Tuoba Hong looked at the full-faced smile of Hui Bin and felt displeased, frowning: "Hui Bin is still ill, you talk so much it's inevitable that you'll disturb her, let's go back first." It was actually the other party who showed a satisfied expression.

  Mi Fei was taken aback, immediately looked wronged and shouted with a sob: "Your Majesty——" However, Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei ignored her, turned around and sat on the bed, holding Lin Yuan's hand and talking in detail. Mi Fei bit her lip, glanced at them twice, then retreated.

  Tuoba Hong and Lin Yuexi asked about each other's well-being, while Fang Cai'er stood quietly at the foot of the bed, not daring to be presumptuous. Tuoba Hong personally held the medicine bowl to feed Lin Yuexi, saying in a warm voice: "How are you feeling now? I have ordered people to tie up those from the Shang Shi Bureau and interrogate them strictly, we will definitely get to the bottom of this."

  Lin Yujing nodded silently and asked after a while: "I wonder if the emperor has found any clues?"

  "For the time being, there is none." Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei shook his head: "However, purslane was found among the ingredients in Shang Shi Bureau, and recently several concubines have gone to collect it. I had the eunuchs investigate them."

  "Malva? Isn't that the one often used to make delicious cold dishes? Is Concubine's illness related to it?" Lin Yu asked doubtfully.

  Tuoba Hong's face showed a hint of anger, and he said: "According to the imperial physician, your fainting this time is likely related to food, and there are signs that you have taken in cold foods which affect the fetus. Pueraria lobata is taboo for pregnant women, eating it won't cause miscarriage but will stir up fetal energy, Wu Imperial Physician and the female doctors by your side must not have dared to let you touch it even a little bit. Those consorts are always causing trouble, I don't think they look clean."

  "The imperial edict is sacred, the concubines believe in the emperor." Lin Yuanyu replied with a gentle smile.

  After Lin Wan's incident, Tuoba Hong was furious, and many people in the palace were unlucky because of this matter. Malva verticillata is a common dish made with fermented bean paste, green peppers, and small white tofu, which is crispy and refreshing to eat. There are still many people in the palace who love to eat it. The people from the Imperial Food Bureau and those concubines who received the malva verticillata were all innocent, but Lin Wan would not go to excuse them, she was now struggling to save herself, let alone those people.

  The harem has always been like this, no matter how careful you are, you will be inexplicably hit by flying disasters, and every year there are concubines who die unjustly. The cold palace is even more crowded. If Lin Yu hadn't been lucky this time, she would have gone to the Yellow Springs long ago.

  Lin Wan and Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei were talking, when Fang Cairen brought over two bowls of apricot kernel pastry, presenting them to Lin Wan and the emperor with a humble expression. Emperor Taizong glanced at her, recalling that she had lived in Huayang Palace for many years without moving out, even when Empress Jing was on the brink of death, and thought that this person was honest. He then asked: "You and Concubine Hui live in the same palace, have you noticed if she has eaten anything unusual recently?"

  This was the first time in five years that she had been asked a question by the Emperor. She couldn't help but feel a little excited, and suppressed the trembling of her hands as she replied: "Nothing, I haven't paid attention to it either..."

  Tuoba Hong responded with a faint "oh".

  Just now, people's eyebrows and eyes were flowing, thinking of today's Jing Fei's entrustment, turned around the eyeballs and said: "An Lingji Xiaozhu has been to Hongyan Building these days, I heard that An Lingji Xiaozhu also took Marrow from Shang Shi Ju before."

  Tuoba Hong's face gradually sank as he listened.

  He looked at Lin Wan and said: "Is this really true? Has An Shi ever been here?"

  In the past few days, there have been more concubines coming to Lin's residence. She looked at Tuoba Hong and thought for a while before nodding: "Ling Ji arrived three days ago. There was nothing important, she came with Consort Cheng Gui of Wan Chun Palace, they chatted idly for a bit."

  An Lijing and the other five entered the palace with unclear ranks, all living in side halls. An lived in the Wan Chun Palace, where Consort Cheng was in charge, not favored but also not oppressive by nature, so she lived relatively comfortably.

  People like He Shi, who was the most beautiful, were sent to Wang Shu Palace by the Empress. The Emperor rarely visited that place once a year, and those in power suffered losses. Zhao Shi, who was steady and dignified, was settled in Xianfu Palace, where Zhu Huasheng was good at manipulating people, either using them or excluding them, and Zhao Shi's future days were uncertain.

  "Didn't An bring some food over?" Taotao Hong asked.

  Lin Yan shook her head.

  The person who started the trouble just said that one sentence and then didn't say anything else, lowering his head to find an excuse to leave.

  Tuoba Hong was already too lazy to care about Fang Cai at this time, and he ordered people to search for An Shi.

  Lin Wan still needs to rest, Tuoba Hong can't stay for long, so he sat for a while and left. After the emperor left, the palace staff of the Brocade Smoke Pavilion came in to serve Lin Wan. A clever second-class palace maid, Xu Fang, approached Lin Wan and whispered: "Your Highness's matter is quite serious, now those who have used horse tooth clover from the Imperial Food Bureau are all being searched for, it's said that the Empress's people went in and smashed the tables and chairs, losing a lot of face. Two of the six new consorts were implicated, An Xiaozhu and Xie Xiaozhu, and there are already rumors in the palace that since the six consorts entered the palace, the harem has been very unstable."

