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MTL - Little Cardamom-Chapter 93
As soon as Mingtan was taken out, she immediately wanted to put it back, but before she could move, her wrist suddenly went numb, and the luminous pearl rolled down to the ground.
Everyone exclaimed softly, subconsciously lowered their heads to look for them, but they were all gathered together, the winter clothes and skirts were thick and complicated, and the shadow of Ye Mingzhu had not been seen yet, the crowd suddenly commotioned again, accompanied by two screams, one in front and one in back Exclaimed, the voices of the maidservants were also full of panic and fear——
"Ma'am!"
"My lord!"
Ming Tan was also pushed and shoved so that he almost lost his footing, but fortunately Princess Yujun helped him up from the side.
When she stood still, there were two screams at the same time not far away. After the scream, there was another cry of pain: "It hurts, my child!"
Ming Tan's head went blank for a moment, what's going on? Concubine Shu and Lady Jia both fell to the ground!
Just at this time, Cheng Kangdi and his party had already swam not far ahead, and when they heard the sound, they rushed over quickly.
Seeing the two pregnant concubines who fell to the ground, Cheng Kangdi's face suddenly became ugly: "What are you doing in a daze, why don't you call the imperial physician!"
"Already invited, come, quickly help Concubine Shu and Jia Gui to Ruyan Pavilion!"
Facing the sudden accident, Empress Zhang was still calm and methodical, her voice was slightly tense and hasty.
Concubine Shu and Mrs. Jia's personal servants hurried forward, together with the nearby servants, helped their own mother to go to the nearest Ruyan Pavilion.
Jia Guiren was only in some faint pain at first, but when she got up, she was dizzy and dizzy from the pain, and her face suddenly turned pale: "It...it hurts!"
Concubine Shu's side was even more tragic, and the maid was so frightened that she cried out intermittently: "Bleeding... bleeding! Your majesty is bleeding!"
The maid's hand was red, and the hem of Concubine Shu's clothes was also soaked in dark color.
Ming Tan's heart sank.
Cheng Kangdi's face was livid, and he asked angrily, "What's going on?!"
Concubine Rou hurriedly knelt down to admit her mistake: "It's all concubine's fault. Concubine insists on asking Princess Dingbei to untie the lamp. The concubine untied it, but maybe she was too happy. Ye Mingzhu didn't hold it securely that night. Rolled to the ground, sister Jia stepped on it, slipped and fell, sister Concubine Shu was standing next to sister Jia, and was also knocked down by sister Jia."
The Empress and Concubine Lan wanted to argue for Ming Tan, but the situation was too chaotic just now, they didn't see clearly what happened, but several low-ranking concubines corroborated Rou Concubine's statement.
When Emperor Chengkang heard the words, he looked straight at Ming Tan with sharp eyes.
Ming Tan subconsciously wanted to kneel down, but Jiang Xu suddenly stood in front of her, stretched out his hand to block it, and looked at Cheng Kangdi quietly without avoiding his gaze.
Cheng Kangdi looked at him for a while with complicated eyes.
The surroundings were very quiet, and the atmosphere suddenly condensed into a dead silence that the atmosphere dared not utter because of the two people's gazes.
However, in the end it was Cheng Kangdi who looked away first. He said nothing, but walked towards Ruyan Pavilion with his sleeves flung.
Soon, everyone followed to Ruyan Pavilion, only Ming Tan and Jiang Xu remained under the lamp.
Jiang Xu held her already cold hand, and after a while, she moved her fingers and said softly: "I'm sorry husband, A Tan seems to have troubled you."
"Nothing to do with you."
"No, I was careless."
"It's okay, I'll take care of it."
His voice was as heavy as gold and cold jade, it was low, but it made people feel inexplicably at ease.
Ming Tan held him back tightly, and then remembered to explain: "Just now, the luminous pearl was hot in my hand. I sensed something was wrong, so I didn't dare to throw it away. I just wanted to put it back, but my wrist didn't know why. , I suddenly went numb, and by the time I realized it, Ye Mingzhu had already fallen to the ground, and I don't know how it happened after that."
