Bystander

Chapter 13 The Royal Palace

Concubine Qi straightened her back, "Your Majesty, if the concubine really did what happened today, the concubine could have done it more secretly, how could it be so obvious..."

"It's called black under the lamp. Concubine Qi's wrists are so high." Said the concubine next to her.

"Shut up, it's your turn to talk," Qi Concubine glared at her fiercely, and then said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, it's true that the concubine delivered the medicine to Han Guiren today, but this concubine took it from Eunuch Sheng." I came. Today I saw Eunuch Sheng carrying a bowl of soup and medicine in a hurry in the imperial garden, and asked that Eunuch Sheng was going to deliver medicine to nobleman Han, but at that time Eunuch Sheng was still on business, so he entrusted him to another person, Eunuch Sheng. Don't worry, my concubine volunteered to send it to Han Guiren on behalf of Eunuch Sheng. If I did it, I can completely distract Eunuch Sheng's attention, just give him the medicine and send it to Eunuch Sheng, why bother getting burned like this!"

"Xiao Shengzi, what Concubine Qi said is the truth?"

"Back to the emperor, what Concubine Qi said is true." Xiao Shengzi replied, the imperial concubine never expected that Xiao Shengzi would answer like this, and Xiao Shengzi insisted that Concubine Qi was lying, and the matter was settled. But right now... Could it be Xiao Shengzi... When the imperial concubine was full of thoughts, I heard Xiao Shengzi continue to say, "Today, the servant is about to return to your life, and when I met the imperial concubine, the empress said that she had a headache and couldn't sleep well. The folk prescription can soothe the mind, so I ordered the servant to go to the imperial hospital to prepare some to calm the mind of the imperial concubine. When the servant arrived at the imperial hospital, he heard that the maid from Han Guiren's palace had finished collecting medicine for a quarter of an hour, so he asked the servant to deliver it. When passing by the imperial garden , I met Empress Qi Concubine, the servant was really anxious to return you, so I delivered the decoction to Empress Qi Concubine."

"Your Majesty, my concubine's visit to the Imperial Garden today is entirely due to the concubine's concubine inviting me to drink tea, but I waited for half a day, but I did not see the concubine's concubine." Qi Concubine heard that Xiao Shengzi mentioned the concubine, so she followed the trend and brought the concubine up.

"You are talking nonsense, when did I get so close to you that I invited you to drink tea? It is obvious that you are jealous of Han Guiren, murdered the prince, and dare to frame me."

"When did the concubine frame the imperial concubine? The concubine just said that you invited the concubine to drink tea in the imperial garden today. All the servants in the concubine's palace can testify. But the imperial concubine, your reaction is a bit like 'there is no silver 300 taels here'. "Concubine Qi raised her chin and said to the noble concubine.

"You are talking nonsense. You involved me in nothing but wanting to frame me. The servants in your palace are naturally arranged by you in advance."

"My concubine, if it was arranged in advance by the concubine, then the concubine should know in advance that Mr. Han's medicine was delivered by Eunuch Sheng, and the concubine should also know when Eunuch Sheng passed by the Royal Garden, and that Eunuch Sheng is busy. It is inconvenient to delay the time, but the fact is that Duke Sheng’s guild will deliver the medicine because of you, the imperial concubine. The garden waits for you for about half a day, and many court ladies and eunuchs in the palace have seen it, and you can find out if you ask a few people." The more Concubine Qi said, the more confident she became, "On the contrary, you knew that Mr. Sheng was busy and sent him. I'm going to fetch medicine for you. Is this kind of thing better than the imperial physicians in the imperial hospital? Also, the prime minister's wife suddenly suffered from a serious illness on her forefoot. As soon as you left with the imperial physicians, Mrs. Han gave birth prematurely and gave birth to a stillborn baby. Isn't this a bit of a coincidence?" Qi Concubine defended every word, pointing at the imperial concubine every sentence, seeing in a few words, the imperial concubine has become the most suspected person.

"Your Majesty, don't listen to Concubine Qi's nonsense," the imperial concubine clasped the armchair tightly with both hands, veins were showing on her light-white pancreas, and her handkerchief was twisted so badly. Guiren Han is very caring, and treats Han Guiren better than his own sister, you can see this, and I really like this child."

The emperor saw that the two insisted on their opinions without evidence, so he couldn't judge for a while, "Come here, find out where the maid named Xizhu is now, Xiao Shengzi, take a few guards to the prime minister's mansion, on behalf of me." Visit the prime minister's wife, will the sickness get better?" When Xiao Shengzi took the order and turned around, the emperor added, "Don't show off, just pass by."

"promise."

These words already made the imperial concubine sweat.

Not long after, the guards reported that the buried court lady Xizhu was found in Concubine Qi's courtyard. After inspection, the soil layer where the body was buried had not yet dried out. The time for burying the body should not be long, at the earliest this morning.

The noble concubine seemed to be grabbing the straw to turn over, and before the emperor could speak, she immediately said, "Hmph, Concubine Qi, you are too courageous, you dared to kill the court lady and bury her in the yard, you are a snake and a scorpion."

Concubine Qi, on the other hand, is calm and relaxed at the moment, "The imperial concubine said it too early. The guards said that Xizhu was buried in my yard, but they didn't say that I killed the person. Besides, how can there be a murderer?" The truth is that the dead are still buried in front of several houses."

"Up to now, you still want to argue." The noble concubine said viciously.

