Since the position of the empress was vacant, the Noble Consort Li temporarily took charge of the affairs in the harem. Upon learning of the miscarriage of the Noble Consort Zhen, she immediately sent people to investigate. As the investigation went on, all the evidence seemed to point to the Noble Consort Ning.
When the Noble Consort Li reported the results of her investigation to the emperor, Yong Yaxuan had already known about it one step ahead.
Moreover, Yong Yaxuan knew more details than anyone else.
Seeing the emperor looking calm, the Noble Consort Li asked, "How should we deal with the Noble Consort Ning?"
Yong Yaxuan rubbed his temples. Thinking of the Marquis of Ningyuan, he sighed and said, "Naturally, she should be dealt with according to the rules."
The Noble Consort Li said, "The Noble Consort Ning poisoned the imperial heir. She has impure thoughts and lacks virtue. According to the old rules, she should be sent to the cold palace."
"Approved." Yong Yaxuan sounded a bit tired.
Just then, the secret agent reported that the Noble Consort Ning had met the dead imperial physician before, and the cause of the Noble Consort Zhen's miscarriage was related to the last prescription of the imperial physician. Most importantly, a woman's ornament was found in a secret compartment of a box among the imperial physician's relics. This ornament was once bestowed by the emperor to the Noble Consort Ning.
Naturally, the Noble Consort Ning refused to admit it and said that she had lost this ornament a long time ago.
However, she had not reported the loss of the imperial gift. When asked why, she was unable to answer.
When asked about the private meeting with the imperial physician instead of summoning him openly from the Imperial Medical Bureau, the Noble Consort Ning was also speechless.
The Noble Consort Ning only said that she really wanted to conceive and thus wanted to ask the imperial physician for some secret recipes privately, but this excuse was obviously unconvincing.
Most importantly, because of the exposure of the Noble Consort Ning's whereabouts, the death of the imperial physician became even more mysterious. On the day the imperial physician committed suicide, someone actually saw the Noble Consort Ning coming out of his room.
The Noble Consort Ning was unable to explain her whereabouts. Although she refused to admit the crime, in Yong Yaxuan's eyes, her trustworthiness had basically dropped to zero.
For an ordinary concubine in the harem, once the seed of suspicion was planted, even if she was not sent to the cold palace, her situation would be no different from being in the cold palace.
Seeing that the emperor had approved her suggestion, the Noble Consort Li withdrew and began to handle this matter.
After the Noble Consort Li left, Yong Yaxuan called out the secret agent who had just hidden to avoid the Noble Consort Li.
"Tell me all the other information you've gathered."
The secret agent said, "In order not to alert the enemy recently, I've been keeping an eye on Eunuch Wang. He has behaved completely normally and has had no contact with any concubines for no reason."
Yong Yaxuan said, "Then keep watching him."
The secret agent continued, "In addition, according to Your Majesty's clue, the empress might have been injured when she left the cold palace. So I'm now checking all the medical clinics and pharmacies in the imperial city area by area. I'm especially asking if anyone came for a medical consultation or treatment after the curfew in the imperial city on the night when the cold palace caught fire. Since the imperial city is so large and there are so many medical clinics, it will take some time to get the results of the suspicious medical clinics."
Yong Yaxuan nodded. "Well, this result is very important. The empress might have been in disguise. If possible, I'd like to go with you to check the relevant suspicious medical clinics."
The secret agent said, "Your Majesty's personal involvement in this matter shows how much you care about the empress."
Yong Yaxuan sighed. "This matter is far more complicated than I thought."
The secret agent said, "There's no other new progress for now. I'll report immediately if there's any new situation."
Yong Yaxuan nodded. "Then you may withdraw first."
"I'll take my leave, Your Majesty."
...
The Noble Consort Ning was sent to another desolate palace. In the royal family, the cold palace was not a fixed place. Any place that the emperor no longer favored and his carriage would avoid could become the cold palace.
The Noble Consort Li came to the front of this palace. She stood there for a moment and then walked in swaying her body.
Seeing the Noble Consort Li coming, the Noble Consort Ning seemed to have expected it and was not surprised at all.
Seeing the Noble Consort Ning dressed in plain clothes, the Noble Consort Li laughed. "Sister Ning, I didn't expect you to end up like this."
The Noble Consort Ning was calm and only said, "In a fight for power, the winner takes all and the loser has nothing to say."
The Noble Consort Li said, "It's good that you're so open - minded, sister. But now that you're here, don't even think about getting out. I've already arranged a new supervisor for the cold palace for you. It won't be long before you can feel the despair that our empress sister once felt."
The Noble Consort Ning sneered. "Why mention a dead person at this moment?"
The Noble Consort Li said, "Dead? I don't think so. In the great fire in the cold palace, there were charred corpses everywhere. It took more than a month of busy cleaning work to gradually end it. Our infatuated emperor even injured his own hands in order to dig out that person and fasted for three days and three nights because of it. But look, he still hasn't announced the empress's death. During that time, he secretly left the palace for a while. What does this mean? It means that person might not be dead."
The Noble Consort Ning frowned involuntarily. "You said the emperor secretly left the palace for a while, but wasn't he always in the palace?"
The Noble Consort Li couldn't help shaking her head. "It's normal that you don't know about this, sister. After all, the emperor is not very close to you, and you usually try to avoid appearing in front of him."
Hearing this, the Noble Consort Ning couldn't help rolling her eyes at the Noble Consort Li.
The Noble Consort Li continued, "Unlike us who often try to get in front of the emperor, we can tell whether the emperor is in the palace or not after a few visits."
The Noble Consort Ning said, "Why are you telling me all this now?"
The Noble Consort Li said, "You're really brave, sister. We all know who the fire set by the Noble Consort De was for. But it's a pity that after all your scheming, that person didn't die."
The Noble Consort Ning said, "What's there to be pity about? Even if that person is still alive, she can never return to the palace again. Here, I should congratulate you all for finally having a chance to catch the emperor's eye."
The Noble Consort Li laughed. "It's a pity that you don't have this blessing, sister."
The Noble Consort Ning said coldly, "You and the Noble Consort Zhen have a good scheme... You dragged me into this matter."
The Noble Consort Li said, "You only have yourself to blame for insisting on investigating this matter."
The Noble Consort Ning said, "The Noble Consort Zhen has been domineering recently and has even bullied me."
The Noble Consort Li said, "If you had endured it at that time, things wouldn't have ended up like this..."
The Noble Consort Ning interrupted, "A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated. I was born in the Marquis of Ningyuan's mansion and am used to being decisive. If you think you can humiliate me because the Marquis of Ningyuan is in decline, you're very much mistaken."
The Noble Consort Li sneered. "It's exactly because of your tough and unyielding personality that the emperor doesn't like you."
The Noble Consort Ning also laughed. "Aren't you humiliating yourself by saying this, sister? When has the emperor ever liked your fake - weak personality?"
The Noble Consort Li stopped smiling and said, "You don't need to enjoy a moment of verbal superiority, sister. I came here today just to see you for the last time. It's also a way of showing my gratitude for your previous 'righteous deeds'. From now on, you'll never see the end of prosperity and the change of power."
After saying that, the Noble Consort Li walked out of the cold palace haughtily without looking back. The Noble Consort Ning watched her from afar, pondering over her words, and couldn't help recalling some past events.
At this moment, she didn't know that the net set by the Noble Consort Li and the Noble Consort Zhen had just been spread out for her. What she was going to face later was a real life - and - death situation.