Chapter 159

Upon hearing the imperial physician's words, Song Zhao’s eyes were filled with panic and alarm.

She felt weak in the knees and had to rely on Xiao Fuzi to support her before she barely managed to sit down on the chair.

"I have never used musk, which damages the fetus' vital energy!"

She anxiously asked Imperial Physician Liu about the condition of the imperial heir in her belly,

"Has the imperial heir in my womb been harmed?"

Imperial Physician Liu said, "Fortunately it was discovered early. This servant will prescribe two doses of medicine for Consort to take, which will expel this substance from your body, then there will be no harm. Based on Consort's pulse, the musk odor was externally contracted, not internally ingested. This shows that the musk does not exist in Consort's daily diet, it should have been contaminated from something you came into contact recently."

Xiao Jingheng's expression was solemn as he asked in a deep voice, "Daily contact? What do you mean?"

"It should be from application or inhalation. Based on the situation, Consort must have come into contact with this substance intermittently over the past dozen days or so. However, the dosage was light and gradual, not a potent drug, so Consort did not notice any physical discomfort. If this had not been discovered today, I’m afraid the consequences would have been unthinkable a month later from now..."

As Imperial Physician Liu spoke, he sighed several times, apparently also finding the matter extremely dangerous.

In response to his analysis, Song Zhao quickly shook her head in denial,

"Impossible. Since I became pregnant, I have stopped using any cosmetics or fragrances. As for smelling some scent... I have rarely left my palace in recent days, only going to pay respects to the Empress in the last couple of days. During this period, I did not smell anything peculiar."

Speaking of scents, it reminded Xiao Jingheng of something.

A few days ago when he went to Song Zhao’s palace, he happened to run into Xiao Fuzi burning mugwort all over the palace.

It was only later that Xiao Jingheng learned that the idea of ??burning mugwort actually originated from the Empress.

Burning mugwort can stabilize the fetus. It just so happened to be the solar term Start of Spring, when there were many snakes, insects, mice and ants, so it could also dispel evil influences.

Therefore, the Empress had it burned in her own palace, and also asked Noble Consort Xiao and Song Zhao to do the same.

The smell of burning mugwort was quite strong. If there was any musk in Song Zhao's palace, it might have been masked by the smell of mugwort. So he said in a deep voice, "You didn't not smell it, you couldn't discern it."

With that said, he looked at Noble Consort Xiao lying ill on the sickbed, instructing her to take good care of herself.

Then he took Song Zhao's hand and said, "Come, We will go with you to inspect your palace."

Imperial Consort Chen said in a hurry, "Your Majesty... Then how should Consort Shu's deed be punished?"

Xiao Jingheng pondered briefly, and casually said, "The matter of Noble Consort Xiao falling into the water has not been investigated clearly yet. After the Ministry of Justice questions Yueyue, a verdict on this matter will be determined."

His implication was that he was only concerned with who wanted to harm Song Zhao at the moment, and had no mind to deal with other matters.

Later, Xiao Jingheng and Song Zhao returned to Chang Le Palace. The Empress also called Imperial Consort Chen and Consort Shu to follow along.

After returning to the palace, everyone was seated in the main hall, while the imperial attendants were ordered to search the palace, focusing their investigation on Song Zhao's bedchamber.

After about a quarter of an hour, Jiang Deshun came out and reported:

"Your Majesty, this servant searched under Consort Song's bed and found a sachet attached to the bottom of the bed board. The scent smelled very strange."

Imperial Physician Liu took the sachet and examined it closely, quickly reaching a conclusion:

"Your Majesty, this sachet contains musk grains. This substance has an extremely strong fragrance, promoting blood circulation and dispersing stasis. Prolonged inhalation severely damages the fetus! With such a pungent odor, Consort should have noticed it long ago. Perhaps it was obscured by the smell of burning mugwort in the palace recently."

Xiao Jingheng's face darkened gloomily. He took the sachet from Imperial Physician Liu's hand, and in a fleeting glance, he saw the embroidered pattern of a qilin hugging the sun on the sachet.

His eyes bulged wide, veins on his neck throbbed, and he angrily shouted:

"Outrageous!"

After the reprimand, he flung the sachet into Consort Shu's face.

Consort Shu was stunned by the impact. When she came to her senses and picked up the sachet to examine it, her whole body stiffened in place, dumbfounded.

"How could this be..."

The Empress asked puzzlingly: "You carry this sachet with the qilin hugging the sun embroidery every day. Why would it end up under Consort Song's bed?"

Song Zhao was also full of grievance, sobbing softly: "Consort Shu... I have always respected you greatly. Why would you..."

"This matter has nothing to do with Us! Do not randomly implicate others!" Consort Shu sharply cut off Song Zhao's grievance, then held up the sachet and said to Xiao Jingheng emotionally:

"Your Majesty, this servant lost this sachet some days ago. When I discovered it missing that day, I already submitted a report to the Imperial Household Department to have the embroidery workshop make a new one for this servant. My words are all true, Your Majesty can send someone to investigate if you do not believe!"

"Heh?" Imperial Consort Chen sneered contemptuously, "You could have easily placed this object in Consort Song's palace first, then falsely reported its loss to the Imperial Household Department afterwards. This way, you could also clear yourself of suspicion after the incident came to light."

"We have no enmity with Consort Song, why would We harm her? Furthermore, even if We did this, We could have wrapped the filthy object in plain cloth before placing it under her bed. Why would We use our personal belonging, only to arouse suspicion!" After a brief panic, Consort Shu defended herself very clearly and logically.

She knelt before Xiao Jingheng with tears brimming her lashes,

"Your Majesty, everything that happened today seems to target this servant. Do you not feel it is too suspicious?"

Xiao Jingheng did not respond to her words.

His gaze as sharp as an eagle's quickly scanned the people in the hall.

Song Zhao wept silently. The Empress comforted her from the side. Imperial Consort Chen remained with a cold mocking smile, waiting to see Consort Shu's embarrassment.

He silently pondered to himself:

Even if Consort Shu wanted to harm someone, she would not have made it so conspicuous. With such conclusive evidence, it was more like someone wanted to frame and implicate her.

His hesitant gaze eventually fell upon the Empress.

Imperial Physician Liu said the musk in Song Zhao's body was accumulated intermittently over a dozen days or so.

It was about a dozen days ago that the palanquin injured Song Zhao on the corridor, making her afraid to leave her palace afterwards.

During those days, only the Empress was the one who came to visit her.

The burning of mugwort in the palace was also an idea initiated by the Empress.

Connecting all these matters, the plot to harm Song Zhao faintly took shape in Xiao Jingheng's mind.

Could it be...

The Empress took Consort Shu's sachet, added abortifacient musk grains inside,

Then took the chance when visiting Song Zhao to sneakily place the sachet under Song Zhao's bed.

Afterwards, to prevent Song Zhao from noticing, she had mugwort burned in all six palaces, and deliberately had more burned in the palaces of pregnant consorts and imperial concubines,

Seemingly for the sake of stabilizing the fetuses,

But actually to cover up the smell of musk?

Thinking thus, Xiao Jingheng's suspicions towards the Empress grew even heavier.

His expression was solemn, his tone extremely cold, as he commanded:

"Jiang Deshun, have someone take Consort Shu away. Without Our decree, do not let her take half a step outside of Zhongcui Palace. Go check with the Imperial Household Department again whether Consort Shu had reported the loss of this sachet."