The case of poisoning in the purple bamboo forest was investigated very carefully by the emperor, and the case was handled not by the Shenxing Temple in the palace, but by officials from the Ministry of Punishment.

  The Ministry of Justice handles cases with "evidence and testimony", unlike the imperial harem, where lives are often ruined based on the emperor's speculation. In handling major cases, the Ministry of Justice is much more cautious than the Supreme Court, but although slower, it prioritizes quality, fairness, and justice that convinces people through reason.

  It's been five or six days and still nothing has come out of it.

  No one in the harem took the initiative to confess because they couldn't withstand the pressure.

  Lin Wan has been obsessed with listening to Xia Qu recently, she really set up a stage at the entrance of Fei Yan Building and invited a pear garden singer to sing with Qi Ronghua.

  Also seated was Wei Wenji, a native of Jiangnan, who loved listening to these Wu dialect tunes.

  On this day, several people were enthusiastically pointing out two tunes when the palace staff came over to inform them that the Emperor had summoned Concubine Hui to the Jianzhang Palace.

  At this time, it was probably the emperor's will. Lin Yu and Qi Ronghua exchanged a glance, both of them felt an inexplicable tension, fearing that the case had come to an end.

  The emperor only told Lin Wan alone, and others didn't dare to make random guesses. Lin Wan hastily changed into a new set of clothes, reapplied her makeup, and followed the eunuch to the Jian Zhang Palace.

  Inside Jianzhang Palace, people were swarming about. Normally, only consorts who had been summoned to serve the emperor in bed could enter this place, but today there were dozens of people standing here. There were consorts and palace maids and eunuchs, all kneeling before the emperor, all of whom had been confined to Changle Palace that day. After Lin Yin entered and saw this scene, she looked at the people kneeling and saw that there were those with higher ranks than herself, and she couldn't help but think of kneeling together with them.

  Tuoba Hong beckoned her over as soon as he saw her, saying: "Consort Hui, come here. You all go give Consort Hui a seat."

  Lin Wan saw the emperor's face was gloomy and solemn, she didn't dare to say more and declined, and sat down very obediently. Beside the emperor were still standing two officials wearing cyan cloud- patterned robes with a swan emblem, who were from the Ministry of Punishment.

  Having worked in the Ministry of Justice for many years, most people will develop a wooden face, oblivious to human joys and sorrows. Whether it's a heinous criminal or an innocent person, they've seen too much and become numb to humanity. Now, facing the group of noble concubines before them, these two men are equally expressionless, their attention focused only on the documents in their hands, the people before them mere objects awaiting judgment.

  However, in the eyes of the concubines below, these two officials from the Ministry of Justice were simply black and white impermanence, and they didn't know if their souls would be taken away. They were now trembling with fear, having had difficulty sleeping and eating for several days, and now death was imminent.

  Taizong didn't drag on, pointing at the concubines and ordering: "The case of Chang Le Palace has already been investigated. Today I have summoned all of you to announce the verdict in person, so that the real culprit will be convinced. Gao Ai Qing, come and read it out."

  The Minister of Justice with the surname Gao flipped through the thick stack of files in his hand, page by page, and said solemnly: "... In the ninth year of Qianwu, on April 12th, poisonous substances were found in the Ziyang Forest of Changle Palace. The person who poisoned them had ulterior motives and attempted to disrupt the imperial family, which was intolerable... On April 15th, the Ministry of Justice interrogated the inner court imperial concubines Zhao, Xu, and An..."

  Gao Daren is a pedantic person, over 50 years old, and does things in a very meticulous manner. Compared to the young Minister of Justice with the reputation of being a "genius", he may not be as intelligent, but he makes up for it with his careful temperament, investigating every case thread by thread, and can often find the key points.

  From the Emperor to the concubines, everyone was getting impatient. Tuoba Hong was about to interrupt him with a command "Get to the point", when Gao Da finally reached the crucial part: "...Ronghua Xushi's palace contains Anxi Xiang, and there are palace maids who have been to the Zizhulin. After interrogation by the Ministry of Punishment, the eunuch Wang Rong, and the palace maid Zhang Shi and Liu Shi confessed that they were instructed by Ronghua Xushi to bury Anxi Xiang in the Zizhulin."

  Xu Ronghua's head jerked up as she was mentioned, and a servant had already stepped forward to restrain her. Her face twitching, she suddenly shouted loudly: "It wasn't me! I'm innocent...!"

  Tuoba Hong looked at her with a smile that was not quite a smile, and with a raise of his hand, another silk handkerchief was stuffed into her mouth. Lin Yuan, the person involved, watched from the side with a shocked heart. The Emperor didn't even give Xu Ronghua a chance to explain himself, the Ministry of Justice handled things efficiently, once they found evidence it was ironclad, and there was no room for claiming innocence.

  On the other side, Gaoyang was still reading down with a serious expression: "Ronghua Xushi used to not use incense for rest, but since March of Qianwu 9th year, she suddenly had symptoms of insomnia and started using incense for calming her mind. After diagnosis, it was found that Ronghua Xushi did not have insomnia, this is suspicious point one; Palace maid Zhangshi has been in and out of the palace eight times since March, going to 'Guang'an Kou' in Beijing to buy rouge and fabric for Ronghua Xushi, every time she must pass through Changle Palace's Ziyu Lin, and every time she chooses to leave the palace at dusk. After buying things, it was already night when she returned. It was just buying things, why did she choose evening? This is suspicious point two; After investigation, it was found that Zhangshi came from a poor family, but recently her whole family moved into a luxurious mansion in Beijing, and a large amount of valuables worth over 10,000 silver were found in their home. This is suspicious point three...

