allonlinenovel Chapter 316 Do You Know - Xiao Qinshi 43
Chapter 316 Do You Know - Xiao Qinshi 43
After the full moon banquet, the emperor never agreed to Empress Cao's request to adopt Zhao Qi, and gradually Empress Cao stopped mentioning it. However, as time passed, some things contaminated with poison began to appear around Zhao Qi, sometimes it was an undergarment, sometimes it was the nurse's food, and sometimes it was a toy.
Qin Wanrong once tried to hand the matter over to the emperor, but what disappointed Qin Wanrong was that after handing it over to the emperor, everything ended up in nothing, and at most a few palace servants were punished.
Seeing that the emperor was really unreliable, Qin Wanrong finally decided to accumulate the problems first and then solve them together. Empress Cao's manipulation of Ronghua Palace had not been effective, and she was so anxious that she couldn't help but have blisters on the corners of her mouth. However, her manipulation of Concubine Zhao went smoothly. Now, only two years have passed, and Concubine Zhao has fallen ill and no longer has the energy to handle any palace affairs.
Empress Cao successfully regained full power in the palace and was very pleased with herself. Now the only thorn in her side was Zhao Qi. However, before dealing with Zhao Qi, she had to deal with Qin Wanrong, the Rongde Consort, first. Although Empress Cao did not dislike Qin Wanrong, she could not tolerate the fact that Qin Wanrong had discovered her methods time and again to protect Zhao Qi.
It just so happened that Qin Wanrong's patience with Empress Cao was about to reach its limit. Concubine Zhao was about to die, and the triangle relationship would be broken. At that time, the emperor would begin to be wary of the prince's biological mother and turn to Empress Cao.
Qin Wanrong didn't want to become a stepping stone for Empress Cao, so she naturally had to make preparations early.
Time continued to pass, and in the blink of an eye, news came out that Concubine Zhao was about to die. Qin Wanrong had already discovered Concubine Zhao's situation through surveillance, and she found an excuse to enter the Cining Palace before the news reached Empress Cao.
Qin Wanrong said that she had something important to say and asked to enter the inner room with Empress Cao. Although Empress Cao doubted Qin Wanrong's intentions, she was proud of her family background as a general and was not afraid that a delicate young lady like Qin Wanrong would hurt her.
Not long after Qin Wanrong and Empress Cao entered the inner room, Nanny Wang received news from Concubine Zhao. Just as Nanny Wang was about to knock on the door despite the interruption, the door of the inner room opened and Empress Cao and Qin Wanrong came out.
Nanny Wang didn't notice anything wrong from the expressions of the two people, and there was the urgent matter of Concubine Zhao, so she didn't care that Qin Wanrong was there, and stepped forward quickly to explain the matter.
Concubine Zhao was seriously ill, so Empress Cao, as the queen, naturally had to rush over to see her. But for Qin Wanrong, it didn't matter whether she went or not. But now that she knew about this, it would be bad not to go. Qin Wanrong was about to say that she wanted to go with Empress Cao, but was stopped by Empress Cao.
"Empress Rongde still has to take care of Qi'er. The child is weak and will be in trouble if he is infected by the disease. I can go to Concubine Zhao by myself. If you have nothing else to do, Concubine Rongde can go back first!"
Empress Cao insisted, and since Qin Wanrong and Concubine Zhao had no romantic feelings for each other, they naturally did not object.
"Your Highness will obey your command."
Even if Qin Wanrong didn't want to go, the emperor would still go. After all, Concubine Zhao was the emperor's childhood sweetheart and had been with him for so many years. Now that he knew Concubine Zhao was dying, the emperor would naturally rush to see her for the last time.
Qin Wanrong did not do anything for this, but just sent a palace maid to stop the emperor on the road for a while, giving Empress Cao the opportunity to be alone with Concubine Zhao.
So when the emperor finally arrived at Concubine Zhao's residence, all the palace people were waiting outside the palace. When the emperor arrived, the eunuch guarding the gate was about to report, but was covered with his mouth and dragged away by someone sent by Liang Duzhi.
The emperor glanced at him, and Liang Duzhi stepped forward and whispered in his ear, "Sir, besides the people who originally served Concubine Zhao, there are also many people who served the Empress in the Cining Palace."
The emperor naturally understood what Liang Duzhi said. Seeing that the emperor didn't say anything, Liang Duzhi continued to explain: "What I mean is that the servants of the Empress and the Imperial Concubine are all guarding outside."
Liang Duzhi said this, and the emperor immediately understood. The servants were guarding outside the palace, which meant that only Concubine Zhao and Empress Cao were inside.
The emperor, who had sensed something fishy, waved his hand, and the eunuchs from the East Depot behind Liang Duzhi rushed out from their hiding places, and within two silent breaths, they covered the mouths of all the palace people and dragged them away.
The official walked lightly to the door of the inner room alone. Liang Duzhi originally wanted to follow him, but the official stopped him with a look. In order not to cause the official's dissatisfaction, Liang Duzhi could only stay where he was.
"Empress, I am coughing. I am now coughing and dying. Cough cough cough..."
"Please tell me, ahem, tell me, did you kill my child?"
As soon as the emperor got closer, he heard Concubine Zhao's weak voice coming from inside. Hearing Concubine Zhao asking Empress Cao the same question, the emperor also wanted to know. He waited for a long time but didn't hear Empress Cao speak. Just as he was about to push the door open, he heard Cao, who had been silent all the time, suddenly speak.
"Empress Zhao, you are about to die, yet you still ask me such a stupid question?"
"You and the Guan family grew up together, but I didn't expect you to be equally stupid!"
When the emperor heard Empress Cao calling him stupid, he clenched his fists. Ever since he married Empress Cao, he had disliked the empress chosen by the ministers. He always felt that every time Empress Cao looked at him, her eyes were full of contempt, as if if he were not the emperor, she would not even look at him twice.
Guanjia's biological mother was of humble origin, and his biological father was obsessed with calligraphy and didn't care about Guanjia. If all his other brothers had not died, it would not have been Guanjia's turn to take the throne, so Guanjia was very inferior and sensitive in his heart.
He likes others to admire him and is very sensitive to others' contempt. This is why Empress Cao, no matter how well she does on the surface, is not favored by the emperor, and it is also the reason why the emperor does not have deep feelings for Qin Wanrong.
The emperor always felt that Qin Wanrong was too cold-hearted. He could not feel Qin Wanrong's affection or sincerity. However, the existence of the lovesickness poison made the emperor unable to give up Qin Wanrong. He could only deceive himself by telling himself that maybe this was Qin Wanrong's character.
Concubine Zhao was also very dissatisfied. She loudly refuted what Empress Cao said: "You are talking nonsense! The emperor is working hard to govern the country and is benevolent and wise!"
"Haha, what a joke!"
"I've almost killed his entire family, and he still thinks I'm innocent. Isn't that stupid? That's foolish and incompetent."
The emperor's perception was correct. Empress Cao really looked down on him. At the same time, she had tolerated him for a long time. Now that she had a chance to speak frankly, Empress Cao didn't even notice the emperor outside the door.
"You are the emperor's wife, and his children are also your children. It is normal for you to harm us concubines, but why do you have to harm the emperor's offspring? Don't you know that if the emperor has no children, he must adopt a royal family member?"