My chat group is full of female losers

Chapter 281 Failure
A few days later, everything was calm. The deaths of Zhang Wei and Su Qiao did not cause much stir among the people, as they were secretly executed in the imperial prison. They only caused a little ripple in the palace and among a few people who knew about it.

After the morning court session, Chu Lu returned to the imperial study and dealt with memorials as usual. During this period, he had become more and more adept at playing the role of emperor.

As he was reading the report, a eunuch walked in quietly and bowed to report: "Your Majesty, General Meng will enter the capital tonight and will meet with you in the imperial study to discuss the issue of food and wages for the northwest garrison. This is the itinerary that was set a few days ago, please take a look..."

Chu Lu closed the memorial and asked Qin Su for details. As a result, he learned that General Meng was a minor character in the copy, and the meeting was only mentioned briefly in the original novel, so there was nothing to be careful about.

"Got it." Chu Lu said calmly, "Just do as I say. Tell me to come over when the time comes."

"As you wish." The eunuch responded and bowed before leaving.

At the same time, in a mansion outside the imperial city.

Xiao Jiu sat in the study room, with an excitement that was hard to conceal on her face. She looked at the chat group interface that lit up in front of her and sent a message eagerly.

Xiao Jiu: "Empress Li, is the matter settled?"

As soon as the message was sent, Concubine Li's reply popped up immediately.

Concubine Li: "It's done, it's done! According to your instructions, the drug has been administered, the dosage is sufficient, he will definitely pass out after drinking it! The lover's incense has also been placed in the incense burner, there will be absolutely no problem!"

Concubine Wan followed up with a message: "The rest of us also provided some assistance to ensure that there were no eunuchs or guards interfering with the emperor."

Seeing the replies from these imperial concubines, Xiao Jiu became more and more excited and expectant.

"Okay!" Xiao Jiu replied, "Get ready and wait for the news! The group leader will definitely not be able to hide tonight!"

She exited the chat group, her smile growing wider, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. She seemed to have seen the good show that took place in the imperial study tonight, the embarrassing look of the mysterious group leader when he was forced to jump out, and the great merit she had gained and her status in the organization soaring.

She stood up and walked to the window, looking into the distance in the direction of the imperial palace, as if she could see the imperial study deep in the palace that was destined to be bustling tonight.

As night fell, lanterns were lit in the palace, illuminating the numerous palaces.

Outside the imperial study, the guards were tight. A eunuch tiptoed to the door and bowed to report: "Your Majesty, the time has come. General Meng is already waiting in the side hall."

"Yeah." Chu Lu responded, walked out of the inner hall and headed for the imperial study.

A new copper incense burner with an ancient shape was added to the corner of the imperial study. A very faint green smoke rose from the incense burner, which was almost inaudible. There was no obvious fragrance in the air. In addition, it was placed in a hidden place, so Chu Lu did not notice it. He walked straight to the imperial desk and sat down, waiting quietly.

Soon, a report came from outside the hall that General Meng had arrived.

A moment later, a burly man with a resolute face, dressed in military uniform, strode in. He was about forty years old, and as he walked, he had a calm and fierce aura that came from his experience on the battlefield.

"I am General Meng Xiao, paying my respects to Your Majesty!" General Meng knelt on one knee and gave a standard military salute.

"General Meng, please stand up." Chu Lu raised his hand, "Please take a seat."

After General Meng sat down, the two began to discuss the military and political affairs of the Northwest.

Chu Lu asked, "Mr. Meng, is the northwest border safe and sound recently? Are there enough food and military pay?"

General Meng said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, thanks to your Majesty's great fortune, the border defense is still stable, but small groups of cavalry in the desert occasionally harass and rob the border residents. I think we should send an elite team to take the initiative to attack and deter them..."

This part of the content was tedious and boring. Chu Lu listened absent-mindedly, nodding from time to time to respond.

At this moment, in a hidden corner somewhere in the palace.

Xiao Jiu, along with several female protagonists and imperial concubines, had already been lying in ambush, closely monitoring the imperial study, waiting for the leader of the group to appear, and then they would rush up and capture him.

"Empress Li, has the lover's incense been lit?" Xiao Jiu lowered his voice and asked Concubine Li beside him.

Concubine Li responded immediately, "Don't worry, the lover's incense has been quietly mixed into the new spices in the imperial study, and it should have been lit by now. As for the powerful drug, I have also ordered it to be mixed into your majesty's midnight snack tonight, and it will only need to be delivered by the imperial kitchen on time."

