That Imperial Concubine is both wicked and cunning! Your Majesty, wake up!

When he first returned to the palace, Xiao Yan had a lot of things to deal with and was too busy to choose a concubine. It wasn't until seven or eight days later that he finally had some free time, and the Imperial Household Department presented him with a green-headed plaque.

Without a second thought, Xiao Yan chose Song Shuangning's name. He hadn't seen her for a while and missed her.

Just as Li Fuquan was about to step down, he heard the emperor on the dragon throne say, "Bring her to the Zichen Palace."

"Yes."

As night fell, Song Shuangning was taken to the Zichen Palace. She waited inside for a long time before finally hearing footsteps.

"Your Majesty." Song Shuangning did not greet him according to custom, but instead took two steps forward, looked up at him, her eyelashes fluttering like the wings of a butterfly.

She wanted the emperor to get used to this unconventional and unrestrained behavior as soon as possible. Only by breaking down these barriers could the two of them truly grow closer.

Xiao Yan didn't find it inappropriate; on the contrary, he felt like laughing: "Why are you staring at me like that?"

All the piles of official duties and the troublesome backstabbing seemed to vanish in that instant.

Song Shuangning lightly tapped his chest with her fingertips, her voice soft and seductive: "Your Majesty, I miss you. I'm looking into your eyes, trying to see if you miss me."

Xiao Yan smiled and asked, "So, what did Ningning notice?"

Song Shuangning leaned close to his ear, her breath warm and soft: "Your Majesty misses his concubines too."

Xiao Yan pulled her into his arms, his nose brushing against the top of her head. "Yes, I missed you too."

Song Shuangning blushed suddenly, even though it was just a simple "I miss you too".

Xiao Yan enjoyed being with her. Only when he was with her did he feel completely relaxed, able to laugh and say whatever he wanted.

This kind of relaxation is something no one else can give you.

"Ningning, when was your birthday?" Xiao Yan asked wearily, his eyes closed.

Song Shuangning placed her fingertips on his forehead and gently pressed them: "My birthday is November 29th."

Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes. November 29th was quite close to Consort Rong's birthday, which was November 26th.

"Why did Your Majesty suddenly ask about this?"

Xiao Yan said, "Your first birthday after entering the palace should naturally be celebrated. What do you plan to do?"

"This concubine has only one small request."

"explain."

Song Shuangning's eyes sparkled like spring water: "On my birthday, may Your Majesty accompany me?"

Xiao Yan held her hand and stroked it in his palm. "That's natural."

"Your Majesty must be tired; please rest early."

Looking at the dark circles under his eyes, Song Shuangning dared not do "that" with him. What if he suddenly had a stroke? Wouldn't she become a sinner for all time?

Xiao Yan kissed her lips: "I'm not tired."

An hour later, Song Shuangning: "..."

-----

A few days later, when Song Shuangning paid her respects, she caught a glimpse of the sachet hanging from Consort Rong's waist out of the corner of her eye.

Strangely enough, the fragrance is not strong; you have to get very close to smell a faint, almost imperceptible scent.

She remembered that Consort Rongxian didn't like to wear these kinds of things, and she had only started wearing this sachet recently.

Among those who came to pay their respects, Consort Shu was still absent. Just as everyone was wondering about this, a palace maid from Consort Shu's palace suddenly rushed in, her face pale, and reported, "Your Majesty, our mistress has been bleeding again this morning."

The Empress frowned: "Why is there bleeding again all of a sudden?"

After a moment's thought, she turned to the crowd and said, "You may all return to your palaces first. I will personally go to Consort Shu's palace to take a look."

Song Shuangning followed the others and got up to take her leave in surprise. For some reason, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and she subconsciously looked up at Consort Rongxian.

Consort Rongxian had a faint smile on her face, but upon closer inspection, the sachet that had been hanging on her waist was nowhere to be seen.

Sure enough, the fact that Consort Shu was bleeding was inextricably linked to this sachet.

This sachet must contain incense that promotes blood circulation. Although the fragrance is extremely faint, Consort Rongxian has been wearing it close to her body for almost half a month.

Even the faintest fragrance can't withstand being smelled every day; over time, it will naturally have an effect.

On the way back to the palace, Qiu Baolin noticed that she seemed absent-minded, so she reached out and tugged at her sleeve, asking softly, "What are you thinking about, sister? Why are you so lost in thought?"

Song Shuangning gently shook her head. "I wasn't thinking about anything."

But she was hesitant, wondering whether she should tell Consort Shu about the sachet. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and maybe we could help each other in the future.

However, Consort Shu has already started bleeding, which means that Consort Rong has achieved her goal.

Consort Rongxian has already removed the sachet; she will surely handle these things thoroughly, leaving no trace.

