Chapter 80 Chapter 80 "Your Majesty, this is not my handwriting...

" "Your Majesty, this is not my handwriting!" Defei immediately denied. If this were proven, it would be even more difficult to recover from than Concubine Yi's attempt to murder the heir. Concubine

Yi: "This is clearly Defei's handwriting, and it was found on your personal maid, yet you still try to argue!"

Concubine Yi knelt before Kangxi with tears in her eyes: "Your Majesty, I don't know how I have offended Defei, and how dare she use the Seventh Princess' life to frame me. I hope Your Majesty will investigate and clear my name." Concubine

Tong helped Concubine Yi to her feet: "Don't worry, Sister Yifei. Your Majesty has already summoned the imperial physician."

"Sister Defei, you just lost your daughter and are still grieving. Please take some time." Concubine

Tong was fairly even-handed. The Crown Prince

rolled his eyes and stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, since this is a matter of the inner palace, we are not in a position to be here. We will take our leave." "

Now not only does he have to leave, but he also has to take Yinzhen and Yinsi away from Yonghe Palace. Although there is no evidence, he has a hunch that Yinsi may have planned this again. The Ninth Prince has always been on good terms with Yinsi, and it is likely that Yinsi has turned the tables.

Unexpectedly, Kangxi, who just felt that the situation was in chaos and wanted to send the princes away first, suddenly calmed down at this moment.

"This matter is not considered a matter of the inner palace. It involves the royal heir and it is also a government affair. Since you are here, you might as well listen to it."

Wen Shan looked at the inner hall and sighed softly. The Seventh Princess's body was still lying inside, but there was such a commotion outside. The little child suffered from illness during her lifetime, and she could not even rest in peace after her death.

"Your Majesty, why don't you investigate elsewhere? The Seventh Princess has just passed away. The dead are the greatest, so let the Seventh Princess leave in peace. "Wen Shan said softly.

Kangxi also glanced towards the inner hall and still felt a little reluctant.

"The funeral of the seventh princess will be handled by Concubine Tong. The Yonghe Palace will be closed for the time being and no one is allowed to go out."

Concubine Tong stood up and agreed. She stayed in the Yonghe Palace to handle the funeral of the seventh princess. Everyone else went to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

Wen Shan was holding Yinxiang's hand, with Yinzhen and Yinsi beside her. Kangxi didn't even call for a sedan chair and no one dared to call for one. They all walked obediently to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

Wen Shan estimated the time and it was almost the hour of Xu. Although it was not too late, it was the first time that such a large group of people came to try a case at night.

"Yinxiang, are you sleepy? "Wen Shan asked with concern.

Usually at this time, Yinxiang would have finished chatting with her, tidied himself up and climbed into bed.

Wen Shan instilled in them the idea that only by going to bed early and getting up early can one grow taller. Yinxiang, the shortest of the three brothers, firmly practiced this idea and never stayed up late with Yinzhen and Yinsi.

Of course, there was also suspicion of laziness.

Yinxiang shook his head: "It's okay, mother."

Although his eyelids were a little twitching now, the drama tonight was so exciting. To force a face-conscious person like the emperor to this point, it must be said that Defei and Huifei were desperate.

And now that the emperor is not shy about investigating the matter thoroughly late at night, he is even more desperate.

Yinzhen and Yinsi were whispering.

"Fourth brother, I didn't tell you about this today. "Yinsi first admitted his mistake decisively.

He did not inform Yinzhen about the matter of Concubine De and the Seventh Princess because he was worried that Yinzhen would be embarrassed. Even though Yinzhen's jade book has been changed to Wenshan's name, Concubine De is still his biological mother after all. There is a blood relationship between them, and Yinzhen cannot really treat Concubine De as an ordinary concubine.

This is human nature and there is nothing to say.

Especially since this matter involves Concubine De attacking her own daughter, Yinsi was worried that Yinzhen would extend it to others and bring up his sad memories, so he did not tell Yinzhen.

But even Yinsi did not expect Concubine De to be so ruthless.

Yinzhen understood Yinsi's intentions and did not care. He only asked: "Did you finish it well? "

Originally, how to deal with this matter was only up to the Emperor.

If it's not weighed, it's not even two taels, and if it's weighed, it can't even weigh a thousand pounds.

If it weren't for Defei and Huifei insisting on it, according to Kangxi's nature of not airing family disgrace in public, it is very likely that it would be just like the last time Rongfei was exposed for murdering the royal heir, and it would be lifted up high and put down lightly and just passed over like that.

