"Look at this," said Zhang Taichang. The flowers that had been changed just the day before were thrown aside, and the fallen petals, though insentient, could still be used as fertilizer.

  Zhang Taishan hastily took over and almost instantly changed his expression, then re-examined it. "Your Majesty, this is indeed the one."

  Zong Zhengjin had already confirmed it from his expression, "Then why did I have no premonition?"

  "Has Your Majesty ever touched this flower petal with your hand?"

  Zong Zhengjin shook her head, yesterday she suddenly had an idea to paint hibiscus, so she moved the pot on the windowsill over, she seemed to touch it and said "it smells nice".

  Every day, the flowers in Zichen Hall are sent from the Imperial Garden. Did that person expect Su Jingzhen to touch this flower?

  "Go ahead."

  Inside the grand hall, only Zong Zhengjin was left, sitting on the dragon throne, closing his eyes in contemplation. His index finger lightly tapped the dragon case, and a rhythmic sound arose. "You go investigate, I want to know who that person is."

  Who dares to even calculate him in?

  Kunning Palace

  "Your Ladyship, Zhen Concubine has dealt with a palace maid and sent someone to report back to you," Huizhu said softly as she walked in, addressing the person lying on the couch.

  The queen frowned and got up from the couch, "Do you know what happened in the Drunken Cloud Pavilion?"

  "Returning to the palace, only knowing that Xiao Fuzi from Zuiyunwu went to invite the imperial physician, and then went again, but later the Emperor directly dispatched Su Shunxian to invite Zhang Taishi and two deputy judges. The situation should be very serious. The Emperor waited for more than an hour before leaving, and after returning to the Zichen Hall, he called the imperial physician again."

  "But what's wrong with Your Majesty?" The empress stood up and hastily asked.

  Huizhu shook her head, "I don't know, we don't have any informants in the Zichen Palace or the Zuixun Pavilion, and the people we sent are not daring to be too obvious."

  The empress thought over the matter again and again, but there were several points that she couldn't understand. "Follow me to the Zichen Palace."

  "Your Majesty, I'm afraid the Emperor might be in a bad mood right now..."

  "I heard that His Majesty has summoned the imperial physician, worrying about the dragon body. What's wrong with going to take a look?" If there's something unclear, perhaps seeing the person will make it clear.

  Zichen Hall

  "Please trouble Lord Su to pass on a message for me, I have an urgent matter that requires an audience with His Majesty."

  Su Shun made a slight bow, waved his hand to dust off his sleeves and said: "I hope the Empress Dowager will forgive me. The Emperor has already issued an edict that whoever comes today will not be received. Please return, Your Majesty."

  The queen's face stiffened, and she was displeased with Su Shun's lack of tact. However, she immediately remembered whose servant he was, and her expression softened. "I heard that the emperor has summoned a royal physician, and I am worried about his health. I hope you can do me a favor, Su Gonggong."

  "Your Majesty, this is indeed the Emperor's will, I dare not disobey, I hope Your Majesty will sympathize with me," Su Shunyan refused to back down.

  "The Empress's face turned cold, 'Eunuch Su, I am the Empress, personally bestowed upon by the late Emperor as the wife of His Majesty. With the Emperor's health ailing, I demand to visit and care for him. You have repeatedly blocked me, what is your intention?'"

  Su Shuang sighed and said, "Your Majesty the Empress, Your Majesty the Emperor..."

  "Su Shunan, let her in," a voice came from inside the hall, interrupting his words.

  "I, your subject, pay respects to Your Majesty."

  Zong Zhengjin lay on the couch and did not call out, "Is the Empress treating me with contempt, not putting me in her eyes?"

  The queen remained in a half-crouching position, having expected his voice but not thinking he would be so direct. "I dare not, I just heard that Your Majesty had summoned the imperial physician and was worried about your dragon body, which is why I insisted on seeing you. Now that I see you are unharmed, I am also at ease."

  "My empress is truly virtuous."

  "Pretending not to understand the sarcasm in his words, 'I am only fulfilling my duties as Empress and worrying about my husband, that's all. I have realized my mistake, please forgive me, Your Majesty.'"

  The queen at this time finally showed the true demeanor of a queen, advancing and retreating, logical and clear. A few words only revealed that as a wife, she was worried about her husband's health, and even etiquette was neglected.

  If he really wronged her, then it was just that he didn't take seriously a wife's one-sided devotion.

  "Is that so? In that case, the Empress must also set an example for the people below to see how the word 'rules' is written. Pass down my imperial decree: the Empress will be forbidden from leaving her palace for a month, and the affairs of the palace will temporarily be managed by Consort Shu, Consort Xian, and Consort Shu."

  Zong Zhengjin said coldly, he didn't need to guess what the empress was planning, she just thought he was still the same as before, but what the emperor hated most was being threatened.

  The queen's face turned pale, "Your Majesty, how can you..."

  "If the queen hasn't learned her rules properly, she'd better go back and take advantage of her confinement to study again," Zong Zhengjin said impatiently, waving his hand at her tearful face.

  The queen could not help it and knew that saying more would only enrage him further, "Your subject thanks you."

  Su Shunan looked at the back of the empress and shook her head. The one inside was already furious, why bother to provoke him further? Can't she just be a good empress and behave herself?

  Where is the dragon's beard so good to touch?

  Drunken Cloud Hut

  "Master, don't stand there and listen to those indecent words," Jingyu stood aside, except for her, all the slaves had been taken away to watch the execution.

