Harem for a living

Chapter 131

When I arrived at Chengqian Palace, I saw the emperor and the empress sitting at the top, with Concubine Yang Shufei Cheng Zhaoyi on one side, concubine Liu Concubine Wei and Concubine Song Zhaoyi and Wang Zhaoyi on the other side, Concubine Chang and Concubine Hui were kneeling in the middle. The two maids are Concubine Fu's eldest maid Xueqing and Xueming.

Chen Manrou stepped forward to salute, the queen nodded and signaled her to sit under Concubine Yang.Then she turned her head and asked Xueqing: "Your mother said that Concubine Hui and Concubine Chang conspired to kill her, but what evidence do you have?"

"Our concubine has evidence. Concubine Hui invited us to visit the Imperial Garden before. Concubine Hui never showed up until our concubine fell. If it wasn't for Concubine Hui's plan in advance, how could the timing be so coincidental? Later, Empress Empress, you said that you don’t want to pursue it, so our empress didn’t think about it anymore, but I didn’t expect that Empress Hui was so vicious that she conspired with Empress Chang to kill the little prince in our empress’ belly. Please, Your Majesty. Make the decision for our empress."

Xueqing is a slick tonguer. She first said that the empress did not fulfill her duties last time, and then planted the root of the disaster, and then directly begged the emperor, making it clear that she did not trust the empress.This said, as long as the emperor is slightly dissatisfied with the queen, it is possible for concubine Fu to achieve her goal.

The queen is not good, what is the biggest benefit of dealing with the concubine?
The queen once said that the virtuous concubine was not virtuous and moral, so she demoted the virtuous concubine to Fu concubine.If the empress is not virtuous, it means that what the empress said before is not true, it is only because the empress is dissatisfied with concubine Xian and is jealous. Firstly, it can wash away the original charges of concubine Xian, and secondly, it can damage the queen's reputation. It was Concubine Lian Hui and Concubine Chang who fought together.

If it was really kind, Chen Manrou had no choice but to applaud Jin Yao's plan.

This is not playing tricks, but people's hearts.

The queen turned her head and glanced at the emperor, and after a while she sighed and said: "Your Majesty, since Concubine Fu suspects that my concubine is playing for personal gain and perverting the law, then I will not be able to take care of this matter, Your Majesty, do you want someone else to interrogate you?" What about this time?"

The emperor touched the mustache on his chin. Since last year, the emperor has grown a beard. After a year, the mustache has become quite stylish.Chen Manrou occasionally saw the emperor touching his mustache, and couldn't help laughing.

An uncle in his thirties, handsome, strong and straight, but with a mustache on his face, he looked really ridiculous.

"Zitong has always been dignified and wise. I trust you, and then I entrusted you to take care of this harem. Zitong has always done a good job and has never made any mistakes." The emperor said slowly, the snow below Qing Xueming's face was already showing a little color.

What the emperor said, if you savor it carefully, isn't it a precursor to pursue it?
"This time..." The emperor paused, and the empress looked a little nervous. The emperor took a sip from the teacup on the table, then put down the teacup and said, "This time is no exception. I believe that the empress will definitely give you I have a real interrogation result."

The queen breathed a sigh of relief, but Xueqing and Xueming on the ground changed their expressions.Before they arranged the empress like that, it was to let another person interrogate, and by the way, make the emperor a little suspicious of the empress.

But I didn't expect that the emperor trusted the queen to such an extent that he didn't even have the slightest suspicion, and instead handed over all this matter to the queen.The queen must be very unhappy about what happened just now, but this is going to be bad, maybe the queen will come back with revenge.

"The emperor trusts my concubine, it's my honor. However, since Concubine Fu said that she doesn't trust concubine, I can only find a way to reassure Concubine Fu." The queen smiled slightly, her eyes swept over the group of people below, looking Looking at Chen Manrou, she turned her head and said, "Managing the harem is a concubine's duty. The emperor has given this responsibility to the concubine, and the concubine can't just ignore everything. The emperor, I would like to ask you to give me some grace."