"Very good." Xiao Jiu narrowed his eyes slightly, with a cruel arc at the corner of his mouth.

The moon was at its zenith, and elsewhere, the food delivery team from the imperial kitchen began to move.

According to the palace rules, the delivery of imperial meals was extremely strict. First, four eunuchs in crimson robes lined up from the Imperial Tea and Food Room and walked to the Qianqing Gate. The guards on duty checked their badges and allowed them to pass. Then they went to the Yuehua Gate, where the eunuchs from the Internal Affairs Office registered the meal list. Finally, they arrived outside the Yangxin Palace, where they were taken over by special palace maids and delivered to the emperor's bedroom or study. At each gate along the way, there was a guard holding a sharp blade to escort them to prevent any accidents.

Tonight, this process is still proceeding in an orderly manner.

Finally, a food box containing exquisite midnight snacks was carried by a pretty palace maid and delivered to the outside of the imperial study.

Chu Lu was talking to General Meng about something important. He looked up when he heard the voice and saw that it was someone delivering midnight snacks, so he said, "Bring it in."

The palace maid lowered her head and placed the food box on a corner of the imperial desk. She opened the lid and found a bowl of ginseng soup and several plates of exquisite snacks inside.

Chu Lu was about to reach out to take it, but the maid suddenly said, "Your Majesty, because of the poisoning case in the palace last time, the palace rules have been changed. All maids who serve food and drinks are not allowed to wear any jewelry. All meals must be tasted in front of Your Majesty before they can be presented to Your Majesty."

Chu Lu didn't take it seriously when he heard it, and nodded: "Since it's the rule, then you should do it."

"Yes." The palace maid responded. She lifted her sleeves to her elbows, then carefully picked up the spoon, scooped a small sip of ginseng soup, and swallowed it gently.

As soon as the soup went into her throat, the palace maid's face suddenly changed, her body swayed, and then she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The two people present were startled for a moment and stood up suddenly.

"There's an assassin!" General Meng reacted quickly and shouted, "Protect the emperor! Someone come and protect the emperor!"

As he shouted, he quickly stood in front of Chu Lu, looked around vigilantly, and whispered, "Your Majesty, be careful!"

However, apart from the three of them, there was no sign of a fourth person in the hall. The expected flashes of swords and sabers did not appear. Only the maid fell limply to the ground, and the silence was a little eerie. General Meng frowned, and his doubts grew even more intense.

——What on earth is going on?

He maintained a guarding posture and was alert for a moment. After confirming that there was no immediate danger around him, he whispered to Chu Lu, "Your Majesty, there is no one else here. This palace maid suddenly fainted. There is something strange. I will check on her condition first. Your Majesty, please step back for the time being to be on the safe side."

Chu Lu nodded slightly. General Meng then approached the maid cautiously, leaned over to feel her breath, frowned and said, "She just fainted. So someone drugged that midnight snack? That's really weird."

Poisoning the emperor's midnight snack is a serious crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of the family. It is too inexplicable that the criminal took such a big risk just to drug him.

As he thought about it, his eyes subconsciously wandered over the palace maids, and then suddenly, his breathing became heavy, and an inexplicable heat rose from his lower abdomen, quickly spreading to his limbs and bones, making his head feel a little heavy, as if shrouded in a layer of mist.

His hand subconsciously reached for the palace maid's collar.

"General Meng," Chu Lu noticed something was wrong and asked coldly, "What are you doing?"

"No, nothing..." General Meng's voice was a little difficult, his eyes were blurry, "I just feel... a little hot..."

As he spoke, he tore at his collar, a suppressed hoarse sound came from his throat, and the look in his eyes when he looked at the palace maid became unusually hot.

Chu Lu's heart was filled with alarm. Without hesitation, he picked up the heavy paperweight on the imperial desk and smashed it hard on General Meng's head!
"boom!"

General Meng groaned, his body swayed, and then he fell to the ground.

"Qin Su!" Chu Lu asked in his heart, "What's going on?"

"There is no such plot in the original novel." Qin Su thought for a moment and replied, "It must be another heroine who did it."

"Nonsense. Of course I know it's the heroine!" Chu Lu complained, "What I'm asking is which heroine it is? What does she want to do?!"

