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

What's more, with new and old grudges added together, even if the Zheng family is powerful now and the emperor will not do anything to Concubine Zheng, she will still ruthlessly poke her heart and lungs.

For Concubine Zheng, the emperor's suspicion and coldness were enough to make her miserable for a while.

Yang Yuanpan's medical skills were indeed good. After a set of acupuncture, the empress dowager woke up faintly, and even the paleness on her face improved a lot.

The queen hurriedly asked someone to help the queen mother back to the back to rest.

On this side, Imperial Physician Song also walked into the hall with a eunuch holding peony flowers.

"Your Majesty, Empress, and Imperial Concubine, I have found something that will aggravate the Empress Dowager's headaches. It is this peony flower."

"How could that be? This peony flower is my mother's favorite. Every year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Monks' Dormitory specially cultivate it and send it to her. Nothing has happened in all these years."

The Queen wondered.

"It is the Queen Mother's favorite, and she plays with it often. It is only now that others have begun to pay attention to this peony flower."

Concubine Zheng sneered.

"My Lady, your maid hasn't told me where she went when she left the palace just now."

To everyone's surprise, the emperor started by investigating what had just happened.

"Since the Emperor suspects me of harboring evil intentions, Caifu, tell the Emperor where I went just now."

Concubine Zheng smiled miserably, looking as if she was deeply hurt by the emperor's words.

She tried hard to suppress the jealousy in her eyes. If she waited any longer, with the Queen Mother's temper, Gu Youning and the Gu family would have no future.

As for Gu Youxin, it was not surprising that a man who dared to murder the empress dowager and plotted to enter the palace would murder his own nephew.

And the Emperor will only pity himself more for these words of doubt now.

Although the incident happened suddenly today, it was a perfect opportunity for her, and it could be said that she achieved several goals at one stroke.

"Your Majesty, Empress, I am going to the sedan chair to get medicine for Her Majesty."

Caifu took out the medicine from her bosom and held it in her hand. "Her Majesty, knowing that the Emperor was coming to the Cining Palace late at night, was worried about him and insisted on coming to see him, despite feeling unwell. Because she left the medicine on the sedan chair in such a hurry when she got out, I was afraid that the Master would suffer another heart attack, so I left the palace to get it."

"The eunuchs beside the Marquis' sedan chair can all testify on your behalf."

Caifu said.

"This matter is nothing unusual. Why didn't Sister Zheng let the maid speak?"

The Queen was surprised.

"I thought the Emperor wouldn't believe I was such a vicious person, but I didn't expect..."

Concubine Zheng covered her heart with her hand halfway through her speech.

"Miss!"

Caifu quickly poured a pill into her palm and helped her master eat it.

The emperor did not go forward to comfort her as he did in the past.

"Since Sister Zheng's maidservant has never left the palace, and can now clearly explain where she went, there should be no problem."

The queen is still so tolerant and gentle.

"But Sister Zheng needs to change her temper a bit. Why did she get so angry with the Emperor over just one sentence?"

"What the Queen is teaching me is that I think too highly of myself."

Concubine Zheng looked at the emperor, whose expression was calm, and said resentfully.

"Your Majesty, although the murder of the eldest prince is of great importance, there are no more clues to investigate. It would be better to hand it over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for a thorough investigation."

"For now, let's listen to what Imperial Physician Song has to say. After all, the Queen Mother's health is the most important. If it's really as the Imperial Concubine said, that someone did it on purpose, and it gets out, it will be bad for the reputation of the royal family."

The Queen paid no attention to Concubine Zheng's disrespectful words and was only concerned about the Emperor's reputation.

"I have carefully examined the objects in the main hall and discovered that the only thing wrong is the mud in the peony flowerpot. This mud must have been soaked in a potion, which is very harmful to the Empress Dowager's headache."

When Imperial Physician Song saw the emperor looking at him, he hurriedly continued with what he had just said.

"Were these peonies sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

The emperor's gaze fell on He Jin, who had been kneeling in the hall.

"Yes, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs would never dare to plot against the Empress Dowager..."

He Jin anxiously looked up and saw Tan Yin beside Concubine Gu making gestures to him. He paused for a moment, then looked anxiously at the Imperial Physician Song who was kneeling in front of him: "Is the Imperial Physician sure that there is indeed something wrong with the mud in this flowerpot?"

