A middle-aged emperor, childless, was blessed with a beautiful and pregnant concubine who entered th

Side hall of Yonghe Palace.

Su Jinse was sitting by the window in a daze when Chunying rushed in from outside, her face pale.

"Talented man! Something terrible has happened!"

Su Jinse was startled.

"What's wrong?"

Chunying knelt on the ground, her voice trembling: "This servant...this servant heard that Her Highness the Princess found out that the horse...was tampered with by you, Consort!"

Su Jinse's face turned pale instantly.

"What? She...how did she know?"

Chunying shook her head: "This servant doesn't know. But Her Highness the Princess has already sent people to investigate Consort Cai's background, even her family..."

Su Jinse's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.

She remembered Chaoyang's face, and what Consort Chen had said: this princess was a ruthless character who even betrayed her own mother.

Now that she knows that she was the one who harmed her by mistake, how could she let it go?

She was so scared that she was trembling all over.

Chaoyang will not let her go; she will definitely kill her.

If it were before entering the Yongxiang Palace, Su Jinse might still have held onto some hope.

She is beautiful; His Majesty may not be able to bear to part with her.

But now, she's already lived in that awful place called Yongxiang. The palace is never short of young and beautiful women.

Even without her, Su Jinse, there are still countless others like her.

Princess Chaoyang is His Majesty's beloved daughter. As long as she doesn't torment the pregnant Consort Zhen, even if she kills all the concubines in the harem, what can His Majesty say? At most, to give the court officials an explanation, he might confine the princess to her quarters or something similar...

The more Su Jinse thought about it, the more desperate she became.

"Quickly, Chunying, help me up!"

The more anxious Su Jinse became, the more incoherent her words became.

"No, no, help me up!"

Chunying wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. "Yes, Your Highness, please be careful not to fall..."

Su Jinse, however, seemed completely oblivious. "Chunying... Chunying! Quickly go to Weiyang Palace! Beg Consort Zhen! Only she can save me!"

Chunying quickly got up and ran outside.

An hour later, Chunying returned.

Su Jinse grabbed her hand as if it were a lifeline.

"How is it? What did Consort Zhen say?"

Chunying, panting, lowered her voice and said, "The Imperial Concubine said, 'Don't be afraid, Lady. As long as you continue to serve her, she will ensure your safety.'"

Su Jinse nodded repeatedly.

"I'll do it! I'll do anything!"

Chunying leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words.

Su Jinse's expression changed after hearing this.

"Continue to get closer to Consort Chen? And...and try to get more information out of her?"

Spring Oriole nodded.

Su Jinse gritted her teeth.

"Okay, I'll go."

……

From that day on, Su Jinse went to Chang Le Palace even more frequently.

She dared not cause any more trouble, and quietly accompanied Consort Chen every day, talking to her, bringing her snacks, embroidering handkerchiefs, and being so attentive that she seemed like a completely different person.

However, her embroidery skills were really poor; only she herself could tell that her embroidered "Mandarin Ducks" were embroidered.

Even Consort Chen couldn't find the right words to describe her skill.

But although her cooking skills were poor, she could sit still and work diligently.

At first, Consort Chen was somewhat wary, but as time went on, she gradually let her guard down.

After returning from the Qianqing Palace that day, Consort Chen belatedly realized that she seemed to have been used as a pawn by Su Jinse.

I was already angry, but I never expected her to dare to come again.

But as time went by, and perhaps due to the loneliness of the deep palace, Consort Chen and Su Jinse actually developed some genuine feelings for each other.

Although this girl is a bit slow-witted, she is genuinely good to her.

On this day, Su Jinse came again.

She brought some chestnut cakes, which were also made by Chunying.

In the imperial harem, it was generally assumed that snacks and similar items were made by the master himself.

After all, how can you present something you didn't make yourself?

How can we demonstrate sincerity?

But servants are the "objects" of their masters. If a servant's things are said to have been made by the master himself, then it is not wrong.

Consort Chen tasted it and praised it a couple of times.

Su Jinse took out a small embroidery frame and sat down to embroider.

Consort Chen glanced at her. "You certainly have patience."

"If my cooking skills aren't good, I can only practice more diligently."

Consort Chen then thought of the past.