Jiang Xu believed what Ming Tan said, and he comforted him: "Don't worry, I'm here."
He led Ming Tan to the place where Concubine Cai Shu fell down.
There was still fresh blood on the ground, and he stretched out his hand: "Give me the handkerchief."
Ming Tan obediently handed over the handkerchief.
He took a handkerchief to dip the blood on the ground and observed carefully.
Ming Tan suddenly thought of a possibility.
"Is it human blood?" she asked nervously.
"yes."
Before Ming Tan had time to be disappointed, Jiang Xu said again: "She has a meticulous mind and will not leave a flaw in this kind of thing."
Ming Tan was stunned for a moment: "Husband, what do you mean, concubine Shu...?"
Does he have any evidence? It was so straightforward to believe that there was something wrong with Concubine Shu.
Jiang Xu didn't answer, he looked around and found the falling night pearl in the corner.
Ye Mingzhu is not as hot as before, but it still feels warm when held in the palm.
Jiang Xu sized it up for a while, then said directly, "It's moonlight powder."
"Moonlight powder?" Ming Tan was puzzled.
"The powder prepared by grinding a kind of ore in the Northland is silver in color and slightly flooded. After being sealed, it will heat up quickly when exposed to air."
Ming Tan looked down at Ye Mingzhu: "So this Ye Mingzhu is painted with moonshine powder?"
Jiang Xu was noncommittal: "Let's go."
But at this moment in Ruyan Pavilion, the two rooms are in a panic.
Mrs. Jia was screaming heart-piercingly, there were already signs of premature delivery, Empress Zhang hurriedly ordered people to find the midwife and make all kinds of preparations for the delivery.
There was only suppressed sobbing in Concubine Shu's room, and the imperial physician and Emperor Chengkang whispered back, then shook their heads lightly, and slowly withdrew.
Concubine Shu leaned on the bed, her hair dazed, her tears rolling down silently.
Cheng Kangdi sat on the edge of the bed and held her hand, feeling quite painful for a while.
Concubine Shu's child is gone, and the imperial doctor said that Concubine Shu's physique is not easy to conceive, this time it is extremely difficult to conceive, this time it is gone, and there will be no more in the future.
The nobleman outside cried one after another, crying heartbreakingly: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Concubine Shu seemed to be suffering from hearing it, her eyes were blurred by tears, but she still half stood up, choked up and said: "This concubine is here, it is unlucky for sister Jia, concubine... please allow your concubine to go back to the palace first .”
Cheng Kangdi didn't know what to say, so he held her hand tightly, patted it, and promised in a deep voice: "I will definitely give you an explanation for today's matter, and I will send you back to the palace first, the nobleman is making noise here , you can’t rest well either.”
Concubine Shu nodded with tears in her eyes.
But just as the sedan chair arrived outside Ruyan Pavilion and the maid was about to help Concubine Shu up from the bed, Jiang Xu led Ming Tan in.
Seeing Jiang Xu guarding him firmly behind his back, Emperor Chengkang felt deeply unhappy, and the atmosphere in the pavilion suddenly became depressed.
Jiang Xu didn't care about his mood, and said straight to the point: "Your Majesty, the night pearl is painted with moonlight powder."
Cheng Kangdi frowned upon hearing this.
Ming Tan came out from behind Jiang Xu, saluted, and unhurriedly explained the strangeness he felt when he took Ye Mingzhu just now.
Cheng Kangdi frowned even more after hearing this: "According to what you said, someone tampered with the Ye Mingzhu and deliberately prevented you from holding the Ye Ming Pearl?"
"Return to Your Majesty, that's right."
The servant presented the Ye Mingzhu to the front, Cheng Kangdi picked it up and looked at it for a long time, the surface was slightly silvery, it was indeed moonlight powder.
This thing is rare in Beijing, and there are ways to preserve it, Jiang Qizhi couldn't carry it with him, just to excuse his little princess.
He raised his head, glanced over Concubine Lan and Concubine Rou, and said without anger, "What's going on?"
Concubine Lan and Concubine Rou knelt down together.