"Although I am not very talented or well-educated, I dare not speak nonsense when this concerns the Empress Dowager."

Imperial Physician Song said firmly.

"These peonies have been delivered to the Cining Palace for a long time. Why did the Empress Dowager only react today?"

Concubine Zheng has recovered her breath.

"This also seems strange to me. Based on the amount of medicine in this flowerpot, the Queen Mother should be feeling unwell from time to time. She should have been summoned long ago."

Imperial Physician Song frowned and asked in confusion.

"Eunuch Sun, has the Queen Mother been feeling unwell recently?"

The emperor looked at Sun Angong beside him and asked.

"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother has indeed been suffering from frequent headaches and chest tightness recently, but every time she listens to Fourth Miss Gu's music, she feels much better."

Sun An bowed respectfully.

"Miss Gu Si's piano skills are indeed good. I feel very happy after listening to her."

This was the first time that Concubine Zheng spoke well of Gu Youxin tonight.

But Imperial Physician Song below shook his head in confusion: "It's true that the music of the zither can soothe the mind and relax the body, but that's all. Given the severity of the Empress Dowager's headache, the music of the zither can no longer alleviate it."

As soon as these words were spoken, not only did the smug smile that had just appeared on Gu Youxin's lips freeze, but the expressions of everyone in the hall also changed.

Even Sun Angong's eyes looked a little strange when he looked at Gu Youning. He had been immersed in the palace for many years and had witnessed the various methods his master used to eliminate dissidents in the early years.

The Empress Dowager was able to take a favorable view of this Fourth Miss Gu in just a few days. Isn't the most important thing that this Fourth Miss Gu's piano music can relieve headaches?

"That's strange. I heard that the Queen Mother can't leave the Fourth Young Lady these days. She even brought her back from Changchun Palace twice at night."

Concubine Zheng said slowly.

"Cao Zhong, take Imperial Physician Song to check on Fourth Miss Gu's room."

The emperor ordered coldly.

"Your Majesty, I am wronged!"

"This humble servant was only wholeheartedly playing the zither for the Queen Mother, and did not do anything else."

As soon as Imperial Physician Song left, Gu Youxin, who was kneeling on the ground, began to cry out for justice.

"Miss Gu Si, don't worry. If you've done anything you shouldn't have done, we'll know once Imperial Physician Song comes to your room and investigates."

"But plotting to murder the Queen Mother is a grave crime punishable by the extermination of all nine generations of the clan."

Concubine Zheng glanced at Gu Youning, who seemed to be stunned on the spot, and spoke word by word.

"I remember that the Imperial Concubine was very fond of Fourth Sister. That day, she gave all the camphor that the Emperor personally gifted her to Fourth Sister. But why did the Imperial Concubine think Fourth Sister was a vicious person from the very beginning tonight? Why did the Imperial Concubine suspect Fourth Sister of all the bad things she did?"

"Is your Majesty dissatisfied with Fourth Sister, or with me and my son?"

Gu Youning looked directly at Concubine Zheng's face without any hesitation.

The Queen looked at the aggressive Gu Youning with a gloomy look in her eyes, and the Emperor was also a little surprised. In his impression, Ning'er always relied on him and trusted him in everything. Even when she fell into the water last time, he only dealt with the palace maids in Cheng'an Palace, and Ning'er never persisted.

The emperor's gaze fell steadily on the woman, but for a long time he did not receive the usual affectionate and trusting look from the woman.

For some reason, he felt a dull pain in his heart, and his hand on the chair handle unconsciously exerted force.

Just now she said that she believed that I would make the decision for her. Doesn’t she believe it now?

"Your Highness knows that plotting to murder the Empress Dowager is a grave crime that will implicate the entire clan. Why is she so determined to pin this crime on Fourth Sister?"

Gu Youning's harsh words interrupted the emperor's thoughts.

"How dare you frame me?"

Concubine Zheng said angrily.

"I'm just asking a question, why is your Highness getting so angry?"

After saying this, Gu Youning looked at Yang Yuanpan beside him and said, "Court Judge Yang and this imperial physician, please also check this peony flower pot to see if it really caused the Empress Dowager's severe headache."