Concubine Ning Guifei's complexion turned pale, her knees became soft, and there was a "buzz" in her mind, and she looked at Emperor Chongzhen in panic.
The emperor walked into the palace, followed by two palace servants in red clothes.
Only then did Concubine Ning remember that the emperor said that he would come to her place today, but how could it be so early? Half an hour earlier than usual. She opened her mouth, her lips whispered: "Your Majesty..."
Emperor Chongzhen didn't look at her, but looked down at Qing Fei who was lying on the ground, and asked coldly, "Is what you just said true?"
Qing Fei lowered her head and kowtowed to the emperor in fear, "Reporting to Your Majesty, what the woman said is true, if there is even a little bit of falsehood, the woman will suffer a terrible death..."
"Shut up!" Ning Guifei scolded angrily, then turned her head to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, don't listen to this crazy woman. I don't know her before, so how do I know why she appeared in the palace? Someone must be asking for it." Framed on me… "
Emperor Chongzhen glanced at her indifferently, and said, "I didn't ask you."
Concubine Ning was terrified by this look, her eyes turned red immediately.
"Tell me about what happened back then." Emperor Chongzhen stood with his hands behind his back, closed his eyes, and said in a suppressed voice, "How did Liuli get poisoned?"
Qing Fei said yes, and recounted the events of the year: "It was Princess Liuli's birthday banquet at that time, and the slaves were ordered by the empress..."
On the day of Zhao Liuli's first birthday party, she was taken to the warm pavilion by the nanny to drink milk, and then fell asleep slowly. Concubine Shu became very curious and wanted to go to the warm pavilion to see the little princess, so Empress Chen asked her to accompany her to go in and watch for a while. After Concubine Shu left, Qing Fei came to the Nuan Pavilion, and the other two maids dismissed the maids of the Nuan Pavilion. She walked into the Nuan Pavilion, pried open Zhao Liuli's small mouth, and applied the poison on Zhao Liuli's tongue. A child who has just turned one year old must be crying very hard, his voice is soft and soft, like a sick kitten, very pitiful. Qing Fei was ruthless at the time, after doing all this, she quietly exited the Nuan Pavilion.
Afterwards, something happened to Zhao Liuli, and the crime naturally fell on Concubine Shu, because she was the only one who went in and out of the warm pavilion at that time. Concubine Shu refused to admit it to death, calling her wronged, but no one believed her words at all, they only thought she was sophistry, and Emperor Chongzhen did the same, giving her to death in the palace with a glass of poisoned wine.
Qing Fei's voice became lower and lower: "... this servant has been living in self-blame all these years, and this servant is ashamed of the Sixth Princess."
Emperor Chongzhen's fist behind him was clenched tighter and tighter, and the back of his hand was covered with criss-cross veins, which looked quite terrifying. With his eyes closed and his face covered with frost, he asked word by word: "Concubine Ning, what else do you want to say?"
Ning Guifei knelt down in front of the emperor and said with tears streaming down her face: "Your Majesty cannot listen to this woman's one-sided words. I really don't know her, but I don't know why she keeps slandering me..."
Emperor Chongzhen opened his eyes, looked at her and asked, "You don't know her?"
Concubine Ning Gui kept shaking her head, "I don't know."
Emperor Chongzhen sneered, waved his sleeves and said, "Then call the female officer from Shanggong Bureau, I want to see if there is such a person!"
Not long after, the female officer from the Shang Palace Bureau hurried over, holding a booklet recording all the maidservants in the palace. Knowing the emperor's order, the female official hurriedly flipped through the booklet, and quickly stopped on one page, "Return to Your Majesty, Concubine Ning Guifei did arrange three maids out of the palace in the tenth year of Yuanjia, and Qing Fei was one of them." 1. There is a mole on the palm of Qing Fei's palm, Your Majesty can examine it personally."
Emperor Chongzhen lowered his eyes and looked at Qing Fei, "Open your hands."
