Chapter 222
"...when she was over six months pregnant, she was given an abortion drug. Because the drug was so potent, the fully-formed male fetus was miscarried, and Consort De's body was permanently damaged, rendering her unable to ever bear children again." 】
"As expected, palace schemes are always bloody. Emperor Mingxi is such a scumbag! He is the root cause of it all."
【Master, do you want Little Zhu to cripple him?】 Yue Fuguang rolled her eyes. Just look at you, do you even resemble a merit system anymore!
Even if they were 'immortals', crippling a nation's emperor would still negatively impact the smooth progress of their mission.
Currently, the stability both inside and outside the Great Yan court was the most advantageous for them. Talking about personal morality with an emperor was like trying to teach morals to a rogue.
She wasn't that stupid.
Not to mention the distant past, just look at those capable emperors of the Xia Kingdom—which one of them didn't have flaws in their personal morality? Emperors were a species that simply couldn't be judged by the standards of ordinary people.
She believed her mind hadn't been warped by the sweet romance novels she read in her past life. Expecting an emperor to be devoted to one woman was the biggest joke of all.
Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, Zhu Youcheng: Then what am I?
Yue Fuguang: Your nephew from a collateral branch succeeded the throne because you had no heir, and your son was murdered and still had to take the blame. What do you think you are?
Reining in her wandering thoughts, Yue Fuguang decided that although she didn't plan to lay a hand on Emperor Mingxi, she could still scare him a little to make him behave.
Perhaps she had been thinking for a bit too long, as the people outside were anxiously pacing back and forth. Only then did she say unhurriedly, "Let's wait and see. If he drafts concubines again, we'll confiscate his reproductive rights."
The inner palace was managed by the Empress Dowager and the Empress, so she couldn't criticize the inner palace. Otherwise, Emperor Mingxi would definitely use it as an excuse to push all the blame for poor management onto Empress Xu.
Therefore, it was better to stop him from holding a draft and let him make do with the current women in his harem.
【Alright then, let's give him one more chance. Hehehe, confiscating reproductive rights is what I do best!】
Yue Fuguang thought to herself, of course you're good at it, you've already taken away quite a few people's rights! Eunuch Qian has gained quite a few fellow comrades.
For ancient men, being unable to produce offspring was as agonizing as losing their lives. Moreover, this kind of pain was continuous, far more torturous than a swift death by the blade.
She believed the emperor would behave for a while and focus on governing the country properly, which would also allow her to complete her mission sooner.
Yue Fuguang was essentially treating the emperor and his officials as beasts of burden. She provided the technology, and they were responsible for development. It was a flawless plan!
Far away in the imperial palace, Emperor Mingxi, who was just thinking about slacking off and dumping the memorials in front of him onto the Crown Prince, suddenly shuddered. A chill rose from the soles of his feet.
He quickly dismissed the thought of slacking off and going to the inner palace to relax.
【Master, do you want to know whose hands Consort De's 'One Day Heartbreak' poison came from?】
Yue Fuguang thought for a moment. The only poison master they knew was Du Zhongxian from Nanyue, so she said, "Don't tell me this 'One Day Heartbreak' is another one of Du Zhongxian's creations?"
The system was a bit disappointed. The entire white dumpling in the system space wrinkled together, very dissatisfied with Yue Fuguang's correct guess. Who chats like this?
No wonder she was a wealthy, beautiful woman but still a single dog for twenty years in her past life. She was truly single by her own sheer ability!
Yue Fuguang suddenly felt her nose itch. She had a sneaking suspicion that someone was gossiping about her!
Although the host didn't play along as expected, thinking of the mission, the system cheered itself up. Making its voice sound as cheerful as possible, it continued: 【Master is so smart, you guessed it right away.】
"Isn't this Du Zhongxian a bit too prolific? Given his status in the 'poison world', shouldn't his poisons be extremely hard to come by? How come his poisons are everywhere?
From the Great Yan court down to the common people, how many have been harmed by his 'works'?"