  Su Jing hooked the corner of her mouth, raised her head and saw a vast blue sky with no clouds, "She was given death by Ben Pei, what's wrong with listening?"

  "Master, it was she who did it herself, how can you blame the master?"

  "Who made her think of letting Ben Niang die?"

  She took advantage of Daiman to know that Su Jing's favorite flower is Hibiscus syriacus, and even brought back a eunuch to specially take care of the flowers and plants. So she thought of a way to put "Zhu Yan San" in the pot with Hibiscus syriacus, which has no great effect on people in the short term, but is beneficial fertilizer for the flower.

  Two days ago, Su Jing noticed that someone had lit the incense stick "Suhexiang", which contained a catalyst called "Hongyanmu". Since most incense sticks contain this ingredient, she didn't think much of it at the time.

  Until the little road was brought back by Su Jing, he occasionally mentioned to Ting Yao that the hibiscus had been blooming too beautifully for the past two days, even more so than those in the imperial garden. Ting Yao always thought a lot and coupled with what happened to Yun Xiang at the time, only later did she realize this layer of meaning.

  Hongyanmu is the guide, Zhuyan powder is the main ingredient. The combination of the two is a kind of chronic poison that gradually makes people feel drowsy and lethargic, with an irregular heartbeat. In this season, it's easy to get sleepy. If they hadn't discovered it, they wouldn't have thought much about it. Even if they had realized it, it was too early, and the imperial physician couldn't see anything wrong.

  But on the forty-ninth day of the seventh month, a person's face and entire body will slowly rot from the inside out, emitting a foul odor that won't stop, with pus oozing out, beauty lost, and no medicine can cure it.

  Su Jinghui made a plan, previously Xiangxiang reported that Yunxiang was abnormal. Su Jinghui suspected that the person was Xiangxiang, so he sent Xiaofuzi to investigate. However, after several twists and turns, Xiaofuzi and Tingyao found that the suspect was Daiqing.

  Yesterday, Su Jing was caught in the Zichen Hall by Yao Lian and Xiao Fu Zi, who seized her red-handed, but she never revealed the mastermind behind her back until her death.

  Su Jing also knew that she couldn't be in a hurry, even if she really confessed, who knows whether it was framing or slandering, this is not something that can be truly believed.

  She never thought that someone would dare to put their hands in the Zichen Temple, or that a lower-ranking person had made a mistake. After all, the flowers were cultivated by special people in the Imperial Garden, and the best ones were always sent directly to the Zichen Temple. Or did that person think that Zong Zhengjin would know that she loved Hibiscus syriacus and reward her with it?

  Is it a different poison, made by two people, or is it one person who prepared two poisons?

  Everything is unknown.

  In this world, there is no mind-reading technique and no lie detector. Even with severe torture or intimidation, there is no skill to see through people's hearts. Other people's words can't be trusted completely, especially in this imperial palace where masters of acting are everywhere.

  What is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong, only oneself knows clearly.

  "Bring up the fragrant incense, as for Xiaolu Zi, give him more rewards and let him continue to stay there."

  …………

  The news of the queen's confinement spread, especially since the emperor had also scolded the queen for not understanding etiquette, which was enough to keep the various consorts and concubines in the harem busy for a while. Afterwards, the queen handed over the imperial seal and her authority to manage the harem.

  Just as they were eagerly looking forward to these good fortunes coming to their own heads, the emperor's sacred decree was issued, ordering Shu Guifei to temporarily take over the empress's duties and manage the harem, with Xianfei and Shufei assisting on the side.

  Chonghua Palace

  "Two sisters, take a look, how should these six be distributed?" Qiao Jing was the highest in rank, so naturally the three of them gathered in her palace.

  Xian Fei has always been on the side of the Empress, even though she often disapproves of the Empress's behavior. However, upon hearing that the Empress is being confined, Xian Fei realizes it's not in her favor either. She secretly resents the Empress for being so foolish and also blames herself for not having enough power to temporarily get rid of the Empress.

  Having reached her current position, with her present experience and experience, she knows that either she should wholeheartedly follow the empress, and it would be fine if she did things behind her back, or thoroughly leave the empress, tear off her face and start anew. In short, giving up halfway and choosing a new master will only result in being disliked by both sides.

  "Xian Fei has an idea, let's bring it up first, so as to avoid waiting till later and having Shu Gui Fei make the decision alone," said Shu Fei, seeing that the person opposite her was silent and didn't know what they were thinking.

  The Empress was delighted to see the Queen Mother confined, and she reveled in her misfortune, feeling that it wasn't enough, even though she had always attached great importance to these trivial matters and was accustomed to using them to suppress others.

  Xian Fei usually relied on the support of the Empress, and had often bullied her. Now that she had this opportunity, if she didn't take advantage of it, she wouldn't be Shen Ruyun.

  Xian Fei actually didn't think much of Shu Fei, who had a good appearance but a sharp tongue that never spared anyone. With a faint glance at the two women, she couldn't believe that Shu Fei was really so obedient to Shu Gui Fei, and suspected that their alliance might have already been strained.

  The father of the virtuous imperial concubine was a first-rank junior tutor, while the father of the noble imperial consort Shu was a first-rank grand preceptor. Her father's official rank was one level lower than that of Consort Shu's father, and she herself was often suppressed by Consort Shu in the palace. It would be strange if she didn't harbor any resentment.