Chapter 210 - You Didn't Trust Me!

Shen Ninghua lowered her eyes. A trace of mockery flashed through her eyes and then quickly disappeared.

A while ago, she was a popular consort enjoying the favor of the Emperor and sympathy of others. But at the moment, she was the disgusting Consort Yin. It was indeed true that the imperial family cared little about affection.

The person sent to fetch Consort Yin quickly returned and reported with a pale face, “Your Majesty, Consort Yin has committed suicide to escape punishment.”

Baili Qingcang suddenly kicked the imperial writing desk. “Committing suicide? Did she think she could evade the investigation by committing suicide? I must investigate this matter thoroughly.” Chu Junyi reported, “Father Emperor, I have just inspected the hall and interrogated the guards around. I found that the Internal Affairs Department alone is responsible for sending people to clean the ground of the hall every day. So I need to start the investigation from the Internal Affairs Department.”

Zhao Huiying’s eyes flickered as hints of gloomy expression flashed in her long and narrow eyes. No wonder Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi made such a big fuss. It turned out that they wanted to investigate the Internal Affairs Department. This came just after their investigation of the Imperial Guards. What the hell did the two of them want to do?

Baili Qingcang’s anger slowly calmed down. He looked at Chu Junyi with a serious expression. “You said you wanted to investigate the Internal Affairs Department. Are you sure this issue has something to do with it?”

Chu Junyi was not afraid of the oppressive pressure on him at all. He remained unmoved, and there was no hint of emotion on his handsome face. “Father Emperor, the Internal Affairs Department’s duty is to take care of you and the consorts in the imperial palace. Even if this issue was not led by the Internal Affairs Department, it must be responsible for its negligence. If you want a thorough investigation of this issue, the Internal Affairs Department must be investigated.”

Baili Qingcang narrowed his eyes and nodded after quite a while. “Alright, then you can continue your investigation. I’ll give you a month. You can do whatever you want within this month. You must give me a satisfactory result.”

“Yes, Father Emperor.”

Baili Qingcang looked at Shen Ninghua and said, “Ninghua, I’m sorry that I have wronged you today.”

“Father Emperor, I’m not aggrieved if I can help you find out what happened in the imperial palace. However, since they dared to frame me in such a manner today, they would do something even crazier in the future. As long as the matter is not investigated thoroughly, Father Emperor had better be on guard.”

“You’re right.” Baili Qingcang’s gaze fell on the ground. When he thought of Consort Yin who took the fake pregnancy grass, his expression became even more serious. “Ninghua, since you know medical skills and are allowed to enter the imperial palace at will, you can work with the Academy of Imperial Physicians to inspect the harem these days.”

“Yes, Father Emperor.”

Baili Qingcang waved his hand, signaling everyone to leave. His expression was extremely tired.

Zhao Huiying followed behind him and walked down the stairs. But for some reason, her foot suddenly slipped and she almost fell. Fortunately, she was supported by a maid aside. Seeing this scene, Shen Ninghua’s eyes moved slightly, and then she lowered her eyes.

After leaving the hall, Chu Junyi held Shen Ninghua’s hand and walked towards the entrance of the palace. When they got into the carriage, he released his hand and hugged Shen Ninghua tightly in his arms. “Ninghua, are you really alright?”

Shen Ninghua was stunned for a moment. Then she smiled. “I said I was fine. Why should I lie to you? I got poisoned earlier by a poison that was much colder in nature than the poison this time. My body has long been immune to the common cold poisons. Don’t worry, since I’m married to you, I will naturally give birth to a couple of children for you to carry on your family line.”

Chu Junyi’s eyebrows suddenly furrowed. He loosened his arms and looked at her seriously. “Ninghua, do you think I was so nervous just because I wanted a child?”

Shen Ninghua paused, then she raised her eyebrows. Wasn’t that so?

Seeing her expression, Chu Junyi felt as if someone had punched him heavily on the chest. “I was worried that the poison would affect your body!”

Having an heir was an important issue. But if he had to choose between an heir and her, he would choose her. After all, when a son grew up, he would marry someone else; when a daughter grew up, she would become someone else’s wife. Only his wife could be his life-long companion!

Shen Ninghua’s body stiffened. Seeing Chu Junyi’s angry expression, she felt a little guilty. Could it be that she was thinking wrongly about him?

“Chu Junyi, I…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Chu Junyi turned his head aside.

Shen Ninghua blinked her eyes and tilted her head to look at him. “Are you really angry? I just said it without thinking. Why are you so serious?”

Chu Junyi turned his head to look at her expression and felt heavy in his heart. “Ninghua, I know you didn’t say those words intentionally. But you should know in your heart that the reason why you said those words: you don’t trust me.”

Shen Ninghua paused. She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say.

Chu Junyi laughed bitterly in his heart.

The two of them remained silent. When they returned to the Huajun Pavilion, Chu Junyi directly walked to the study.

Shen Ninghua sat in front of the dressing table, staring blankly at herself in the mirror.

Bai Ruo and Hong Ling glanced at each other and felt worried in their hearts. Finally, they couldn’t help but ask softly, “Miss, what’s wrong with you? Are the matters in the imperial palace extremely troublesome?”

Shen Ninghua came back to her senses and said, “It’s fine. Have you prepared the things as I told you?”

“Miss, the madams and young ladies who were injured in the plum woods have been escorted home properly. Before they left, we gave them the Skin-Revitalizing Ointment. As long as they apply it on time, there will definitely be no scars left on their bodies.”