Before Concubine Lan could say a word, Concubine Rou first called out her injustice: "Your Majesty, I don't know, I have never heard of moonshine powder, and this lantern riddle and palace lantern were all prepared by Sister Lan Concubine, I am wronged! "
Concubine Lan couldn't help but glanced at her: "Sister Rou, what is the meaning of this? Didn't you suggest this machine lamp?"
"The concubine only made this suggestion after hearing His Majesty say something about Ji Kuo once, but the concubine only made a suggestion. Isn't the rest of the concubine Lan's responsibility?"
Concubine Lan wanted to refute again, but Concubine Shu couldn't believe it: "Sister Lan Concubine, you? Why did you do this?"
"not me."
"Yes or no, my sister can't tell clearly. After all, tonight's lanterns and lantern riddles are all prepared by my sister." Concubine Rou knelt on the ground and said, "Please order a thorough investigation of the Lanwu Palace. What my sister did, I will definitely find clues in the palace, if I can't find it, I can also return my sister's innocence!"
Hearing this, Ming Tan ticked Gou Jiangxu's little finger calmly. Although the two did not look at each other, they already understood what the other was thinking.
It turns out that tonight's play is still waiting here. Killing four birds with one stone, Concubine Shu is really a good strategy.
Thinking about it, there is already a bottle of moonshine powder waiting in the corner in Lanfei's Lanwu Hall.
As expected, half a moment later, the servant came back to report and presented a sealed bottle of moonshine powder.
Cheng Kangdi glanced, then looked at Concubine Lan, his voice could not hear any emotion: "Concubine Lan, how do you explain?"
Before Concubine Lan could open her mouth, Concubine Shu suddenly rushed forward, and big tears fell down like she didn't want money: "Sister Lan Concubine, why did you hurt me so much? You like His Royal Highness Dingbei Wang, and you hate Princess Dingbei, so you will Use her hand to get rid of my child!"
As soon as these words came out, Concubine Lan suddenly raised her eyes.
Concubine Shu looked straight at her: "Do you dare to say that you are not His Royal Highness King Xinyue Dingbei?!"
There was a sudden silence all around, Cheng Kangdi's expression was hard to distinguish.
Ming Tan's heart sank slowly, she was wrong, Concubine Shu didn't kill four birds with one stone, but wanted to kill five birds with one stone——
Harm the nobleman's pregnancy; cover up the truth that she was not pregnant; let her bear the fault of accidentally causing a miscarriage; put the blame on Concubine Lan; and also, divorce the trust between the Holy Majesty and her husband.
And the most troublesome thing is that the husband can reveal the true face of Concubine Shu, but he can't influence Concubine Lan's choice, and the most important thing is Concubine Lan's choice.
It was obviously only a few breaths, but Ming Tan felt that it seemed like a long, long time.
After a long while, Concubine Lan finally made a move.
She suddenly put down her hair, solemnly kowtowed three times, her eyes were red: "The concubine read with the princess when she was young, and once read with your majesty. At that time, your majesty was lazy and sat behind the concubine. His Majesty cut off a strand of concubine's hair for fun, which made them cry. At that time, in order to coax them, His Majesty promised to come and hire them when they were ready.
"Your Majesty may have been ignorant when he was young, so he didn't take the promise seriously, but the concubine has always taken it seriously. The concubine knows how difficult the harem is, but when she learned that she can enter the palace, she still has no hesitation. In the palace these years, the concubine has never They didn't intend to fight for anything, and they didn't dare to disturb His Majesty too much, they just waited quietly in the palace for His Majesty to come and find them in his free time.
"It doesn't matter if those slanderous crimes are all blamed on the courtiers, but if you suspect that the courtiers have a double heart for His Majesty, the courtiers are willing to become nuns, ask for long-term companions, Qing Deng, and never interfere with the affairs of the palace. To prove this identity for the rest of my life.”
Cheng Kangdi's heart shook: "Lan'er, what are you doing? Get up!"
Concubine Lan knelt stubbornly, as if she would not be able to kneel here for a long time unless she was innocent.