned me for, are you here to attend to the Empress Dowager's illness?"

Unfortunately, the emperor above just glanced at the two of them indifferently.

"I heard that someone in Gyeongbokgung Palace was disrespectful to Concubine Gu and wanted to cause trouble for her?"

"Who is this person who is gossiping about me in front of the Emperor?"

Chen Yufei blurted out with a red face when she heard it.

The emperor ignored Chen Yufei's rudeness and glanced at the palace maid: "Say what you just said again."

"Yes."

The palace maid was afraid that her life would be in danger if she angered the emperor, so she told the story again without hesitation.

"Just based on the accusations of these two palace maids, Your Majesty believes that this matter is related to me?"

After listening to this, Chen Yufei first glared at Gu Youning, and then looked at the emperor with a look of grievance.

She had already decided in her heart that what happened today must be Gu Youning's fault. She felt that Gu Youning came from a poor family and was not worthy of receiving so many honors just because of his face and the chance of giving birth to a prince.

But Gu Youning's position was higher than hers, and he was favored by the emperor, so she only dared to say a few harsh words behind his back.

In the past few days, she only asked her palace maids and eunuchs to help spread those rumors to vent her anger.

She hoped that Gu Youning would be unlucky, but she also wanted her to be promoted or become pregnant with a prince.

"Your Majesty has determined that I am guilty based on biased words."

Chen Yufei revealed a look of grievance as she spoke, and there was a hint of resentment in her eyes as she looked at the emperor.

Gu Youning didn't expect Chen Yufei to have such an attitude.

However, apart from his status as an emperor, Xiao Heng was also an extremely handsome man. He perfectly inherited the good looks of the late emperor and the empress dowager, with haircut hair, a high nose, thin lips, and a pair of auspicious phoenix eyes as deep as stars. However, at the moment, there was no smile in these auspicious phoenix eyes that fascinated the women in the harem.

"Even if you believe it's someone from Gyeongbokgung Palace, there are more than just concubines in Gyeongbokgung Palace."

Although Chen Yufei was clueless, she knew that she couldn't let the emperor suspect her of bad character, otherwise how could she gain favor in the future?

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am wronged. Concubine Gu's position is far higher than mine. How dare I bully her?"

Cao Yunv was extremely angry. She had always only dared to bully helpless and disgraced concubines like Lin Yunv.

"It's Sister Chen who has complained to others more than once about Concubine Gu's humble background and her ability to curry favor with the Emperor with just her looks."