But now it has obviously been weighed.

No matter who wins or loses, the consequences are likely to be unbearable.

Yinsi nodded slightly: "Don't worry, fourth brother, it's very clean. "

De Fei thought she had caught the spy that Yi Fei had placed in Yonghe Palace, but she had no idea that Yinsi had already planted a nail beside her.

When they arrived at the Palace of Heavenly Purity, several doctors had been brought in from the Imperial Hospital.

Originally, because of the problem with the medicine for the Seventh Princess and the sudden death of the Seventh Princess, the doctors were already terrified. After finally leaving Yonghe Palace, they were summoned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity and were scared half to death.

De Fei never thought that she would be betrayed by Ruizhu at this time. Ruizhu had been with her for more than ten years. She had served Yinzuo since he was still there, and later took care of the Seventh Princess. Although she was not as good as Xia Yun, she was also her confidant. Otherwise, she would not have handed the prince and princess to her care.

So she was responsible for the Seventh Princess's salvation. It was handed over to Ruizhu to do.

If Ruizhu was a spy planted by someone beside her from the beginning to the end...

A chill ran down Defei's back and she dared not think about it anymore.

Then her Yonghe Palace, everything she did over the years would be known to everyone.

Who could this person be?

Concubine Yi, Concubine Rong or Concubine Xuan?

Or even the deceased Concubine Wenxi?

Defei was confused. Although there was no conclusion yet, she had already sensed that the defeat was inevitable.

Ruizhu was also escorted to the Palace of Heavenly Purity, and was forced to kneel aside by several young eunuchs and not allowed to make a sound.

Imperial Physician Zhang led five or six imperial physicians to kneel below. Kangxi turned the ring on his thumb and asked: "The Seventh Princess passed away suddenly, but you did not treat her well? "

Kangxi's tone was very calm and there was no fluctuation in it, but several imperial doctors were so frightened that they broke out in cold sweats. They looked at each other for a few times, a little confused. The emperor had clearly scolded them just now in Yonghe Palace, so why did he start to settle scores again in a short while.

Huifei looked at Defei, who was pursing her lips and had a nervous look on her face, and thought to herself, is it not good? Could it be that Defei really took the risk of the world and attacked her own daughter?

She and Defei only discussed reducing the dosage of the Seventh Princess's medicine and blaming Concubine Yi, and never mentioned killing the Seventh Princess directly.

Just now, she thought it was a sudden incident and just a coincidence. After all, the Seventh Princess was indeed terminally ill and it would be normal for her to die at any time.

But now... Huifei could only curse Defei in her heart for being crazy.

Doctor Zhang, as the chief judge of the Imperial Hospital, replied to Kangxi's words.

"Your Majesty, we tried our best to treat the Seventh Princess, but the disease had already penetrated into her lungs and there was no way to save her. After acupuncture in the afternoon, her condition had stabilized a little, but she suddenly passed away in the evening, and we were caught off guard."

Kangxi: "Oh? The Seventh Princess had improved in the afternoon?"

Defei took a deep breath and tightly grasped the handkerchief in her hand.

The imperial physicians exchanged glances and said, "Although it's not quite improvement, it's certainly easing. We have been discussing the possibility that daily acupuncture and medication could keep the Seventh Princess alive for more than three months."

Imperial Physician Zhang added, "It's true that the Seventh Princess is already terminally ill, and given her frail constitution, recurring symptoms are normal."

The other imperial physicians agreed.

Lacking evidence, the physicians dared not speak without proof, so they could only gloss over their claims to avoid offending either side. However, upon hearing this, Kangxi knew there was something truly behind the Seventh Princess's sudden passing.

Fortunately, Kangxi didn't embarrass the physicians, simply questioning them and sending them to wait outside the palace, ready to be summoned if necessary.

The only person left who could be pried out of her was Ruizhu.

Concubine De insisted she had never written any of this, that it was a deliberate frame-up. Ruizhu trembled, speechless, and Kangxi gave her a gloomy look.

"To accuse a concubine of plotting to murder the heir to the throne is a capital crime punishable by the death of all nine generations of the family." Kangxi said slowly: "If you don't speak up, I will drag you away and beat you to death. All nine generations of the family will be guilty.

