Story of Yanxi Palace: Fu Ying's banner will never fall

Chapter 18: Unraveling the Conspiracy

As the sun sets, the afterglow casts a golden glow, as if covering the entire Forbidden City with a layer of gorgeous coat.

At this moment, Yonglian was rushing to Changchun Palace from the prince's residence.

As he entered the palace gate, he walked quickly forward, knelt on his knees, and said respectfully: "Your son wishes you the best of luck, Mother!" His voice was loud and firm, revealing his respect for his mother.

The Queen looked over when she heard the voice, her face filled with a happy smile. She quickly waved her hand and said, "Yong Lian is here, get up quickly! Er Qing, go and tell the kitchen to set up the meal."

"Empress Mother, why did you suddenly replace the tea I usually drink with medicinal drink in the afternoon?" Yong Lian asked puzzledly. In fact, he still craved the Biluochun tea in his heart, but the medicinal drink was quite delicious.

"It's all because of you. You love drinking tea too much. You're still young, but your stomach isn't in good condition. Drink the medicinal drink for a while to nourish your stomach. Don't forget to ask Xiao Liuzi to send your share of the tea and food room to the Empress Dowager."

The Queen touched Yonglian's nose with her hand and said helplessly.

This is also what Yingluo said, she was worried that the Second Prince would not be able to resist his cravings and the medicine would become ineffective.

Then, Yonglian solemnly promised the Queen: "Okay, as soon as I return to the palace, I will immediately ask Xiao Liuzi to bring the Biluochun that the Imperial Tea and Food Room just sent to the Queen Mother. I will never break my promise!"

His eyes were firm and sincere, as if telling the Queen that he would definitely do what he said.

The Queen looked at the serious-looking child in front of her and couldn't help but smile with relief.

Because as a mother, she knew her son's character best - if he said he wouldn't drink, he would never touch it.

"Mother knows that Yonglian is a trustworthy person. Let's go and have dinner together."

After dinner, the Queen Mother and Yonglian were concentrating on solving a complex and exquisite nine-ring puzzle together.

At this moment, a gentle voice came into their ears. It was Er Qing.

"Empress, Wei Yingluo wants to see you."

"Oh? It's so late, is there anything wrong with Yingluo?" The Queen asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"I don't know either. When I asked Yingluo, she kept silent and just insisted on meeting you and the Second Prince. I wonder if she intends to serve the Second Prince?"

Er Qing's words obviously had ulterior motives. She deliberately mentioned Wei Yingluo probably because she wanted to curry favor with the Second Prince, who had a promising future, and wanted to sow discord between the Empress and Wei Yingluo.

Sure enough, the Queen frowned when she heard this.

After a moment of silence, she sighed softly and said, "Forget it, let's listen to what Yingluo wants to say."

"Yes, I will go and call her over right away." Er Qing was secretly delighted, realizing that her provocation seemed to have worked, so she turned around and left happily, going to call Wei Yingluo.

Wei Yingluo slowly walked into the inner hall.

Mingyu saw Wei Yingluo coming to see the Queen late at night and couldn't help but feel puzzled. She asked, "Why did Yingluo go to see the Queen so late at night?"

Er Qing pretended to be gentle and kind and said, "Maybe she has thought of something that can help the queen or the second prince. Mingyu, how can she understand so much? The queen trusts her very much now."

"Hmph, they're nothing but some clever tricks." Mingyu sneered, with the corners of her mouth slightly turned down, but in fact, deep in her heart she had unknowingly developed a slight affection for Wei Yingluo, and had silently begun to like Wei Yingluo in her heart.

After all, Wei Yingluo is thoughtful, cautious, kind and upright, and such a character is really compatible with Mingyu.

If Wei Yingluo knew that Mingyu actually viewed her in this way, she would surely be delighted. You know, in this life, in order to gain Mingyu's trust as soon as possible and not "kill each other" with her, she was trying hard to make Mingyu like her.

Neither the Empress nor the Second Prince had expected that Wei Yingluo's first request after entering the palace was for the Empress to ask someone she trusted to bring over the Biluochun tea that the Imperial Tea Kitchen had recently sent to the Second Prince.

"Yingluo, why is this?" The Queen Mother asked in confusion, but she summoned the eunuch chief Zhang Jianyi, whom she trusted, and ordered him to go to the prince's place quietly to get the Biluochun tea.

During this period of time, Wei Yingluo has shown great loyalty, intelligence, and meticulous care, which has made the queen trust her more and more.

Whether it was trivial matters in the palace or courageous responses to crises, she was always able to complete her tasks excellently and give the Queen the most attentive support.

"Empress, I have noticed that someone is trying to murder the Second Prince, and the most likely target is the tea sent from the Imperial Tea Room." Wei Yingluo said in a firm tone without any hesitation.

Upon hearing this, the Empress and the Second Prince were stunned, with the word "unbelievable" clearly written on their faces.

"Yingluo, Yonglian has been drinking the Biluochun tea supplied by the Imperial Tea Kitchen for a long time and has never had any problems. How did you notice anything unusual?" The Queen asked in confusion.

"Your Highness, this afternoon when I went to the Imperial Tea House to get some snacks, I overheard the palace maids and eunuchs whispering to each other. It seemed like they were planning to poison the Second Prince's tea! But when I wanted to catch them and ask them what was going on, they disappeared without a trace."

Wei Yingluo frowned and spoke anxiously.

She knew very well that she had no solid evidence to prove the truth of the matter, so at this moment she could only choose to lie to attract the attention of the Queen.

However, in reality, all of this was just her inference based on various signs.

In this heavily guarded Forbidden City, the easiest and most difficult to detect way to harm someone without them noticing is to start with their daily diet.

As for the noble prince, there are only a few ways he can manipulate things. After thinking about it, the only way he can think of is tea. I hope my guess is correct and the mastermind behind the scenes will not let me down!

"How could such a thing happen? I have always thought that the management of the prince's residence is already quite strict, especially the things that Yonglian eats daily, there is no possibility of mistakes. I never thought that even Yonglian's recent habit of drinking tea could be used by someone with ulterior motives to make a fuss!"

After hearing what Wei Yingluo said, the Queen couldn't help but sigh deeply, with endless loneliness and disappointment revealed in the depths of her eyes.

She could never have imagined that in this seemingly peaceful harem, there were so many people with ulterior motives hiding.

In order to fight for power and scheme against each other, these people even resorted to means against innocent children... Thinking of this, the Queen felt a chill in her heart.