Although his gaze was dim, Xiaofuzi felt a sense of oppressive and severe aura pressing down on him. "I will do my best to complete the task assigned by Master, I am willing to stake my life on it."

  "Alright."

  Its not about saying "blood and tears" or "a mountain of knives and a sea of fire", nor is there more promise, but rather it makes people believe in him even more, at least for this moment.

  He whispered a few words in his ear, but Xiaofus face turned pale and he felt a chill run down his spine as he replied, "Ill definitely take care of it."

  Dai Man took her to Du Changs usual haunt, and she hadnt expected that all the high-ranking officials in the palace would be there.

  Collecting her thoughts, "The concubine wishes the empress a peaceful day."

  "The residence of Duke Su is not far from here, why has it taken you so long to arrive?" The Empresss mood was clearly bad, her tone unpleasant.

  Su Jing knew she had hit the nail on the head, "In response to Empresss words, because the concubine slept late, so when Du sister had an accident, she was sleeping more soundly, please forgive me, Empress."

  Everyone present knows why I slept late.

  They cast a scornful glance at her as if mocking her for being overconfident.

  "Alright, rise," the queen waved her hand, clearly unwilling to bother with her anymore.

  Or rather, she now obviously has other things on her mind that are more important than him.

  "Eunuch Su, what did His Majesty say?" The Empress saw that the Grand Eunuch had returned to her side, along with Su Shunan.

  Su Shun bowed and said slowly, "As for the Empresss words, His Majesty said that it would be up to the Empress to handle everything, only..."

  She paused for a moment at this point, "Just how?" The empress hastily asked.

  "The Emperors words."

  Everyone knelt down.

  "Su Shunan, go and tell the Empress that if she still cant handle this matter properly, its better to abdicate early. After all, I havent had a male heir for many years. Why is that? My Empress should be very clear."

  The queens body trembled uncontrollably upon hearing this, and was only steadied by the quick reflexes of a nearby palace maid.

  "Sir Su, His Majesty..."

  "Your Ladyship, Ive told you everything the Emperor said without missing a single word. The Emperor only said this is the last time, I advise Your Ladyship to be more careful and satisfy the Emperor."

  "This humble servant still has to return and attend to the Emperor, so I wont disturb Her Majesty the Empress anymore," Su Shun said after finishing his words, then bowed and retreated, without saying anything else.

  The queens eyes were once dull, she had never thought that the emperor would actually let someone say such piercing words in public, not leaving her any face or dignity.

  Su Jing quietly watched this scene, feeling nothing, as for the queen, her relationship with her had never been close.

  No queen, and others, after all, there are too many people standing above her.

  It seems that Zong Zhengjin really dislikes the empress from Su Shuns words.

  Will there be a day when he will also loathe her like this?

  Everyone in the Queens faction is worried, such as Xian Fei and Xiang Gui Yu.

  But more like Shu Fei, even more exciting, will the empress be abolished?

  Will it be Shu Guifei who sits on the phoenix throne? Or is it her?

  No matter how sinister the thoughts of those below are, the queen is now struggling to save herself and obviously doesnt want to deal with them, only thinking about finding out who it was.

  Who was it that put the red flower that causes miscarriage in Du Changjins food?

  The amount is very small, and a little has been added to each meal for the past few days, so its only now that symptoms have appeared.

  "Whats going on?" Xianfei asked as she saw the imperial physician come out, while the empress was still in a daze.

  The imperial physician made a bow, "I beg Your Majesty to forgive the crime. Du Shang was delayed by the red flower for too long after mistakenly eating it. Although the fetus is preserved, I fear that when its born, it will...it will be somewhat imperfect."

  The imperial physician knew he was guilty and did not say much more, lest he provoke the emperors even greater anger, and briefly told the story in as few words as possible.

  "Unwell?" Shu Fei asked in surprise.

  The imperial physician smiled wryly and said, "Im afraid it will be a foolish person."

  "Foolish?" The empress repeated, "You do your best to protect the fetus, and this child of Du Changs will be handed over to you. If there is any mishap, the palace will ask for an explanation from you."

  "Your humble servant obeys," the imperial physician said with a bitter heart, but did not dare utter a word of opposition.

  For those who serve as ministers, their lives are as insignificant as grass and mustard seeds.

  "Your Highness..." Huizhu was the emperors consorts personal maid, loyal and devoted to her mistress. She was worried, but at this moment, the most important thing was still to handle the task entrusted by the emperor properly.

  The empress naturally understood, and with a solemn expression, "Bring all of them before me."

  As a queen for one day, I should do what a queen should do, and no one else has the right to say anything.

  Several eunuchs immediately brought everyone up, two palace maids and one eunuch.

  They have all been used for punishment and have already been collected by people.

  Su Jing recognized that one of the palace maids was actually a maid beside Du Wanru, seemingly called Peier, who often followed her to Kunning Palace to pay respects.

  "You these canine slaves, if you confess properly, I can spare your lives and let you die with a whole body. If you refuse to speak or try to frame others, dont blame me for killing all of your families," the empress slammed her hand on the table and shouted sternly.