Her father was only a minor official of the seventh rank, so naturally he couldn't hire any skilled embroiderers.

Although Chen was the legitimate daughter, she had no special talents, and her embroidery skills were only average.

Seeing Su Jinse's seriousness, he also began to have some thoughts.

"Peixi, find some fabric and thread for me as well. Today I will practice needlework with Consort Su so that I can make a nightgown for His Majesty in the future."

Granny Chen immediately agreed.

They started searching right in front of Su Cai Ren.

Su Jinse placed the embroidery frame on the embroidery stool beside her. "I want to see what good materials Your Highness has here. Now that I'm here, I can't go back empty-handed."

Her serious yet charming demeanor made Consort Chen both amused and exasperated, and she momentarily lowered her guard.

When Su Jinse was looking for materials, she saw an old box under the eaves through the window.

The wood has been polished to a shine and looks quite old.

The box was half-open, revealing the corners of several letters inside.

"Your Majesty, that is..." she asked tentatively.

Consort Chen followed her gaze and her expression changed slightly.

She got up, walked over, and closed the box in a hurry.

"Nothing much. Just old stuff."

Su Jinse quickly looked away, not daring to look again.

But in her heart, she had already memorized the appearance of that box.

A few days later, when Su Jinse went to Chang Le Palace again, Consort Chen was taking a nap.

The palace maid said that Her Highness hadn't been sleeping well these past few days and had only managed to fall asleep with great difficulty, so she asked Consort Su to come another day.

Su Jinse agreed and turned to leave.

She suddenly stopped when she reached the corridor.

The old box was there again, perhaps deliberately taken out to air it out, and it was half-open.

There were more things inside than last time; besides the letter, there were several yellowed pieces of paper that looked like prescriptions.

Su Jinse's heart was pounding.

She glanced around; the palace maids were all inside serving her, and the corridor was deserted.

She gritted her teeth, walked over quickly, and glanced at the few pieces of paper.

Just one glance.

Then she looked away and walked out as if nothing had happened.

Her legs were trembling as she left Chang Le Palace.

What was written on the paper? She couldn't see it all, only a few words... "safflower," "musk," "Lanfei."

Su Jinse took a deep breath and steadied herself.

"Let's go back to the palace."

That very night, Su Jinse relayed these words to Weiyang Palace.

"Safflower", "Musk", "Lanfei".

When Lianwu reported these three words to Zhou Mingyi, Zhou Mingyi was drinking milk. She put down her bowl and remained silent for a while.

"That's all?"

Lianwu nodded: "Consort Su said she only glanced at it and didn't dare to look any longer. There were letters and other papers in the box, but she didn't have time to see them clearly."

Zhou Mingyi leaned back on the soft couch, her fingers tapping lightly on her knees.

Safflower, musk, and orchid. What good could come from putting these three words together?

"Go check."

"Investigate why Consort Lan was banished to the Cold Palace back then."

The wax apple agreed.

Three days later, the wax apple returned.

She brought back far more things than Zhou Mingyi had expected.

What happened back then was indeed not simple.

Consort Lan did indeed drug Consort Chen.

But Consort Chen was not a victim; she was playing along with the scheme.

She even knew that Consort Lan was going to make a move, but pretended not to know and secretly arranged for someone to get the medicine for Consort Lan.

After Consort Lan administered the drug, she "accidentally" discovered it and reported it to the Emperor.

With the evidence irrefutable, Consort Lan was unable to defend herself and was banished to the Cold Palace.

Lianwu presented an old account book: "Your Majesty, this was found in the old archives of the Imperial Treasury. That medicine was obtained by someone from Consort Chen's palace. The eunuch who obtained the medicine was later transferred to the Laundry Bureau and died not long after."

Zhou Mingyi flipped through the old account book, page by page, reading very slowly.

The ledger clearly records... On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, Xiao Fuzi, a eunuch in Changle Palace, received three qian of safflower and one qian of musk.

The purpose was listed as "pregnancy support". But Consort Chen was not pregnant at all that year.

Zhou Mingyi's lips curved into a smile.

"What a cunning Consort Chen! She harmed people and then pretended to be a victim. She's been doing this for decades, fooling everyone."

