nashuaworldcup Chapter 280: An Lingrong and Huanhuan work together to control the waves
Chapter 280: An Lingrong and Huanhuan work together to control the waves
Zhen Huan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I've finally survived another crisis. The turmoil in the harem never stops."
An Lingrong nodded slightly: "Yes, Huan'er, but as long as we sisters work together, no matter what conspiracy it has, it will be difficult to succeed."
Concubine Hua sneered at the side and said, "That Lipin is still trying to stir up trouble in the cold palace. She really doesn't know her own limitations!"
Chun Er came over and said, "Sisters, we've taught the bad guys a lesson this time. Let's see if they dare to do it again!"
Mei Zhuang also came over and said softly, "Although we were able to escape danger this time, we must not let our guard down. Who knows what unexpected events might happen next time?"
As she was speaking, Xiao Yunzi came running over: "My Queen, something bad has happened. The flowers in the Imperial Garden have suddenly withered, and everyone is saying it's a bad omen."
Zhen Huan frowned. "How could such a beautiful flower suddenly wither? There must be something fishy going on. Let's go and take a look."
When everyone arrived at the Imperial Garden, they saw that the originally flourishing scene had become withered.
An Lingrong squatted down to examine it and said, "Huan'er, this flower looks like someone has tampered with it. It seems like something has been poured on it."
Zhen Huan's eyes glared, "Who could be so cruel as to not even let the flowers go?"
Chun Er said angrily: "It must be some bad guy trying to scare us. How despicable!"
At this time, a little palace maid walked by tremblingly. Zhen Huan called her and said, "Come here. Do you know what this flower is?"
The little maid fell to her knees and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know anything. I just saw a dark shadow haunting the Imperial Garden at night these past few days. I was afraid and didn't dare to speak out."
Concubine Hua scolded, "You slave, why didn't you tell me earlier? If you tell even a single lie, I will never forgive you!"
The little palace maid cried and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Majesty, please forgive me."
An Lingrong said, "Don't scare her yet. Perhaps she can provide some clues. Tell me, which direction did the shadow go?"
The little palace maid said in a trembling voice, "It seems to be heading towards the cold palace."
Zhen Huan and An Lingrong exchanged a glance. Zhen Huan asked, "Could it be someone from the Cold Palace? But the Cold Palace is heavily guarded. How could they have gotten out?"
Mei Zhuang asked, "Could it be that someone is colluding with the people in the cold palace?"
Chun Er volunteered: "Sisters, I'll go take a look around the cold palace, maybe I can find something."
Zhen Huan hurriedly said, "Chun'er, don't be reckless. It's dangerous near the cold palace."
Concubine Hua said, "Let me take some people with me and investigate this matter thoroughly."
Concubine Hua went to the cold palace with her guards and returned soon with a gloomy face: "I checked around the cold palace and didn't find anything unusual, but I found some strange footprints in the corner of the cold palace."
An Lingrong pondered for a moment: "Could these footprints have been left intentionally to mislead us?"
Zhen Huan said, "That's possible. Let's go to the Imperial Hospital and ask if the withered flower was poisoned. Let's start our investigation from that aspect."
After arriving at the Imperial Hospital, the doctors carefully examined the flower and concluded, "Your Majesty, this flower has been poisoned by a slow-acting poison called Ku Rong San. It takes effect slowly but is extremely toxic. However, Ku Rong San is difficult to make and requires many precious medicinal herbs."
Zhen Huan asked, "Do you know if there's any record of this withered and flourishing powder in the palace? Who has used the relevant herbs?"
The imperial physician shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, there is no record of this Withering and Flourishing Powder being used in the Imperial Hospital. It must have been brought in from outside the palace."
An Lingrong said, "Bringing it in from outside the palace? Wouldn't that mean it would have to go through layers of inspection? Anyone who could do that must have extraordinary means."
Mei Zhuang asked, "Could it be that one of the Empress's relatives outside the palace or someone in the court is helping her?"
Zhen Huan said, "No matter what, let's first check inside the palace to see if anyone has had close contact with people outside the palace recently."
Everyone began to investigate quietly in the palace. At this time, Chun Er came to tell Zhen Huan: "Sister, I found that Yu's maid has been acting suspiciously these days, as if she is passing something."
Zhen Huan asked, "I agree? Hasn't she already lost her power? Could this matter be related to her?"
An Lingrong said, "First, capture that palace maid and interrogate her."
