Xian Fei's lips moved, about to say something, but was interrupted by Su Jing.

  "But someone doesn't believe that the palace maid who was sent to the Ministry of Punishment by me this morning has already confessed, and there is already a witness. As for physical evidence, we still need to trouble Sister Shu," Su Jing said with a faint glance at Xian Fei.

  Xian Fei's heart was blocked and she didn't dare speak again. Saying more would inevitably lead to trouble, and she didn't want to bring it upon herself.

  "The Empress has already sent people to search several palaces when you came to Chonghua Palace this morning, and I suppose there should be results by now," said Consort Shu with a gentle opening of her vermilion lips, her clear voice devoid of any tone. "This is permitted by the Emperor, so you need not have any complaints."

  Everyone heard that Empress Shu had taken advantage of their absence to conduct a thorough search, and after entering the palace for so long, more or less everyone had some secrets they couldn't let others see. If she were to search the palace like this, wouldn't everything be exposed?

  But this last sentence, however, was to block them, except for Shu Guifei, the only one who could take charge of them was left with the Emperor, but it was precisely the Emperor who allowed it, wasn't it letting them have nowhere to turn.

  If they had just been frightened by Shu Fei's outburst, now they were truly pale and uneasy.

  There was no longer any desire to watch the excitement, nor was there a desire to argue whether Concubine Shu had really done something and been discovered, or if she had been framed.

  Qiao Jing's gaze swept over the people present, "Let the eunuchs who searched the palace come in. Also, send someone to see if the Emperor is free. If he is, please ask him to come over personally."

  Shu Gui Fei, even with greater power and holding the imperial seal of the empress, was not the empress herself and did not have such great authority to dispose of Shu Fei.

  "The slave pays his respects to the Honorable Consort Shu and all the other consorts, masters," a eunuch walked in, followed by two other eunuchs, carrying a large box.

  It wasn't just Su Jing who recognized the head eunuch, but others did as well. He was Xiao Shazi, the second most trusted eunuch by the Emperor after Su Shunqian. Previously, he had been worried that Consort Shu would show favoritism, and if his own misdeeds were discovered, he could shift the blame to someone else's frame-up.

  But now who dares to use this trick, isn't that equivalent to suspecting the emperor of being partial?

  "Your Highness, I brought a group of servants to search the palace and we did find something," Xiaozhi said with a bow.

  "Shu sister, let's wait until the emperor arrives and see what kind of thing it is," Su Jing suddenly said.

  Qiao Jingyu was taken aback for a moment, then reacted and said, "As sister says, let's wait for the emperor to arrive first."

  Others might have wanted to argue, but when they met the calm gaze of Shu Gui Fei, they didn't dare speak again, fearing that they would inadvertently raise suspicions about themselves.

  But in just a moment's time, Su Shunian's voice was heard from outside the door, "The Emperor has arrived."

  "The concubines and maids have arrived to pay their respects to Your Majesty," everyone stood up and bowed.

  "Alright," Zong Zhengjin walked up to the front, sat down and waved his hand casually, "the matter has been settled."

  Shu Guifei's status is the highest, so it's only natural that she would be the one to respond. Moreover, this matter involves her, so no one would want to steal her thunder at this moment. She pointed to Xiaozhu who was quietly waiting beside her, "This morning, when I spoke with the Emperor about searching the palace, I heard that they did find something. However, Zhen said she wanted to wait for the Emperor's arrival before opening it up and taking a look, so I followed her instructions."

  Zong Zhengjin raised an eyebrow and turned his head, glancing at her with a hint of a smile, before saying in a low voice, "Very well, bring it out then."

  "Yes," Xiaozhi walked out and turned to open one of the boxes, "Your Majesty, this was found in Yanxi Palace, hidden under the bed of Empress Shu."

  "What's inside?" Shu Gui Fei asked as she saw that the Emperor seemed reluctant to speak.

  "Return to the Emperor, return to the Empress, the contents inside are indeed the poisonous medicine mixed with incense wood burned in the Chonghua Palace, it must be the unused portion. There is also a wooden plaque from Guanju Palace."

  The twelve palaces in the imperial palace, as well as the Qianqing Palace where Zong Zhengjin lived, all had slaves holding wooden plaques specially made for each palace to prove their identity. On ordinary days, they were also managed through these wooden plaques.

  Everyone's eyes turned to Su Jingxian, who faintly revealed a smile and didn't say much.

  "What about the other box?" asked Shu Gui Fei.

  "Your Majesty, Your Highness, the other box contains medicine that induces miscarriage in pregnant women. Zhang Taishan has already examined it and deemed it not suitable to be opened," Xiaozhi said with a slight bow of his head.

  Zong Zhengjin glanced at the two boxes and asked, "Where did you find them?"

  "It was found in the Xuanqing Pavilion from Du Xiaoyi."

  Du Wanru's body trembled uncontrollably, and she had been vaguely uneasy since Shu Guifei mentioned searching the palace. From the moment Xiaozi presented that box, she knew her doomsday had arrived.

  Fell from the embroidered stool and landed on the ground, two lines of clear tears rolled down her cheeks, "Your Majesty begs Your Majesty for mercy"

  Zong Zhengjin didn't even give her a glance, and instead glanced at the Empress Shu on the ground. "Pass down my imperial decree: demote Empress Shu to a commoner, imprison her in the Cold Palace forever, never to be released. Du Xiao Yi is granted death by white silk."