" Ruizhu raised her head abruptly upon hearing this and kowtowed hurriedly: "Your Majesty, spare me, Your Majesty, spare me. I know nothing and was only following the orders of Concubine De. I really know nothing!"

Concubine De closed her eyes, realizing that the situation was over. She had never expected that there would be a spy around her. 

Concubine Yi quickly caught the loophole in Ruizhu's words and pressed her: "Concubine De's orders, what orders? If you keep talking nonsense, no one can save you!" 

The Ninth Prince also gritted his teeth and said: "Hurry up and spill it all!" 

"The Queen Mother is here!" 

Kangxi frowned slightly. The Fifth Prince had already entered from the door, supporting the Queen Mother. 

"What brings you here, Empress Dowager?" 

Kangxi and the concubines and princes greeted the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager waved her hand and said, "I heard that the Seventh Princess passed away." 

Kangxi nodded. 

The Empress Dowager sighed, "The child has been weak since childhood. The Emperor should not be too sad." 

After speaking, she looked at the bustling crowd in the Palace of Heavenly Purity and asked, "Why are so many people gathered here so late at night?" 

When Kangxi saw the Fifth Prince accompanying the Empress Dowager, he knew that they had gone to call for reinforcements. Even though the Empress Dowager had not wanted the Fifth Prince to be too close to Concubine Yi in the early years, Concubine Yi was still the Fifth Prince's biological mother after all. If anything happened to Concubine Yi, it would also implicate the Fifth Prince, so the Empress Dowager would not sit idly by. 

Kangxi helped the Empress Dowager sit at the top and whispered about the current situation. 

"How dare you!" the Empress Dowager snarled, "Who is that maid? Tell me now!" 

Ruizhu, already frightened by Kangxi's threat to exterminate her entire clan, now that the Empress Dowager had arrived, spilled the beans. 

"The Virtuous Consort only instructed me to pack up some of the Seventh Princess's belongings and send them... send them..." 

"Send them where? Tell me now!" Yifei chided. 

Ruizhu glanced up at Defei and said, "Send them to Baohua Palace to have a master perform a ritual for her soul to be reborn." 

"Remember her soul to be reborn?..." Yifei looked at Kangxi, "Your Majesty, if the Seventh Princess was simply seriously ill and terminally ill, why would she need a ritual for her soul to be reborn?" 

Kangxi narrowed his eyes, "Defei, what's your explanation?" 

Defei would never admit to murdering the Seventh Princess until the very last moment. 

"Your Majesty, I only asked Ruizhu to pack up some of the Seventh Princess's clothes for commemoration. I never said they were to be taken to Baohua Palace for a memorial service!" 

Ruizhu, seeing Defei deny her, quickly said, "Your Majesty, the Master Miaofa of Baohua Palace can testify. Concubine De discussed this with him a few days ago!" 

"And... and this blood letter was written by Concubine De herself. If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, please look and see if there's a scar on your index finger." 

A wound couldn't be faked. Concubine De did have a wound on her right index finger, and it looked slightly healed, likely from two or three days ago. 

"Your Majesty, Concubine De stopped the Seventh Princess's medicine three days ago and prepared these things. I was merely following your master's orders. Please, Your Majesty, spare my life and my family!" Ruizhu cried. 

Concubine De had no way of defending herself. Kangxi sneered, "The dosage has been reduced. Ha, it was you, her own mother, who stopped Little Seven's medicine!" The Empress Dowager chanted "Amitabha" several times. 

"I'm so guilty, Concubine De! How could you be so cruel as to attack your own daughter?" 

Concubine Yi was completely furious at this point. She dropped to her knees and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know how I have offended Concubine De. She allowed her to use the Seventh Princess's life to frame me. If this servant hadn't been apprehended today, the Seventh Princess would probably be heartbroken!" The Crown Prince took advantage of the chaos to whisper a few words to the Third Prince. 

"Third brother, look at the faces of my eldest and fourteenth brothers. They look very unhappy." 

The Third Prince also said, "It's not a wasted trip today." 

Whether it was Concubine De and Concubine Hui's misfortune that implicated the First and Fourteenth Princes, or Concubine Yi's misfortune that implicated the Ninth Prince, they were all just sitting on the sidelines watching the fight. 

"Defei... are you worthy of this title?" Kangxi said coldly, "Defei has no moral integrity, relies on her favor and indulges herself, and has a cruel heart. I order you to strip her of her title and demote her to Consort, and confine her to Yonghe Palace." 