After the palace maid that Yu agreed to was captured, she was stubborn at first and refused to tell the truth.
Zhen Huan said sternly, "If you don't tell me, I will send you to the Ministry of Punishment right now. You will bear the consequences yourself."
The maid was terrified and cried, "Your Highness, it was Yu Da Ying. She couldn't bear being ignored and wanted to take revenge on the ladies. She asked someone to bring back the Withering and Blooming Powder from outside the palace, and then had the people in the cold palace poison the Imperial Garden at night, hoping to create panic and make the ladies fall out of favor."
Zhen Huan angrily said, "That Yu Ying is really stubborn and won't change!"
An Lingrong asked, "What should we do now? Should we inform the Emperor?"
Zhen Huan said, "Of course I have to inform the Emperor and let him make the final decision."
When the emperor learned about this, he ordered that Yu Da Ying be sent to a deeper cold palace, where she would never be allowed to rise again, and her family members outside the palace were also implicated.
Zhen Huan and others successfully solved the problem of withering flowers in the imperial garden, but they knew that the fighting in the harem would never stop.
One day, Zhen Huan and An Lingrong were embroidering in the palace, and Chun'er was playing beside them.
Chun Er suddenly said, "Sisters, I heard that there's a new zither player in the palace recently. He plays the zither very well, and many young ladies want to go and listen to him."
Zhen Huan smiled and said, "Oh? There hasn't been such an interesting thing in the palace for a long time. If there is a chance, I can go and listen to it."
An Lingrong said, "It's just that this new musician suddenly entered the palace. We don't know where he came from, so we have to be very careful."
Mei Zhuang walked in and heard what they were saying. She said, "It doesn't matter what his background is, as long as he behaves well, it's fine. If he has any ill intentions, we won't be polite."
A few days later, Zhen Huan and others were invited to listen to the zither player. The zither player played a piece of music called "High Mountains and Flowing Water", and the melodious music echoed in the palace.
Zhen Huan praised: "This zither player is indeed very skilled."
An Lingrong felt that there was something unusual in the musician's eyes, but she couldn't tell what was wrong.
Hua Fei said, "Hmph! This zither player plays well, but his background is unknown. It's best to avoid contact with him."
However, some young masters were attracted by the music of the musician and gathered around to talk to him.
After Zhen Huan and the others returned to the palace, An Lingrong said to Zhen Huan, "Huan'er, I always feel that there is something wrong with that zither player. We should pay attention to the ladies who have had contact with him to see if anything happens."
Zhen Huan nodded: "Lingrong is right, we can't be careless."
Not long after, a young lady who had frequent contact with the zither player suddenly fell ill with very strange symptoms. She was sometimes unconscious and sometimes crazy.
When Zhen Huan found out, she hurriedly took An Lingrong to check it out.
Zhen Huan asked, "This young lady's illness seems strange. Could it be related to the zither player?"
An Lingrong said, "It's very likely. We need to start with this young lady's diet and daily life to see if we can find any clues."
After some investigation, they discovered that a strange medicine had been put into the young lady's tea, and the smell of this medicine was somewhat similar to the sachet on the musician's body.
Zhen Huan said, "It seems that there is indeed something wrong with this zither player. We must find him as soon as possible and find out the reason."
But when they went to look for the musician, they found that he had disappeared.
Chun Er said anxiously: "Sisters, what should we do? The bad guy ran away."
Mei Zhuang said, "He can't get far. Let's notify the palace guards and search for him with all their might."
During the search, they found a letter left by the musician with some strange symbols written on it.
After studying it carefully, An Lingrong said, "This seems to be an encrypted letter. I need to decipher it. Perhaps I can find out his purpose and whereabouts."
Zhen Huan said, "Lingrong, I'll leave this matter to you. We must not let our guard down and continue to keep an eye out for any other unusual situations in the palace."
An Lingrong studied day and night and finally deciphered the contents of the letter. It turned out that the zither player was instructed by a minister of the previous dynasty to create chaos in the harem in order to disrupt the government.
Zhen Huan and others took the letter to see the emperor. The emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation of the minister and strengthened security in the harem.
Zhen Huan and others successfully resolved the crisis again. In this harem, they continued to uphold kindness and justice, support each other, face one challenge after another, and write their own legendary stories. However, the unknown dangers and conspiracies are still secretly surging in this deep palace, waiting for them to crack one by one.