"There is too little information to make any conclusion." Qin Su said helplessly, "At least let me know what the specific medicine is."

Chu Lu's eyes moved back and forth between General Meng, whose body was still red even after fainting, and the palace maid who was still unconscious.

He had to figure out the medicine and settle the two people, but he couldn't do these things by himself, so he had to leave it to others.

"Someone come here!" Chu Lu shouted in a deep voice, trying to call the guards or eunuchs outside the hall.

However, outside the palace, it was still so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and no one answered. Chu Lu frowned slightly, thinking about the big noise just now, and General Meng also shouted loudly, so it stands to reason that someone should have come over long ago. The situation seemed a little wrong.

A sense of uneasiness flashed through Chu Lu's mind, so he simply walked to the door and pulled the summoning bell connecting to the eunuch's duty room.

The urgent ringing of the bell rang through the night sky, finally alarming the people outside.

Soon, several eunuchs and guards ran in in a panic.

When they saw the scene in the imperial study, especially the unconscious General Meng and the palace maid, their faces changed drastically.

"Your Majesty!" The leading eunuch panted, his voice trembling, "But what happened?!"

The guard beside him had already grasped the hilt of the knife at his waist, looked around vigilantly, and asked nervously: "Your Majesty, please forgive me! We are late! Is there an assassin?"

"Stop talking nonsense. First, call all my personal guards over to guard the imperial study. No one is allowed to approach without permission!" Chu Lu was as calm as water and ordered, "Send the imperial physician quickly! Quick!"

"The slave obeys the order!"

"I obey my orders!"

Seeing Chu Lu's solemn expression and urgent tone, the eunuchs and guards bowed and accepted the order.

A moment later, the imperial physician hurried over.

He first checked the fallen palace maid and General Meng, then carefully examined the bowl of ginseng soup, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, someone has put a strong drug in this soup."

Then, he noticed the inconspicuous incense burner in the corner, walked closer and sniffed it carefully, his face suddenly changed: "Your Majesty! The incense in this incense burner... is 'Lover's Guide'!"

"Lover's introduction?" Chu Lu frowned.

"That's right!" The imperial physician hurriedly explained, "This medicine is colorless and tasteless, and the smoke from burning it is very faint and difficult to detect. But those who inhale this fragrance will gradually become consumed by lust, their minds will become confused, they will not be able to distinguish between relatives and strangers, and they will do all kinds of... all kinds of unbearable things!"

The imperial physician's words were euphemistic, but his meaning was obvious.

After hearing about the effects of the drug her lover had mentioned, Qin Su finally understood and said, "Chu Lu, I understand. It's Xiao Jiu!"

"Xiao Jiu?" Chu Lu.

"Yes, she is the protagonist of a little-known quick-transmigration novel with a heroine as the main character. Judging from this method, she should have used the story line of the fake prince consort copy. In this story line, she was originally the second lady of the Canaan Earl's Mansion..." Qin Su briefly explained Xiao Jiu's character background.

"As for the trap, it's like this..." Qin Su then began to talk about the specific content of Xiao Jiu's plan.

After hearing this, Chu Lu felt a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

"Isn't this too vicious? Just kill people, is it necessary to torture them like this? And how can one inflict such inhumane injuries?" Chu Lu complained in his heart.

"According to the original text, it seems that the male passerby who was drugged went crazy and on a whim kept pulling Sui Xianzhi's vitals, which led to this result. As for why he did this, you don't have to worry about it. After all, male characters who are inhumane are a popular topic in novels with heroines. At least eight out of ten novels with heroines have them. Some are born with this innate ability, while others are killed by the heroine herself or by design. The reasons vary, but they have to exist anyway, and authors love to write about them, and readers love to read them. Isn't your story line about the Medicine King Valley Concubine an example of this?"

Chu Lu: “…”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his complicated emotions after hearing the vicious plan and the absurd reasons. Then he opened his eyes with a firm look.

But no matter how you look at it, this was an attack planned by a heroine.

And now that the other party has taken action, I cannot remain indifferent.

Not to mention that her methods are so vicious. If we turn a blind eye to it, it will be troublesome if we get caught.

"I must find a way to get rid of her." Chu Luxin thought.

At the same time, outside the imperial study room.

Xiao Jiu and others who were lurking there looked at the large influx of eunuchs and guards and thought at first that the plan had succeeded. But then they found that the area near the imperial study was unexpectedly quiet. They also carried out the unconscious palace maid and General Meng, and they realized something was wrong.

