Rumors are rife that Zou Caiping, the former chef of the imperial dining room, is suspected of murdering the saint, and some people suspect that there are others behind it. Helplessly, the party "died", and it is unknown where the mastermind behind the scenes is sacred.

Hearing such rumors, Duan Yingjin can be said to be in a panic. In fact, not only the Jin Palace, but even the palace is in danger.

Xu Ying has been both happy and sad recently, and she is happy that the queen is busy with the government and has no time to harem, and the power of the harem is in her hands again; The sad thing is that the emperor has been ill for a long time, and the prince has not been abandoned, if the emperor really dies one day, and all the forces vying for succession win, can her mother and son have a place?

Although Xu Ying used her marriage with the Chu family to gather a certain amount of power, this force was still too far behind the Feng family and the princes. According to the current situation, it is impossible for Yingping to claim the emperor, but she must at least ensure her status in the harem. Only if she stands tall can she escort Yingping's future honor and wealth.

Taking advantage of Feng Wu's decentralization, Xu Ying planned to pull out the thorns in her side one by one. In a year, she first cut off Luo Zixiao's minions-Li Concubine; deliberately found the wrong place and disposed of the two rookies, Pei Cai and Gu Meiren; By the way, he also suppressed Deng Jixuan, who was given a cold reception...... Of course, what she wants to get rid of the most is the concubine, but she hates Lu Yanzhen to be cautious and cautious everywhere, and she lives in a simple place on weekdays, so she can't grasp the handle!

Before the emperor was sick, Lu Huizhen had relied on her grace to secretly block Xu Ying, especially her "scoundrel" little sister, which really made Xu Ying hate itchy. Moreover, Lu Xizhen's various actions made Xu Ying wonder if she had recovered her memory? Once Lu Huizhen remembered that she was using it as a shield, it would be troublesome. Therefore, if this potential threat is not eliminated, she will not be able to sleep for a day.

Soon, Xu Ying's opportunity came.

May 30 is the 55th birthday of the Queen Mother, although the Qianqiu Festival was canceled, but the Queen Mother still invited the palace concubines to Yongshou Palace for a small gathering.

The Queen Mother was very quiet, but in the midst of her illness, she missed the excitement of the crowd. The most important thing is that Jiang Liang wants to take this opportunity to inspect the concubines, and wants to choose a suitable candidate to be Shu's adoptive mother. Yes, she is reluctant to be a well-behaved little guy, but her physical condition really does not allow her to work half a minute anymore.

Xu Ying plans to do it at the Queen Mother's banquet. Imagine, if something happened to a concubine in front of everyone, who could suspect her?

"Cui Xin is old after all, so it's understandable to let her rest early. Tell Hu Zhenxia to do this errand for the palace, and she will be the only one in the palace. Xu Ying used a long-handled silver spoon to stir back and forth in the incense burner, and gradually there was a resurgence of the ashes.

"Slave and maid, let's do it." Mu Mei smiled sinisterly, Lu Xizhen's death was approaching, and she was as happy as her master.

On the evening of May 30, five large round tables were set up in the main courtyard of Yongshou Palace, each with ten seats. Although it was only a small-scale family banquet, the fifty seats were full, and the palace had not been so lively for a long time.

The concubines arrived one after another, and some even brought their children to join in the fun. Because it was a family banquet, it was not so restrictive, and the seats were not arranged according to the hierarchy. Everyone usually gets close to someone, so they gather at a table and sit down.

Lu Huizhen's status as a widow made her very despised, and she didn't make any friends over the years after entering the palace; Zhou Mulin's popularity has never been very good, and she was once in the company of people who were suspicious such as Mu Zhu and Tan Zhiting, if she hadn't been accompanied by her own sister, she would have been reduced to a "lonely person" long ago.

Seeing Lu Huizhen sitting alone and drinking by herself, Zhou Mulin and Zhou Muya licked her face and went over: "The two tables over there are overcrowded, or is it still spacious here for Sister Zhen, don't you mind the sisters sitting at the same table?" ”

"Zhou Guiren is polite, how can I occupy such a big table alone? Sister, sit down. Lu Yezhen smiled, and the polite kung fu on the surface still had to be done, although she didn't like Zhou Mulin in her heart.

"Then my sister is welcome." Zhou Mulin sat down next to Lu Haozhen, and by the way, pulled her sister to greet Lu Yanzhen.

"I really envy you two sisters who are in the palace together, take care of each other, and don't be lonely." Lu Yangzhen recalled the days when she accompanied her in the palace, but unfortunately the younger sister was taken back to Chuzhou by the second sister last year, and now it is thousands of miles away.

"Sister Zhen must be missing her relatives, can you summon Lord Lu and Mrs. Lu into the palace to meet?" The palace rules stipulate that concubines whose grades are above the concubine position and whose origins outside Beijing can summon their relatives into the palace once a year.

"I saw it on my birthday. In a hurry, it is better to accompany you for a long time. It's good to be like you. Lu Yezhen took a closer look at Zhou Muya, it had only been a year, and she was so slim. Lu Huizhen praised against her will: "Zhou Baolin is an adult, and when the emperor recovers, he can arrange a bed." With my sister like this, I will be able to win His Majesty's love! Your sisters' best days are yet to come. ”

"Sister doesn't need to comfort the concubine, the emperor has been sick for so long and has not improved, who can say for sure what will happen in the future? Alas, the concubines only hope that after the emperor recovers, don't forget our sisters. Zhou Mulin shook her head in frustration.

