In the main hall, the emperor was lying on a long couch, the empress dowager was sitting beside him, Xiaoliu was standing on the emperor's left, and the other princes were standing on the right.
The concubines were led in through the side door by Yuxiang, and they were so shocked by the scene in the hall that they dared not breathe.
The Queen Mother opened her slightly closed eyes and glanced at them. The look she cast on Haoyue was particularly cold. Haoyue's heart tightened and she subconsciously felt that something was wrong.
"Divine Doctor Yu, please wake up the emperor."
Doctor Yu took the order and stepped forward, "This old man has crossed the line."
As he spoke, Divine Doctor Yu unbuttoned the emperor's shirt to expose his chest, spread out the bag of golden needles, and started to insert several needles in a row as fast as lightning. The seemingly easy movements were obviously laborious, but in just a few moments, sweat appeared on Divine Doctor Yu's forehead.
"About a quarter of an hour."
The empress dowager pursed her lips into a straight line, and she was both angry and heartbroken as she watched the emperor slowly waking up. This was her eldest son, who she had given birth to with great difficulty and despite all the schemes. During the most difficult years, they had depended on each other in the deep palace. In order to protect him, she did not hesitate to stain her hands with blood and forced herself to become ruthless, even though she knew that they could not have such a deep relationship as ordinary mother and son, and she knew that the emperor was suspicious, but she never expected that the son she had tried her best to protect would become like this now, and would even die before her.
"Mother." The emperor called out in a daze. The golden needles stimulated his last bit of vitality. At this moment, he felt more relaxed than ever before.
Sitting up with the help of Gong Shi, the emperor looked at the people kneeling on the ground below and said with a smile: "I am just angry. It's okay. Everyone, go back. Concubine Yue, you stand up and don't toss your body."
Everyone knows that Haoyue is in favor now, and the emperor has given such an order. Gong Shi stepped forward to support her, but the queen mother spoke at this time, "Princess Yue, kneel down for me. The emperor cares about the child in your belly, but I don't. The royal bloodline does not lack the one in your belly."
"Mother, she is about to give birth..."
The Queen Mother was extremely disappointed. She closed her eyes and did not delay any longer. Even if she died, she wanted her son to know the truth!
"Divine Doctor Yu."
Divine Doctor Yu bowed slightly, took out the cup that Nanny Yuxiang had given him from the medicine box, and looked at the emperor with a serious expression, "Is this what the emperor usually drinks?"
The emperor's eyes flickered. "What's wrong with that?"
Doctor Yu was a doctor, he knew what the red thing was without anyone telling him, he could smell the pungent smell of blood from a distance, to him this was a crooked way, as a doctor he could never accept it, so he even stiffened his voice, "Does the emperor know that musk is added to this drink?"
The emperor nodded, "I know, what's wrong?"
"Your Majesty, do you like eating garlic?"
The emperor frowned and said, "If you have something to say, just say it."
"Then I will speak frankly." Doctor Yu no longer wanted to hide anything. "Musk can make people feel refreshed, but if it is consumed with garlic for more than three months, it will cause internal organ failure. After four months, you may collapse at any time..."
"Nonsense!" The emperor sat up straight, his face full of anger. "My health has obviously improved a lot, how can there be the weakness you mentioned? Come, drive this quack out of the palace!"
"Then can you trust my words, my prince?"
"Mother!"
The Queen Mother looked at him steadily, her eyes sad, "You don't even believe what I say, but believe a woman of unknown origin, and let her play with you. Emperor, you have lived in vain for more than fifty years."
The emperor looked at Haoyue, and Haoyue raised her head to meet his gaze. She was not panicked, but was cold and stubborn. The emperor liked her like this the most, and the slight suspicion that had just arisen in her mind immediately disappeared.
"Mother, Haoyue is just not good at getting along with others. I know you don't like her, but she would never do such a thing..."
"Then I will let the prince see if she can do it and bring the person up."
The four senior palace maids of Ruyue Palace were pushed in, tied up. Their faces were neatly trimmed, even their hair was not at all messy, but from the way they walked it was clear that they were by no means unharmed.
"The Emperor should recognize them."
The emperor was very familiar with them and had even slept with two of them.
The Queen Mother looked at him and said coldly, "Say again what you said before."
The four maids all looked pale, and Haoyue's face was even paler than theirs. She immediately stiffened her neck and interrupted, "If the Queen Mother doesn't like me, she can just sentence me to death. Why did she torture the maids around me and frame me?"
Hua Zhi, who was standing in the corner, lowered her eyes. Haoyue had lost, and the emperor only had a quarter of an hour in total. If she could keep her composure and delay a little longer, there might be a turn for the better. As long as she could get a last will from the emperor to protect her, even if it was just verbal, neither the new emperor nor the queen mother could do anything to her. Unfortunately, she was too anxious.
The Queen Mother has spent her entire life in this palace. Since she already knew what Haoyue had done, how could she not know where to start to make a breakthrough? Haoyue is more foresighted than anyone else, but his experience in this deep palace is still too immature compared to the Queen Mother.
Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, the emperor's expression changed, and the empress dowager smiled coldly, lowered her eyes and put her hands into her sleeves, not wanting people to know how much self-control she had to use to control herself from rushing up and strangling Haoyue to death with her own hands.
Yuxiang stepped forward and said sternly, "Why don't you tell me everything you know!"
Several people shuddered, and one of them even fell to the ground. It was not until today that they truly witnessed the methods used in the deep palace. They also knew what it meant to be unable to live or die. No one could withstand those methods.
The person on the far left quietly raised her eyes to look at the Fourth Prince. Seeing that he didn't even look at her with an expressionless face, let alone offer a helping hand, she gritted her teeth and spoke, "This servant is so desperate. Every day I follow the Majesty's instructions to go to the kitchen and ask her to add more garlic. I have heard the Majesty say that the more garlic you put in, the better the effect."
Someone spoke up first, and the pressure on the others was immediately reduced. Someone immediately responded, "This servant is dead. This servant once followed the Empress and the Imperial Concubine to have a secret meeting."
"I am dying, my servant. I have never been favored by you. It was the Empress who ordered me to pretend to be favored so that you would feel energetic."
"I will never give up. I will see the Fourth Prince coming to the Ruyue Palace from time to time. The longest time I have been in the same room with the Queen is two hours before leaving..."
"Stop talking nonsense!" The Fourth Prince's face changed drastically. He immediately interrupted him, took a step forward, knelt down in front of the bed, and said angrily: "Father, please understand. How could your son, how could he meet with the queen in private!"
The emperor looked at him inscrutablely, but ignored him. Instead, he looked at the palace maids and said, "If you have anything else to say, tell me now."