The Empress Dowager planned for half a month, deliberating repeatedly, and finally settled on a plan. Having no power whatsoever, she found herself unable to move an inch in the palace. After much thought, she concluded that acting alone was the most reliable method. At a family banquet, she would conceal poison under her fingernails and sneak it into the Emperor's wine or tea, ensuring his immediate death. As the Empress Dowager, she could then oversee the entire operation, easily fabricating evidence to frame Furong. By the time the princes and ministers received the news and entered the palace, the matter would be settled.
With the emperor's unborn child in the empress's womb and the regent helping her safeguard the throne, all that's needed is for the little prince to be born so that he can be made the new emperor. Wouldn't she, as the Empress Dowager, be able to gradually consolidate her power?
Unfortunately, while the Empress Dowager's plan was well-thought-out, the Emperor refused to cooperate. She feigned illness, feigned weakness, held banquets… no matter what excuse she used, the Emperor wouldn't come. She had a brilliant scheme but couldn't implement it, and her mood worsened day by day. The Emperor's blatant disregard also heightened her sense of crisis; Xu Zifan was always too busy with state affairs to see her. She felt that waiting any longer would only worsen the situation; the longer it dragged on, the more complications would arise. She had to resolve this matter as soon as possible.
She had no choice but to settle for second best. She summoned Shishu, took out a small porcelain bottle from a hidden compartment in her bedchamber, and handed it to her. Holding Shishu's hand tightly, she instructed, "Shishu, you are the person I trust most now. This medicine is related to my status and life. You must make sure it reaches the Emperor."
Shi Shu's face turned pale, and she trembled with fear. "Your Majesty, this servant dares not. Murdering the Emperor is a capital offense. Why don't you let Mo Yun do it? Mo Yun is clever and quick-witted. She will definitely do a better job than this servant."
The Empress Dowager hesitated for a moment. What if Shishu, so timid, was exposed in this matter? Moyun could indeed handle it better, but Moyun was, after all, a gift from Xu Zifan. No matter how much she trusted Moyun, she dared not entrust this task to him. Therefore, Shishu was the only person she could truly trust. She gripped Shishu's hand tightly and said sternly, "You must succeed! If you fail, I will spend the rest of my life in seclusion, and you will suffer as well. Shishu, if you succeed, you will be the most important person by my side, enjoying endless blessings. Think carefully!"
Thinking back to her days at the imperial palace and the Emperor's hatred for the Empress Dowager, Shi Shu gradually became more determined. She knew that following the Empress Dowager was the only path she could take. If she refused, the Empress Dowager would surely kill her to prevent the news from leaking, and her life would be over! Besides, her life depended on the Empress Dowager's well-being; if the Empress Dowager deposed her, she would only suffer more. The Emperor and the Imperial Noble Consort would not let the Empress Dowager off the hook, so she had no choice but to strike first.
Although it was a matter of life and death, she had no other choice but to accept the porcelain vase because it was entrusted to her personally by the Empress Dowager. She vowed to find a way to accomplish it.
The Empress Dowager watched Shishu's departing figure, her eyes filled with cold indifference. Shishu had been by her side for ten years, and she believed Shishu could handle this. As long as she silenced her in time, without evidence, no one could touch her, and no one would believe she would poison her only son. She would be fine. She had no one else to rely on besides Shishu. If she waited any longer, she might be finished before the Empress even gave birth. She couldn't wait any longer; she would simply end it all unexpectedly, using a method no one could anticipate!
Having served as a senior palace maid for many years, Shi Shu had some connections. She contacted Xiao Shunzi's godfather, the former chief eunuch, and took the initiative to become his "partner," obtaining a lot of information about the emperor from him.
The old eunuch, having been replaced by Xiao Shunzi, could no longer participate in the emperor's affairs, and naturally, his resentment towards the emperor and Xiao Shunzi grew. He interpreted Shi Shu's overtures as her seeking another way out and leaving the Empress Dowager. With such a beautiful and once high-ranking palace maid currying favor with him, he felt much more at ease and had no suspicions about Shi Shu. He also couldn't imagine what Shi Shu was capable of.
However, with Xiao Shunzi secretly stirring things up, Shi Shu had more loopholes to exploit. Qi Hong, on the other hand, told the Imperial Noble Consort about the information she had gathered. She was a bold woman and tired of the endless struggles with the Empress Dowager and the Empress. After careful consideration, she realized that the Empress was protected by the Empress Dowager, and she couldn't find an opportunity to make the Empress miscarry. So, she decided to use the Empress Dowager's medicine to poison the Empress, and then find Shi Shu as a witness to eliminate the Empress Dowager. Having held power in the palace for several months, she believed she had complete control over the harem, and thus boldly devised a meticulous plan.
Mo Yun was able to obtain the most accurate information from Xiao Shunzi and Qi Hong. On the surface, she continued to work for the Empress Dowager and manage Anci Palace as always, completely unaware of this matter. However, in private, she had already started making arrangements. Under Fu Rong's guidance, she made other arrangements, instructing Xiao Shunzi and Qi Hong to cooperate and ensure that nothing went wrong.
Mo Yun had been carefully monitoring the Empress Dowager's every move. When she discovered the Empress Dowager practicing calligraphy alone in her room and then burning the paper, she devised a way to make noise to lure the Empress Dowager to the back window. Then, she quietly climbed in through the front window and retrieved the unburned paper. She noticed that the Empress Dowager was imitating the handwriting of the Imperial Tutor. Although she didn't know what the Empress Dowager would do, she also began to imitate the handwriting of both the Imperial Tutor and the Empress Dowager, just in case.
