The eunuch Xia led his men to search the palace, and everyone in Qitai Palace was sound asleep. Suddenly, the palace gate was knocked open. Over twenty eunuchs armed with weapons surrounded the place, and everyone was immediately subdued. Rong Fei's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
"Eunuch Xia, what is the meaning of this?" Rong Fei's face was filled with anger. Having lost the Seventh Prince, she was now being bullied by a mere eunuch.
"This servant is acting on His Majesty's verbal command to search the palace."
"Search the palace?" Rong Fei's pupils dilated. She almost lost her footing and would have fallen if her maid hadn't supported her.
The weather was already cold, but Rong Fei's heart grew even colder.
Such a thing as a palace search would not happen lightly. Behind a palace search lay persecution and framing. Either way, her fate would be dire.
"How dare you?" Rong Fei glared. Regardless of whether anything was found today, how could she ever maintain her standing in the harem again? Who would know that a concubine who had her palace searched, even if wronged, was actually innocent?
She wasn't afraid of being wronged, but she feared being framed even more. In the palace, the Seventh Prince was her only hope, but he had already been taken away! If His Majesty was displeased with her, who else would believe her?
Rong Fei was both shocked and terrified, almost fainting.
"What, Your Highness, are you refusing to obey the imperial decree?"
Refusing an imperial decree meant beheading...
The maid quietly tugged at Rong Fei's sleeve. At this moment, she couldn't confront them directly; it would be like an egg hitting a rock, equivalent to admitting guilt and having a guilty conscience.
Rong Fei had no choice but to resign herself to fate.
Eunuch Xia waved his hand, and the others immediately swarmed into the hall like locusts.
The process was heartbreaking for Rong Fei. She watched helplessly as those people ransacked the palace, unable to utter a single word.
These eunuchs were all sycophants, knowing whom to bully. If they encountered a concubine with a powerful family background, they wouldn't dare to go too far even during a palace search. As long as His Majesty hadn't passed judgment, the concubines were all treated as masters and not to be neglected. But for someone like her, without a patron and having lost His Majesty's favor, who would care?
After searching for a long time, nothing was found. Rong Fei breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Eunuch Xia was unwilling to let it go. He personally investigated and, to his surprise, found something unusual in the swaddling clothes from the Seventh Prince's birth.
There was a hidden compartment in the swaddling clothes, containing a paper package of powder...
The appearance of this item stunned Rong Fei, and she immediately collapsed to the ground.
"It wasn't me! It wasn't this concubine who did it! Who, who wants to frame me?"
Eunuch Xia sneered, "Your Highness, you have truly impressive skills, to have placed this in the Seventh Prince's swaddling clothes. What this substance is will be determined shortly. Your Highness, please wait!"
With that, he waved his hand, ordered the servants in Qitai Palace to be bound, sealed the palace gates, and returned to report.
Eunuch Xia presented the powder to Li Man'er for examination. Upon testing, it was indeed aconite powder.
"Wicked woman!" Emperor Chenghua was almost spewing blood from anger. He immediately said, "Xia Ruhai, issue an imperial decree immediately: bestowing the gift of suicide. All palace servants in Qitai Palace shall be beaten to death."
He spoke with great effort, gasping heavily, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Li Qingshu was startled, thinking something had happened to him. However, Li Man'er said, "Your Noble Consort, please rest assured. His Majesty has taken my medicine and is merely sleeping now."
Li Qingshu's palms were covered in sweat. She nodded and looked at Li Man'er, who shook her head without saying anything.
Xia Ruhai took the poisoned wine to Qixiang Palace again. By now, Rong Fei had calmed down. When she saw the poisoned wine, she was surprisingly calm, a stark contrast to her maid who knelt and wept.
"Is it His Majesty who wants my life, or is it Li Man'er?" She had been pondering this all along, sensing something was amiss.
His Majesty had been clearly ill before, yet he had suddenly recovered, could still favor her, and allowed her to give birth. Everything seemed to be going well: the Crown Prince fell, rebel forces entered the city, and while these were bad events, the court and country suffered no significant losses.
The Chen family and the Empress had both fallen, Concubine Chen's identity as a spy from Xizhou was exposed, and coupled with the disabled Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince who lacked maternal backing, several princes had lost their right to inherit the throne.
In this scenario, perhaps only her own Seventh Prince was fit to become the Crown Prince.
Yet, the Seventh Prince was raised under Li Qingshu's name!
Rong Fei understood everything. No wonder she always felt something was wrong, as if an invisible hand was controlling everything.
So, it was all her!
Li Man'er knew who she was and knew that she had approached the Ninth Prince relying on the Seventh Prince. Therefore, she harbored murderous intent, snatched the Seventh Prince, and framed her for poisoning His Majesty.
"I want to see Li Man'er, I want to see the Ninth Princess Consort!"
Xia Ruhai exchanged a glance with the eunuchs beside him. Two eunuchs immediately stepped forward and restrained Rong Fei.
The maidservant beside her almost collapsed from fright. She watched as Xia Ruhai pinched Rong Fei's jaw and poured the poisoned wine down her throat.
Soon, Rong Fei slumped onto the table. She wanted to live, but the poison had taken effect. Her vision blurred, and her body ached terribly. Blood flowed from her seven orifices, and screams echoed from nearby...
She was unwilling! Unwilling to die like this.
With a thud, Rong Fei fell from the chair, breathing her last.
The eunuchs rushed forward again, seized the maidservant, and snapped her neck.
The palace servants of Qixiang Palace might have been innocent, but not a single word of today's events could be leaked.
Li Man'er's heart was always hard, and she never hesitated in such matters. She was not a saint, so naturally, she always put herself first in everything she did.
Emperor Chenghua didn't know how long he had slept. When he woke up, the sky was faintly lit. He felt much better, even able to sit up without assistance, indicating that the poison in his body had been cleared.
Li Man'er's medical skills were indeed superb.
However, he still needed two days of recuperation.
Li Qingshu had been diligently caring for him without rest, which deeply touched Emperor Chenghua. To be honest, after the Fourth Princess left, he had been somewhat distant towards Li Qingshu, but she had always been devoted to him.
When the Empress rebelled, it was she who stood in front of him, using her frail body to shield him from the swords and blades.
For some reason, Emperor Chenghua's mind began to work. He summoned several highly respected old ministers, along with Qi Yihan, to the palace.
Li Qingshu's heart pounded. She knew that everything was as Li Man'er had said.
Just as Rong Fei had thought, Emperor Chenghua had no other choice. The Seventh Prince was the best successor for him.
He was still young and vigorous, capable of properly guiding the child, and having a mother's family from a marquis's estate was sufficient for him.
As for Rong Fei, who could prove that the Seventh Prince was hers?
Soon, the Seventh Prince was established as the Crown Prince, and Li Qingshu was enfeoffed as Imperial Noble Consort, also assisting in the management of the six palaces.
The position of Empress remained vacant, likely never to be filled again.