"It's good that you're lucky, and didn't really suffer a disaster." The empress sighed, no longer looking at Lin Yu, and turned to the emperor: "I know about the matter with Bai Shi, it's her bad luck, Your Majesty mustn't be sad anymore."

  The queen said words of comfort, but her own eyes were clearly moist.

  Although Bai died, Xiang Fei is still safe and sound with her child. The Empress, knowing her place, went to hold Xiang Fei's hand and said sympathetically: "Fortunately, there is still the one in your belly now, great calamities will not die and there will be good fortune later, I see that Xiang Fei's good fortune is yet to come."

  Tuoba Hong poured a cup of tea and said calmly: "The news from the Empress is auspicious, and Xiang Fei has also just been relieved of her duties."

  "When I arrived, I met Liang Yuanbiao in the corridor." The empress explained: "When I rushed over just now, I only heard that Princess Xiang had a sudden illness and my heart was racing. Seeing Liang Yuanbiao, I asked him a few questions, and it wasn't until then that I knew that Mr. Liang's wonderful medical skills had saved Princess Xiang's life with one dose of medicine."

  Tuoba Hong nodded, thinking that Liang Yuan was a straightforward person who only remained loyal to the emperor. Since the emperor didn't want Nui'er's identity to be exposed, he would naturally help cover it up.

  The queen hurriedly went to see Xiang Fei, her face full of concern: "How are you feeling now? Your body is indeed not seriously injured, right?"

  Xiang Fei unintentionally entangled with the Empress, glanced to one side and pretended to be weak. The Empress saw her being presumptuous but didn't get angry, instead ordered the attendants: "Xiang Fei is in this state and needs nourishment, go to Changxin Palace to fetch some deer antler and bear gallbladder, reward them to Xiang Fei."

  "The slave will thank Her Majesty the Empress on behalf of Consort Xiang." The senior palace maid, Mu Shuang, was very good at reading facial expressions and knew that her master was pretending to be ill and didn't want to bother with the Empress. Afraid of losing etiquette, she knelt down and loudly thanked the Empress on behalf of her master.

  "Xiang Fei is fine, as the Empress said, she has good fortune." Tuoba Hong reached out to take his tea cup. Lin Yan saw him drink several mouthfuls in a row and knew he had a burning throat, so she personally went to pour Longjing tea for him. When she brought back two cups of tea, the Empress spoke to the Emperor: "I came late today because there is an urgent matter in the palace that needs attention, and this matter still needs to be reported to Your Majesty."

  The emperor sneered: "Today everything is indeed coming together."

  Lin Wan presented a cup of tea to the Emperor and Empress separately, then continued to sit in the corner. The Empress's face showed a hint of guilt as she said: "The harem is not peaceful, allowing Your Majesty to worry... it's all my fault... Today, the Crown Prince was playing with a kite and got a bit heatstroke, so I went to Yongshou Palace to visit him. The Crown Prince wasn't seriously ill, but when a palace maid went to find medicine for him, somehow a strange bottle rolled out. This palace saw that it looked very much like a forbidden object."

  This so-called "forbidden object" is not actually anything serious, and it's quite different from poison. It's just a trick used by the concubines to gain favor, harmless to the human body, but it's actually filthy because it originated from the brothels.

  Due to their noble status as imperial consorts, the emperor's body was even more revered. Such things were naturally not allowed in the palace. But they couldn't resist its excellent effects, and many consorts flocked to it. Some people hid them in their palaces. Sometimes, unfortunately, they were discovered by the empress, and since it wasn't a serious crime that harmed others, they would be punished with house arrest and deduction of salary as punishment.

  However, what Her Majesty wants to say today is not just a simple taboo.

  The empress glanced at the emperor's expression and continued: "I know that Consort Rong has always been dignified and respectful, and she doesn't indulge in imperial favors. She shouldn't be involved with this kind of dirty thing. However, our ancestral laws are strict, and I have to search Yongshou Palace to prove her innocence. As a result, we found a bunch of strange and unusual small medicine bottles. I asked the imperial physicians to examine them, and they said that these were not related to 'forbidden objects'... Oh, but it's much more serious than forbidden objects! Those are not medicines from our Central Plains, and very few people can recognize them. After careful identification, several of the bottles were found to be poisonous, capable of disfiguring one's appearance, damaging one's vocal cords, or even taking one's life... Looking at the remaining large pile of medicine bottles, the imperial physicians said that they are absolutely not good things, and are all used to harm people..."

  The empress spoke fluently like a lotus flower, saying a lot of shocking words one after another. After finishing speaking, she quietly sat and waited for the emperor's words. At this time, Emperor Tuoba Hong's face remained unchanged, and he only faintly asked the empress: "Is there such a thing?"

  The emperor's tone was impossible to discern any joy or anger. Lin Yin looked at his face from the side, but couldn't guess what he was thinking at all, nor could she tell whether he was angry or cared about this matter.

  Lin Yan couldn't help but bite her lip, it seemed that this man was even more difficult to deal with than she had imagined. In the past, most of the time she could guess his intentions, but when they really encountered a big event, this man suddenly became tight-lipped and impenetrable.

  The empress paused for a moment before saying, "I was also shocked by the imperial physician's words. This is a major matter, and I think it would be best to let Your Majesty handle it." She then ordered the palace maid to bring over the objects and present them to the emperor: "This tray contains the items found in the Yongshou Palace."