"Tell me." The emperor nodded and said, the queen pointed to Chen Manrou and Yang Guifei: "I want Chen Guifei and Yang Guifei to interrogate this matter together. Don't believe me?"

The emperor looked at Xue Qing and Xue Ming who were kneeling on the ground: "How does Concubine Fu feel?"

Xueqing kowtowed, stepped back into the inner room, and came out again not long after: "Return to the words of the emperor and empress empress, our empress said, but the emperor makes the decision, and empress believes that the emperor will definitely do it for the unlucky little prince." It's up to you."

The emperor turned to look at the queen again: "In this case, I will leave this matter to Zitong. I still have something to do, so I won't delay here."

The queen stood up and bowed to the emperor: "I will definitely not let down the trust of the emperor. State affairs are the most important thing, so I will not send the concubine to the emperor."

The emperor got up, walked to Yang Guifei and Chen Manrou, paused and said: "You two must take good care of your mistress, don't make her too tired."

"Yes, the concubine will definitely take good care of the empress." Chen Manrou hurriedly stood up and saluted with Concubine Yang, watched the emperor go out, and then bowed to the empress from left to right: "If the empress has anything to do, just tell the concubine to do it." That's it."

"The emperor values ​​the empress's body, and the empress should not be too tired." Chen Manrou blinked at the empress, and the empress laughed: "You are narrow-minded, don't worry, with you two capable people here, even if I don't want to rest, I can't sleep." No more rest. Concubine Chen Gui, tell me first, how should this matter be interrogated?"

Chen Manrou hesitated for a moment, and then replied respectfully: "My lady, I think we should let the three of them speak their own evidence first, and then confirm them one by one. lie."

Those who lie are likely to be the real murderers.

Concubine Yang snorted coldly: "Sister Chen's method may not work. The three of them quarreled for a long time, and what they talked about was only verbal speculation. The so-called evidence is only guessed by myself, so it is not accurate. Evidence can be turned over casually, if you prove it one by one, I'm afraid you won't be able to prove it by standing here until tomorrow morning."

"Then Sister Yang, tell me, how should we interrogate this matter?" Chen Manrou was not angry, she understood that Concubine Yang Guifei had always had such a bad temper, and she would quarrel even when she had nothing to do, except for being very gentle and kind to the emperor. Unexpectedly, to other people, it is a volcano that can erupt at any time, and it is always spewing flames.

Sometimes Chen Manrou is very curious about how this unique character is formed.

"If you want me to say, we should first start with the reason for Concubine Fu's miscarriage, and then arrest and interrogate all the people in Concubine Fu's palace, as well as Concubine Chang and Concubine Hui. What, who has been in contact with others, and what they said and did, and then we will see who is the most suspicious."

Concubine Yang cast a sideways glance at Chen Manrou, then turned and said to the queen.

This method is also very good. The Queen only pondered for a while, then nodded and said: "Let me tell you, these two methods are very good. If you don't use the two methods at the same time, Chen Guifei is responsible for inquiring about the matter. Yang Guifei It is responsible for the investigation of the cause and accountability, and the two sides will share their photos, so as to avoid people saying that the palace is favoritism."

Chen Manrou and Concubine Yang Gui had no choice but to take orders, leaving only the queen sitting and drinking tea in the main hall, and the two of them were running around to prepare for the trial.

Chen Manrou asked Concubine Chang and Concubine Hui to be invited to the two outer rooms, separated them, and then entered the inner room.Concubine Fu was lying on the bed with a white cloth towel tied on her forehead, her face was pale, her eyes were red and swollen, she was staring at the top of the bed with a lifeless expression.

"Concubine Fu, you are still young and in good health. You can give birth to a child for a while, and you will naturally be able to conceive the little prince again." Sitting by the bed, Chen Manrou comforted Concubine Fu routinely. Someone was there, and she didn't even want to say these two comforting words.

Although the matter of murdering Xiao Si had been dealt with before, Concubine Fu only gave up her position as a virtuous concubine and did not suffer much harm, so she always disliked Concubine Fu.

