Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 309: Diverting trouble to the east
The palace door is wide open.

Emperor Chongzhao, dressed in a bright yellow casual robe, strode in with a livid face.

The entire hall fell silent, and everyone knelt down to pay their respects.

"Welcome Your Majesty."

Emperor Chongzhao's gaze swept over the mess on the ground, the weeping concubine, and the broken porcelain and bloodstains on the ground. His face instantly darkened.

"To act so recklessly at a royal ceremony, what kind of behavior is this?!"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty must do justice for me..." Xiao Qing'er seemed to see a lifeline, and she scrambled to Emperor Chongzhao's feet, grabbed his dragon boots, and cried her heart out.

"The sorceresses of Shuiyue Nunnery... are trying to harm me and my son. They cursed the imperial heir and poisoned the holy water... Your Majesty... please save me!"

Empress Dowager Chengqing sighed at the opportune moment, fiddling with her Buddhist prayer beads, her voice filled with sorrow.

"It's good that the Emperor has arrived. Originally intended to ward off disaster and pray for blessings, it has turned into such a mess. Consort Li has been wronged. I think the nuns at Shuiyue Nunnery may be harboring evil intentions."

Her words, so casually, defined the nature of Shuiyue Nunnery.

Empress Xie hurriedly stepped forward, wanting to explain: "Your Majesty..."

"enough!"

Emperor Chongzhao interrupted the Empress sternly. He glanced at Xiao Qing'er, who was crying her eyes out at his feet, and then looked at Li Zhaoshi, who was standing straight and solemn, his eyes filled with cold scrutiny.

"Disturbing the Dharma assembly and cursing the imperial heir are acts of utmost disrespect. What more is there to say?"

"Father, please calm your anger." Li Zhao stepped forward and bowed. "The matter is suspicious and requires further investigation. Consort Li's accusation that the nuns of Shuiyue Nunnery poisoned the nuns lacks concrete evidence and requires further examination..."

"What are you testing?" Emperor Chongzhao was already angry, and Xiao Qing'er's crying only made him more agitated. He coughed twice and looked at Li Zhao with a hint of irritation.

"As the crown prince, you can't even handle disputes among women and children. What use are you?"

"Your Majesty has the responsibility to make wise decisions, and your son has the will to clarify matters."

"Still trying to deny it! The sacred artifact is shattered, the dragon descendants are in grave danger... This ominous sign is all because of you. Guards, seize all those from Shuiyue Temple..."

The emperor's decree is about to be uttered...

Xue Sui made a move!

Without uttering a word, she dipped one end of the handkerchief into the bloodstains on the ground.

The blood was flowing from under Xiao Qing'er's skirt. When the handkerchief touched it, it magically turned into a strange bluish-gray color, just as she had said...

The ladies of the court all gasped in unison.

Empress Dowager Chengqing also slowly narrowed her eyes.

Empress Xie asked in surprise, "What's going on?"

Xue Sui's gaze swept past the chaotic crowd and met Li Zhao's abyss-like eyes.

Li Zhao smiled almost imperceptibly, his thin lips moving slightly.

"Miaozhen, what tricks have you played this time?"

Xue Sui exchanged a glance with him, bowed slightly to the person above, and did not speak. Instead, he picked up a sharp shard of porcelain and, without hesitation, slashed his wrist hard...

"laugh--"

The skin and flesh were torn apart.

Crimson blood gushed out instantly, trickling down her pale, slender fingers, dripping...

The main hall was deathly silent.

Her pale face was chillingly calm.

Even Emperor Chongzhao was stunned into standing still by this sudden scene.

Li Zhao was trembling all over, as if he had been hit in the chest with a heavy hammer.

She's incredibly audacious.

Xue Ping'an, you madwoman!

He was so crazy he wanted to bite her.

Just before the emperor intervened and things were about to erupt, she took the initiative to choose the most impactful method to break the deadlock under pressure and force the emperor to give an explanation.

"Amitabha!" Master Huiming closed her eyes in shock.

"Miaozhen, what are you doing?" Empress Xie exclaimed in shock. "His Majesty is here. Right and wrong will be judged by His Majesty. Why do you want to kill yourself to prove your innocence?"

Xue Sui acted as if he hadn't heard.

She raised her bloodied right hand high, walked to the solemn Buddha statue, and with a resolute vow, said in a clear voice:

"This humble nun, Miaozhen, today swears a blood oath before the Buddha with my own flesh and blood—Consort Li's pulse is slippery like rolling beads, floating, large, and hollow, definitely not a pregnancy pulse. The blood surging in her abdomen is not a loss of the imperial fetus, but a sign that her false pregnancy has been exposed. If there is even half a lie, this humble nun is willing to be struck by lightning and eternally fall into the Avici Hell, her soul without a home!"

"You think you can deceive the Emperor by making a solemn oath? Anyone can make an oath!" Xiao Qing'er retorted hoarsely. "Who knows if you used some kind of sorcery to change the color of that handkerchief?"

"Then let the imperial physician examine it," Xue Sui said, turning around.

Looking at the solemn-looking Physician Zhang.

"Imperial Physician Zhang has practiced medicine for decades and has profound knowledge of pulse diagnosis. He can see through any illness with a single examination. As long as Consort Li is not afraid, she can have her pulse examined in court to prove her innocence."

