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墨書 Inktalez
Jinghe Palace
The events of last night have spread throughout the entire harem. The Empress Dowager summoned Mu Junqi to Jinghe Palace early this morning, as she is currently pregnant. If anything were to happen to her, it would be a loss for all of Western Yan.
Upon arriving at Jinghe Palace, she saw that the other consorts were already seated inside. As soon as they noticed her, they all stood up to pay their respects. Consort Wang stepped forward with a worried expression and asked, "Your Highness, are you alright?"
"Everyone, please rise. This Palace is fine," she replied.
As soon as she finished speaking, Consort Wang patted her chest and said, "That's great! I was almost scared to death when I heard the news last night. Is the prince in your womb alright?"
It was hard to tell how many of them were sincere, but she smiled and nodded. Just then, a voice came from the entrance: "The Empress Dowager has arrived."
Everyone turned their attention to the door. The Empress Dowager entered wearing a dark red silk palace gown with gold trim, her hair styled in a simple flying bun adorned with several golden phoenix hairpins.
The Empress Dowager looked anxious as she approached Mu Junqi and helped her up. Furrowing her brow, she asked, "How are you? Are you alright?"
"Empress Dowager, please don't worry. Consort is fine, and the prince is also fine," Mu Junqi said with a bright smile, speaking humbly.
Only then did the Empress Dowager relax. The two supported each other as they walked to the main seat. After sitting down, Consort Xi beside them smiled and said, "This is what they mean by surviving great calamities brings future blessings; the birth will surely go smoothly."
Upon hearing this about the child, the Empress Dowager immediately looked at Mu Junqi and said, "Consort Xi is right. You will give birth in a month; you must be careful during this time. If you feel it's not enough, go to the Internal Affairs Office and bring in a few more palace maids to attend to you properly. Do you understand?"
"Empress Dowager, please rest assured; the palace maids here are doing quite well."
At that moment, Consort Wang anxiously stood up and bowed to both of them, saying, "Empress Dowager, Empress, now that Jingxian Palace has caught fire and we cannot return there for a while, plus with your imminent delivery, we can't stay in Tianming Palace forever."
This immediately reminded everyone present, and they all frowned and looked at Mu Junqi. At this moment, Mu Junqi seemed to have not heard anything, only smiling at the Empress Dowager and saying, "Thank you for your concern, sisters. His Majesty has already granted Qinxiang Garden to This Palace. The Jingxian Palace cannot be renovated in a short time, and since Qinxiang Garden is not far from the Empress Dowager's sleeping quarters, Consort can come over to chat with the Empress Dowager when there’s nothing else to do."
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager immediately smiled brightly, grasping Mu Junqi's hand and saying, "This is the best. As long as you don’t mind my nagging."
After that, everyone chatted about other matters. It was unclear how much time had passed when a commotion came from outside the hall. The concubines looked up and saw a bright yellow figure being surrounded by palace maids as it walked in. The regal aura emanating from him made everyone in the hall blush.
Mu Junqi's originally smiling face instantly changed color as she stood up and said, "Long live Your Majesty."
Mo Xiao Li, however, remained unfazed, maintaining a calm expression as he bowed to the Empress Dowager. Without waiting for her to speak, he scanned the surroundings and coldly said, "Where were you all last night?"
"Your Majesty, what do you mean by this?" the Empress Dowager asked with some confusion.
The others also murmured in agreement, "Yes, could it be that you suspect we caused last night's fire?"
Mo Xiao Li's expression darkened further as he nodded towards Li Fusheng. Two members of the Imperial Forest Army then brought in a palace maid and pressed her to the ground. At that moment, the maid trembled all over, tears streaming down her face, nearly collapsing onto the floor.
"Lift your head and see who your master is!" a furious voice echoed throughout the hall.
Everyone was startled and looked at the maid below, fearing any association with her. The maid slowly raised her head and scanned the crowd. After a long silence, she weakly said, "None... none of them," before lowering her head again.
Only then did they feel relieved. Only Mu Junqi silently watched everyone. Suddenly as if recalling something, she stood up and walked to Mo Xiao Li's side, smiling as she said, "Your Majesty, these are all sisters; how could anyone here want to harm This Palace? It would be better to investigate the palace maids in their respective courts."
This remark undoubtedly reminded everyone. Mo Xiao Li frowned as he scanned the crowd again and noticed Yun Meiren with her shoulders slightly trembling. He walked over a few steps and coldly said, "Lift your head."
Upon hearing this, Yun Meiren immediately knelt on the ground with tear-streaked cheeks. "Your Majesty spare me! Your Majesty spare me! This matter can be explained by Consort."
Everyone looked at Yun Meiren in shock, clearly unwilling to believe that this frail woman could possess such abilities. "Speak carefully; if there is even the slightest omission, it would be a grave crime that could lead to the extermination of your entire clan, do you understand?"
"Consort understands. In fact, Consort is not very clear about this matter either. It was just that one afternoon while wandering in the Imperial Garden, I heard a woman's voice discussing something with a man behind the rockery. Out of curiosity, I listened a bit longer and unexpectedly found they were plotting to set fire to Jingxian Palace. At that moment, Consort was terrified and quickly hid away, but I didn't dare to speak of it. I never expected that such an event would actually occur. Every word Consort has said is true; I beg Your Majesty for forgiveness."
Mu Junqi listened quietly to her words, his anger growing stronger. He had initially thought that with Consort Qian gone, he could avoid the scheming life in the harem. However, he never anticipated that just as things had settled down, such an incident would arise.
Stepping forward, he coldly looked at Yun Meiren and said, "Sister Yun, can you still distinguish that person's voice now?"
"Consort... I don't know if I can accurately recognize it," she replied.
At this moment, the Empress Dowager walked over to Mu Junqi's side with the support of Jingxi and spoke up, "Your Majesty, there are so many women in the harem; if we were to check each one, that person would have likely disappeared long ago."
Mo Xiao Li nodded and then turned to Yun Meiren, asking, "Is there anything else you saw?"
Yun Meiren thought carefully for a moment while everyone held their breath watching her. After a long silence, she finally said, "The woman seemed to be wearing a long skirt embroidered with gold thread in a rose red color. From the floral pattern, it must not be something an ordinary palace maid would wear."
"If that's the case, it must be some concubine who is jealous of the Empress for being pregnant with a dragon child and thus wants to harm her," the Empress Dowager pondered for a moment before speaking.
This statement undoubtedly provided an important clue. Everyone furrowed their brows as they looked at this scene, wondering if they owned any gold-threaded palace garments. Only Consort Xi wore a faint smile as she observed everything.
Consort Wang noticed this scene as well but thought it had nothing to do with her.
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