However, if it is not pleasing to the eye, it is not pleasing to the eye, Chen Manrou will never take the initiative to reach out to murder the prince.She never felt that what a person did would never be exposed one day, even if it was for Xiao Si, she would not let her hands be stained with blood.

Concubine Fu heard the voice, turned her head to look, saw that it was Chen Manrou, resentment flashed in her eyes, she immediately closed her eyes, bit her lips and did not speak.Chen Manrou guessed that Concubine Fu was struggling in her heart at this moment, should she scold herself first, or cry first.

I don't like Concubine Fu, and likewise, Concubine Fu doesn't like me, who has become a noble concubine in a short period of time.

After about a cup of tea, even the maid standing beside Concubine Fu's bed became anxious, Concubine Fu's eyelids trembled twice, and she slowly opened her eyes: "Young concubine, please help me!" The concubine is in charge."

After saying that, she got up and wanted to salute Chen Manrou, but Chen Manrou quickly stretched out her hand to hold her down: "I don't care about this son's hypocrisy. If you are inconvenient, just lie down and don't need to get up to salute."

In my heart, I admired Concubine Fu for being able to restrain her temper when she lost her child. She really deserves to be a "virtuous and virtuous" person well-known in the capital.

"I came here at the order of the empress. I want to know what happened. Concubine Fu, why do you suspect Concubine Hui and Concubine Chang? How did today's incident happen?"

Chen Manrou stood up and saluted to the main hall, then sat down and asked.Concubine Fu blinked, and a string of teardrops followed: "Since the Empress has dismissed my concubine's greetings, my concubine is usually in Chengqian Palace and stays at home. This morning, my concubine had breakfast, just like in the past. , planning to take a walk in the yard, so as to be active. But after walking a few steps, I suddenly felt a stomachache, and then I saw Hong. Xueqing, who was next to my concubine, immediately went to ask for an imperial doctor, but there was no time. When the imperial doctor came, the concubine had already passed out from the pain, and the imperial doctor just said, child, child..."

Concubine Fu was crying badly, and Chen Manrou didn't want to urge her, so she just motioned for the maid next to her to pass Concubine Fu a handkerchief, and the maid half-supported Concubine Fu's shoulder and comforted her: "Mother, don't be too sad, you and your concubine have a good talk. Say it, so as to avenge the little prince's grievances."

Concubine Fu cried for a while, rubbed her eyes and nose with a handkerchief: "I was not reconciled, so I asked the imperial doctor the reason for the miscarriage. The imperial doctor said that it was because I ate something containing safflower. Your concubine, please be careful. , The things I have here are all delivered from the imperial dining room, and the small kitchen has not been tampered with. It can't be something about the food, so I thought that before I had breakfast, I had put on lip balm, so , My concubine quickly asked the imperial doctor to look at the lip balm, and sure enough, the imperial doctor said that the lip balm was mixed with safflower. That lip balm was sent by Concubine Hui."

Chen Manrou took a closer look at Concubine Fu's complexion, she didn't put rouge and powder on it, but there were traces of lipstick on the corners of her lips.She frowned slightly, Concubine Fu was careful, she didn't use rouge, but why did she only use that rouge?
"The imperial doctor hasn't left yet?" Chen Manrou didn't want to delve into the reason why Concubine Fu used lip balm, so she asked another question. Concubine Fu nodded, saying that the imperial doctor was still waiting in the side hall.

"Concubine Fu, you said that the balm was given by Concubine Hui, so why do you say that Concubine Chang also wants to harm you?" Chen Manrou asked people to find the imperial doctor, and then asked Concubine Fu.Concubine Fu gritted her teeth with resentment on her face and said, "The imperial doctor said that there is Yulu ointment in the lip balm. There are no more than five people in the entire palace who have Yulu ointment. Empress Empress and Concubine Chen Guifei, you are not Concubine Hui gave Yulu ointment, and Concubine Yang’s Yulu ointment was absolutely impossible to give to Concubine Hui. The concubine asked someone to inquire. A few days ago, Concubine Chang gave Concubine Hui a bottle of Yulu ointment. It was not the two of them colluding, it was what?"

(End of this chapter)