The harem is too complicated; the empress, a lazy bum, wins by doing nothing.

Chapter 198 Take away
"Me?" Xia Fuchuan looked up in disbelief, his face full of shock.

"What's the problem?" Su Tianhe asked in return.

"No." Xia Fuchuan forced a smile. "Eunuch Su, Her Majesty the Empress sent you to escort the servants of Jingyang Palace. Am I supposed to go to Kunning Palace with you?"

"I really don't understand what Eunuch Xia is saying. Her Majesty the Empress sent me to Jingyang Palace to bring all the servants in Jingyang Palace back to Kunning Palace for questioning. I was just doing what I was told." Su Tianhe shrugged. "Was it because I did something wrong, or is it that Eunuch Xia isn't from Jingyang Palace? Could it be that Eunuch Xia is the master of Jingyang Palace, not a servant?"

Su Tianhe's words left Xia Fuchuan pale and ashen. "What are you saying, Eunuch Su? Of course I am a servant of Jingyang Palace, but..."

After Xia Fuchuan finished speaking, he turned around and looked at Consort Xian.

Consort Xian walked out of the hall, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Since it is the Empress's order, I naturally dare not disobey. However, Xia Fuchuan is my personal servant, so Eunuch Su need not take him with him. The other servants of Jingyang Palace may be taken with you."

Su Tianhe bowed and said, “Your Highness Consort Xian, it’s not that I’m disrespectful to you, but I’m acting on the Empress’s orders. Since it involves all the servants in Jingyang Palace, Eunuch Xia must be among them. The higher the rank of the servant, the more likely they should be brought along for questioning. I’ve already questioned him, and there’s nothing wrong. I don’t think Your Highness would make things difficult for anyone. If Your Highness’s own servants aren’t brought along for questioning, people might think that I had something to hide during the day. That’s why Your Highness didn’t dare to let me take him to Kunning Palace.”

"How dare you! What do I have to be guilty of?" Consort Xian's face suddenly darkened.

“Your Majesty is upright and honest, and naturally has nothing to hide. This servant is just afraid that others will see that all the servants of Jingyang Palace went to Kunning Palace for questioning, but Eunuch Xia did not go, which would give rise to gossip.” Su Tianhe paused. “If Your Majesty insists on not letting Eunuch Xia go to Kunning Palace for questioning, then this servant will go back and report the truth to Her Majesty the Empress.”

Hearing his words, Consort Xian's already gloomy face darkened even more. Seeing Su Tianhe turn to leave, Consort Xian called out to him.

"Her Majesty the Empress is always lenient with people, so she probably wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for Xia Fuchuan. In that case, you should go with Eunuch Su." After Consort Xian finished speaking, a faint smile appeared on her lips. She looked gentle, but her eyes were full of warning.

Xia Fuchuan sighed helplessly.

Throughout the entire palace, the grudges and entanglements between Consort Xian and the Empress began the day the Empress married the Emperor.

Now that the Empress wants to take him in for questioning, he has been taken to Kunning Palace. The consequences are unimaginable; at best, he will be demoted, and at worst, he may even lose his life.

Even at such a time, Consort Xian actually pushed him out to protect herself.

Xia Fuchuan felt a chill run down his spine.

At this moment, one by one, the people in Jingyang Palace were taken away. Su Tianhe looked thoughtfully at Consort Xian's back and asked, "Your Majesty, this servant remembers that you have a personal maid named Xia Mei who used to be by your side every day. Why is she not here today?"

Consort Xian smiled somewhat awkwardly, "That girl slipped and fell in the palace a few days ago, and injured herself so badly that she can't get out of bed. I let her rest in her own palace. Why is she being taken along too? She hasn't been serving me for quite some time."

“It’s alright if you’re not feeling well. Your servants can have a chair brought over. Since you’ve been resting, go to Kunning Palace and explain the situation. We’ll have the chair carried back. Xia Mei is Her Highness’s personal attendant, so we naturally wouldn’t dare to neglect her.” Consort Xian took a deep breath, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Her lips trembled with anger, and her whole body involuntarily shuddered. “Eunuch Su, are you determined to do this?”

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I was only acting on imperial orders. If I fail to perform the duties assigned to me by His Majesty the Emperor and Empress, I will be punished upon my return." Su Tianhe bowed again.

Consort Xian's chest heaved heavily with anger. She snorted coldly and turned to walk into the palace.

Su Tianhe didn't take her disdain to heart at all. He simply raised his hand and ordered his men to take everyone away.

Consort Wen frowned slightly at the impressive display. "What's going on?"

"It looks like something terrible has happened. Almost all the servants in Jingyang Palace, except for those in our palace, have been taken away, even the palace maids who water the flowers at the gate have been taken away," Green Pine sighed.

"What I'm trying to say is, why were even the palace maids watering the flowers at the gate taken away, but not the people from our palace? Could it be... that this is aimed at our palace?" Consort Wen felt inexplicably uneasy as the Jingyang Palace courtyard was deserted.

"Your Majesty," Cui'er comforted, "the more this is the case, the more it shows that this matter has nothing to do with Your Majesty. Your Majesty may not know this, but before Your Majesty entered the palace, Consort Xian was still a concubine. However, she got into a fight with Consort Ruan in Jingyang Palace, which alarmed the Empress. As a result, she was punished by the Empress and demoted to a concubine. Since only two people from the palace were taken away, it must still be related to this matter."

Consort Wen's expression softened somewhat. "I see. Since it has nothing to do with us, we don't need to ask any more questions. You can give the order to tell the people in our palace to keep their mouths shut and not to talk about this behind our backs, so as not to cause trouble."

"Yes, Your Excellency." Cui'er bowed and withdrew.

When everyone from Jingyang Palace was taken to Kunning Palace, Zhen'er was already in a side hall of Kunning Palace, interrogating the two palace maids who had been gossiping in the palace that morning.

The two were also frightened. After only a few questions, they confessed everything, from the beginning to the end, including who told them the story and who else in the air was talking about it.

The people brought from Jingyang Palace started interrogating the servants who were sweeping the courtyard.

This trial lasted for an hour.

Shen Qingwan sat in the main hall, holding a teacup in one hand, her gaze sweeping over the people in the courtyard. "Go and call Zhen'er over. I need to speak with her."

Zhen'er was interrogating a palace maid who was standing next to Consort Ruan. Whether the maid was cowardly or had done something wrong, she started crying as soon as she entered the interrogation room. She cried so hard that her heart was breaking and her soul was being torn apart. It was impossible to tell whether she had done anything wrong or not, but the way she was crying was more heartbreaking than that of someone mourning a funeral.

(End of this chapter)