Chapter 468: Putting things to rest and making further plans
After Kang Guang finished speaking, Qingque just looked at him without saying a word for a long time. Kang Guang couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed, and asked with a smile: "Why is the Imperial Master looking at Xiao Xiao like this? Is there something wrong with what I just said?"
"
"If there is really something wrong with that bottle of wine, the wine was given by the empress, and it was delivered by you personally, Mr. Kang. Even if Concubine Li had someone tamper with it, would they honestly admit it? If not, they would still get you involved.
Come in." Qingque said, "Your Majesty is still angry with Concubine Xian these days. If something like this happens again, it is inevitable that you will have some preconceptions, so you should consider it carefully."
"Well... the concerns of the imperial master are not unreasonable," Kang Guang said, "but I really feel that Shang Qiyan's death is a bit unfair. Besides, he just joined us two days ago, and the empress spent a lot of money on him.
."
"In this case, we can't act rashly. The things the empress gave him must still be there. How can I ask someone to dig them out?" Qingque glanced at Kang Guang lightly and stopped talking.
"This..." Kang Guang couldn't help but be speechless, "In that case, I'd better go back and ask for advice from the empress!"
"Mr. Kang went back and replied to the empress, saying that I knew something about fortune-telling." Qingque slowly closed his eyes, "Since we have already made arrangements for fortune-telling, it will be a matter of time for Concubine Li to fall out of favor, so why bother to do it in the future?"
Are you confused about this matter?"
Kang Guang returned to Jiaolan Palace again, and Concubine Xian asked him, "Did you find anything after going there?"
"Your Majesty's guess is right. I went to Shang Qiyan's side, and sure enough, his apprentice has a problem." Kang Guang said, "But the trouble is also here."
"What do you mean?" Concubine Xian asked.
"From the way his apprentice behaves, the problem should be the tiger bone wine that Shang Qiyan drinks every night. The cork of the bottle has been changed, so there is most likely something wrong with it.
There must be a chronic poison in it. Shang Qiyan drank it every day, and eventually he lost his life.
But the tiger bone wine was given to him by the empress, and we won’t be able to escape our involvement even if things turn out.” Kang Guang said, “I also asked Grand Master Qingque about this matter, and he suggested not to act rashly.
He also said that since we have decided to plot against Concubine Li when fortune-telling, there is no need to add any more details to this matter."
After listening to Kang Guang's words, Concubine Xian lowered her head and thought silently for a long time, then said: "The Imperial Master is right, a small impatience can ruin a big plan. Maybe this matter is a trap set by Concubine Li for us. It's like the bottle cork.
If there is a problem, if we investigate carefully, there may be something wrong with the wine, which will make us bear the blame.
Shang Qiyan is the Emperor's confidant, and it would be bad if His Majesty knew that we were interested in wooing him."
At this time, the wise concubine was walking on thin ice, so she naturally had to be extremely careful.
After thinking for a while, he said, "Go and call Xue Hengzhao. I want to hear what she has to say."
Kang Guang then called Shucong over and ordered: "You find a way to go to the Dowager Empress, find a way to meet Miss Xue, and give her a few hints. She is a smart person, so she naturally knows what it means.
"
Shu Cong then came over with a plain handkerchief on her sleeves and asked the people in Tong'an Palace whether Xue Hengzhao was waiting in front of the Dowager Empress today.
"Miss Hengzhao went to the concubine's upper chamber early in the morning, and she has to come down during lunch at the earliest." A little maid from Tong'an Palace said to her, "I wonder if my sister has anything to ask her about, I can give her a message.
Son."
Shu Cong said, "It's no big deal. I know Miss Heng Zhao is very clever, so I want to ask her for a favor. Draw a pattern on my plain handkerchief so that I can embroider it."
Saying that, he took out the Fang Supa.
"If sister trusts me, you can give this to me and pass it on to sister Hengzhao when the time comes." The palace maid said, "Or you can go to her residence and give it to Yinsha. She has been waiting on girl Hengzhao, talking and handing things over.
It’s convenient for us.”
"Then I'll go find Yin Shu. Thank you very much." Shucong nodded with a smile and walked back to Xue Hengzhao's residence.
After Xue Hengzhao came down from above, he returned to his residence to have lunch and rest.
After entering the door, Yin Shu poured water for her and said, "Sister Xue, just now Sister Shu Cong, who is next to Concubine Xian, came to see you. She gave me instructions when you were not here."
"What did she say?" Xue Hengzhao asked while cleaning his hands.
"She brought a plain handkerchief and said that she wanted to ask you to draw a pattern on the handkerchief for her so that she could embroider it. I asked her what she wanted to draw, and she said anything was fine, as long as it was drawn by her sister.
That's fine." Yin Shu said, "She also said there's no rush, I'll wait for my sister to finish her meal first, and then we'll talk after taking a break!"
Yin Shu was actually very reluctant to let Xue Heng do such trivial things. He felt that she was already weak and it would take a lot of energy to serve her. She should have a good rest when she returned to her residence.
After hearing this, Xue Hengzhao immediately understood what was going on.
When they sat down to eat, Yin Shu asked her in a low voice: "Sister, why did you say that General Manager Shang just said it was gone? When I heard it, I thought someone had transmitted it wrongly!"
"Birth, old age, illness and death are normal for human beings. As an elderly person, it is not surprising that he would have such a result." Xue Hengzhao said.
"I heard them say that His Majesty has already passed away. Is it because General Manager Shang passed away at this time because he wanted to ascend to heaven in advance to prepare to serve Your Majesty in heaven in the future?" Yin Shu told Xue Heng what he had heard from hearsay.
Xue Hengzhao couldn't help but laugh, cleared his throat and said, "Thank you for coming up with it. I've only heard of people who followed him to heaven, but never heard of people who ascended to heaven ahead of time."
"That's true! But the death of General Manager Shang was really too sudden." Yin Shu said, "It's hard to avoid making people think too much."
"Stop following their nonsense." Xue Hengzhao warned her, "Some words change their taste after being passed around. If they are passed to the emperor's ears again and he is punished, how can he tolerate it?"
"What sister said is true. I don't dare to say nonsense anymore." Yin Shu quickly shut up.
Although Shang Qiyan is the general manager of Yangze Palace, he is a servant after all and cannot build a mourning hall in the palace.
In the afternoon of this day, he was taken outside the palace, and there was a special person in charge of the burial and other matters.
Xue Hengzhao finished his lunch slowly and lay down to rest for half an hour.
After getting up, she asked the silver comb to clean her up, then took out her pen and simply traced a few strokes on the handkerchief Shu Cong gave her.
In the second half of the day, Xue Hengzhao didn't have to go to the upper room to wait on her, so he put on his cloak, took the handkerchief, and went to Xianfei's palace alone.
"Miss Xue is here, please come in." Someone was already waiting for her outside.
Xue Hengzhao smiled and said, "I'm looking for Sister Shucong, but where is she?"
"Sister Shucong is waiting in the inner room. Just go in." The man opened the curtain and asked Xue Heng to look in.