She closed the ledger and looked at the wax apple.

"Go and tell Consort Lan about this. Send all these things to her."

……

When Consort Lan received these items, she was copying Buddhist scriptures.

These days she keeps thinking about her past life.

The once high-spirited and ambitious new emperor of his previous life has actually died.

He died in the detached house.

This truly made Consort Lan feel uneasy.

So she's been staying indoors copying scriptures lately in order to seek peace.

She still felt strange. Although her relationship with Consort Zhen was still relatively harmonious, they hadn't had much contact lately.

Why is Consort Zhen not resting in her own palace during her pregnancy? Why send her something?

As she looked at the yellowed pages and the familiar handwriting, her hands trembled violently.

Although she harbored malicious intentions back then, it was Consort Chen herself who orchestrated things behind the scenes.

Even the safflower was specially sent to her by Consort Chen. Isn't that ridiculous?

Her expression became very complicated.

"Someone come here."

The palace maid hurriedly stepped forward.

"Go tell Consort Zhen that... I know."

"I will forever remember the kindness of Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine!"

If no one in the harem is pregnant, and only Consort Chen has a child, then even if Consort Lan knew the truth, she wouldn't do anything about it.

But now that she has seen it, and that Consort Chen has committed numerous evils, she will help Consort Zhen by presenting all the evidence to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, asking them to make a decision...

The former dynasty, the Censorate.

Zhou Mingchong sat in the office of the Ministry of Personnel, a memorial lying open in front of him. He had been looking at it for a long time, his brows furrowed tightly.

He spent three months researching this memorial.

Three years ago, Zhao Yannian, the border general, was executed along with his entire family for treason.

The evidence is conclusive and no one questions it.

However, when Zhou Mingchong was going through the old files, he discovered that all the evidence was fabricated.

Zhao Yannian did not collude with the enemy; he was framed.

The person who wronged him was Princess Chaoyang.

Because Zhao Yannian refused to hand over the border mines to Chaoyang's people for mining, Chaoyang fabricated evidence of treason and sent his entire family to the executioner's block.

Zhou Mingchong's hands were trembling. He knew Chaoyang was ruthless, but he never expected her to be this ruthless.

He closed the memorial and stood up.

"Prepare the sedan chair. I am going to the palace."

Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Qianwu sat behind his desk, holding Zhou Mingchong's memorial in his hand, his face frighteningly gloomy.

"Zhao Yannian... was he framed?"

Zhou Mingchong knelt on the ground, speaking slowly and deliberately: "Your Majesty, I have investigated for three months, going through all the old files of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Justice. All the evidence against General Zhao for treason is forged. That letter of treason was written by someone imitating General Zhao's handwriting. Those so-called 'witnesses' were all acting under orders."

Emperor Qianwu's hand trembled slightly.

"Who ordered them?"

Zhou Mingchong raised his head and looked at him.

"It is Princess Chaoyang."

The hall was eerily quiet. Emperor Qianwu closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and remained silent for a long time.

He thought of Zhao Yannian, the old general who had guarded the border for twenty years, loyal and renowned for his military exploits. He had been dead for three years, and his whole family had died.

The person who killed him was his daughter.

Emperor Qianwu opened his eyes, his gaze icy cold.

"By my decree, Zhao Yannian's case shall be retried."

When the news reached the princess's residence, Chaoyang was getting ready.

After hearing the guard's report, she slammed the comb in her hand to the ground.

"What? A retrial?"

The guards lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

Chaoyang stood up, his face deathly pale.

She was the one who committed Zhao Yannian's case.

She thought she had done it perfectly, but to her surprise, someone still found out.

"Who is it? Who is investigating?"

The guard's voice trembled: "It's...it's Zhou Mingchong, Consort Zhen's elder brother."

Chaoyang's pupils suddenly contracted. Zhou Mingchong, Consort Zhen, Consort Zhou.

She gritted her teeth, her fingers clenched until they turned white.

"Good, very good."

Weiyang Palace.

Zhou Mingyi leaned back on the soft couch, holding the secret report handed to her by Lianwu in her hand, and the corners of her lips curved into a smile.

Zhao Yannian's case has finally been reopened.

Chaoyang has killed so many people; let's see how she escapes this time.