Qing Fei spread her hands as she said, and saw a black mole on the palm of her left hand, which was particularly conspicuous under the candlelight.
Concubine Ning Gui fell to the ground, as if all her strength had been drained.
Emperor Chongzhen withdrew his gaze, and when he looked at Concubine Ning Gui again, there was only cold disappointment in his eyes. He suddenly remembered what Empress Chen had said to him at that time. At that time, they were lying on the same bed, and their relationship was not as rigid as it is now. Empress Chen begged him to re-investigate the Liuli poisoning incident. She suspected that the matter was not as simple as it seemed, because Concubine Ning's maid was also present. That was the first and only time she showed weakness in front of him. Now that I think about it, her expression was so helpless at that time, and she pinned all her hopes on him. But as for him, not only did he not investigate, he also blamed her for thinking too much, calling her "a shadow of a snake". In addition, at that time, Empress Chen's mother's family became more and more powerful, and he was jealous. On the surface, he didn't like to spoil her too much, and he wanted to promote Concubine Ning's mother's family, so he often stayed in Concubine Ning's palace overnight. Do you love Concubine Ning
Later, Empress Chen never mentioned it again.
Emperor Chongzhen opened his mouth and said hoarsely, "Come here."
Two palace servants came in, "See Your Majesty."
"From today onwards, the title of Concubine Ning will be revoked, she will be reduced to a commoner, and she will be temporarily imprisoned in the Nianjin Palace," said the emperor.
Ning cried out, "Your Majesty!"
Although the name of the Nianjin Palace sounds good, it is no different from the Leng Palace. There is no special place called Leng Gong in the palace. Such a palace is not lived in all year round, and it is remote and cold, so it is used as a Leng Palace. The concubines who made mistakes and fell out of favor in the past dynasties all went there without exception.
Emperor Chongzhen was unmoved, Ning stepped forward and grabbed his sleeve, but he brushed it off mercilessly. Ning struggled to death, "This concubine is dedicated to His Majesty. Your Majesty said at the beginning that no matter what mistakes I have made, you will forgive me..."
Emperor Chongzhen frowned, probably forgot that he had said this before, and looked at her expressionlessly, "I can forgive you, or I can abolish you. Even dare to poison my daughter, do you think I will Will you let me go?"
The palace servants supported Ning Shi's shoulders from left to right, and led Ning Shi out of the hall.
Perhaps she never imagined that she would be demoted from the aloof concubine Ning to a commoner overnight.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at Qing Fei with gloomy eyes, and said, "Take this person to the clan mansion, he will be cut alive!"
Qing Fei trembled, her face pale.
After everyone left, the hall was empty, only the emperor was left, and the servants who were serving in the hall knelt outside, fearing that something wrong with the emperor would implicate all of them. Fortunately, the emperor still had reason, stood in the hall for a while, and then walked out slowly.
Eunuch Chu went up to meet him and asked, "Your Majesty, where are you going?"
Emperor Chongzhen paused and said after a long time, "Go to Zhaoyang Hall."
The lights in Zhaoyang Hall were turned off early, and from a distance, only the octagonal palace lanterns in the corridor were still on. The two maidservants guarding the gate were drowsy, but when they saw the emperor coming, they woke up from their doze, and said tittily, "See Your Majesty..."
Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and looked into the palace, "Where's the queen?"
The palace maid lowered her head, "Report to Your Majesty, Your Majesty has already rested."
The other one had a bit of sharp eyesight, and hurriedly said: "Young maidservant, go in and wake up your mother."
Emperor Chongzhen called her to stop, and said slowly after a while: "No need, I will go in and stand for a while before leaving." After saying that, she walked inside.
The two maidservants looked at each other, since His Majesty came to see the Empress late at night, why didn't he sleep here
Emperor Chongzhen stood by the bed, pushed aside layers of gilded curtains, and saw Empress Chen sleeping soundly inside. The light in the hall was dim, only the moonlight from the window fell on the ground, but there was no lamp. He remembered that she used to sleep with a light on, because the killings in the first half of her life were too heavy, and she would feel unsafe without a light.