"Today's birthday of the Queen Mother, let's not talk about this. Chat a little happy! Lu Yezhen changed the topic in time. At this time, the maidservant girl approached her with a painful expression, and Chaozhen said strangely: "What's wrong with you?" ”

"Little Master...... Slaves...... Stomach ache, as if I had eaten something bad. "Summer is the most prone to gastrointestinal diseases, and it is probably because I ate inappropriate food at lunch.

"This is about to start, you are in a situation at this time, go and come back quickly!" Lu Yezhen covered her nose with a fan with a look of disgust, and quickly ran towards the thatched house.

In order to rush back to the main courtyard as soon as possible, she walked the relatively secluded west verandah. I thought that few people should come here, but today I encountered two sneaky shadows. Instinctively, he hid behind the pillars.

The sky was dark, and the two could not see their faces clearly, and could only hear the "amazing" conversation between them.

"Have you remembered everything you have been told? Don't mess it up! A slightly calm female voice said. From her deliberately lowered voice, it was vaguely discernible that she should not be young.

"Yes, yes. The slaves and maids all remembered that the bowl of almond cheese without silver dancao was prepared for the concubines...... "This voice is only promised, and when I hear it, I am a little palace maid with a low status."

Hearing the word "concubine", Qing Qian couldn't help but straighten his ears. Lu Yangzhen is allergic to silver dancao, which many people know, especially the people in the dining room. Qing Qian told the cook in the imperial dining room more than once that the concubines couldn't touch the silver dancao, but every time they took it as a deaf ear. If there is a dish that needs to be seasoned or decorated with silver dandan, she picks out the yindancao by herself.

Qing Qian felt strange, why did the imperial dining room suddenly "make an exception" for the sake of the concubine? On weekdays, he still refuses to accommodate, let alone is so busy today, how can he pay special attention to the diet of a concubine? This is obviously unreasonable! So Qing Qian hid himself deeper and continued to eavesdrop on the follow-up conversation.

"Just remember. Don't forget, your family's lives are still in my hands, and if you can't do your errands, I'll let them accompany you to Hades!" Do you hear that? A deep female voice threatened viciously.

The young palace maid was about to cry, but she was still forced to agree: "Yes, the slave understands." It's not a pity for the slave to die, please let the slave and maid's family go! ”

"Hmm. If you do a good job, I will not treat them badly. Go ahead. With that, the older man quickly dodged away.

It is clear that the conversation was based on a coercive deal. Qingqian is very smart, she intuitively feels that the two of them are going for the concubine, and someone wants to harm Lu Zhenzhen! As a loyal servant, she can't sit idly by, she must find a way to save her master!

When the old man disappeared completely, the little palace maid wiped her tears and carried the food basket and walked in the direction of the main courtyard. Qingqian detoured wildly, and finally stopped her at the gate of the main courtyard before he finally arrived at the little palace maid.

"Wait, who are you? What's in your hand? Qing Qian put on a lofty posture, and sure enough, the little palace maid was frightened.

"The slave maid is the palace maid Jiu'er in the imperial dining room, and she is here to serve food to the nobles." Jiu'er's gaze dodged.

"What's the dish?" Affectionate asked knowingly.

"Yes, it's almond cheese." Jiu'er replied truthfully.

"It's almond cheese! Is that a decoration with silver pill grass? "It is customary in the imperial dining room to decorate a pinch of green on the white and flawless cheese, and this decoration is undoubtedly a delicate silver dangrass leaf.

"yes, yes." Jiu'er bit her lower lip unnaturally: "What else does the girl command?" ”

"Concubine Zhen is allergic to silver pill grass, don't you know? You open the food basket, and I will choose it for the little master. Ai Qian reached for the lid of the food basket.

When Jiu'er heard that it was about the concubine, she subconsciously hurriedly avoided it, and explained with an embarrassed smile: "The slave has already prepared a bowl of silver dancao for the concubine, so I won't bother the girl." ”

"What are these words! As the overseer in charge of inspecting the dishes tonight, how can I not be thorough? You just open the food basket and show me it, just as you said, if something goes wrong, carefully Mama Xiaying peels off your skin! Qing Qian arranged a trumped-up identity for herself, and brought out the palace maid in charge of Yongshou Palace to suppress Jiu'er.

Jiu'er shuddered, but she was forced to open the food basket under pressure. The food basket is divided into two layers, each layer is placed with five bowls of cheese, and one of the bowls on the second layer is really pure and unadulterated.

"There are fifty guests in the courtyard, how can there be ten bowls of cheese? What about the others? "Shallow deliberately delayed time.

"Back to the girl, the slave maid is only responsible for the dishes on the table of the concubine, and the regular dishes on the other tables are not under the control of the slave and maid." Jiu'er was a little anxious, and she was about to miss the moment to serve the food.

"Who's there?! Come out for me! Qing Qian suddenly shouted behind Jiu'er, Jiu'er was startled and immediately looked back. took advantage of this gap to turn around, and his shallow fingers were windy, and he instantly sandwiched the silver dandancao decorated in the adjacent bowl of cheese into the bowl where the silverdancao was not placed.

"Nothing...... "Jiu'er turned back for some reason.

"Oh, I was wrong. It seems to be a feral cat. Qingqian breathed a sigh of relief slightly, and covered the food basket for Jiu'er: "Okay, I've checked it, no problem." You go in. ”

Jiu'er was slightly puzzled, but finally nodded and entered the courtyard.