  This Shu Fang is not Lin Wan's confidant, but she has been following her for a long time and has become a decent second-class palace maid. Lin Wan smiled faintly: "An Shi and the others were also unfortunate when they entered the palace. The concubines all targeted them, and this time my affair implicated An Shi and Zhao Shi again. Outsiders wouldn't let them off easily, so they would naturally add fuel to the fire and slander them everywhere."

  "But, to be honest, these rumors aren't entirely unfounded." Chūxuē said lightly: "The six new consorts are not peaceful characters. The other day, Hé Liàn Jī and Wèi Wēn Jī had a disagreement in front of the Emperor because they were competing for his favor, and it even escalated into a quarrel."

  "They were all carefully selected by their families, how could they be so honest?" Lin Yan raised her head and glanced at Shu Fang: "All of you withdraw."

  Yu Fang and others did not dare to disobey, and they quickly retreated and closed the doors and windows, leaving only Chu Xue inside. Lin Wan looked at Chu Xue and said: "Why did someone mention An Shi's affairs just now?"

  The first snow had a solemn expression, thinking: "I also find it strange. Just now, people generally don't show their heads... Although the six new concubines in the palace are hated by everyone, Xu Ronghua and others give face to the new concubines, but she is just a small talent, how can she be mentioned together with Xu Ronghua, and how does she have the qualifications to offend the favored new concubines?"

  Lin Wan's index finger lightly tapped on the desk, which was made of high-quality red nanmu wood, producing a clear and crisp sound. After a while, she said in a low voice: "The person just now is someone from Jing Fei."

  Lin Yan was not guessing, but a very affirmative tone. The first snow's expression changed slightly, and then calmed down: "This is also within our expectations. In the past, when Queen Jing slept, others would follow suit. Now that Queen Jing has woken up, she naturally follows suit."

  "It doesn't matter if she's a pawn of Qingfei or not, we can all see that she's just a bright piece, nothing to be feared. Qingfei is not a simple person, and who knows how many hidden pieces she has in her hand, that's what I need to pay attention to." Lin Yanyan's tone was calm but with a hint of coldness: "Since the six new consorts entered the palace, they've been through a lot of open and secret attacks. Many consorts openly opposed them, and it's not surprising that someone would stir up trouble under Qingfei's orders. But what really caught my attention is Qingfei's way of doing things."

  "What's this, Princess?"

  "If she can't get along with the new consorts, Jing Fei wouldn't need to instruct Fang Cai Ren to go through so much trouble. She could just say a word in front of the Emperor and that would be enough. But since she used Fang Cai Ren and was extremely cautious, only saying one sentence and not daring to speak more, fearing that it might arouse the Emperor's suspicion... Lin Yu said, shaking her head repeatedly: "This kind of setup, where is this an ordinary fight for favor? It seems like Jing Fei and An Ling Ji have some old grudge, wanting to plot against each other to deliver a fatal blow."

  "What old feud could there be?" Chūyuki's eyes widened: "Anryōki has only been in the palace for less than a month... Either Anryōki threatened Shizuhime, and Shizuhime wants to get rid of her quickly. But Anryōki is far inferior to Shizuhime, she's not even worthy of being Shizuhime's opponent..."

  Lin Wan thought about it and couldn't figure it out, so she said, "Forget it, let's think about how to investigate the person who harmed me this time. Even if Jing Fei has planned everything carefully, I will definitely catch her and severely punish her."

  ***

  Lin Wan had made up her mind not to let this enemy go, but she was just being strong in words. The imperial physicians were unable to find out what poison was inside her body, and she didn't dare order people to search around the Chang Le Palace either.

  This is the drawback of being protected by people sent by Emperor Taizong. Now, every move she makes is under their watchful eyes, and this time, it involves Empress Dowager, so she dare not make any rash moves. If she were to be discovered during the search of Chang Le Palace, Emperor Taizong would surely investigate the real reason for her fainting spell.

  Several days passed without any news, but her body slowly recovered. Fortunately, when she fainted, she quickly returned to the Hongyan Building, and the amount of poison she inhaled was not much. The person behind the scenes must have been gritting their teeth in frustration, having wasted a lot of effort.

  Both sides are at a loss for what to do with each other, and the situation has reached an impasse, as if it can only end in nothing.

  Tuoba Hong was helpless in this regard, the real culprit was extremely cunning and had many tricks up his sleeve, making it impossible for him to find any clues. The victim, on the other hand, was also evasive and tried to cover things up, refusing to tell the truth to the emperor who was trying to uphold justice. With both sides being like this, Tuoba, the great judge, was at a loss.

  In his helplessness, Tuoba Hong could only feel more and more pity for Lin Yuan, spending every day sitting with her in the Rouge Smoke Pavilion, comforting her by saying: "As for this matter of the harem, I also cannot have all-seeing eyes or be omniscient. You've suffered such hardships, it's unjust to you. Why don't I severely punish those consorts who used the horse hoof herb, to alleviate your heart's hatred, what do you think?"

  Lin Wan heard him say that, and knew he didn't want to investigate the matter anymore. Not only couldn't find out, but also made everyone in the palace anxious, even if Emperor Tuoba Hong favored her, he couldn't just investigate for one person for years, making the palace restless.

  Tuoba Hong could only make those innocent concubines take the blame, and at the same time, he got rid of them to vent his anger for Lin Yu, showing his love and respect for Lin Yu.

  But if it's just going to end like this...

  After all, it's hard to calm down!

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