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

Chapter 290 Hint
"His Majesty has arrived..."

emperor?

Why is the Emperor here at this hour?
Zhen'er hurriedly wiped away her tears and took a step back. This was the scene that Emperor Yuanwu saw when he lifted the curtain and walked in.

"Why did Your Majesty arrive at this hour?" Shen Qingwan asked casually as she took the hat from Emperor Yuanwu's hand.

Emperor Yuanwu glanced at Zhen'er, a faint smile playing on his lips. "It's my bad timing; I just happened to come across you disciplining a palace maid."

Shen Qingwan was taken aback. She glanced at Zhen'er and couldn't help but give an awkward laugh. "Is Your Majesty talking about Zhen'er?"

She originally wanted to say that the Emperor had misunderstood, but at this moment she did not know why Emperor Yuanwu had suddenly come to Kunning Palace, whether he had heard something, or whether Consort Xian had made the false accusation first.

Before she could figure it out, Shen Qingwan felt she should listen to what Emperor Yuanwu really meant.

She was the Empress. Even if she did something against the rules, let alone the Emperor, even if the Empress Dowager knew, the most she would be punished was to copy some scriptures or reflect on her mistakes in seclusion. But Zhen'er was different. Even if Consort Xian deliberately caused trouble and had a dispute with her, Emperor Yuanwu would not punish the concubines in the harem for a servant. Whenever there was a conflict between master and servant, the servant would always be punished. At best, he would be beaten; at worst, he would lose his life.

Su Tianhe took a step toward Zhen'er's side without making a sound, and reached out to tug at her sleeve. Zhen'er understood his hint and turned her body slightly to the side.

The moment Shen Qingwan finished speaking, Emperor Yuanwu happened to look up in Zhen'er's direction. In the candlelight, the handprint on her swollen, red cheek was particularly eye-catching.

"It seems the Empress is quite angry, so angry that she even took action." Emperor Yuanwu chuckled awkwardly and said with interest, "If I remember correctly, this girl was your dowry maid."

"Your Majesty has a good memory." Shen Qingwan said as she took the teacup from the maid and handed it to Emperor Yuanwu. "Zhen'er was indeed my dowry maid. I spoiled her rotten. She can't even hold a basin of water properly. She deserved to be beaten."

Emperor Yuanwu remained silent, but as he took the teacup from Shen Qingwan, he glanced at her and asked, "How is the Empress's investigation going regarding Jingyang Palace?"

"Your Majesty, after Your Majesty left, I had my servants prepare clean water and had everyone in Jingyang Palace put their hands in that basin of clean water. I also had the imperial physicians examine each one. I thought that the person who poisoned the person must have touched the poison with their hands when they did it. People who poison others are bound to feel guilty. With so many people coming and going in Jingyang Palace, it shouldn't be so easy to avoid everyone and do things cleanly."

"Has the Empress found the person who poisoned her?" Emperor Yuanwu asked.

Shen Qingwan shook her head with a solemn expression. "We haven't found the person who poisoned us, but we have found the person who had the poison on them."

"Who?"

"Consort Wen".

Consort Wen?
"How could it be him?"

In that case, wouldn't it be as if Consort Wen had poisoned herself?
Then this matter is not as simple as poisoning. It means that Consort Wen deliberately poisoned herself in an attempt to frame Consort Xian.

What deep-seated hatred could she possibly have for Consort Xian that would lead her to do something that would harm both herself and her enemy by a great deal?

If the imperial physicians do not treat the patient in time, or if they do not find an antidote in time, wouldn't the patient perish here?
Could it be that she received some information from the northern desert and wanted to provoke trouble by committing suicide, causing the northern desert to start a war on the border? Emperor Yuanwu naturally thought much more complicatedly than Shen Qingwan. After all, in his eyes, the actions of any person in the harem would affect the court.

“However, Your Majesty…” Shen Qingwan paused and continued, “Just before the thorough investigation of this matter, when the maids of Jingyang Palace were unaware that I was going to use water to test who had come into contact with the poison, the maid beside Consort Wen had already said that the piece of cured meat was made by Consort Wen herself. Since Consort Wen made it herself, it is normal that her hands were contaminated with the poison. However… there is still one person in Jingyang Palace who has not been tested, so I cannot say for sure that only Consort Wen’s hands in Jingyang Palace have touched that bit of poison.”

"Who didn't get checked?"

"It's Consort Xian." Shen Qingwan rose and knelt on the ground, bowed, and said with a troubled expression, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. It was my incompetence that prevented me from fulfilling the task Your Majesty entrusted to me. However, when I sent Zhen'er with water and the imperial physician to examine Consort Xian, she not only refused to cooperate but also knocked over the basin of water and, in a fit of anger, slapped Zhen'er..."

Emperor Yuanwu frowned deeply, looked up at Zhen'er, and understood something.

"Your cousin has been in the northern desert for some time now. Perhaps she has been in contact with you?" Emperor Yuanwu asked leisurely.

cousin?

Liu Ruyan?
Shen Qingwan's heart tightened. She didn't understand why Emperor Yuanwu suddenly brought her up at this moment, but she quickly figured out the cause and effect.

The Emperor probably doesn't want matters in the harem to involve the court. Firstly, it's true that Consort Wen was poisoned; secondly, the imperial physicians didn't arrive in time to treat her; and thirdly, she has been in the palace for so long but has never received any favor.

Emperor Yuanwu naturally wouldn't blame himself for anything, so he fined everyone in the Imperial Medical Academy for that month's salary. The imperial physicians on duty that night were fined an additional two months' salary each, as a warning to others.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will prepare some local delicacies and send them to the northern desert along with a letter from home, to inquire about Liu Ruyan's well-being there."

Hearing Shen Qingwan's words, Emperor Yuanwu's expression finally softened a bit.

“But…” Shen Qingwan paused, “Should we continue investigating the poisoning incident at Jingyang Palace?”

Emperor Yuanwu snorted coldly and stood up. "Your Majesty, handle it as you see fit. I have other matters to attend to, so I won't stay and keep you company."

"Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty." Shen Qingwan curtsied.

She only breathed a sigh of relief after Emperor Yuanwu left.

Let her handle it?
In fact, she already had the answer in her heart.

Consort Xian spilled the basin of water, seemingly out of guilt, but more likely, she was simply afraid that the water had been tampered with and was being used to frame her, which is why she refused to cooperate with the investigation.

Even if she were foolish, she wouldn't be so foolish as to poison a fellow concubine while Emperor Yuanwu was dining in her palace after he had chosen her. That would be shooting herself in the foot.

If everyone interrogated just now was telling the truth, then the piece of cured meat that Consort Wen gave to Consort Xian was indeed never touched by her, and was simply thrown away.

It wasn't a big deal to begin with, but by sheer coincidence, when Consort Xian ordered the cured meat to be thrown away, it was seen by someone from Consort Wen's palace...