Forbidden Autumn, Summer, Winter and Spring Rebirth

The mung bean soup was delivered. The third elder brother was eating in his room. Hearing that the fourth elder brother was still studying, he sent a young eunuch to deliver it to the fourth elder brother.

Fortunately, the fourth brother warmed the book carefully. After taking the mung bean soup, he only tasted a few mouthfuls and continued to warm the book. Before he could continue to drink the mung bean soup, he felt abdominal pain like cramping, and then he started to sweat.

The imperial doctor came and found that the poison in the mung bean soup was an ordinary arsenic poison. Fortunately, the fourth elder brother did not take much. He gave the fourth elder brother an injection, induced vomiting, and made an antidote for him to drink. The poison will be cured.

The emperor was furious after hearing this and ordered Concubine Duan and Concubine Hui to investigate the matter thoroughly.

Concubine Qi and the third elder brother naturally complained about injustice. Concubine Duan, Concubine Hui, and Concubine Jing investigated for several days. They confiscated all the people who were close to Concubine Qi and the maid who brought soup to them. Qi Concubine's Changchun Palace ended up with nothing.

The people in the Changchun Palace did not admit anything useful even after being tortured. The palace was searched, but no poisons such as arsenic were found. There is no record of the arsenic received by the Imperial Hospital.

This is strange. Could it be that the arsenic appeared for no reason?

However, the records of the Taiyuan Hospital recorded that a few days ago, an old eunuch from the greenhouse received some arsenic for the purpose of killing termites.

Someone was sent for interrogation. The time to collect the arsenic was half a month ago, and it had already been used up. The old eunuch was old and his hair was much whiter. Only when he thought carefully did he remember that he had collected arsenic from the Imperial Hospital.

When everyone arrived at the Old Summer Palace, it was found in the records of the Taiyuan Hospital that only the old eunuch had received arsenic, but how much and where it was used cannot be verified now.

The matter had no clue at this point. Concubine Duan, Concubine Jing, and Concubine Hui sat together and discussed for a long time, but they still didn't know where to start.

"The old eunuch is from the Old Summer Palace. Although Concubine Qi has lived in the palace for a long time, it cannot be ruled out that she has old acquaintances with the people in the Old Summer Palace. And the fourth elder brother has grown up in the Old Summer Palace, so he cannot escape the suspicion. If it is said that it is It makes sense that someone planned this matter and wanted to take the opportunity to drive a wedge between Qi Concubine, mother and son, and Fourth Brother." Shen Meizhuang analyzed with a frown.

Concubine Duan and Concubine Jing both nodded in agreement.

"Now we have to leave this matter to the Emperor to decide." Concubine Jing said thoughtfully.

Concubine Duan also had no choice but to say, "I think so too. If it involves deeper secrets, I'm afraid the emperor doesn't want to make the inside story public."

A few days later, the case was concluded. It was the eunuch serving the fourth elder brother who came into contact with arsenic and then touched the bowl of mung bean soup that the fourth elder brother had, which caused the poisoning of the fourth elder brother.

The eunuch was naturally killed with a cane, but what no one knew was that an old eunuch with gray hair in the flower room quietly lost his breath. He reported his sudden death to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and someone came to deal with the old eunuch's death. funeral affairs.

Since the case was settled, Si Age was in panic every day. He went to Qingyan in Kyushu many times to seek an audience, but the emperor was closed in on him and he didn't even get a word from him.

The fourth elder brother is naturally smart. He knew the outcome of this incident, and the emperor had already spared him. The little eunuch who was killed with a stick next to him was the emperor's warning to him, and the old eunuch who died suddenly in the flower room was a warning to him. , the emperor saved some dignity for him.

Regarding this matter, the fourth elder brother could probably guess some holy intentions. Perhaps the emperor did not want to see their brothers turn against each other.

If this happens and Concubine Qi is convicted of murdering the emperor's heir, there will be no good end even if she is not punished with death. By then, the fourth and third elder brothers will no longer be brothers, but eternal enemies. . After he had recovered his health, the fourth elder brother immediately brought a gift and asked to see Qi Concubine in person to apologize.

After this incident, Qi Concubine was still frightened to death, but when she saw Si Age asking for permission in a humble manner and saying a lot of comforting words, she gradually felt relieved.

"Ms. Qi is frightened this time. It turns out that the people around her son are useless, and Ming Qi has been implicated. Ming Qi's love for her son will be remembered in her heart. This time, it's not just Mang Qi, my third brother, but also me." It's an innocent disaster. I hope Empress Qi won't blame her. Her son has prepared some small gifts. Empress Qi doesn't mind it, so she can fulfill her son's guilt." What she said was so sincere and flawless that Qi Bin's eyes filled with tears. .

The horror and despair in my heart for many days, and the fear after the case was concluded, were mostly gone at this time.

The third elder brother and the fourth elder brother shook hands and made peace, and Qi Concubine no longer lived in panic.

This time, Si Age also prepared rewards and gifts for the palace officials in Changchun Palace who were tried in the Shenxing Division for this case. This move won a lot of praise.

Qi Bin was still immersed in the joy of surviving a catastrophe, and she did not realize at all that the fourth elder brother was much better than her third elder brother in terms of conduct and dealing with others.

Naturally, the inside story of this matter cannot be hidden from Concubine Jing, Hui Fei, Xia Dongchun and the others.

Concubine Jing and Concubine Hui reviewed the case and personally handed it over to the emperor, and the emperor's handling of the matter showed everything.

Concubine Hui mentioned another matter. In the first few years, the fourth prince had just moved from the Old Summer Palace to the Forbidden City. He often went to the Yangxin Hall to ask for an audience with the emperor, but he was always not summoned.

At that time, she was still a concubine, and there was no Jinghe on her knees. She met Si Age several times and said a few words.

At that time, she felt that the fourth elder brother was a little clever and clever for his age. He said some kind and complimentary words and seemed extremely sensible. She asked Shen Meizhuang to convey his filial piety to the emperor.

At that time, she only thought that the children in the palace were precocious and the fourth elder brother was also a son who missed his father eagerly. She knew that one time, the fourth elder brother looked forward to Shen Meizhuang and said pitifully: "Empress Hui treats her children so well. Empress Hui is so gentle, it would be great if Empress Hui were my empress."

Shen Meizhuang felt sympathy at that time, but he immediately stopped what he said for fear of being overheard by others.

Looking back now, it must have been intentional to be able to get close to her and say such endearing words.

When Concubine Ji heard what Shen Meizhuang said, she responded immediately, "He also said that to me."

Everyone was a little stunned. Concubine Ji continued, "I had just entered the palace at that time, and I thought Si Age was clever and cute, and he was good at reading. At that time, I also knew that the emperor did not like Si Age's background, but he also looked at him. He was pitiful, and I was more courageous, so I couldn't bear his pleading and led him to meet the emperor several times, but the emperor was not angry, he only said that I was happy."

Ji Bin took a sip of tea and continued, "Later, the fourth elder brother became attached to me. I also felt that the fourth elder brother had no mother, and I was favored but had nothing to do. I really should avoid suspicion, so I deliberately stayed away. He is dead. The children in the palace are all precocious, which is indeed good, but the fourth elder brother is much smarter than the third elder brother after all, and he is also smart. You can tell just by looking at his homework. "