  Tuoba Hong's gaze swept over the rows of bottles and jars in front of him, without saying a word.

  The empress seemed to not want the emperor's response, and hastily said all she wanted to say: "Something like this has happened, even if Consort Rou had not used these things to harm people, privately storing poisonous medicine is a great crime. Moreover, these are all too shocking... Your subject has taken it upon herself to confine her in Yongshou Palace, awaiting punishment."

  "I later learned about the situation in Linzhi Palace. The eunuch who reported to me said that Xiang Fei was poisoned, and it was a strange poison that even the imperial physician couldn't cure. As soon as I heard this, I felt that something wasn't right... Since there were so many strange and sinister things in Rong Fei's palace, could the poison that Xiang Fei took be related to these? I brought all of Rong Fei's things here, and it just so happens that Liang Gong and Li Gong are still waiting in the side hall. Liang Gong recognizes the poison that Xiang Fei took, and he can certainly determine whether any of these items contain it."

  Tuoba Hong picked up a black, slender-necked porcelain bottle in front of him, turned it around in his hand for two circles, and then took another bottle to examine. After seemingly appreciating it for a while, he said: "The Empress is indeed efficient, she found out about Rong Fei's private stash of poison in such a short time. Since the Empress is leading this, and the case of Xiang Fei's poisoning has not been solved yet, let's just leave all these matters to the Empress to investigate."

  The empress did not expect the emperor to praise herself as "capable" and hand over all matters to her, she was quite surprised for a moment; afterwards she regained her composure, thinking that the emperor trusted herself more than before, perhaps because of the downfall of Consort Rou.

  At this time, he was busy handling the case and ordered someone to bring Liangyuan from the side hall. He also discussed with Xiangfei's palace maid to find out the source of the trouble.

  Lin Wan thought that in such a large Moon Invitation Building, it would take at least two hours to find the poison, but unexpectedly, Liang Yuanjudged very quickly and led people to find it. Mu Shuang and two small palace girls brought the incense burner from the bedroom to the emperor's face, and also took out the remaining incense from the warehouse.

  Everyone understood that it was a problem with the spices. Judge Liang examined the spices taken out of the warehouse one by one and shook his head, saying: "There is no problem here."

  "So it was added later?" The emperor asked lightly.

  Liang Yuan nodded: "The incense powder is still very dry, it should have been put in today."

  Lin Wan suddenly realized that actually just now Nui'er had already found the root cause, so she let Yao Fu Sheng extinguish all incense and open windows for ventilation.

  The empress sighed, repeatedly muttering that Xiang Fei had suffered, and finally pointed to a pile of porcelain bottles found in the palace of Rong Fei and asked Liang Yuanbing: "In your opinion, are there similar poisons among these things?"

  "The queen's place has a lot of things, I'm not familiar with them yet, and it will take some time to identify them." Liang Yuanbiao picked up one of the small porcelain bottles, his face showing disdain: "Indeed, they are all some strange and peculiar medicines."

  "Then trouble the imperial physician." The empress's face was slightly solemn, she had originally wanted to resolve this matter within today, but unfortunately it wasn't that simple... It seemed that even Liang Yuanbiao wasn't some kind of all-knowing sage, and in front of these little-known strange poisons, he couldn't be all-seeing either, still needing time to investigate.

  But it doesn't matter, she can wait.

  Liang Shouchang then took the pulse of Xiang Fei and said that there was no major problem, leaving behind a prescription for tonic medicine before retreating with the two medical officials carrying a large package of poisonous medicine brought by the Empress. The Empress watched as the group of imperial physicians left, then turned to discuss with the Emperor: "Your Majesty, how should we deal with this matter today? Shen Shi she..."

  "Liang Shouchang hasn't found out anything yet, there's no need for Her Majesty to be anxious." Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei said calmly.

  The queen smiled and said, "I was too hasty." She glanced at Xiang Fei and Lin Yu: "Sister Xiang Fei is still ill, and Gu Jie has suffered greatly today. I shouldn't bother you again, so I'll go back and wait for news from Lord Liang first."

  "All right, you go back first." The emperor didn't intend to keep the empress at all: "The Yongshou Palace hasn't been investigated clearly, and you can just put it aside for now. But in the Xianfu Palace, you should take good care of me." The emperor said, putting down his tea: "Empress, there are many things you need to do."

  The Empress was startled in her heart, and only then did she realize that she had been too hasty in the matter of Rong Fei. She feared that it would displease the Emperor. The things found in Rong Fei's palace had not yet been fully investigated, but the crimes of Chuyi in Xianfu Palace were already nailed to the board. As the Empress, she should have dealt with Chuyi first...

  She hastily smiled and said: "Yes, yes, I was confused by so many things at once. Rhythm... Chu Shi did such a thing, and also harmed Bai Mei Mei... I will investigate this matter, and anyone who participated in Chu Shi's affairs will be dealt with according to the palace rules. As for Chu Shi, she was originally a high-ranking repairer, so I will first ban her, waiting for the emperor's edict."

  The emperor nodded silently. The empress carefully bowed her head and withdrew.

  Lin Wan followed behind the empress and bid farewell. This time the emperor finally didn't keep her back.

  The emperor naturally stayed behind to accompany Xiang Fei.