An Lingrong is reborn to live for herself.

The Empress took the confession, glanced at it quickly, and then sighed deeply. Supported by Jianqiu, she slowly knelt at the Emperor's feet. "Your Majesty," she said, "I, as Empress, have truly failed in my duty. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

The emperor didn't even look up, but pointed to the letter and said, "Su Peisheng, you read it."

Seeing this, Su Peisheng dared not delay and hurriedly took the confession from the Empress's hands. But just as he was about to read it aloud, he stopped and asked, "Your Majesty, the contents of this confession are really a bit... This servant is afraid of offending the ears of all the masters."

This confession was recorded by someone at Su Peisheng's behest, and he himself was present during the interrogation.

Granny Qian recounted the events surrounding Lady Fucha's miscarriage, which, while insufficient to explain the current situation, provided some clues.

Consort Fucha died today because Granny Qian tampered with her during her miscarriage, sowing the seeds of disaster.

Before the emperor could reply, a guard came in again to report that Su Peisheng had obtained some clues while interrogating Granny Qian. Seeing that the matter was urgent, he did not have time to report back and ordered the guard to go to Granny Qian's residence to search.

Sure enough, the guard found a small cloth bag under the earthen wall at the foot of Granny Qian's bed.

When the small cloth bag was opened, it contained a small black pair of scissors, a torn sheepskin glove, and a packet of unknown powder.

The guards presented the items they had found. To be on the safe side, Su Peisheng stepped forward and examined them, but he didn't know their purpose.

Cui'er, with her sharp eyes, stared intently at the item presented by the guard and struggled to shout, "It's the sheep intestine glove that was used when I helped the young master miscarry!" But she was held down firmly by the guard behind her.

The gloves didn't look unusual, but Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang recognized them at a glance as the sheep intestine gloves they had worn that day.

It was all because Zhen Huan almost slipped and fell when she stepped on this sheepskin glove as she was about to leave Yanxi Palace that day. As a result, a tear appeared in the palm of the glove.

Zhen Huan looked at the gloves presented by the guard and said, "Your Majesty, these gloves did indeed appear in Yanxi Palace. That day, when Sister Meizhuang and I came out of Yanxi Palace, we were almost tripped and fell because of these gloves."

Su Peisheng stepped forward to examine it and said, "Indeed, there is a mark on the palm, which should have been made by the rim of the flowerpot."

Su Peisheng examined the sheep intestine gloves again, and frowned when he saw a tiny tear between the little fingers. Turning away, his gaze fell on Granny Qian, filled with utter disgust.

"Your Majesty, it matches Granny Qian's testimony. There is indeed a small hole in this sheepskin glove. It must be what this old woman said. When she was removing the baby from Consort Fucha's womb, she deliberately cut the tip of the sheepskin glove and then used the fingernail of her little finger to cut Consort Fucha's birth canal, causing internal injuries and illnesses, which is why Consort Fucha suffered from bleeding for a long time afterward."

"What a vicious old woman!" Of those present, only the Empress and Consort Cao had given birth. Consort Cao, upon hearing Su Peisheng's words, knew that the old woman had malicious intentions and couldn't help but curse.

The Empress took a deep breath, her face growing even paler.

Wen Shichu, who had been kneeling for a while, suddenly understood upon hearing this. He crawled a few steps to examine the item presented by the guard. Suddenly, he said, "Your Majesty, I have figured it out."

Everyone immediately looked at Wen Shichu.

Wen Shichu took the sheep intestine gloves in his hands, then took out the medicinal powder from the package, rubbed a little on the gloves, and slowly said, "These sheep intestine gloves are made through repeated tanning, and their surface should be milky white. However, the one we have is brownish-yellow, which shows that it was soaked in other medicines during the manufacturing process. I suspect that the medicine used to soak these sheep intestine gloves was the powder of Baikucao (a type of medicinal herb)." As he spoke, he brushed the powder off the gloves, and sure enough, a brown spot appeared where the gloves had just been rubbed.

