Xing Nong had been out of the palace with several of her royal brothers these past few days, setting up the Four Seasons Formation on the imperial fields. She returned to the palace almost at dawn last night, so she slept late today. Now that she had woken up and heard that Shen Ruoxi was almost stung by a poisonous bee, she immediately headed to Kunning Palace.
In Kunning Palace, after the King of Jin helped Shen Ruoxi dry her hair, she tied a simple loose bun, with her long hair scattered on her back, and the whole person looked gentle and moving.
There were a lot of ice cubes in the room, and the coolness drove away the summer heat. The two of them had breakfast around a round table, which was very comfortable.
At this time, the palace maid came to report: "Your Majesty, Queen, Princess Xingnong is here."
Upon hearing this, the King of Jin's already gentle expression softened even more: "Please come in!"
Xing Nong could come in without notifying them, but if she knew that the King of Jin was there, she would have asked the palace maid to inform them for fear of disturbing their interest.
She had already asked the palace maid and knew that the two were having breakfast, so she walked straight in.
As soon as the King of Jin finished speaking, he saw Xingnong's figure. He asked happily, "Xingnong is awake?"
"Yeah." Xing Nong responded, and then greeted, "Mom."
Shen Ruoxi smiled and waved: "Are you up? Come over and have breakfast together. There are your favorite chive dumplings."
The palace maid immediately added a set of bowls.
Xing Nong followed his words and sat next to Shen Ruoxi.
The King of Jin felt a little jealous. Xing Nong had never called him father or dad until now, and he didn't know when he would get her approval.
Oh, my daughter is so hard to please!
But it was all his fault. He made the mother and daughter suffer so much. It was normal for the precious princess to blame him.
The King of Jin picked up a leek box and put it in Xingnong's bowl: "Xingnong, try it. It's made by the new imperial chef."
The King of Jin knew that the two were not used to Jin's food, so he specially asked people to find a few chefs from Chu. There were already a few before, but the dishes cooked by those Chu royal chefs were not authentic, and there was always something missing. This chef just arrived in the palace yesterday.
The King of Jin also likes to eat leek dumplings, but he likes the ones made by Xingnong. He always thinks the taste of others is not as good.
He grabbed one for himself, too.
Xing Nong picked up the kuaizi but didn't eat it. She asked, "Mom, were you almost stung by a black bee in the Imperial Garden just now?"
Shen Ruoxi nodded: “Well, luckily I ran fast. But someone was still stung.”
Shen Ruoxi still felt a little guilty. If she hadn't asked someone to cut the flower, the poisonous bee wouldn't have been alarmed.
Xing Nong: "How could there be a poisonous beehive in the Imperial Garden? How big is that beehive? As far as I know, after a beehive is formed, there will often be several bees flying in and out of the beehive. The flowers in the Imperial Garden are looked after every day. Didn't anyone find the beehive?"
Shen Ruoxi also knew that there would often be bees flying around near a hive, but he would never see them in swarms. He would only often see one or two bees flying around, with a higher frequency than usual. An experienced person would know that there must be a hive nearby.
When I was a child, there were often bees building beehives under the eaves and fruit trees at home, so Shen Ruoxi knew about it. But people who have never seen it may not know it.
She said, "Perhaps the gardener of the Imperial Garden is unaware of this situation! After all, there are many flowers in the Imperial Garden, and it is summer now, so it is not surprising to see bees, wasps, butterflies and the like flying around. Those poisonous bees rarely build nests under flowers, and generally prefer tall trees."
Xing Nong didn't think that the gardener of the Imperial Garden wouldn't be unaware of this. After all, the Imperial Garden was so large, and it couldn't be just one person who took care of the flowers there. She asked, "Don't the gardeners of the Imperial Garden know how to drive away snakes and insects every summer?"
Not to mention poisonous bees, honey bees shouldn't even appear in the imperial garden!
If they sting the master in the palace, can they afford it
Xingnong knew that the gardener who looked after the garden in Xingyuan was very careful. He checked the flowers carefully every day to see if there were any bugs and the soil to see if there were any snakes, insects, rats or ants.
