Chapter 119: Noticing
Both people walked to Phoenix Ritual Palace in silence. They encountered palace maids and eunuchs on the way, but at most, they only glanced at them. They didn’t dare to step forward and ask anything, and most of them walked past without looking sideways, completely disregarding how incongruous it was for two men to be in the harem.
“These people in the Palace, they all know best how to live longer,” Su Ningxin said with casual feeling, intending to break the atmosphere of unfairness and indignation between both people.
Gu Mingxi chuckled, “They are just seeking benefits and avoiding harm.”
After all, with the identity of men, both people didn’t walk directly into Phoenix Ritual Palace, but instead found a place with no one and flipped over the wall to get in.
Both people jumped through the window and entered the back hall of the Jiaofang Hall. They could see the situation in front of them through a screen. At this hour, it should be the time for the harem’s imperial concubines to pay their respects. The Empress was talking to the imperial concubines.
Not long after, the Empress ordered someone to serve several bowls of soup, saying, “The Emperor specially instructed the small kitchen to make the silver soup. Everyone, try it.”
“Thank you, Imperial Concubine, for the reward,” the imperial concubines below said in unison.
The Empress looked at the soup in front of her, still smiling, and sighed, “Liuxue, you’ve been with this Imperial Concubine for five years, haven’t you?”
Liuxue’s hand, holding the soup, trembled slightly. She lowered her head and replied, “Five years and three months.”
“This Imperial Concubine remembers that you were sent to this Imperial Concubine’s side by the Emperor. At that time, the Emperor was still a Prince. It’s been so long in the blink of an eye,” the Empress seemed to be talking to herself, not wanting to get anyone’s answer.
After saying that, the Empress ate it bite by bite. Knowing that it was poisonous, she could still eat so calmly and naturally. Both people hiding behind the screen wanted to give the Empress a thumbs up. They definitely couldn’t do it themselves. Su Ningxin recalled that if it were her, she would definitely pinch Yan Diejiu’s chin and force her to drink it.
Sure enough, after everyone had finished eating the soup, the Empress suddenly bled from the corner of the mouth and fell to the ground.
Everyone was immediately flustered. Several imperial concubines looked at their soup bowls with pale faces, clutching their throats, wanting to vomit out the silver soup they had just eaten.
At this time, Yan Diejiu, who had the highest rank, was calm. She directly instructed people to send the Empress to the inner hall, and also ordered a eunuch to call the Imperial Physician and inform the Emperor. The scene was temporarily under her control.
Su Ningxin watched Yan Diejiu’s actions and was amazed. She was indeed a good strategist. Although the Imperial Concubine’s rank wasn’t high, there was no one with a higher rank than her in the harem except the Empress. Now that she had shown herself in this way, if the Empress really died from poisoning, then the harem would fall into her hands to manage.
Su Ningxin and Gu Mingxi were hiding in the shadows outside the window of the inner hall at this time, waiting for the Emperor and the Empress to finish this play. When the time comes, the Emperor would deal with the Grand Tutor’s family, and they could escape with the Empress.
In the Imperial Study, the Emperor’s face was gloomy, and he also looked very irritable. He had absolutely no interest in the domestic affairs of the Censor and Xuanning Marquis Manor. What did it have to do with him, the Emperor, that Fourth Master Su kept a mistress? He didn’t tell him to keep one, did he?
Today was the official time for his plan to be implemented. In order to prevent any accidents on the Empress’s side and her truly being poisoned, he had planned to stay with the Empress all the time. Unexpectedly, the plan couldn’t keep up with the changes, and he was actually held back and couldn’t escape because of the right Censor’s matter regarding Fourth Master Su.
Let him make the decision? He wanted to cut Fourth Master Su’s head off, wouldn’t he? He was originally a nobleman’s son who idled away his time and still took the court salary. It would be better to cut him off directly and save the court an expenditure.
Of course, this was just the Emperor’s random thoughts when he was feeling frustrated. If he really dared to cut Fourth Master Su off like this, then he wouldn’t be able to escape the name of a tyrant.
In the end, the Emperor could only suppress his frustration, and with a cold face, he watched the Censor below quoting classics and giving Fourth Master Su a crime. Fourth Master Su had been admitting his mistakes and begging for mercy, and Xuanning Marquis was also begging for mercy on the side and smiling at the Censor.
After waiting for a long time, the Emperor finally waited for his Chief Eunuch to walk in hastily, and he whispered in his ear, “The Empress, the Empress Imperial Concubine, collapsed into a coma from poisoning during the morning meeting.”
The Emperor’s acting skills were also top-notch. He immediately slammed the table and realized that there were still people in the hall, and then slowly sat down and said, “This is your family affair, just let Fourth Master Su send that mistress away, and then fine his salary for half a year.”
However, people who could be Censors had never been good at reading people’s faces. “Your Majesty, such a person who has lost virtue should be dismissed from office and stripped of his duties, so as to show the importance of virtue in our dynasty, so as not to fail Da Qi’s ancestral teachings.”
Everyone present was looking at the right Censor with the eyes of a fool, not understanding his purpose. If it was to seek justice for his daughter, then the Emperor had already ordered that mistress to be sent away, which could be considered as seeking benevolence and getting benevolence.
But he insisted on dismissing his son-in-law from office. What good was it for him? What good was it for his daughter? It was really hard to understand.
The Emperor was silent for a while, and finally said, “This matter will be discussed later.”
The right Censor still wanted to say something, but was immediately stopped by his two sons who were following him. They also had no way to deal with this stubborn old man.
Glancing at the right Censor, whose mouth was covered, the Emperor just pretended not to see, and directly left the Imperial Study and went to the harem. The matters on the Empress’s side were much more important than these family matters.
At the same time that the Emperor went to Phoenix Ritual Palace, Chu Jihan, who had already prepared, also left the Palace and waited outside the Grand Tutor’s Mansion. Last night, his people had been monitoring the Grand Tutor’s Mansion. Now, he was waiting for an order from the Palace, and he was determined not to let them have the possibility of escaping from the city.
Chu Jihan walked to the Palace Gate, and the gatekeeper smiled and asked, “Young Master Han, how are things going with the Censor and the Marquis Manor? Is there anything interesting?”
“What else could be interesting? It’s just sending that mistress away and fining the salary for half a year,” Chu Jihan said casually.
The gatekeeper indeed showed a look of disbelief, “Is that all? I saw that Young Master Gu and Young Master Lu both went to the Palace to watch the excitement, and I thought they would definitely stir up trouble.”
Chu Jihan frowned, “Which Young Master Gu and Young Master Lu? I didn’t see them.”
The gatekeeper said with a knowing look, “Young Master Han, you just came to the Capital City not long ago and don’t know them. They are Young Master Lu Ming and Young Master Gu Ran. They are handsome and can be recognized at a glance in the crowd. Think about it, have you seen them?”
“Maybe I didn’t notice,” Chu Jihan said with a dry laugh.
He had only heard of Lu Ming, but hadn’t seen him. But he knew Gu Ran, wasn’t that his Madam! Why did she run to the Palace?
Chu Jihan hesitated for a moment and decided to go to the Palace to take a look. Lian Sheng and A Jiu were watching over the Grand Tutor’s Mansion, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
Moreover, connecting the previous days when the Empress sent her confidante eunuch to Prince An’s Mansion, Chu Jihan felt that they might be up to no good.