While they were secretly arranging these matters, a disturbance broke out in the imperial court regarding the flood control efforts. Fu Lin exposed the embezzlement of disaster relief funds by numerous officials, including the imperial commissioner in charge of flood control. The evidence was irrefutable and there was no way to refute it. In fact, there were always some problems with the funds and supplies for disaster relief, but as long as the problems were minor, no one would make a fuss about them. They would just turn a blind eye and let it pass. As long as the flood was controlled, those officials would be rewarded for their merits.
But this time, Xu Zifan had people watching over him and also had someone say a few words to Fu Lin. Fu Lin's life was ruined by being demoted to a commoner and banished from the capital by the emperor, and even his descendants would suffer. He had long hated the emperor and knew that most of the people involved in this disaster relief effort were the emperor's men, so he spared no effort in collecting evidence.
When he left the capital, the Empress Dowager gave him all the money he had spent on this, and it worked out well; he actually exposed the crimes of those officials. This was...
Fu Lin felt a sense of satisfaction at the thought of slapping the emperor across the face, and he hoped to use this opportunity to weaken the emperor's power. When he left the capital, he only knew that the empress was pregnant, and he was unaware of the testimony of the second-class palace maids. Of course, he placed all his hopes on the empress dowager and the empress.
The emperor lost face in front of his officials, knowing it was Fu Lin's revenge, an attempt to find an excuse to protect his own people. However, Xu Zifan stood firm in court, impartially ordering him to handle the matter fairly, elevating it to the level of national importance. The officials echoed his sentiments, completely losing faith in the emperor's abilities and vision, and instead developing admiration for Xu Zifan's timely intervention and ability to turn the tide.
In the end, those officials who committed the crimes were either dismissed from their posts, exiled, or imprisoned. The emperor had some of his men eliminated by the Fu family when he was fighting with the empress dowager, and this time almost all of the remaining men were imprisoned, which made him so angry that he couldn't even eat.
Furong, however, saw this as a good opportunity. Putting aside her grief over the miscarriage, she comforted the emperor, making him feel at ease, as if she were more important to him than anything else. Furong spoke to him gently and understandingly for a while, and seeing that his mood had improved, she said, "Your Majesty, was it my second uncle who deliberately caused you trouble this time? Actually, I don't think it's necessary for us to be so antagonistic with him. The matter from last time has been investigated clearly. What happened in the Empress's palace was all arranged by the Empress Dowager, and had nothing to do with me. The Empress also misunderstood that I accidentally injured her."
The emperor's face darkened. "Don't speak up for them. Our son is gone. How can you forgive the empress?"
Furong nestled in his arms and said, "Your Majesty, I do not wish to forgive, but I do not wish to see Your Majesty troubled. In truth, it was the Empress Dowager who initially wanted to kill me. Later, when I went to the Fu family to acknowledge my relatives, it was not necessarily Second Uncle's idea to set fire to the house. Regardless of whether it was or not, Your Majesty has punished him. The Empress is innocent; she was merely implicated and manipulated by the Empress Dowager, who almost caused her to lose her unborn child. I simply feel a sense of shared suffering with her. All of this was orchestrated by the Empress Dowager, causing unrest for everyone. Wouldn't it be better for the Empress to persuade Second Uncle to become Your Majesty's allies than to exterminate them? Besides… the child in the Empress's womb is Your Majesty's. My body is unlikely to conceive again. From now on, I wish to treat any child born to the Empress as my own."
The emperor embraced her with emotion, saying, "Furong, you always think of me, but I failed to protect you and caused you too much suffering."
"As long as Your Majesty has no worries, I am willing to do anything."
The Emperor listened to Fu Rong's words. Fu Qiuwen was arrogant but not very clever. If he could win Fu Lin over through Fu Qiuwen, he wouldn't need to provide any assistance, just to stop her from causing trouble. He might even be able to get some leverage over the Empress Dowager from the Fu family. After all, winning over Fu Lin would be like cutting off the Empress Dowager's arm. Even if it didn't turn out well, it wouldn't turn into a bad thing. After hesitating for a moment, he agreed with Fu Rong's suggestion.
Furong immediately suggested inviting the Empress to dine with them, so the three of them could have a frank discussion and restore peace to the palace. Initially, the Empress was naturally reluctant; she felt everyone in the palace wanted to harm her, and there was no one she could trust. She only wanted to stay in her palace and safely give birth. However, Xiao Shunzi relayed the Emperor's decree, saying he wanted to discuss the Fu family with her. The Fu family and the Empress were naturally aligned in their interests; if the Emperor mentioned the Fu family, she would naturally go. She couldn't let go of any opportunity to bring the Fu family back to the capital.
While Xiao Shunzi was inviting the Empress over, someone was already spreading the word to Shi Shu. Shi Shu was frantic, unable to find an opportunity to drug the Emperor. She thought that if the three of them got together, there would definitely be a commotion, and the chaos might present an opportunity. So she hurriedly went to find Xiao Shunzi's godfather, pretending to be having a secret rendezvous, but in reality, she sneaked into their palace.
Shi Shu got the old eunuch drunk, then secretly drugged a young palace maid, dressed her in the maid's clothes and hairstyle, and hid to wait for her chance. From the moment Shi Shu appeared, everything she did was under Qi Hong's surveillance, as instructed by Fu Rong. With Fu Rong's arrangement, just as the dishes were about to be served, two young palace maids fell ill with stomachaches and couldn't serve the food. Shi Shu hurriedly ran over to take their place, and the head eunuch brought her a tray, a wine pot, and wine cups, urging her to hurry and deliver them.
Shi Shu walked with her head down, her heart pounding. In the chaos, no one had seen her face clearly, but if she went inside, she would surely be discovered. What should she do? She couldn't find a better opportunity, and she couldn't bear to give up now. Just as she reached the door, she lowered her head, steeled her resolve, and smeared poison into three wine glasses!