In this way, even if someone wanted to expose it, they probably wouldn't be able to find a single piece of evidence.

We can't just accuse her of harming people with perfume without any evidence.

Back in the palace, Song Shuangning dismissed all irrelevant palace servants, leaving only Tinglu and Tingyu, and slowly voiced her suspicions.

Tinglu was taken aback by these words, and suddenly her face turned pale: "My lady! I just remembered something. The brocade clothes that the Imperial Wardrobe sent yesterday also had a faint fragrance. At the time, I just thought it was new incense and didn't suspect anything. But now that you mention it, I'm getting more and more scared..."

Song Shuangning took the clothes and sniffed them carefully. They really did smell the same as the sachet that Consort Rongxian had used.

A chill ran through her eyes: "Go quickly and fetch Physician Zhang, but don't make a sound."

A moment later, Physician Zhang rushed over.

Tinglu said, "Doctor Zhang, please take a look and see if there is any acacia fragrance on this."

Physician Zhang held the garment and sniffed it carefully, his expression gradually becoming serious: "This not only has the sweet fragrance of acacia, but also a faint medicinal smell, which should be the pungent aroma of angelica and the slight bitterness of saffron. If a pregnant woman is exposed to this for a long time, it may affect the fetus, or even cause a miscarriage."

"They really went to great lengths." Upon hearing this, Song Shuangning gently tapped the table, her voice as soft as silk.

Consort Rongxian truly has excellent methods.

A brilliant tactic of killing two birds with one stone.

First, she wore a sachet of acacia fragrance every day, causing Consort Shu to bleed and almost miscarry. Then, she secretly bribed the palace servants in the Imperial Wardrobe to secretly scent her clothes with the acacia fragrance.

In this way, if the emperor were to thoroughly investigate the harem, the lingering fragrance of these clothes would serve as evidence, making her an undeniable scapegoat.

Meanwhile, Consort Rong watched the spectacle from behind, reaping the benefits without lifting a finger.

Tingyu asked fearfully, "My lady, what should we do?"

Song Shuangning said, "Since someone wants to pin this on us, why don't we turn the tables on them?"

A cold glint flashed in her eyes. "Go and fetch the brocade box from the bottom of my dressing case."

Tingyu brought over a small wooden box containing a small amount of finely ground aconite powder. Aconite is highly poisonous. Song Shuangning had bought this aconite powder before entering the palace as a precaution, intending to keep it for emergencies, but unexpectedly it came in handy today.

Aconite and mimosa are one warm and one cold, respectively; mixing them together can cause poisoning.

Song Shuangning's lips curled into a cold smile: Consort Rong wanted to use the aphrodisiac as a pretext to frame her, so she would "go with the flow".

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Jinyun Palace.

The imperial physician took Consort Shu's pulse, his brow furrowed, and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness's spotting suggests contact with something that promotes blood circulation. You were recently diagnosed with pregnancy and rested for a month before the pregnancy stabilized; your constitution was already weak..."

Consort Shu propped herself up, her eyes reddening: "You must protect my child no matter what. Whatever medicine you need, whatever you want me to do, I will do it."

The Empress comforted Consort Shu, then asked the imperial physician, "Can Consort Shu's pregnancy be saved?"

The imperial physician's tone grew even more somber: "Your Majesty, the imperial heir can be saved, but he must rest and recuperate with utmost care. The slightest mistake cannot be made, and the process will likely be quite complicated."

Consort Shu's voice was trembling and tearful.

The Empress immediately ordered people to investigate Consort Shu's daily life over the past half month: who served her closely, what she ate and used, who she met, and even the flowers, plants and incense in the palace were thoroughly searched, but no matter how much they searched, they found nothing unusual.

Just after the investigation was completed, Huang Xiaoyan rushed over.

Hearing footsteps, Consort Shu struggled to sit up in bed. Upon seeing Xiao Yan, tears streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls. She grabbed Xiao Yan's hand, her voice choked with sobs, "Your Majesty! Someone wants to harm me and the child in my womb."

Xiao Yan patted her back, then turned to look at the Empress, his face darkening: "What happened? Why are you bleeding all of a sudden?"

The Empress frowned, looking troubled, and replied, "Your Majesty, I have had the entire Consort Shu's palace thoroughly investigated. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her food, her daily necessities, or the people she associates with. We simply cannot find the source of the problem."

Consort Shu cried, "Ever since I became pregnant, I have not dared to go out much, but even so, it is still impossible to guard against. I beg Your Majesty to do me justice."

Xiao Yan said, "Wanqing, don't cry. I will definitely investigate thoroughly and give you justice."

As soon as he stepped out of the Jin Yun Palace, Xiao Yan stopped and turned to Li Fuquan behind him, saying, "I'm giving you three days to find out the truth about this matter."