"When this herb is ground into powder, it turns grayish-brown and easily stains other medicinal materials. It is not easy to detect when a small amount is mixed into the medicine during decoction, but this sheep intestine glove is too light in color after being tanned, and its fine surface makes it easy for the powder to adhere to it. Therefore, after being soaked in the herb juice, it will turn from milky white to brownish-yellow."

I just heard from Eunuch Su that the old woman intentionally tore her gloves so that she could sever Consort Fucha's birth canal during the delivery. I have heard of this method before; it is an extremely insidious one.

I've heard that the barbaric custom of wife-selling still exists in rural and remote areas. A woman sent to a buyer as a wife is required to give birth to a son within two to three years to complete her mission before being returned to her original family. However, most women are rejected by their husbands and mothers-in-law after being returned, leading to the development of a cruel practice: if the wife gives birth to a son, the midwife is instructed to use her fingernails to slash the woman's birth canal during delivery, causing the woman to bleed profusely or contract typhoid fever and die. If this practice isn't exposed, most people will assume the woman died from complications during childbirth. The buyer bears no responsibility for the woman's death and even pays the original family extra for the wife's supposed death, ultimately leaving only the woman who gave birth to suffer.

Your humble servant recalls that Consort Fucha also suffered from postpartum hemorrhage that day, indicating that the old woman did indeed tamper with the gloves. However, because the sheep intestine gloves were soaked in a medicinal powder that could clear blood toxins, Consort Fucha did not immediately develop typhoid fever.

"In addition," Wen Shichu paused slightly as he spoke. After all, Chang Wenyu was the head of the Imperial Medical Academy. Firstly, the extent of Chang Wenyu's involvement in this matter was still unclear, and secondly, the emperor had not yet convicted Chang Wenyu. Currently, Chang Wenyu was still the head of the Imperial Medical Academy.

"Continue!" Seeing Wen Shichu's hesitation, the emperor spoke up, "At this point, there's no need to avoid mentioning official titles."

Upon hearing this, Wen Shichu, before he could gain courage, noticed that Chang Wenyu seemed somewhat deflated. With the emperor saying such a thing, his official position was certainly out of the question; whether he could leave Yanxi Palace safely was now entirely up to fate.

Wen Shichu continued, "In addition, the medicines that Consort Fucha has been taking recently contain cypermethrin, so although the typhoid poison has been spreading throughout her body for many days, the symptoms are not prominent."

After saying that, he turned to Cui'er and asked, "Miss Cui'er, when Consort Fucha said she had abdominal pain, did she also experience fever and chills?"

Cui'er nodded, tears streaming down her face.

Wen Shichu continued, "That's right. Today, the young master's medicine was mixed with blood-drying vine. Blood-drying vine is used in medicine because it reverses the flow of blood. I speculate that blood-drying vine may also be incompatible with the properties of other herbs, which is why Noble Lady Fucha suffered from typhoid fever and was accompanied by a tendency to have a hemorrhage. The reason is simply that the old ailment that had been accumulating was acting up."

After Wen Shichu finished speaking in one breath, all the concubines present showed expressions of horror. Even Zhen Huan was so frightened that her neck turned cold. This method was too vicious.

Everyone thought that Empress Fucha was even more favored and cared for by the Emperor and Empress after her miscarriage. All they heard was that all sorts of expensive tonics were sent to her every day. Even the Empress Dowager would occasionally send her maid to inquire about her. Little did they know that behind this glory was a tragic situation where she was harmed by others and could not save herself.

"Chang Wenyu, do you still claim you don't know anything about all of this?" Upon hearing this, Consort Hua lost her temper, slammed her hand on the armrest, stood up, and pointed at Chang Wenyu angrily, "This whole scheme was meticulously planned. If it wasn't you, then who else could it be?!"