Shen Ninghua nodded and said, “Bring me the Liulicui in the greenhouse. I’m going to pay a visit to the injured madams.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Liulicui was a precious kind of plant. The leaves were translucent like colored glass. The most surprising thing was that its flowers were also as translucent green as the leaves. Most preciously, when the plant bloomed, the rich fragrance of the flowers was good for getting pregnant. As a result, it was heavily coveted and difficult to obtain. Previously, several plants had been transported back from Jiangnan. It took Shen Ninghua a lot of time and efforts to cultivate a batch of them by using the root division technique.

When he was in the study, Chu Junyi took a volume to read. But he couldn’t concentrate on it. After a long while, he sighed slightly. He had already been psychologically prepared before their marriage. He knew that Shen Ninghua was a cold-hearted person, and his quarreling with her would only push her further away. In the end, he would definitely have to coax her.

Moreover, they had already become a married couple. If she didn’t trust him, he should try hard to win her trust…At the thought of this point, he felt that he had made a big fuss over a minor issue… Hmm, would Ninghua feel bad this moment? Or was she also angry when she saw the change in his attitude towards her?

Thinking of this, he couldn’t sit still anymore. He loved her, so he must yield first. Even though he knew that he was right, he couldn’t bear to make things difficult for her. Chu Junyi laughed and walked towards the inner courtyard. He also comforted himself. “Ah, since I love my beautiful wife so much, I would definitely be able to make her trust me completely one day. At that time, I will punish her properly. As for how to punish her… Buddha says it cannot be said…”

To his surprise, when he came to the inner courtyard, he found that Shen Ninghua was not there. Only after asking the servants did he know that she had taken Liulicui to visit the injured madams.

Thinking of this, he decided not to stay idle and went straight to the Ministry of Justice.

Today’s incident had already been spread out secretly from the imperial palace. Many people fell silent when they heard the truth. Hearing that Shen Ninghua had arrived at their mansions, they hurriedly sent someone to invite her in.

Although they were injured in the plum woods, they weren’t worried about facial scars at all after being treated with Skin-Revitalizing Ointment. They only had to suffer some pain. However, seeing the luxuriant Liulicui brought in by Shen Ninghua, that faint sense of resentment and grievance in their hearts was totally forgotten at once.

As women living in the backyards of large mansions, who didn’t want to have many children and be lucky? With Liulicui, the chances of getting pregnant would greatly increase. With a child by their side, how could they be afraid of those concubines who competed with them for their husbands? Moreover, Princess Zhaohua personally visited them. If they did her a favor, they might be reciprocated a great fortune in the future.

All of a sudden, the madams of the various aristocratic families whose hearts were originally filled with complaints and grievances gradually calmed down.

Hearing Fangxue’s report in the Palace, the Empress suddenly broke a pair of finger armors. “Did you mean that instead of being angry and making trouble for Shen Ninghua, those madams complimented her?”

“Yes.” Feeling the anger of the Empress, Fangxue’s heart trembled. “Your Majesty, no one would expect that Shen Ninghua had prepared a lot of Skin-Revitalizing Ointment and Liulicui.”

Either of these two things was enough to make those madams crazy, let alone the two things being sent to them together. Skin-Revitalizing Ointment represented beauty, and Liulicui represented fertility. Which one of those madams didn’t covet beautiful appearance and children and fight and scheme against each other to get them in their lives?

Zhao Huiying bit her lip, and the anger in her eyes surged like lava. “Shen Ninghua, you are really something!”

The Crown Prince walked in quickly, “Mother Empress, my uncle sent a letter, saying that the chief of the Internal Affairs Department has been taken into custody by Chu Junyi.”

Zhao Huiying suddenly looked up and said, “Chu Junyi has detained the chief of the Internal Affairs Department Zhao Ting?”

“Yes.”

“Order the subordinates to destroy all the suspicious things in the Internal Affairs Department. Let the Eagle Division make a move to disturb Chu Junyi’s actions. We have lost our control over the Imperial Guards. We can’t afford to lose the Internal Affairs Department as well!”

“Yes, I understand.”

Seeing the Crown Prince leaving in a hurry, Zhao Huiying’s tense expression became even more serious. “Internal Affairs Department… Shen Ninghua, you are really ambitious!”

Chu Junyi had wanted to apologize and make peace with Shen Ninghua. However, he didn’t expect that the two of them would be busy with their own matters those two days and never had a chance to talk properly. Even at night, when he returned, Shen Ninghua had already fallen asleep.

Seeing the tiredness in her eyebrows, he could not bear to disturb her. He only hugged her in his arms and sighed slightly.

In her sleep, Shen Ninghua seemed to feel his embrace, and her slightly knitted eyebrows slowly relaxed.

Early in the morning, Chu Junyi felt a movement in his arms. He instantly woke up. He lowered his head and looked at Shen Ninghua who had just woken up. Her eyes were hazy and her cheeks were slightly red. A trace of satisfaction flashed through his heart. “Ninghua, you are awake?”

Shen Ninghua rubbed her eyes and said, “Hmm. I thought you had gone to the court.”

“Have you forgotten that today I’m off-duty today?”

“I’ve been so busy that I almost forgot it.”

Seeing her constantly shaking her butterfly-like eyelashes, Chu Junyi sighed in his heart. “Ninghua, I went too far that day. Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry. I’m also reflecting on myself. It’s just that…” Shen Ninghua bit her lips, not knowing how to explain it.

“I understand.” Chu Junyi hugged her tightly. A smile flashed in his eyes. Ninghua was also trying to build up trust in him. Wasn’t that already very good? “I can wait for one year, five years, or ten years. Even if our hair turns gray, I can still wait.”

Shen Ninghua trembled. Why were you so persistent… She wanted to ask him, but in the end, she didn’t.