For the crime of murdering his own daughter, this was already a lenient sentence. Kangxi also spared her utter destruction because she had given birth to three sons and three daughters, and lost one son and one daughter in infancy. 

Wen Shan glanced at Defei. Whether she had anticipated this or was simply strong-willed, she seemed to be holding on. 

The Fourteenth Prince tried to plead for Defei, but was restrained by her. 

As for the Seventh Princess, who died at the hands of her biological mother, Kangxi, deeply concerned for his daughter, changed her imperial genealogy to Noble Consort Wenxi and, as an exception, posthumously conferred the title of Princess Gulun upon her and buried her. 

Yinzhen remained silent all night. His position was indeed awkward, and nothing he could say was appropriate. He could only watch coldly as his biological mother fell from her height, never to recover. 

In the end, Concubine De merely pleaded for the Fourteenth Prince, hoping Kangxi would not implicate him. 

Concubine Rong watched the commotion for a while, then glanced at Concubine Hui, who bowed her head nearby, and said, "Sister Hui seems to be quite close to Wuya." After all, the implicating of Concubine Yi was due to Concubine Hui's suggestion to release a group of palace maids, and tonight she had been jumping around on Concubine De's side . 

Kangxi naturally knew that Concubine Hui was most likely in cahoots with Concubine De, but because of the eldest prince, he didn't bother to pursue the matter further; tonight had already exhausted him enough. 

Kangxi rested alone in the Qianqing Palace and dismissed everyone. 

Concubine Yi, beaming with joy, came to thank Wenshan and Yinsi, then returned to the Yikun Palace with the frightened Fifth and Ninth Princes. 

Yinzhen watched the Crown Prince and Third Prince depart, sensing something was amiss. 

The Eldest and Fourteenth Princes had come to Chonghua Palace tonight to witness this spectacle, so what was the Crown Prince's sudden visit? 

Wen Shan returned to Xianfu Palace with her three children. After sitting there all night, she was exhausted and quickly asked Yinsi what had happened. 

"Ruizhu is indeed my person. Over the years, I have never asked her to pass on any information or do anything. She has only served Concubine De wholeheartedly," Yinsi said. "So Concubine De would never have thought that Ruizhu would betray her."

The fact that Concubine De was willing to let Ruizhu handle such an important task clearly showed that she had earned her trust.

"It takes a thousand days to raise an army, but only a moment to deploy it," Yinxiang marveled. "Concubine De and Concubine Hui used Dongyue, but they didn't realize they had a traitor in their own right."

"It's a pity Ruizhu... was truly a loyal servant. I will take good care of her family," Yinsi said. Ruizhu,

of course, died, but her family was spared.

Yinzhen sat on the couch, unsure of what to think. Wen Shan approached and softly asked, "Yinzhen, what are you thinking about?"

Yinzhen, waking from a dream, pursed his lips and said, "Nothing. I was just wondering if, aside from my sixth and fourteenth brothers, Uya... didn't take it seriously."

"Right," Yinsi said, sitting beside him, "so your fourth brother has nothing to do with you. Uya is such a ruthless person."

After all, she was his biological mother, and after what he had gone through, Yinzhen still felt a sense of inexplicable loss.

It happened that at this time, Fucha sent someone to ask Yinzhen where he would rest tonight because it was getting late. Wenshan took the opportunity to let him go back to Chonghua Palace to rest.

Before Yinzhen left, he was still a little worried about the prince. Yinsi patted his chest and assured him that nothing would happen, and told him to go back and rest.

Seeing Yinzhen leave, Yinsi and Yinxiang both sighed.

Wenshan smiled, ruffled their hair and asked: "Why don't you two go back and rest?" "

I can't sleep, mother." Yinsi lay down on the couch. He was almost exhausted from micromanaging tonight.

Yinxiang crawled over and poked Yinsi: "My dear brother, you also came up with that salvation thing, right?"

Yinsi glanced at him. Isn't this nonsense?

He must give Concubine De some handle.

Wenshan sighed at the thought of this.

"After all, it was Concubine De who left the evidence because she felt guilty about the Seventh Princess."

If she had been even more ruthless and completely disregarded the Seventh Princess's life and death, it would have been quite difficult to deal with.

After all, she was a daughter she had carried for ten months and raised for nine years.

But now that she's gone, there's nothing left to say.

The Crown Prince and the Third Prince returned to Yuqing Palace with a sigh of relief.

