Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Those involved are often blinded by their own perspective!

Lu Chen didn't immediately connect the assassination attempt against him with the Renyin Palace Coup precisely because of the preconceived notions of a transmigrator!

After realizing this, Lu Chen immediately understood that the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard had probably already secretly investigated the two assassination attempts together.

However, Empress Fang struck first, executing the sixteen palace maids who murdered the emperor during the palace coup, along with Consort Wang Ning and Consort Cao Duan, effectively sealing the case as regicide.

The only people who knew the truth were Empress Fang herself and her two head maids.

Yesterday, when Lu Chen asked Xu Kun about the Jiajing Emperor's injuries, he used his mental power to sense that the heartbeats of the three of them were different from those of the others.

Empress Fang took the opportunity to unjustly kill Consort Cao, Emperor Jiajing's most beloved concubine. Lu Chen knew she had a guilty conscience.

For her, it was better for the emperor to be dead than alive, and it was reasonable for her to secretly breathe a sigh of relief when she heard that there was less than a 10% chance that the emperor could be saved.

The two head maids beside her had the same heartbeat, so they were undoubtedly in the know.

When Lu Chen left the rear hall of Renshou Palace last night, he had already secretly asked someone to find out the identities of the two head palace maids.

The older one, surnamed Wei, was forty-three years old. She had entered the palace during the Zhengde reign and had been there for almost thirty years, rising from a lowly palace maid to a senior nanny.

As early as the ninth year of the Jiajing reign, she was assigned to serve as a head maid to Consort Fang, who had just entered the palace through the imperial concubine selection process.

In the thirteenth year of the Jiajing reign, Empress Zhang was deposed, and Consort Fang was made Empress. She continued to stay by her side and is now the head maid of Kunning Palace.

This Granny Wei was undoubtedly Empress Fang's most trusted confidante.

The other person, who was younger, was somewhat unexpected to Lu Chen.

This woman was none other than Chen Furong, the head maid of Yikun Palace!

She has been in the palace for quite some time, having entered in the eighth year of the Jiajing reign, a year earlier than Empress Fang. Now she is twenty-eight years old and has been in the palace for thirteen years, making her a senior palace maid with considerable experience.

After the palace coup the night before, it was this woman who, carrying Empress Fang's token, rushed to the Imperial Stables to call for help.

At that time, Emperor Jiajing's condition was extremely critical. Every minute the Imperial Horse Administration personnel arrived late, the slimmer the hope of saving him became. Chen Furong can be considered to have made a great contribution to saving the emperor.

That is why she was not implicated in the case of regicide.

Those sixteen palace maids who murdered the emperor were all her subordinates. Even if she did not participate in the operation or was completely unaware of it, she should still be punished according to the law.

Since this woman was also in the know, it means that she had already secretly sided with Empress Fang.

It's even possible that she was a spy planted by Empress Fang next to her rival, Consort Cao.

Since she was Empress Fang's person and had rendered a great service by sending a message and finding someone to save the emperor, it was not easy for me to touch her without a suitable reason.

There's no point in killing her quietly; it's better to keep her alive for now.

Empress Fang's wrongful killing of Consort Cao, though extremely excessive, was ultimately a family matter of the Jiajing Emperor.

Anyway, the Jiajing Emperor is still alive. He can deal with the affairs of his own harem after he wakes up.

In the world Lu Chen once lived in, Empress Fang's ending was not good.

This is not entirely the fault of the Jiajing Emperor. After all, his beloved woman was unjustly killed and subjected to the excruciating punishment of being slowly sliced ​​to pieces. Any man with a shred of courage would not remain indifferent.

Lu Chen believed that Emperor Jiajing himself would prefer to handle the matter personally after waking up, rather than having his younger brother overstep his bounds and do it for him.

Of those who knew about the Renyin Palace Coup, only these three women remained. So, what about the assassin who tried to kill her at the Wuding Marquis's residence?

These people were sent by that mysterious time traveler from Blackwood Cliff!

Fighting should have already broken out in Pingding Prefecture. The specific details of the battle haven't been reported to the capital yet, but it should happen within the next day or two.

Are there any clues left to investigate in the capital?

The master and apprentice Duan Chaoyong, sent by the time traveler, were killed on the spot at the Marquis of Wuding's residence.

Duan Chaoyong's other disciples were all recruited locally after he came to the capital, and they had no idea about Duan Chaoyong and Wang Ziyan's background.

As for the two assassins who broke into the Marquis of Wuding's residence to carry out the assassination, but were later frightened away and fled, they will never be caught.

Those were two top-tier internal martial arts masters; if they deliberately hid, it would be almost impossible for an ordinary person to catch them.

Perhaps these two have already escaped the capital and are on their way back to Taiyuan.

The only remaining clues are the things left behind by Duan Chaoyong and his apprentice.

Unlike others, Lu Chen is still not entirely sure whether the two matters are truly connected.

Duan Chaoyong and his apprentice lived for a long time near Leitan, which was less than 500 meters away from Renshou Palace.

Both locations belong to the Western Garden, and there are no high walls separating them, so they may have already noticed the palace maids' unusual behavior.

This is not impossible!

Even if ordinary people noticed something amiss with Consort Wang and the palace maids, they wouldn't suspect they were plotting to assassinate the emperor; this was beyond the imagination of most people.

But these two are different; behind them is a time traveler who knows about "Blackwood Cliff".

The Renyin Palace Coup is so famous in history that various interpretations have circulated on the internet in later generations.

It's quite possible that the time traveler knew about this, especially since this year happens to be the Year of Renyin.

If this person were to learn of the palace maids' unusual behavior, he would very likely think of the Renyin Palace Coup!

Once they knew, Duan Chaoyong and Wang Ziyan could secretly observe and even determine the timing of their actions.

If that's the case, then Duan Chaoyong's time traveler behind him used the palace maids' regicide plot to arrange his assassination on the same night.

If the emperor and the regent prince were assassinated at the same time, the court would surely be thrown into chaos.

Of course, there is another possibility.

That means the actions of both sides were indeed coordinated, and that the time traveler had a mole in the palace!

If that's the case, then the things left behind by Duan Chao and his master might be a good opportunity to fish!

"Duan Chao and his apprentice refined the 'Red Lead' elixir for His Majesty, so they must have a lot of other medicinal herbs and other alchemy ingredients on hand."

Lu Chen asked,

"After the Imperial Horse Stables dealt with the 'Red Lead' elixir, what happened to the other items?"

"Your Highness, we also found quite a few things, many of which are precious medicinal herbs."

Tang Zhe quickly replied,

"The head palace maid Chen Furong, sent by the Empress, suggested that all the medicinal herbs be sent to the Imperial Pharmacy for storage."

She also mentioned that she had caught a chill last night and was going to the Imperial Pharmacy to get some medicine, so she went along with them.

"I have inquired with the people at the Imperial Horse Administration, and Chen Furong has carefully examined all the items seized from Duan Chaoyong and his apprentice."

The most important "red lead" elixir has been found, so Chen Furong can simply return to report to Empress Fang.

What does the storage of other medicinal herbs have to do with her?

I didn't notice anything amiss about her catching a cold this morning!

If that's the case, there must be some other reason why they would make an excuse to go to the Imperial Pharmacy!

Could it be?!

"Go ask the people at the Imperial Stables what kinds of medicinal herbs have been sent to the warehouse. List them in as much detail as possible, regardless of whether they are rare or not!"

Lu Chen gave the instructions.

"Go to the Imperial Pharmacy and ask them what medicinal herbs have been put into storage!"

I need to know if something is missing!