When the two were arguing, Xiao Shengzi came back, "Report to the emperor, the prime minister's wife is indeed ill, but there is something unknown to the servant, the prime minister's wife is seriously ill, but there is no smell of medicinal materials in the room."

"That's because I heard that Han Guiren had given birth prematurely before I arrived at the prime minister's mansion, so I brought the imperial doctors back to the palace immediately."

"Could it be that Han Guiren is more important than your mother in the heart of the imperial concubine?" Concubine Qi questioned.

"Han Guiren's belly is the prince, which may become the foundation of the country in the future, of course it is important." The noble concubine retorted, "It's not like some people who murder the prince for their own self-interest."

"Some of the people your concubine mentioned are you referring to yourself?" Concubine Qi didn't want to argue with the concubine, and instead said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the concubine's preface doesn't match the second, even if the concubine's empress values ​​the prince in Han Guiren's belly, the prime minister The wife is the mother of the imperial concubine, and the imperial concubine has led almost all the imperial physicians in the imperial hospital. Why didn't a single imperial physician stay to treat the prime minister's wife? Or the prime minister's wife is alright, and everything is just a show and perjury. "

"You're talking nonsense," the noble concubine roared angrily, "Your Majesty, don't listen to concubine Qi's nonsense, concubine, concubine has no chance to poison at all, and concubine has never touched that bowl of medicine from the beginning to the end."

"I have the guts to ask you a question." Xiao Shengzi asked the imperial concubine respectfully, "What is your relationship with Imperial Physician Qiu? I heard that Imperial Physician Qiu and you were childhood sweethearts, but is it true?"

"You, Xiao Shengzi!" The noble concubine looked at Xiao Shengzi viciously, her eyes were full of surprise.

"Xiao Shengzi, why do you ask that?"

"Back to the emperor, after the concubine's words, I just realized that this servant is the decoction that I took from the imperial doctor Qiu. The slave is afraid of wronging the concubine and the concubine, and the nobleman Han is a prince after all, so I still ask disrespectfully. One sentence. I hope the imperial concubine does not mind." After finishing speaking, Xiao Shengzi bowed respectfully to the imperial concubine.

"Whether it is true or not, we have to investigate." The emperor called the guards, "Cherish the Imperial Physician."

A moment later, Imperial Physician Qiu had already knelt in the main hall, "I kowtow to the emperor."

"Well, you and the imperial concubine are childhood sweethearts and have known each other since childhood."

"Returning to the emperor, I have known the imperial concubine and empress since I was a child, but since I entered the palace, I have never met with the imperial concubine, and my empress has never called for a pulse diagnosis since entering the palace." replied.

"So, your imperial concubine has already cut off contact?"

"Yes."

"Come here, search the imperial hospital for the medicine dregs of coriander flowers, let me search carefully, don't let a single piece of paper go." The emperor didn't believe what the imperial physician said. He and the imperial concubine had known each other since childhood, but two After everyone entered the palace, they did not see each other again, not to mention the childhood friendship between the two, but how important it is to have a trustworthy imperial physician in this harem, the emperor also lived in the harem since he was a child, why didn't he know that the imperial physician was here What kind of role does the imperial concubine play in the palace? Will the imperial concubine let the imperial doctor Qiu use it and buy others?

It's not easy for Nuo Da's imperial hospital to find the few Daphne genkwa medicine dregs, not to mention that someone deliberately hid them. This period of time has been a torment for everyone in the hall. The imperial physician Qiu who has never seen such a scene is not as good as a few The woman is already sweating.

"My Majesty, I found a piece of paper with powder under the doctor Qiu's table. The doctor checked that it was coriander flower powder." The guard's words made the guilty doctor Qiu collapse to the ground, and the imperial concubine next to him immediately pointed at Qiu The imperial physician scolded, "What a hated imperial physician, you dare to collude with Concubine Qi to murder the prince. It's in vain that I have known you since I was a child, and I didn't know you were such a person."

"Concubine, what did you say?" Concubine Qi immediately contradicted her when she heard that concubine had framed her, "Ms. concubine, you have found this far, yet you still want to frame me."

The imperial concubine ignored her and continued, "Doctor Qiu, are you worthy of the emperor and your own conscience? That is an unborn child, what kind of doctor are you!"

"My concubine, please don't rush to make a conclusion. You should be calm and calm, and the emperor can judge freely." Xiao Shengzi seemed to be comforting the concubine, but the concubine didn't listen at all, and instead yelled at Xiao Shengzi, "Well, you little one." Sheng Zi, Eunuch Sheng, you are someone close to the emperor, you actually colluded with Qi Concubine to frame me, what is your relationship with Qi Concubine? When did you get tied together?" No matter how slow the imperial concubine reacted, she knew what Xiao Sheng said today. Zizi pointed the finger at himself on purpose, from admitting that he went to the imperial hospital to get medicine at the beginning, to deliberately saying that he sent him to the imperial hospital, to reporting that the emperor's wife was safe and sound, and finally pretending to ask about the relationship between her and Qiu imperial physician , Step by step, every key point is that Xiao Shengzi is constantly throwing out information, he is obviously singing a double reed with Qi Concubine, "Your Majesty, I want to report, Xiao Shengzi is killing..."

"Enough!" the emperor interrupted the imperial concubine.

"Your Majesty, Xiao Shengzi is..." The imperial concubine was not reconciled.

"I've said enough," the emperor forcibly interrupted the imperial concubine again, "do you want to make trouble in time?"