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

Lu Xiaoling shouted.

Cao Zhong received the emperor's eye signal, bowed and retreated, and brought Yuan Cai in a moment later.

"Your Majesty, this paper bag does contain oleander powder, nothing else."

Yuan Cai knelt down and said.

"Your Majesty, did you hear that? I did not poison you."

Hearing Yuan Cai's words, Lu Xiaoling immediately shouted.

"You are wrong, my lady. Oleander is poisonous and can kill people."

Yuan Cai bowed from behind.

"I only hid a little between my fingernails, and the amount that ended up in the bowl of medicine was even less. It's definitely not enough to kill anyone."

The emperor wanted to kill his own master, so he would naturally not spare her. Pei Yu kept kowtowing and explaining.

"Your Majesty, if I really wanted to kill someone, why would Concubine Gu still be sitting here peacefully?"

Having her own palace maid made Lu Xiaoling even more excited.

"Then I should be grateful to Lu Yunv for showing mercy?"

Gu Youning sneered.

"You're just relying on the Emperor's favor to kill me. There's nothing wrong with me, yet you're still pestering the Emperor..."

"presumptuous!"

Before Lu Yunu could finish her arrogant and unrepentant words, she felt a sharp pain on her forehead, and a small and exquisite copper flower vase rolled to the ground.

Blood flowed down her forehead. Lu Yunu was stunned for a moment, then she covered her head and screamed.

The other concubines in the palace were also frightened by the emperor's anger and quickly lowered their eyes.

"emperor!"

Gu Youning called out worriedly.

Her target today is not Lu Xiaoling.

In her opinion, Lu Xiaoling was impulsive and irritable, and what she just said might be true.

Then this arsenic did not come from her hand.

"Your Majesty, although Lu Yunu is a bit domineering, she would not do such a vicious thing that would harm someone's life."

Concubine Zheng also frowned and pleaded.

Marquis Lu is the right-hand man of Duke Zheng and always follows the lead of the Zheng family in the court. She still has to protect Lu Xiaoling.

"Your Majesty, even if Lu Yunu made a mistake, she will be dealt with according to the palace rules. It is not worth it for you to be so angry and hurt yourself."

Today, the queen did not plead for mercy as kindly and generously as she had in the past.

On the one hand, he pleaded for mercy and protection, and on the other hand, he secretly accused her of a crime. If other people were involved in this matter, Concubine Zheng would seem to be the most suspicious.

But Gu Youning's inner thoughts were exactly the opposite. Concubine Zheng protected Lu Yunu out of self-interest, and the Queen's change of heart and decisive words and deeds was just because of the Emperor's previous "reminder"?

"Your Majesty, I have a few questions for Lu Yunv."

"No need to stand up, just sit down and ask questions."

Seeing Gu Youning about to stand up, the emperor quickly raised his hand and pressed it down.

Seeing that the emperor deliberately softened his expression and spoke to Gu Youning, everyone's hearts felt like they were being squeezed into a pickle basket, and even if they were taken out, they would still be sour.

Only then did they realize that this woman from Changchun Palace, who came from a humble family and had been neglected by the emperor in the temporary palace for three whole years, was now in the harem, and her status of favor had long surpassed that of the daughters of aristocratic families like them.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Gu Youning stroked the heater in his hand and looked down at Lu Yunv who was kneeling on the ground: "Oleander powder is poisonous. Did Lu Yunv keep something like this around just to deal with me?"

Without waiting for Lu Yunv to open her mouth, Gu Youning continued, "Lu Yunv hates me so deeply. This is definitely not the first time she has attacked me. Speaking of which, the eldest prince was almost killed a few days ago. Could it be that..."

"You...you're talking nonsense!"

The eldest prince was almost suffocated to death in the room. This matter had already spread throughout the harem, and Lu Yunv naturally knew about it. Seeing the emperor's even more disgusted look at Leng Ning, Lu Yunv was about to deny it.

"Is Empress Zhaoyi talking nonsense, or are you, Lu Yunv, malicious?"

Lady Wen said in a cool voice.

"I told you, I only had Peiyu sprinkle some oleander powder into Concubine Gu's medicine. It wouldn't kill her at all. Didn't the imperial physician just say that they only found this powder in the Lanfang Pavilion?"

"Lady Wen, I have no grudge against you, why are you framing me?"

Lu Yunv glared at him, then suddenly looked towards Gu Youning: "Gu Zhaoyi, since you are safe and sound, why do you have to keep biting me and want to kill me?"

Looking at Lu Yunu's righteous look, Gu Youning felt a chill in his heart.

The eunuch who delivered the medicine said that the medicine was for her and Zheng'er. If the bowl on top was Zheng'er's, the consequences would be unimaginable.

And if she hadn't been unable to drink the medicine, her appearance would have been ruined by now.

"No, I don't intend to kill you. Since you think drinking this medicine is no big deal..."

Gu Youning paused for a moment before he went to the side and ordered, "Tan Yin, go get me the bowl of medicine I didn't finish drinking just now."

"Yes."

Tan Yin responded in a low voice.

Everyone, including Lu Xiaoling, didn't know what Gu Youning was going to do. The emperor didn't know either, but he just wanted to give Ning'er justice today. Lu was despicable, and Ning'er deserved whatever she did to her.

"master."

Soon, Tan Yin presented a bowl of almost untouched medicine in front of Gu Youning.

"Would you please have some drink, Ms. Lu?"

Gu Youning said lightly.

"You want to kill me? The Emperor and Empress are still here, how dare you kill the concubines?"

Lu Yunu's face flushed with anger. She glanced at the bowl of medicine again and said, "This bowl is so full and hasn't been touched at all. Did you know there was something strange going on? Are you pretending to be unwell? Are you waiting here to kill me?"

After hearing this, everyone in the hall shook their heads in their hearts, thinking that Lu Yunu was really brainless. If the medicine had really not been used, how could the emperor not know about it? Saying this would only make the emperor more disgusted.

Besides, Gu Zhaoyi's face looked a little pale when she looked closely.