“Father.” Li Zhao stepped forward at the opportune moment, his voice steady and powerful, “Your subject believes that now that things have come to this point, in order to avoid wrongful judgment and damage to Your Majesty’s reputation, we should further clarify the truth and falsehood in order to reassure the people.”

Emperor Chongzhao's face grew increasingly gloomy.

"Verify!"

The two imperial physicians were already terrified.

Upon hearing the imperial decree, they exchanged a startled glance, then forced themselves to bow and acknowledge it. A royal physician stepped forward, carefully dipped his finger in the holy water, and inhaled its aroma.

Repeat this several times, then dip a small amount into your mouth and taste it carefully.

After a moment, he shook his head, stood up, took half a step back, and bowed.

"Your Majesty, after my inspection, the holy water in the vase... is not poisonous."

The other physician, Zhang, who was also mentioned, didn't bother with any pretense of modesty and eagerly placed three fingers on Xiao Qing'er's wrist to take her pulse...

The touch from my fingertips was strangely smooth, yet it carried a palpable emptiness that sent shivers down my spine. It lacked the steady strength and smooth, flowing quality that a pregnant pulse should possess.

He was suddenly startled.

"its not right……"

Before he finished speaking, he checked repeatedly, his face growing paler and paler. Then, glancing at the dark bloodstains on the ground, his pupils constricted, and his voice trembled uncontrollably.

"Your Majesty! The pulse... the pulse is indeed abnormal. It's excessively slippery, lacking any foundation. This... this is definitely not a normal fetal pulse..."

"An abnormal fetal pulse? What should be the explanation?" Emperor Chongzhao's voice was as cold as iron.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Physician Zhang's forehead was covered in cold sweat. He knelt down with a thud, banging his head on the ground. "The Empress's bleeding is not due to a miscarriage or rectal bleeding. It is... it is due to taking a drug like red musk powder..."

The infamous reputation of red musk powder was already made known to the world after Princess Ping Le's case.

Everyone in the palace knew about it.

The imperial physician did not point it out in public, but the truth was self-evident.

Xiao Qing'er's face was ashen, her eyes filled with despair.

A terrible thought seized her.

"Nonsense! You want to harm me... Your Majesty, they want to harm the imperial heir in my womb..."

"You bunch of quacks! You're all in cahoots. I'm clearly pregnant with the Emperor's child; the Imperial Hospital has already confirmed it. It was Xue Liu! It was Consort Jing, it was the nuns at Shuiyue Nunnery—they conspired to harm the imperial heir in my womb..."

The imperial physician was so frightened that his face turned pale and he kept kowtowing.

"This old minister is utterly loyal and would never dare to deceive the emperor."

"This old minister dares not utter a single falsehood... Please, Your Majesty, be wise."

Emperor Chongzhao remained silent.

He stood in the center of the hall, his bright yellow dragon robe particularly eye-catching.

His cloudy eyes, sharp yet cold, slowly turned to Xiao Qing'er.

"Consort Li, how dare you! You abuse your favor and feign pregnancy to deceive the emperor. Do you think I'm blind?"

"Your Majesty, I did not lie, I am indeed pregnant. It was them...it was they who conspired to harm our child, Your Majesty..."

Xiao Qing'er completely broke down.

The face that had been meticulously painted for the Dharma assembly was contorted with fear and anger.

She shoved Xue Yuechen away abruptly, her eyes flashing with mad resentment. Suddenly, she cried out and screamed, charging towards Xue Sui without regard for anything else.

"You bitch, you ruined me! I'll fight you to the death!"

Too close, too fast changes.

Before the exclamation could even escape...

Xue Sui shifted her feet slightly to the side, avoiding touching the hem of her clothes.

A golden pouch shaped like a phoenix spreading its wings slipped out from Xiao Qing'er's sleeve.

It landed right in front of everyone.

This purse looks very familiar.

It was a golden hairpin with a phoenix holding a pearl, bestowed by the royal family along with Princess Ruihe's wedding hairpin.

The end of the purse fell onto the bloodstain.

The phoenix's color gradually turned into a dark, bluish-gray...

Time seemed to freeze.

Xiao Qing'er froze on the spot, staring incredulously at Xue Sui, who remained motionless, and at the purse that had appeared out of nowhere.

"This is impossible!"

Xue Sui's face was ashen, as if it wasn't his own wrist that was injured. He slowly raised his hand and pointed at the purse.

"There is poison in Consort Li's purse. As Physician Zhang said, it should be some kind of red musk powder..."

Everyone was silent.

Li Zhao slowly turned around, his gaze piercing Xiao Qing'er, who was deathly pale. "Back then, the deposed princess mixed red musk powder with thousand-gold vine, using this treacherous trick to feign pregnancy, defile the palace, slander the imperial family, mislead the emperor, and commit a heinous act... The palace had already issued a strict order prohibiting its use in the six palaces. Consort Li has lived in the deep palace for so long, where did she get this medicine from?"

Xiao Qing'er was struck dumb.

His venomous gaze suddenly shifted to Princess Ruihe, whose eyes were darting away.

"It was you? Li Yuning! You're the one who ruined me?"

　Li Zhao: My handsomeness today was almost stolen by a certain woman again... Sigh, I'm always competing with Xue Ping'an in terms of handsomeness, and I always win by a narrow margin.

　　Lai Fu: Your Highness, it should be said that... you narrowly escaped defeat.

　　Li Zhao: Get out!
　　(End of this chapter)