When did she no longer need to light the lamp? How much had he missed her
The emperor sat on the edge of the bed, stretched out his finger and touched Empress Chen's cheek, his voice was low and hoarse in the night: "Wanwan, I'm late."
Empress Chen frowned, and the emperor froze, thinking she was awake, but she just turned over and said in pain, "Liuli..."
The emperor's hands froze in mid-air.
Liuli, their Liuli.
The emperor's hands slowly closed, tightly holding the golden nanmu on the bed, and snapped off a piece of the wood.
Today is the Lantern Festival, and the servants of Prince Jing's Mansion are all beaming with joy, looking happier than New Year's Eve. That's natural. Everyone has half a day off on the Lantern Festival. They are naturally happy to be able to go home and visit their families.
Wei Luo was no longer interested in such a day, and it happened that the people from Xiuchun Residence sent her all the clothes over today, so she went to look at the clothes in the room. After counting, there were eighteen sets of clothes, twelve pairs of shoes, sixteen yuan handkerchiefs, eighteen round fans, and these were just spring shirts. Wei Luo looked at each piece one by one, and found that each piece was of the same style, with meticulous workmanship and intricate patterns. The level of detail was truly unmatched by other shops.
Wei Luo stood in front of Luo Hantao, thinking about which clothes should go with which pair of shoes, and which handkerchief should go with it. She was so serious that she left Zhao Jie on the side in the cold.
"Have you chosen?" Zhao Jie whispered into her ear.
Wei Luo turned her head to look at him, and looked him up and down: "Are you going out?" She was dressed so neatly, but she didn't hear that he was going out just now.
Zhao Jie squeezed her palm, "Today is the Lantern Festival, I will take you out for a walk. Are you bored now?"
They just came back from Tongzhou to celebrate the new year. They have been busy for a few days, and they caught up with the spring rain a few days ago, so they could only stay in the house. Today the weather is hard to see.
Wei Luo looked at him and asked unhurriedly, "What did you just say?"
Zhao Jie thought about it for a while, and soon realized what the little girl was referring to. He dragged her to him, rubbed her little face, "Is my husband taking you out for a walk?"
Wei Luo didn't like him calling "my lord" in front of her. It's fine if he wasn't married before, but he's still like this when he's married. It's obvious that he's putting on airs. Wei Luo didn't give Zhao Jie a chance to put on airs at all, and asked him to change his words. He changed his words, but sometimes inadvertently, he would still call himself "the king", and he didn't mean to put on airs on purpose. It won't change for a while.
Wei Luo lowered the corner of her mouth, "There are some things I haven't asked you yet."
Zhao Jie sat on the couch, sandwiched her between, and swayed her lips and said: "What do you want to ask?"
Wei Luo raised her eyes, her long and curled eyelashes resembled the wings of a phoenix butterfly, and the butterfly flew away from the water, revealing her blue eyes. She said: "Concubine Ning has been demoted to a commoner, do you know?"
Zhao Jie's complexion did not change, but the smile on his lips faded, and he nodded.
"That Chang family, you arranged to enter the palace?" Wei Luo asked.
Zhao Jie still nodded.
Wei Luo frowned, "Based on the confession of Mrs. Chang alone, the evidence is definitely insufficient. Can the other two court ladies who were accomplices back then be found?"
Zhao Jie's eyes were a little ironic, and he said casually: "After the father knows the truth, he will definitely send someone to find these two people." When he mentioned Emperor Chongzhen, he had this expression.
Hearing this, Wei Luo felt at ease. In any case, Concubine Ning couldn't get up at all, and as for the fifth prince, he would probably not be reused by Emperor Chongzhen again. Wei Luo looked at Zhao Jie in front of him, could it be that he is going to be the emperor in the future? Will she become queen then
This experience is really new.
Wei Luo straddled Zhao Jie, staring up at him.
Zhao Jie laughed, "What are you looking at?"
Wei Luo narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Look at my husband."