RPAGF Chapter 547 This behavior is nothing more than an attempt to put on a good show!
Chapter 547 This behavior is nothing more than an attempt to put on a good show!
Inside the Imperial Study Room
When Consort Li was escorted in by the guards, she was so frightened by the scene in the hall that her face turned pale and her legs went weak, and she knelt down on the ground.
"Your Majesty! I am innocent!" The hairpin in her hair swayed as her body trembled, making a soft rustling sound.
Cuihuan, who had been held aside, seemed to have no choice but to point at Consort Li.
"It's you! Consort Li, do you dare to do it but not admit it?"
"You promised me that you would recommend my family after the deed was done. You were jealous of the Empress, so you came up with this vicious scheme to kill two birds with one stone!"
"You're spouting lies!" Consort Li screamed in terror, desperately kowtowing to Zhao Yunci. "Your Majesty, please understand! I have never had any dealings with Cuihuan, how could I possibly instruct her to do such a treasonous thing!"
"It was her! She's the one who framed me!"
Consort Hui stood to the side, tears streaming down her face. She held onto the hand of a palace maid, her body swaying precariously, her face filled with a heartbroken expression.
"Cuihuan, how could you be so foolish!" she choked back tears as she looked at Zhao Yunci.
"Your Majesty, I...I was truly blind! I was unaware that I had such an wicked servant colluding with outsiders by my side. I was almost deceived by her and made a grave mistake!"
Zhao Yunci's gaze swept back and forth across the three women's faces, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
Amidst this chaos, Chu Ruohan stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, I dare to ask, but there are a few points of doubt."
Zhao Yunci looked at her, signaling her to continue.
"Miss Cuihuan is Consort Hui's confidante and is deeply trusted. Why would she risk the extermination of her entire family and betray her former master for a few benefits promised by Consort Li?"
Chu Ruohan's gaze fell on Cuihuan, devoid of any warmth.
"Furthermore, although Consort Li has ambitions to win the emperor's favor, she has always acted flamboyantly. Does she have the ability, and what motive, to devise such a meticulous and intricately linked treacherous scheme?"
Her words, spoken calmly and deliberately, were like a sharp blade, precisely dissecting the core of this tangled mess.
The anger in Zhao Yunci's eyes subsided slightly, replaced by scrutiny and suspicion.
Just then, a eunuch scrambled into the hall, his voice filled with joy.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! The Empress has awakened!"
Chu Ruohan watched Zhao Yunci's departing figure. Was this scene about to end?
The Emperor stayed by the Empress's palace every night; he knew better than anyone whether the Empress was alright...
This behavior is nothing more than an attempt to put on a good show!
Inside Kunning Palace, the scent of calming incense lingered in the air.
Su Wan leaned against the headboard, her face pale and looking extremely weak.
"Your Majesty." Upon seeing Zhao Yunci, she struggled to get up.
"Don't move!" Zhao Yunci stepped forward quickly and pressed down on her shoulder. "How are you feeling? Where is the imperial physician?"
"Your Majesty, I am fine."
Su Wan gently shook her head, her gaze sweeping over Consort Hui and Chu Ruohan who followed her in, finally settling on Zhao Yunci's face, her eyes filled with a hint of confusion and a desperate attempt to recall.
"What's wrong? Did you remember something?" Zhao Yunci asked.
Su Wan frowned, seemingly deep in thought, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty seems to remember something. The day before Consort Hui sent the pastries, Your Majesty passed by the artificial hill in the Imperial Garden, and it seemed..."
"It seems that I overheard Consort Hui and Cuihuan talking."
Consort Hui's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition instantly gripped her.
"They... seemed to have mentioned something about 'cinnabar,' and also said... 'two lives lost in one pregnancy.'"
Su Wan's eyes were full of confusion. "At the time, I thought they were talking about some stories they had heard outside the palace, saying that 'country girls don't understand medicine' and are easy to be schemed against, so I didn't take it to heart."
These words were like a thunderclap, exploding in the ears of everyone in the hall!
Consort Hui's face turned deathly pale in an instant, completely devoid of color.
Su Wan seemed not to notice her reaction and continued to say to Zhao Yunci, "Your Majesty, I come from a humble background and have been gathering herbs in the mountains with my father since I was a child."
She raised her eyes, her gaze clear and bright, and looked directly at the emperor. "Therefore, I am fully aware of the toxicity of cinnabar. That day, when I smelled the aroma of the pastries, I knew something was amiss."
"I dare not make a sound, for fear of alerting the enemy. I have no choice but to play along and pretend to be poisoned, just to see who is so vicious as to want to kill me and my unborn child!"
Zhao Yunci was not surprised. She held her hand and turned to look at Consort Hui.
"You!" Consort Hui pointed at Su Wan, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.
She never imagined that her proud scheme had fallen into the other party's trap from the very beginning!
Su Wan actually understands pharmacology! She's been acting all along!
"Your Majesty, I..." Consort Hui tried to explain.
"Guards!" Zhao Yunci ordered. "Re-interrogate Cuihuan! Search the palace! Thoroughly investigate Consort Hui's Xianfu Palace, leave no stone unturned!"
The guards took the order and left.
Under torture, Cuihuan dared not implicate Consort Li any longer and quickly confessed everything.
Meanwhile, the guards found a porcelain bottle containing a small amount of cinnabar powder, as well as several letters secretly communicating with people outside the palace, in a very hidden compartment in the wall of Consort Hui's bedroom.
The witnesses and the physical evidence are both there!
When those things were placed in front of Consort Hui, her last shred of reason completely collapsed.
"Su Wan!" She stopped pretending to be weak and screamed at the top of her lungs, acting like a madwoman.
"It's you! It's all your fault, you bitch! Why did you have to show up! Why did you take everything from me!"
Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared intently at Su Wan, her face twisted with hatred.
"It was me! I'm the one who poisoned you! I'm going to make you and your unborn child die! I've lost my child, and you won't get away with it!"
"If I'm not having a good time, none of you will be either!"
Looking at Consort Hui's insane state, Zhao Yunci felt no pity left in her eyes, only cold disgust.
"Drag him away! Throw him into the Cold Palace, and he shall never be released without my decree!" His voice was devoid of any warmth, as if he were dealing with an insignificant object.
As Consort Hui's cries and curses faded into the distance, Kunning Palace returned to deathly silence.
Zhao Yunci turned around and patted Su Wan's hand. "Rest well. I'll handle the rest."
Su Wan nodded slightly: "Thank you for your trouble, Your Majesty."
A thunderous storm swept through the entire harem, originating from Kunning Palace.
Zhao Yunci used the pretext of the Empress's poisoning and the Emperor's unborn child being in danger to launch a massive purge of the six palaces.
Any concubine, maid, or eunuch who had close ties with Consort Hui or showed the slightest disrespect to Kunning Palace would meet a bad end.
For a time, everyone in the palace was in danger, and cries for mercy were heard everywhere.
Two high-ranking concubines from prominent families, who were close to Consort Hui, had illicit items found in the palace by the guards.
Emperor Zhao Yunci was furious, but considering the merits his father and brothers had rendered in the previous dynasty, he did not exterminate them.
He simply issued an edict to demote them to commoners, expel them from the palace, and send them back to their mothers' homes for strict supervision.
Within a few days, the once bustling harem became desolate.
Besides Empress Su Wan, there were only four concubines of low rank who were usually cautious and timid.
They remained in their respective palaces, trembling with fear, and kept their doors closed...