She had never seen even an ant in the Star Garden!
In the garden, apart from butterflies, dragonflies, birds, and non-toxic creatures like cicadas, there was not a single bee.
Because once it appears, it will be captured or killed by the servants.
The King of Jin was suspicious to begin with, but he was not familiar with beehives. After hearing what Xing Nong said, his face darkened: "Don't worry, my father has already sent someone to investigate, and the person has now been taken to the Ministry of Punishment."
In addition to taking care of the flowers, the gardeners in the imperial garden were also responsible for driving away snakes, insects, rats and ants to prevent them from scaring or biting the masters in the palace.
Why does he keep them if he can't even find a beehive
Of course, if someone deliberately left a beehive to harm others, then she should just wait to die!
Generally speaking, those who were sent to the Ministry of Punishment could not bear the torture and told the truth. After all, the eunuchs and maids in the palace were not specially trained secret guards, and they could not stand the torture.
Xingnong didn't say anything after hearing this. When the family finished breakfast, the eunuch beside the king of Jin came back.
He told her the whole story of what happened today: "... Concubine An showed up because Concubine Li asked her if the palace dress from the Clothing Bureau had been delivered. Concubine An thought that it had been several days since she had been measured and her belly had grown bigger. She was worried that her belly was too big to fit, so she went to the Clothing Bureau to check in person, and that's why she showed up in the Imperial Garden."
"As for the beehive in the Imperial Garden, a gardener there confessed after he was sent to the Ministry of Punishment."
As for why the eunuch confessed only after being sent to the Ministry of Punishment, it was because he did not say anything during normal questioning, and only spoke after arriving at the Ministry of Punishment.
"He said that Concubine Li asked him to keep the beehive, saying that the black bees and bee pupae can be used as medicine to cure headaches. Moreover, this kind of black bees is very rare, and the bee pupae are even rarer. I asked the imperial physician, and he said that it can indeed be used as medicine to treat headaches. Concubine Li has always had headaches, and the imperial hospital also has a pulse case. Does the emperor need to invite Concubine Li and Concubine Li to come and ask questions?"
The King of Jin said coldly, "No need! Pass down the decree. Concubine Li plotted to murder the Queen and the heir to the throne. She will be demoted to a commoner and given fifty lashes of the cane and banished to the cold palace! Concubine An will be confined to her house for ten months and demoted to a talented lady! Any gardener who knows of the existence of a beehive will be beaten to death!"
"Yes!" He was beaten with fifty sticks and banished to the cold palace. It could be said that his life was in danger!
Shen Ruoxi was shocked when she heard about the caning: "There is no need for caning, right? Is this punishment too severe? Is this a coincidence?"
The King of Jin held her hand and said: "Killing one will serve as a warning to the rest!"
Too many coincidences! It's impossible for them to be coincidences.
The beehive was left by Concubine Li. The peonies where the beehive was found happened to be in bloom, so Concubine Li persuaded Concubine An to go to the clothing bureau. Going from the harem to the clothing bureau happened to pass through the Imperial Garden, and the path along the peony patch was the shortest. The Queen would go to admire the peonies every day, cut the flowers and put them in a vase in her room. If you ask around, you will know.
Besides, even if Concubine Li really wanted to use black bees to treat headaches, why did she leave the hive in the flowers? Why didn’t she ask anyone to alert the other concubines
And she wanted black bees, so she asked people to find them. Didn't she know that the beehives were left in the imperial garden? Those black bees flying around were very likely to sting people
This kind of calculation is not smart at all!
Shen Ruoxi looked at Xing Nong.
Xing Nongdan said, "Is it serious? It is a serious crime of murdering the heir to the throne and killing all nine generations of the clan."
This is a world where imperial power is supreme!
The King of Jin nodded and said, "Yes, I have shown leniency!" This is because even though Concubine Li's father had no merit, he had worked hard over the years!
Shen Ruoxi: “… .”
,