"What's going on? Where is the emperor?" Concubine Zhuang said anxiously.

"Could it be that the plan has failed?" Concubine Xian guessed.

Xiao Jiu was unwilling to give up and wanted to sneak in further to check the situation, but Concubine Wan immediately dissuaded him, "Xiao Jiu, don't be impulsive! You are now an outsider, and the security here is strict. If you are exposed, all your efforts will be wasted. We are in the palace, so it is more convenient to get information. You go back first, and we will tell you immediately through the chat group if there is any situation."

The other imperial concubines also echoed this. After all, it would not be good for them if Xiao Jiu was exposed.

Xiao Jiu weighed the pros and cons. Although she was unwilling, the current situation was not suitable for taking risks. She gritted her teeth and said, "Okay! Go and find out the situation immediately. Tell me as soon as you have any news!"

"Do not worry!"

Xiao Jiu evacuated the palace quickly and secretly.

After returning to her mansion, Xiao Jiu's anxiety did not diminish at all. She opened the chat group from time to time and urged them to report their progress.

After about an hour, a message finally popped up in the chat group.

Concubine Li: "Xiao Jiu, the plan has failed."

Xiao Jiu: "What's going on?!"

Imperial Concubine Wan: "There was something wrong with the midnight snack. After His Majesty was assassinated, the Imperial Kitchen added a new rule that the palace maids delivering the food must taste it in front of His Majesty. The drug was too strong, and the palace maid fell down as soon as she tasted it, and was immediately discovered."

When Xiao Jiu saw the news, he was so angry that he punched the table.

Xiao Jiu: "Damn it! He's lucky! When did the new rule come into effect? ​​Why didn't you tell me?!"

Concubine Li: "It was only after the last poisoning case, and not everyone knew about it... We only found out about it later."

Seeing the replies in the chat group, Xiao Jiu became more and more annoyed.

At this moment, in the large group, several heroines who had not directly participated in the operation before, but were in the capital and well-informed, noticed some unusual movements in the palace, and immediately guessed the reasons behind them. They found that they were excluded. Xiao Jiu executed the plan without asking them at all, and they suddenly felt dissatisfied.

One of them was the country girl who was said to have replaced the wife of a prince who was imprisoned for treason. She was leisurely planting vegetables in the backyard of the prince's mansion. She said calmly: "Oh, it seems that things are not going well in the palace. I hope you sisters are not in trouble."

Then, the prime minister's wife, who had caused a turmoil in the capital and whose temperament had changed drastically, also interrupted and said, "For some plans, it is better not to make too much noise, so as not to bring disaster upon yourself."

On the other side, the orphan of the Zhenbei Palace, who was threatened to be divorced by her general husband, sighed and said, "Success and failure are common in the military, so Sister Xiao Jiu doesn't have to worry too much about it. But, it's really... a little surprising that it was discovered so easily."

"What's so surprising? Dealing with the emperor is not something that everyone can do."

These remarks were full of sarcasm and doubt, and were obviously directed at Xiao Jiu.

Xiao Jiu saw the message in the group and realized their intentions. He was furious, but his face remained calm. He responded calmly, "What you sisters said is right. It's just that if you don't give it a try, how can you know if some plans will succeed? Besides, failure is the mother of success. So what if I make a few mistakes? Anyway, once I succeed, all the doubts will be trampled under my feet!"

The heroines immediately heard the threat in Xiao Jiu's words, but they were afraid of the temporary person in charge position given to Xiao Jiu by Yu Feiwu, so they did not dare to refute and could only remain silent.

Seeing that they had surrendered, Xiao Jiu stopped pursuing them and directly closed the chat group.

"Hmph, a bunch of idiots!" Xiao Jiu cursed in a low voice, with a hint of pride on his face.

But then she looked in the direction of the palace, and the little pride brought by the verbal victory was quickly overwhelmed by the huge frustration of the failure of her plan.

Chu Lu's face appeared in Xiao Jiu's mind, and anger surged in his heart.

She picked up the teapot beside her, drank a cup of hot tea, and then put it down heavily.

"You're lucky this time." Her eyes were fierce, "But next time, you won't be so lucky!"

She secretly decided in her heart that she would use more ruthless means next time to ensure that there would be no mistakes and that she could vent her hatred.

(End of this chapter)