"It's a good thing we didn't do it tonight," the Crown Prince paced back and forth. "Who could have imagined we'd run into my eldest brother and his men attacking my eighth and ninth brothers?"

If they had followed through with their original plan and attacked my fourth brother, the Emperor's keen sense would have immediately spotted the clues.

"But today, we've benefited from this," the Third Prince said. "My fourteenth brother is the only one by my eldest brother's side now. With Uya's crime and demotion, my fourteenth brother has no chance at all. There's no point in staying by my eldest brother's side."

The Crown Prince reflected on this and felt it was a blessing in disguise.

"We should think things over carefully. We must not reveal so many flaws like my eldest brother did tonight."

The Crown Prince scoffed, "You're shooting yourself in the foot, you fool."

The next day, Concubine Tong came to see Wen Shan.

The sudden change in the Seventh Princess's imperial edict and her burial as a Princess of the First Rank had caught Concubine Tong off guard, so she came to consult Wen Shan.

Because no princess in Kangxi's reign had ever been buried as a Princess of the First Rank, and Kangxi clearly felt deeply for this poor daughter, Concubine Tong was unsure how to proceed.

Wen Shan could only discuss with her the precedents of previous dynasties and discuss adding an additional three points, showing it to Kangxi before proceeding.

"The Seventh Princess is pitiful, too, at such a young age..." Concubine Tong sighed.

Wen Shan felt a mixture of emotions. She and Concubine Tong had never been close, and Concubine Tong didn't stay long to discuss matters before leaving.

Not long after, Concubine Yi arrived. Having parted hastily the previous night, she came this time to solemnly thank Wen Shan and Yin Si. The Ninth Prince had revealed everything to Concubine Yi after returning home. Concubine Yi was no fool; she quickly realized that Yin Si, who had remained silent and inactive the previous night, had orchestrated all this.

"I heard that the Emperor has chosen a woman from the Guo Luo Luo clan for the Eighth Prince's first wife?" Concubine Yi asked.

Wen Shan nodded. "She's the granddaughter of Prince An's Yue Le."

Although Concubine Yi was also a member of the Guo Luo Luo clan, she wasn't from the same family as Yin Si's wife.

They weren't even within the fifth degree of kinship.

"I've met her mother, Princess Hua Ding, and I call her cousin." Concubine Yi smiled and said, "Prince An's family are all well-behaved people. I imagine their daughter will be well-educated." Concubine

Yi had also brought a number of gifts as a wedding gift for Yin Si, and Wen Shan, unable to refuse, accepted them.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, no one will know about these things," Concubine Yi said.

After such a major incident yesterday, her grand visit to Xianfu Palace with gifts the next day would have drawn too much attention. So, Concubine Yi brought only small trinkets, as well as some banknotes and land deeds.

These items had originally been saved for her three sons, but after this incident, Concubine Yi realized that simply saving money for her sons was pointless. Defei and Huifei had gone to such lengths, even risking the Seventh Princess's life, to bring her down because Yinqi, Yin'er, and the Eighth Prince were close.

As princes, they had no other choice.

So, they might as well help the Eighth Prince. If he could one day ascend to that throne, her three children would have a life without worries.

Not long after Concubine Yi left, Yinzhen, Yinsi, and Yinxiang returned.

Wen Shan thrust the pile of banknotes and land deeds into Yinsi's hands.

Yinsi raised an eyebrow. "From Concubine Yi?"

Wen Shan wanted to call Yinsi a strategist.

There was nothing he couldn't predict.

Yinsi was not interested in these things. Firstly, he had no shortage of them, and secondly, he had not officially entered the court yet and it was inconvenient for him to go out, so he directly handed them to Yinzhen.

Yinzhen put them aside and chatted with Wenshan: "Mother, it is inconvenient for us to go out these days because of the funeral of my seventh sister. It also happened to be the anniversary of Mother Wuku's death, so my eighth brother and I wanted to ask the Emperor for permission to go to Mother Wuku for a few days."

Wenshan nodded: "Of course, the Empress Dowager will naturally be happy to see you."

Yinxiang originally wanted to go too, but he was young and the Empress Dowager passed away shortly after he was born, so it was not right to say that they had any close relationship, so he stayed in the palace to accompany Wenshan.

Naturally, Yinzhen and Yinsi chose to leave the Forbidden City at this time because they wanted to lure the snake, the prince, out of the hole.