Favored concubine deposed empress? I'll seize your throne and marry you to a powerful minister.

Qiaoyu suddenly looked to both sides and lowered her voice: "Your Majesty, Physician Qian also said that her symptoms seem to be caused by being drugged, because she has persistent diarrhea."

But it couldn't have been Shen Mingxiu who did it herself.

Diarrhea is a great shame for a concubine, and she might not be so willing to go through with it.

It's possible that someone drugged you.

Wei Rong dipped her brush in ink, seemingly unconcerned: "It seems she's offended quite a few people."

The pen paused again.

If the intention was to administer drugs, why choose New Year's Eve?

She herself wanted to "invite" Xiao Heng away, but what was the other party's reason?

Who else could Shen Mingxiu have such a deep conflict of interest with?

If I can't figure it out, I'll just stop thinking about it.

"Finding Caiyue is the priority. Search everywhere, whether it's the lotus pond or the well, near or far from the former dynasty. My palace is missing a maid, and someone must give an explanation."

Qiaoyu glanced at her cold and stern face and nodded in agreement.

·

The fifth day is the day for offering sacrifices to Heaven.

Today, Wei Rong was required to dress up in her finest attire. She was woken up early by Qiao Yu and sat in front of the dressing mirror, still sleepy, as the palace maids fussed over her.

The phoenix robe has many layers, and the phoenix crown is very, very heavy.

Anyone who wore this outfit all day would have their neck and legs ruined.

However, the ritual of offering sacrifices to heaven is rather lengthy and has many rules.

Qiaoyu could tell that Wei Rong was unwilling to go, so she tried to coax her: "Does Your Highness know? Your outfit at the palace banquet has become a sensation in Yunjing City. I heard that the tailor shops have been promoting your red dress these past few days."

With the historian present, many details of the palace banquet quickly spread.

This year's Lunar New Year's Eve produced two topics that people talked about: Wei Rong's amazing dance and Ling Xianru's sweetheart.

"Shadow" has once again sparked a craze outside the palace. Someone even specially choreographed a fan dance for Wei Rong, which became very popular in the dance hall.

The Prime Minister's marriage also became a hot topic of discussion, with all sorts of speculations circulating outside the palace.

Some of the bolder ones said that the woman even the Prime Minister dared not compete for must have entered the harem, and that among the concubines in the harem, there were quite a few with similar backgrounds to him.

At this point, Qiaoyu paused, then cautiously asked, "Does Your Majesty think we should take advantage of Consort Xian's situation?"

No matter how you look at it, the relationship between Ling Xianru and Shen Mingxiu is definitely not innocent.

Qiaoyu never expected that Shen Mingxiu would reject a man like the Prime Minister and instead choose to enter the palace as a concubine.

It seems that when power is at stake, even personal feelings can be used as a stepping stone.

"I have a feeling something is amiss," Wei Rong said, looking at herself in the mirror with a more alert expression. "I'll borrow her favor, I'll borrow her favor."

She muttered these words to herself, wishing she could climb higher in the harem. She was already a Noble Consort, and the next step up would be her position.

Did Ling Xianru mean to help Shen Mingxiu seize the position of Empress?

If so—"Gather the moon!"

Wei Rong wondered if she had been thinking in the wrong direction from the beginning. Caiyue was not in the palace at all. It was Ling Xianru who made the move in the first place. So she was looking for someone who was no longer in the palace.

"Your Majesty!" Qiaoyu snatched the hairpin from Wei Rong's hand. The hairpin had a sharp tip, and if you squeezed it with a little force, your palm would be pierced red.

Although it is common for innocent people to be harmed in the struggle for power and profit, the blood of those who died in the palace could probably form a flowing river.

Ke Caiyue was only fifteen, a young girl, still too young to know the ways of the world.

Guilt fueled Wei Rong's anger.

This time, they rode in a palanquin. When Wei Rong arrived, Xiao Heng was helping Shen Mingxiu down from the carriage.

