The Empress Dowager of the Imperial Space

  Liu Xiang's words were reasonable and logical, but they made Hui Bin fall silent. Looking at it this way, could it be that the Empress Dowager had deliberately set a trap?

  Before she could think much, Mingfei and the former eunuch Wang Wan Hua had already brought people over to pass on a message: "The imperial concubine's medicine has some problems, so it can't be administered yet. The maid Liu Xiang happened to have touched the imperial concubine's medicine earlier, so I was ordered to come and call her over for questioning. If nothing is wrong, she will be returned to you shortly, please excuse the inconvenience."

  The palace maids and eunuchs who came out of the Changchun Palace were extremely polite, and the higher their status in the Changchun Palace, the more gentle they were. Wang Wan Hua was one such person, with a smiling face and not a single harsh word, but the cold glint that occasionally flashed in his narrowed eyes made Consort Hu's heart tremble with fear. She forced a smile and said: "Eunuch Wang is too polite, it's not just because Liu Xiang touched the Empress Dowager's medicine that she summoned her, even if there was no reason, it's only natural for the Empress Dowager to summon Liu Xiang, but this matter of the medicine would never be done by Liu Xiang, please Eunuch Wang put in a good word for me with the Empress Dowager."

  Wang Wan Hua nodded and smiled: "Of course, of course." But it was unclear what he meant by 'of course'.

  Wang Wan Hua slipped away like a loach, and just as Princess Hui's ticket was about to be handed over, he immediately waved his hand at the people behind him: "Bring someone."

  As he spoke, he took a few steps back and kept a distance from Hee-bin.

  Huiban couldn't get any money out, her lips had turned white, and she stared wide-eyed as Wang Wan Hua took Liu Xiang away.

  Huifang walked back and forth on the ground for a few laps, suddenly turned her head to Muxiang and ordered: "You go out of the palace early tomorrow morning, you must tell Mingxiang about this matter clearly. It's not necessarily that it's aimed at us, but also possibly aimed at Mingxiang. Now we are all on the same rope, if I'm not well, he won't be much better!"

  Muxiang nodded and comforted Concubine Hua, "Of course, Mingxiang understands the severity of this matter. Moreover, Mingxiang is still useful to Master, so for now, in the palace, it's only Master and Mingxiang who get along."

  Hee-bin nodded thoughtfully: "What you said makes sense, but I just hope things don't get too bad."

  Rong Gui heard the news and exclaimed, "Amitabha! Fortunately, the cherry blossoms didn't touch the empress's bowl of medicine today. If they had, it wouldn't have been just that one person who suffered misfortune today."

  Cherry's face was filled with gratitude: "Luckily, our master usually teaches us to be careful and cautious when doing things. I remembered the master's words clearly and didn't randomly reach out to touch the imperial concubine's medicine bowl. This is how I managed to save my life! I feel like thanking heaven and earth, but most of all, I should thank the master!"

  Rong Pinnu was surprised but unharmed, and was flattered by Sakura for a few sentences. She covered her mouth and smiled lightly: "I know you're clever and sensible, today you can be considered to have merit, so I'll reward you with twenty taels of silver, take it back to your parents and show filial piety."

  Cherry only felt that she was particularly smooth today, got the master's praise and also got twenty taels of silver, so happy that she hurriedly knelt down to thank him.

  Yi Pin received the news and only hummed twice, muttering to herself: "As long as nothing bad happens to my brother in my belly at this time." She turned her head and asked about the situation of Wuya Shi, who was also pregnant.

  The Changchun Palace is still brightly lit.

  Mingfei sat on the couch, wearing a cloak over her upper body and covered with a thin quilt. Besides Liu Xiang in Changchun Palace, there were five people who had touched the medicine bowl: two small palace maids who decocted the medicine, Sangzhi who received the medicine, Peiyu who handed it to Mingfei, and Wang Yiniang beside her.

  Mingfei looked at the two little palace maids and Liu Xiang kneeling below, the more she looked, the tighter her brow furrowed. She couldn't figure out what kind of medicine it was. Although these three people below seemed suspicious, there wasn't enough evidence to prove who among them had poisoned the food.

  As for Pei Yu, Wang and Sangzhi, Ming Fei felt that she still had a grasp on these people being safe, because the people around her were all thoroughly investigated by Tong Guowei. However, having watched many modern detective dramas, from certain aspects, she still harbored some doubts, but she wouldn't reveal this so-called doubt in any way.

  "She waved her tired hand: 'Take them all away, take good care of them, and if there's any problem, it's not too late to ask.' She called Zhang Wanhua over again: 'Where was Liu Xiang when you left?'"

  Zhang Wan Hua said: "When I went there, I saw Liu Xiang was in front of Concubine Gui."

  "Does she look like someone who has been tortured?"

  "Yes."