  The palace was quiet, and Su Jingzhen felt that the empress must have been forced into a desperate situation as well.

  Those eunuchs and palace maids obviously relaxed a bit after hearing this, but none of them said anything.

  "Do you still expect your master to come and save you? Think carefully about your family, then decide, its not too late," the queen said coldly.

  She has been learning how to manage the inner courtyard and household chores since she was a child, so naturally she knows what is most important for these slaves.

  "The slave says that she has already confessed everything and hopes that Her Majesty the Empress will forgive her family," said Peier, a palace maid standing beside Du.

  "Say."

  "I dont know which palace shes from, every time she comes, she wears a cloak and covers her face. I only know shes a woman, she gave me a packet of medicine and told me to find a way to put it in the food that Du usually eats. I really had no way, my mother is ill and needs money for treatment, I..."

  Talking is equivalent to saying nothing at all.

  "What about the medicine?" Xianfei asked.

  "The medicine was all buried by the slave in the ground beside the ear house, the slave..."

  The empress nodded slightly towards the eunuch beside her, and someone went to fetch medicine. "Take her down and interrogate her."

  Before long, the sound of Peiers cry came from the courtyard, shrill and hoarse, intentionally not covering her mouth, and everyone in the palace heard it very clearly.

  As the sound gradually faded away, "What about you two? Do you have anything to say?"

  Those two shrank even more, "I dont know..."

  The queen didnt say a word this time, directly gesturing for them to take the person away. As for what they would do with him after taking him away, everyone present was very clear.

  "And you?" The queen rubbed her forehead, already somewhat exhausted.

  The remaining palace maid trembled with fear, "Your servant...your servant says, it is...it is Consort Su..."

  He looked up at Su Jingxian, saw her slightly smiling, and his hand trembled slightly, as if he suddenly remembered something, but didnt dare to speak again.

  "Whats going on with Imperial Consort Su?" Someone asked again, with Empress Shu being the most anxious.

  "Su Guiren... Su Guiren..." The palace maid said two sentences but couldnt continue, crawling to Su Jings feet.

  She didnt dare to pull her skirt, but kept kowtowing, "I know that the noble lady has a kind heart, please help me, I am willing to be your servant and do anything for you, my family has a young brother who was just born when I entered the palace, I beg of you, please help me..."

  Everyone present has different thoughts, there must be a lot of twists and turns in this matter, is it framing or temporary change of mouth?

  "Lets get one thing clear," the queen said, obviously seeing an opportunity and not willing to give up.

  Xiang Xieyu also chimed in at this time, "Exactly, speak clearly, how did Su Guiren wrong you, that you dare to plead with her, but what did she promise you?"

  Su Jing heard this and couldnt help but laugh. Was she really hated by so many people? Were these words truly not afraid of offending her?

  "No, I just know that Imperial Concubine Su has a kind heart, so I thought of asking for her help..."

  "Your meaning is that you wont take anything in?" asked Xian Fei.

  "I would rather die..."

  "You want to die, but I wont let you. Take her away for me," the queen coldly hummed, not wanting to entangle herself further.

  Its daylight outside and nothing has been settled, "All you sisters can go back first, no need to pay respects today."

  The queen glanced at everyone and finally fixed her gaze on Su Jingzhen, saying.

  Su Jing met her gaze with a calm and open heart, curled up the corner of her mouth in self-mockery, but was actually extremely amused.

  The look of your opponent wanting to kill you but cant move is really a bit too much.

  Back at Zuiyunwu, "Has Little Fu returned?"

  "A moment ago he returned, does Master want to see him?" Ting Yao who had been waiting at the Drunken Cloud Pavilion said upon hearing this.

  "Let him in."

  Xiao Fu came in and paid his respects, "Master, everything has been taken care of, Master is indeed wise and all-knowing."

  "Hmph," Su Jing coldly snorted. "I just want to seek peace of mind, if others dont provoke me, I wont go looking for trouble with them."

  "You go down and take a good rest."

  "Master?" Ting Yao stood on one side, one of the few who knew how things had developed.

  "If she dares to offend me, then dont blame me."

  Xiang Yao looked puzzled, "Master, didnt you say earlier that Xiao Fuzi might be the Emperors person?"

  After their long and secret observation, they discovered that Xiaofuzis origin might be a pawn planted by the emperor.

  "So this matter needs to be handled by him. Do you think that in the palace, there are things that can be hidden from the Emperor? As long as he wants to know," Su Jing got up and entered the inner chamber.

  Ting Yao took down the hairpin on her head, "Masters move is a risky one."

  "Yes, wealth and honor have always been sought in danger since ancient times. Once this hurdle is passed, it will be fine afterwards. Do you think I can win the gamble?"

  Yao gazed at the beautiful face in the copper mirror, "Masters appearance is becoming more and more captivating, Masters luck has always been good."

  "Luck? Yeah, Ive always had good luck."

  I just hope its still like this next time.