  "No, Your Majesty, I beg of you to consider the Third Prince's position and spare my life. I am also a person with grievances, Your Majesty...". Su Shun was quick to react, swiftly walking over and stuffing cloth into her mouth, signaling the eunuchs beside him to carry them away.

  From start to finish, Zong Zhengjin didn't look at Du Wanru once.

  From start to finish, Zong Zhengjin never wanted to hear Shu Fei's explanation.

  The rest of the people, while congratulating themselves, couldn't help but feel a sense of sorrow and regret. Just a short moment ago, Shu Fei was still that high-and-mighty Shu Fei, proud and invincible.

  Du Wanru, who gave birth to the third prince, was thus declared, ending her life; The arrogant and poisonous-tongued Empress Shu fell from being the master of the palace to becoming a lonely companion in the cold palace, ending her life in loneliness.

  Zong Zhengjin didn't intend to stay any longer, so he handed over a few words and left for the Zi Shen Hall.

  Su Jingxi also didn't want to stay any longer, so she politely said a few words and then left.

  The rest of the people didn't want to stay any longer and stood up to leave one after another.

  Zhen's sister should be satisfied now. Xianfei's Changchun Palace and Guan Yu's palace were in the same direction, so they left together.

  Su Jingxi didn't go into details about whether she was intentionally waiting for her, and followed up with a sentence, "Consort Xian should also be satisfied."

  No matter how they are in private, what is presented on the surface, or what they are willing to let people see, Xian Fei and Shu Fei are like fire and water, incompatible. Previously, the two were not from the same faction, now even without factions, but the two have never been at odds with each other.

  Xian Fei let out a mocking laugh, "This palace thought that Zhen sister often stayed in Guan Yu Palace, should be deaf to the outside world, but unexpectedly, Zhen sister actually understands this palace quite well."

  This is a veiled criticism of Su Jing's inconsistency between words and actions.

  Su Jingxi smiled faintly and said, "Indeed, after waiting for a long time in the Guan Yu Palace, I would get bored and look for something fun to do."

  This is just making fun of the affair between Xian Fei and Shu Fei, a joke to amuse oneself when bored.

  Xian Fei let out a cold snort, "This palace didn't expect that Zhen Shu Xiu's mouth is getting sharper and sharper, but she doesn't put this palace in her eyes."

  The change in address also explains the change in Xianfei's attitude.

  Su Jingxi was particularly sensitive to these, but it didn't mean she would be afraid. She smiled lightly and said, "Look at what Empress Xian said. Just now in the palace, I always kept an eye on Empress Xian, not leaving her for a moment."

  The concubines waiting beside her burst out laughing at the words, even though they knew they shouldn't have. For a moment, they lost their composure and when they met the gaze of the angry Empress, they quickly turned their heads to pretend they hadn't seen anything.

  Xian Fei knew she was intentionally distorting her meaning, and her gaze swept over her slightly bulging belly. "Since Zhen Xiurong looks at me with such importance, thinks highly of me, I wish for Zhen Xiurong to have an imperial heir soon, and fully enjoy the emperor's favor."

  "Thanks to your wise words, Your Highness, I also hope so," Su Jing replied, pretending not to understand the implication of her words.

  Giving her a way out is also giving herself a way out, after all, her own status is relatively low, and taking advantage of the momentary pleasure can be satisfying, but if she really provokes anger, she may end up being the one to suffer.

  Xian Fei let out a cold snort and stopped responding to her. She waved her hand and the carriage started moving, heading in one direction.

  Even after entering the palace for so long, even with a child on the way, she still acts so recklessly and willfully, truly too young, truly having never suffered, not having received that bloody lesson.

  From now on, she will always have regrets.

  Su Jingxi turned her head to take a glance at the high gate of Chonghua Palace, stepped onto the carriage and said, "Let's return to the palace." "What about Dongmei, has she made any confession?" Su Jingxi returned to her own territory, slightly relaxed, but still wanted to ask.

  This morning, she indeed ordered someone to send that palace maid to the Ministry of Punishment, but not through her own hands, but through Zong Zhengjin. However, whether the maid confessed or not, and what kind of confession she made, she did not know.

  Luckily she mentioned it to him last night and he agreed readily.

  Before, she was actually preparing to use the palace maid as bait to lure out the person behind her back. However, since discovering those unknown secrets, perhaps they weren't secrets after all, she always felt that she couldn't investigate the person behind her back, or rather, this person wasn't someone she could contend with.

  In that case, it's better to let this palace maid play her last role. Anyway, the Guan Yun Palace can't accommodate such a disloyal slave like you.

  "Go back to the princess, it's been summoned, but we don't know what the content is either. The people from the Ministry of Punishment said that the confession has been presented to the emperor, and I shouldn't ask too much," Dai Man nodded beside her.

  Su Jingxi didn't care much about this matter, anyway these two things can be considered as a conclusion, hoping someone can take it as a lesson and live in peace for a while.

  "Well, let's just leave it at that for now; take advantage of this opportunity to give them another good scolding."

  "Yes."

  Palace Concubine (Yi Shu)

  Gong Shu