  Mingfei nodded and turned to look at Wang and the others: "I know you are all worried, but I really believe it wasn't any of you who did this. Don't think too much about it, I trust you, but don't disappoint me either. Do your jobs well, and I will definitely find out who was behind this."

  The old woman Wang said with red eyes: "Master, please punish the slave instead. If it weren't for Master's great luck... it was all because the slave wasn't careful enough and let Master suffer a great loss. Please, Master, blame the slave."

  Pei Yu and Sang Zhi also knelt down: "We beg for punishment from our master!"

  "Alright, get up. If it wasn't for you two, I wouldn't have to punish anyone. The most important thing now is to find out who's behind this. I, as your master, can't let people look down on me. Anyone can make a move from behind."

  These words are indeed the most effective for Wang's nanny: "The master says that we must let them know that the master is not a good person to mess with! Let them also know the severity of the master!"

  Mingfei puckered her lips: "Mother, help me get ready for bed."

  The queen quickly stepped forward and grasped Mingfei's hand.

  Although Mingfei is the largest in the harem, because she is only a noble concubine, the princes do not need to pay their respects. Today, Mingfei was unwell and did not have to go to Empress Xiaozhuang to pay her respects, but Empress Xiaozhuang surprisingly brought the Crown Prince and the Third Prince to visit Mingfei, with Lan Xiang busily attending to them in front.

  The Crown Prince, as usual, leaned against Ming Fei and asked: "Noble Consort, why haven't you seen Fourth Brother?"

  Mingfei smiled and patted his back: "Is Fourth Brother still asleep?"

  The young prince looked a bit envious and seemed to think it wasn't right. After thinking for a moment, he said: "When he grows up, he won't be able to get up so late."

  Xiang Zhuang smiled and patted his hand, saying: "It seems that reading books is not in vain, knowing what should be done and what shouldn't."

  The eldest brother looked at her for a while and suddenly asked in a general tone: "Madam, are you saying that your illness is because of my mother?"

  Where did this little kid hear such words?

  The atmosphere in the inner chamber was somewhat stagnant for a while, but Mingfei's face still had a warm and gentle smile. She pulled on Da A Ge's hand and said: "How did Yin know about this?"

  The big brother bit his lower lip, and his dark eyes looked at Xiaozhuang and then at Mingfei: "I promised someone else not to say it."

  Minhui patted his hand and said slowly, "It's a good thing that you can keep your word, it shows that you have the demeanor of a gentleman at a young age. But have you thought about why he said those things without even daring to let people know that they were his words? This shows that he himself knows that he didn't say anything good. Those who are close to ink will be stained black, and those who are close to vermilion will be stained red. You must be cautious in making friends and don't easily believe those who are not gentlemen. Also, don't easily associate with those people. This is also why scholars and writers of past dynasties preferred to socialize with the virtuous and avoid the unrefined. As a prince, you should share your mother's worries and think thrice before acting. Have you thought about how your words today would affect your mother if she were really angry?"

  The eldest brother did not understand the sinister relationship, but Xiaozhuang heard it very clearly. For a moment, she couldn't help but secretly applaud Mingfei's quick reaction, and also felt deeply moved.

  The elder brother originally still wanted to reason with Mingfei, but now he suddenly became tame and lost his original momentum: "I didn't think much, I'm afraid the noble lady really decided on her own guilt."

  Mingfei nodded and said, "You're a filial child, just a bit straightforward. In the future, be more careful with things. I didn't think it was your mother who did it, but the senior palace maid in front of her did touch my medicine. As for the matter itself, I should have called that palace maid over to ask questions." Yinzhen said, "What I did was right, wasn't it?"

  The big brother nodded slightly: "There's nothing wrong with what Guizhen did."

  Mingfei couldn't help but find this straightforward child amusing: "You're a good kid."

  Xianzhuang obviously saw that the eldest brother's behavior in front of Mingfei was much softer and more obedient than before. She leaned back on the couch, her thoughts drifting away. If the Empress had not given birth to a child from the start, it would not have been a bad thing for the Crown Prince to be close to Consort Tong all along. But now, it's too late to say anything. Consort Tong has an identity and status second only to that of the Crown Prince, Yongzheng.

  Mingfei didn't know what Xiaozhuang was thinking, but as for her own drugging incident, there had already been some initial progress. Needless to say, the person behind the scenes just wanted to make Mingfei and Da Gege's relationship awkward. If Mingfei's relationship with Da Gege's faction became awkward, who would benefit the most? It was almost unnecessary to think about it - it was obviously the Crown Prince's faction.

  Author's note: I can assure you that my novel will not be abandoned, it's just that due to personal reasons, the updates may not be as frequent or powerful as before. Please forgive me and I'll try my best to maintain daily updates o(n_n)o~

  Not fat, and there shouldn't be many insects either. But after I got back from work and washed up, my eyes were so tired they could hardly stay open. Because I like it but don't want to give up, this is really the limit already. Please forgive me, beautiful people~