After a few days apart, Shen Mingxiu had lost a lot of weight. Her face, which was covered with rouge, looked barely normal, but the dark circles under her eyes were still visible.

It seems he really is sick.

Leaning against Xiao Heng like a willow in the wind, she saw Wei Rong and was about to bow when she swayed twice. Xiao Heng steadied her waist and said, "Alright, the Empress won't miss your bow. Why force yourself?"

They were clearly taking great care of him.

Wei Rong gave Xiao Heng a curtsy, and then said to Shen Mingxiu, "I have heard about the Consort's symptoms these past two days. Unfortunately, I had matters to attend to at Fengluan Palace and could not spare the time to visit her. However, seeing her now, I have had a moment of enlightenment."

"What's going on at Fengluan Palace?" Xiao Heng asked first.

He felt somewhat guilty for leaving in such a hurry that night, so he was generous with his rewards over the past few days.

However, I have never heard of anything happening in the Phoenix Palace.

If Wei Rong were to have any problems, it should reach his ears.

"It's nothing serious, how could I dare to disturb Your Majesty? It's just that a little maid has gone missing in the Phoenix Palace."

Wei Rong stared at Shen Mingxiu's reaction, who looked at her resentfully: "Your Majesty has had an epiphany, do you think this little girl's disappearance is related to me?"

"Your Majesty, I am so ill—"

Xiao Heng also complained to Wei Rong: "It's just a maid. You can send someone to find her. If the palace is short of people, you can ask the Imperial Household Department to allocate them."

"A living person has vanished from the palace without a trace. I have thought about it and I am still uneasy. If the palace guards are negligent and there are many loopholes in the patrols, it could endanger Your Majesty."

Recently, most members of the Shen family have been employed by the Imperial Guards, and Shen Minglan, despite being demoted, is still among them.

Shen Mingxiu said with resentment, "Your Majesty, every word you uttered was merely a veiled attack on me. You accused me of conspiring with my cousin to kidnap Your Majesty's maid. But Your Majesty, tell me, what was my purpose in doing this?"

"I didn't say that," Wei Rong approached Shen Mingxiu in small steps, almost face to face. She gently tucked a strand of hair behind Shen Mingxiu's ear, her voice soft but carrying a strange eeriness: "It's just that there are many wronged souls in the palace. Whoever killed her, she always knows who she'll seek out at night, right?"

"..." Shen Mingxiu shuddered, her eyes filled with terror: "Don't talk nonsense!"

She looked at Xiao Heng pleadingly, her pitiful expression almost unbearable: "Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly. I did nothing wrong. How could I possibly harm an innocent person? The Empress was in the limelight on New Year's Eve, so it's possible that someone was eyeing her, but it certainly wasn't me!"

She even said she was going to kneel down.

The officials who were to participate in the sacrificial ceremony were all present, and the commotion drew everyone's attention.

Someone went missing in the Empress's palace, and she suspects that Consort Xian was behind it.

Just watch it as a spectacle.

Wei Rong's eyes were sharp as an eagle's, staring intently at Shen Mingxiu.

She knew, of course, that Shen Mingxiu would not admit it, and that if the matter were to be made public, it would only become fodder for gossip among others.

But if she says nothing, Caiyue's life would be too worthless.

"Enough, Wei Rong," Xiao Heng said impatiently, "What day is it today? How long are you going to keep this up?"

Wei Rong turned to look at him: "Then Your Majesty, please find someone for me. There are changeover documents for those on duty in the palace, and entries and exits at each palace gate should also be recorded. Where did I, a living person, go while I was alive, and where did I go after I died?!"

Xiao Heng thought Wei Rong had gone mad, making such a mess of things over a palace maid.

He didn't want to indulge Wei Rong, so he took the still sobbing Shen Mingxiu into his arms and went up to the altar first: "On this occasion, as the Empress, you must be clear about your status!"

He once again left Wei Rong behind, letting her be watched by hundreds of eyes.