Episode 22: Gu Qingshu’s plan to harm Hu Xilao

On the day of the banquet held by the Queen Mother, silk and bamboo were wrapped around the beams in the palace, and noble ladies from various palaces came forward in turn to perform performances.Although the red rash on his wrists has not faded, Hu Hanrao is still dancing gracefully with his face covered with gauze. Gu Qingshu sits on one side and plays the piano in harmony. The melodious music of the piano makes the dance more agile.At the end of the song, the Queen Mother smiled and said she wanted to see Hu Nailao's true appearance. Shen tide and others looked on coldly, knowing in their hearts that the inexplicable smell of verbena from before was originally directed at Hu Nailao.

Gu Qingshu played the role of "deep sisterly love" in a flawless manner throughout the whole process. She was always considerate of Hu Wei, and her knowledgeable and reasonable appearance actually made the Queen Mother pay special attention to her.After the banquet, Princess Ruyang invited Shen Xihe to sit alone in the back garden. Not long after, Xiao Huayong also came slowly.The newly roasted tea has been prepared on the stone table, but Ruyang's tea-making technique is skillful and natural. Even the tea set on the table is almost exactly the same as what Xiao Hua and Yong are used to.

Shen Xihe's eyes paused for a moment, and she immediately realized that there was an old relationship between the two that she had never known about.Xiao Huayong saw the lingering indifference in her eyes, so he deliberately stayed a moment longer and slowly taught Ruyang tea art, hoping to tease her, but he didn't expect Shen Xihe to just lower his eyes and twist the tea cup, with an expression that was completely unperturbed.Ruyang had already felt sour in her heart. She had admired Xiao Huayong since she was a child, and today she took out this paired tea set specifically to prick Shen Xihe. Seeing that the other party didn't care at all, she simply found a chance to be alone and confessed her feelings to Xiao Huayong, saying that she was willing to be a concubine even if she was just a concubine.

But Xiao Huayong always only treated her with the same affection as a brother and sister. He gently advised her to let go of her obsessions and find her husband. He also solemnly swore that in this life, his position and sincerity would only be given to Shen tide and one person.After returning to the East Palace, Xiao Huayong immediately ordered people to destroy all the tea sets, and ordered that no utensils of the same style as those of other women would be allowed to appear in the East Palace in the future.He also specially found a parrot with brightly colored fur and trained it in person every day. Within a few days, the bird was able to speak human words, and every word was soft words to express his feelings to Shen Xihe.

When Shen Xihe looked at the humane little bird, the lightness in his eyes completely disappeared, and a smile secretly appeared on the corners of his lips.Xiao Huayong struck while the iron was hot and immediately invited her to go on a spring outing in the countryside with him the next day.The next day the sky was bright and clear, and the two of them walked side by side in the countryside, testing arrows in the forest, picking up flowers by the stream, chatting and laughing side by side. Even Mo Yu and Tian Yuan who were accompanying them couldn't help but feel envious.

But after nightfall, there were several dark shadows quietly surging in the darkness, and one of them handed a small bottle of medicine into Gu Qingshu's hand.At the same time, Hu Lerao was kneeling in front of his parents and begging, admitting that he had lost his innocence long ago and could never marry Prince Ning.Hu Shilang was frightened and angry. He could only lie to the outside world that his daughter was infected with tuberculosis in order to reject the engagement. However, he had already secretly made up his mind to send her to a nunnery to end her life after the storm subsided.

Hu Nailao, who was desperate, gave all the jewelry to Gu Qingshu, saying that if she hadn't been the one to pull the strings, he wouldn't have been able to meet his beloved Wen Langjun.Gu Qingshu pretended to be moved, took out a bottle of medicine to trick her, and after persuading her, she was able to fake her death and escape, and then she and her sweetheart flew away.Hu Xingrao believed it, completely unaware that the other party had already made up his mind to take her place.

A few days later, when the three of them were traveling together, an “assassin” pretended to assassinate King Ning. Hu Nailao followed the plan and sacrificed his life to protect him. When he fell to the ground, he suddenly realized that the properties of the medicine were wrong. It was not a medicine to fake death at all.She pointed at Gu Qingshu with trembling fingers, but as she spoke, the other person rushed towards her and hugged her tightly. Without being able to tell even half of the truth, she completely lost her breath.King Ning was grateful that Hu Kailao had sacrificed his life to save her, and felt sorry for Gu Qingshu's loss of a close friend, so he decided to bring her into his palace.

In order to pursue this marriage, the Hu family simply adopted Gu Qingshu as their legitimate daughter, and only said that she was Hu Lingrao's biological sister.But Shen Xihe had already seen through Gu Qingshu's methods and knew that Hu Kailao's death was no accident. Even the insomnia that the Queen Mother had suffered from for a long time was secretly drugged and falsely diagnosed and treated, and she gained the Queen Mother's trust.Soon after, Concubine Rong handed over the errand of organizing the blessing ceremony to Shen Xihe, and even handed over the jade tablets for arranging palace servants.

Mo Yu was full of doubts and felt that Concubine Rong had no good intentions, but Shen Xihe had already secretly set up spies to keep track of everything going on in the harem.On the day of the ceremony, the royal incense in the emperor's hand suddenly broke. Long Yan was furious. Concubine Rong immediately knelt down to plead guilty, pointing the finger at Shen Xihe both inside and outside her words.Chen tide and Nong Rong asked for orders, willing to check the ingredients in the incense in public. If no clues could be found, they were willing to accept the crime of being unworthy of virtue.

Sure enough, abnormal gold powder was detected from the incense ashes, and the clues were traced to Yu Wan, Rong Fei's personal maid.All the witnesses and physical evidence were there, and Yuwan was killed with a cane on the spot. Although the emperor did not explicitly punish Concubine Rong, he took back her power to co-manage the Sixth Palace and handed over all palace affairs to Shen Xihe.