【There actually is a reason for that, but we won't talk about that today. The poison was made by Du Zhongxian, but the poison in Consort De's hands wasn't bought from him.
The bottle in her hand was given to her by Concubine Xin. Furthermore, the abortion drug that Zhou Yunxin used to harm Consort De back then was also secretly delivered to Zhou Yunxin's hands by Concubine Xin.
Between Zhou Yunxin and Concubine Xin, one committed the murder while the other handed over the knife.】
"Hearing you say that, does it mean the poison that killed the Crown Prince and the Emperor was also provided by Concubine Xin?"
The system, which had been about to burst into laughter, suddenly choked on its words upon hearing Yue Fuguang's deduction. The words stuck in its throat, neither going up nor down. It felt so stifled!
Sometimes, having a host with too much 'experience' wasn't a good thing!
It suddenly missed the royal court. Back then, its host was a perfect sounding board, allowing it to fully indulge its desire to spill the tea.
The system was relatively emotionally stable. It gathered its feelings, forced itself to perk up, and said: 【That's right, she was the one who ordered someone to secretly deliver it to Zhou Yunxin.】
Afraid that Yue Fuguang would steal its thunder again, the system continued to output: 【She is also the only person in the inner palace who knows who the Ninth Prince's biological father is.
Her feigned illness isn't entirely fake either. Since she makes poison, it's inevitable that her body would be eroded by the toxins, so naturally, she isn't as healthy as an ordinary person.
However, recently, Emperor Mingxi has been sending her the fruits and vegetables produced in your greenhouse, and her health has slowly been improving.】
Yue Fuguang could already imagine how spectacular Emperor Mingxi's expression would be when he found out about this!
Thinking this in her heart, she didn't forget to add a sarcastic remark, "The Emperor is surprisingly nice!"
【Master, that head palace maid beside Concubine Xin named Yue Ying is actually a fully intact man.】 The system felt that the host's words weren't enough to anger the emperor to death, so it continued dropping bombs.
"A man? The Emperor has been cuckolded again? Is the Fourth Prince's father...?"
Her use of the word "again" was quite brilliant, sending a chill down the spines of the people listening outside!
【That's not the case. Xie Zhiwei is the Emperor's biological karmic debt collector, there's no mistake about that.
However, this Yue Ying hasn't been idle either.
He has bedded more than half of the palace maids in Xinrong Palace. Because Concubine Xin is the only high-ranking concubine residing in that palace, this news has never leaked out.
Those maids and eunuchs are all from Nanyue as well, so Xinrong Palace is essentially Nanyue's private turf within the Great Yan imperial palace. This is the result of the hard work of two generations—Gan Sheng and his father.】
"Not only has the Emperor's court been infiltrated like a sieve, but his inner palace hasn't fared any better! Under such circumstances, it's quite impressive that the Great Yan managed to hold on for another eight or nine years!"
【Yue Ying's contribution in all of this is paramount. The poisons all passed through his hands and were transferred several times according to his plan before reaching Zhou Yunxin.
This man is also a master at making and using poisons himself. He is an honorary disciple of Du Zhongxian, and Concubine Xin's poison skills were taught by him. Although the two are of similar age, they actually hold the titles of master and apprentice.】
"No wonder he was able to bed more than half the maids in Xinrong Palace." Thinking of this, a strange thought suddenly popped into Yue Fuguang's mind.
She couldn't help but ask, "Doesn't Concubine Xin feel awkward ordering these maids around? Technically, all these maids could be considered her 'master's wives'!"
【Hahaha, Master is absolutely right!】 The system was completely awed by its host's train of thought!
【Also, the few young palace maids beside the Fourth Prince are all Yue Ying's daughters. Technically speaking, these people are also the Fourth Prince's elders, hahahahaha!】
When the system mentioned the palace maids, Yue Fuguang naturally thought of the eunuchs. "Then the eunuchs beside him wouldn't happen to be Yue Ying's spawn as well, would they?"