Transmigration: Reverse Exploitation, the System Works for Me

Nope!

Absolutely not!

"The sixth son's family..."

The Empress Dowager, panting, gripped Xi Qiao's hand tightly: "Immediately, send someone to summon the Emperor!"

"This……"

Xi Qiao looked at An Lingrong with difficulty: "Empress Mother, His Majesty has already hinted that these matters should not be used to disturb your recuperation. If you insist on seeing His Majesty, I'm afraid Consort Qian will be... given the cold shoulder."

An Lingrong knelt down with a thud: "I beg Your Majesty the Empress Dowager for mercy."

An Lingrong felt her heart pounding with fear. She never expected that the Empress Dowager would be so agitated after hearing that the Empress's palace servants had been taken to the Shenxing Division.

The Empress Dowager lowered her eyes and looked at An Lingrong kneeling on the ground, her breathing becoming even heavier.

This An family... it's not good to just throw it away after using it.

Xi Qiao then said, “Empress Mother, the New Year is just around the corner. On New Year’s Eve, all the officials will be present at the palace banquet. On such an important occasion, the Emperor and Empress will surely be there together.”

"Please rest assured and recover. Her Majesty the Empress will surely be well."

The Emperor ordered the imperial concubine's attire to be made last night. The imperial concubine holds the same rank as the vice empress, and since the vice empress is also an empress, she can naturally be addressed as both empress and emperor.

Since the emperor had neither the intention to depose the empress nor the intention to elevate the concubine to empress, the empress naturally would not die of illness.

Hearing her say that, the Empress Dowager felt much more at ease.

She finally smiled and loosened her grip on Xi Qiao's wrist. "Good boy, I'm so glad I have you. Otherwise, I really wouldn't know what to do."

Xi Qiao looked down at the five finger marks on his wrist, feeling rather disgusted.

That old woman is so troublesome and difficult to please.

"It is my honor to be able to share the burdens of my mother, but..."

She seemed to suddenly realize that there were other people who shouldn't be there, and immediately shut her mouth again.

The Empress Dowager looked at An Lingrong: "Chunmao, Shangqian Noble Lady."

After thanking her for the reward, An Lingrong tactfully took her leave.

Once there were no outsiders in the room, Xi Qiao continued, "Your Majesty, did Consort Qian tell you about Consort Wan's framing of Hui Chun?"

The Empress Dowager's gaze immediately sharpened: "You...you knew all along?"

Xi Qiao nodded without hesitation: "Xiao Lezi, the head eunuch of Zhongcui Palace, was brought out by me from Yonghe Palace. He is also grateful to the Empress Dowager."

"After the incident at Gyeongin Palace that day, he felt something was amiss, so he went to investigate. The weather was fine that day, and it didn't snow until evening. When he went to investigate, Eichun's footprints were still left beside the path."

"According to the accounts of other palace maids, the place where Consort Wan fell was some distance from the footprints, so it doesn't seem like Huichun bumped into Consort Wan, but rather that Consort Wan deliberately fell on Huichun."

Xiao Lezi personally checked all of these things afterward.

"Consort Qian has always been a meticulous person. It shouldn't have happened to her to accidentally step on ice while walking. Moreover, the female physician who set her bones said that her injury didn't seem like an accidental sprain, but rather like it was intentional."

The Empress Dowager believed it without a doubt. What Consort Qian had just said matched these words perfectly. If the two had not rehearsed their statements beforehand, there was only one possibility: this was the truth!

And clearly, the Empress Dowager chose to believe.

"What...what were you trying to say to me just now?"

Xi Qiao pursed his lips: "Xiao Lezi kept an eye on Consort Wan's people and followed them to Shou Kang Palace."

This was obviously a lie; Xiao Lezi couldn't find anything, but Fang Ruo herself gave herself away.

If it was Fangruo's people who told her the news about the inner palace, then it would be impossible for them to have missed the fact that Consort Wan had been sterilized.

The news of the fire at Chengqian Palace last night and the Fourth Prince's self-immolation should also have been passed on to her by this person.

But she just didn't know!

That leaves only one possibility: it was Zhen Huan's people who contacted Fang Ruo!

That Xiao Yunzi is really quite capable; she managed to develop such a connection while avoiding her eyes and ears.

Fortunately, he was already dead.

"I originally thought something had happened to the Empress Dowager, and because I was worried about disturbing her recovery, I didn't dare to say anything."

"But today in the warm pavilion, I unexpectedly saw a gold bracelet with scale patterns on Fangruo's wrist."

"The bracelet looks simple, but if you look closely, you will find that there are small circles and several semicircles engraved on the scales, which are particularly eye-catching under the light."

“Those were originally made by the Imperial Household Department at the beginning of the year as a reward for the ladies-in-waiting of the various palaces. Lady Zhuang also received a pair, which were later added to my dowry.”

"It would be normal for something like this to appear on the wrist of the head maid of the six palaces, but Fangruo is a person in the imperial court. After coming to the Empress Dowager's side, she should not have much contact with the concubines."

The Empress Dowager was so angry that the silver needles on her body started to wag their tails.

"The Zhen family has long harbored resentment towards the Empress and me. Now that the Empress has been framed and lost the Emperor's trust, she naturally wants to start dealing with me!"

Xi Qiao hesitated, "But Your Majesty, these are just my speculations without any evidence. Besides, Fang Ruo is a person of the Emperor's court, so why would she risk harming Your Majesty for the sake of a mere concubine?"

The Empress Dowager and Chunmao exchanged a glance. Since Fangruo came to Shou Kang Palace, although she was nominally the head maid, she actually had no real power to command the people in Shou Kang Palace.

Moreover, Consort Wan is young and beautiful and resembles Empress Chun Yuan. Fang Ruo used to be her tutor, so it's not too hard to understand why the two of them would get together.

Chunmao glanced at Xi Qiao. When Consort Qian mentioned that Consort Wan had framed the Empress, she already understood why Xi Qiao had told her to hurry up and improve her status in Shou Kang Palace.

The Empress Dowager will definitely protect the Empress, and Consort Wan, who framed the Empress, will certainly pay the price.

Killing someone is not difficult; the difficulty lies in handling the aftermath.

If the Emperor finds out, the Empress Dowager will naturally be fine, but the person who handled this matter will most likely not survive.

Only when someone holds enough weight in the Empress Dowager's heart will she consider and select people from multiple perspectives.

The best outcome would naturally be for the Empress Dowager to hand the matter over to someone else, so that success, failure, life, or death would be none of her concern.

Even if the worst thing happens to her and the truth is revealed, as long as it is important enough, the Empress Dowager will find a way to save her life.

Consort Wan was already a problem, and now with the addition of a shrewd woman like Fang Ruo, things are really getting complicated...

Chunmao closed her eyes tightly.

It wasn't that she overestimated herself, nor that she looked down on the other palace servants in Shou Kang Palace, but rather that Fang Ruo's influence and her insightful methods were significant and superior.

The Empress Dowager consistently disliked using eunuchs, and her confidantes were mostly palace maids from bondservant backgrounds.

Sun Zhuxi need not say more. Among the first-class palace maids, apart from her and the wife of Prince Mu who have been there for more than ten years, the rest were all selected later. The possibility of her scheming against Consort Fang Ruowan is too small.

Therefore, this matter will only fall on her shoulders.