  Gao Daren spoke clearly and logically, and everyone nodded in agreement. But Xu Ronghua, who had been struggling desperately just now, suddenly opened his eyes wide and didn't move at all.

  In these days of house arrest, she prayed day and night, always with a glimmer of hope in her heart. Moreover, the case of poisoning at Chang Le Palace was widely linked, including the new concubines An Shi and Xie Shi, who were also found to have had access to the poisonous incense. The palace ladies were extremely jealous of An Shi and others, and over the past few days, there were many who sought to kick them while they were down, spreading rumors and slandering them within the palace.

  So in these days, the ones who were most frightened and fearful turned out to be Anshi and Xieshi. Moreover, Anshi had been to Lin Yu's Brocade Smoke Building before, which was even more suspicious.

  Xu Ronghua quietly secluded herself in her own palace, not daring to make any move. The palace people around her were all taken away by the emperor's decree, which was not surprising, as all suspected consorts were treated this way. But what was unexpected was...

  The Ministry of Justice was so formidable that it quietly investigated and found out that the palace maid beside her had gone out of the palace eight times to buy rouge for her, each time taking the small path through the purple bamboo forest, and each time doing it under the cover of night. It also investigated that she had given a large sum of money to Zhang Palace Maid in order to win her over, and ordered her whole family to move into the capital city, so as to control them more easily.

  What was most frightening was that during these days of house arrest, the Emperor once again sent people to search the palace, and Xu Ronghua couldn't escape either. She didn't think much of it at the time, assuming it was just a routine search, but thinking back now... When those eunuchs came in, one of them accidentally bumped into her, and afterwards immediately knelt down before her to apologize. At the time, Xu Ronghua's heart and strength were exhausted, where did she have the energy to care about these things?

  It was at this time that the old woman took advantage of the situation and felt her pulse.

  She didn't have nightmares at all...

  Xu Ronghua's scalp was numb. When the emperor ordered a search, she was already on the verge of death, yet still held onto a glimmer of hope, thinking that with so many people suspected, it would be difficult to carry out the search, and it was possible that she might still escape.

  Xu Ronghua does not regret the harm she has caused. The only thing she regrets is that when burying the Anxiang incense, she was too careless and thought Lin Yuan would not be able to investigate further, so she did not do it carefully enough. As a result, once the investigation began, the loopholes were easily discovered.

  She shouldn't have let her personal maid bury that thing, nor should she have used the easily detectable excuse of having nightmares to obtain the sleeping incense... In fact, she shouldn't even have openly obtained it within the palace, so much so that the imperial hospital recorded it.

  Intelligent as Rong Hua was, she had already figured out that Lin Yuan used some method to break her own plan.

  She thought that using incense and purple bamboo to produce poison was a very clever move, but she didn't think that the combination of lemongrass and these two would have a completely different effect.

  If you're not as skilled as others, then graciously concede defeat.

  As for his own fate, Xu Ronghua was very clear and had no right to complain about heaven.

  Tuoba Hong listened to Gao's report, his face cold and frightening, but he didn't interrupt. After Gao finished speaking, he just nodded slightly and asked those around him:

  "What happened to Gan's case back then?"

  Yao Fu Sheng heard the two words "Gan Shi", his heart skipped a beat, and he knelt down to reply: "Gan Shi plotted against the Emperor... be executed by slow slicing, and exterminate her entire clan."

  "Then let's deal with the Xus in the same way." The emperor said lightly.

  Xu Ronghua's face twisted again, and her hands and feet began to struggle. She thought that as a imperial concubine who had served Emperor Tuoba Hong for many years, she would not be executed along with her entire clan.

  But Tuoba Hong actually used the method of dealing with treasonous criminals to deal with her...

  No, no... She struggled to speak, but the attendants around her quickly tied her up and dragged her away.

  Tuoba Hong's expression remained largely unchanged from start to finish.

  This time he was truly enraged, the palace had many people who were evil and wicked, but this time it was different. The move to harm the Empress Dowager made him recall clearly that year...

  When he was still the crown prince, Li Guifei and his third brother tried every means to put him and Empress Dowager to death. Later when he became emperor, assassinations and plots against him never stopped.

  It wasn't until he regained power two years later and killed Mu of Zhou that his days became slightly better.

  He never wanted to stir up those things from back then again. But there were actually still people who dared to lay hands on the Empress Dowager.

  In his heart, Xu Ronghua and Gan Shi were no different.

  ***

  Xu Ronghua was convicted and sentenced, and this matter finally came to an end.

  Those suspected concubines had been through a lot, and now they were like being reborn. The matter of deposed Concubine Hui was never mentioned again, but Lin Wen heard from Xiao Chengzi that Concubine Hui was imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice to receive punishment, and her family members were all beheaded at the Meridian Gate. It had always been the case that concubines who committed crimes were dealt with within the palace, and Concubine Hui's fate was exactly the same as that of Concubine Gan back then.

  Because Xu Ronghua used to follow Shen Fei, and after Shen Fei's death, the emperor did not find out that Xu Ronghua had attached himself to someone else, and Xu Ronghua also did not confess who was behind the scenes. Thinking of Xu Ronghua's status is not low, with a family background to support him, having enough power to make this conspiracy, in the end, the emperor determined it was done by Xu alone.

  This time, there was no bloodbath in the palace, and it ended with the miserable death of Madame Xu. All the palace maids in the palace where she lived were also beaten to death, not a single one survived.

  Lin Wan's palace was assigned more personnel to guard, and the Chang Le Palace was even more heavily guarded. Although the Empress Dowager did not like so many people serving her, this incident had also frightened her, so she restored the iron wall of several years ago, fearing that someone would do evil again.