“This… this, this is too coincidental.” Consort Zhao seemed as if she could not defend Mo Xuetong any longer. Her hesitant expression made it seem as if she were trying to defend Mo Xuetong, but there was no way for her to do it. Her action made people suspect if Mo Xuetong had really done such an evil thing.
The dead palace maid was just one part of the scheme. Whether it was Ling Rui’er or Mo Xuetong being poured watermelon juice, she would always be involved. It was a part of death. In the law of the Great Qin, if someone really dared to kill the people beside the Empress, they would be punished to death.
“Consort Xuan, I am sorry.” The maid who had been remaining silent seemed to have made up her mind. She kowtowed to Mo Xuetong and bit something.
Mo Xuetong knew that things were going pear-shaped when she saw the maidservant bite something. Feng Yuran moved even faster and removed the maidservant’s chin. However, it was still too late. Black blood flowed out from the maidservant’s mouth and she fell to the ground. She was poisoned to death.
The interrogating eunuch’s expression changed. He reached out to open the maidservant’s mouth and looked inside before replying, “There’s poison in her mouth.”
Feng Yuran’s red lips twitched slightly and he said indifferently, “What a pity!” He seemed to speak to the maidservant, but his eyes swept across the Empress and the consorts behind her, and paused especially on Consort Zhao’s face.
Consort Zhao didn’t relax until she saw the maidservant commit suicide. At this time, she was happy in her heart, but there was some pity in her eyes. She sighed softly and said, “It’s really a pity. Such a loyal servant died for her master.”
Now that the maidservant had died, Mo Xuetong would be the one to blame no matter what she said. There was no way for Mo Xuetong to rise again. Similarly, the maidservant’s death caused them to have no evidence. Mo Xuetong could also be the one to blame for what happened at Lian’s Manor—Mo Xuetong had deliberately ruined Lian An’s reputation and done that on purpose, so Lian An was also the victim.
Of course, her purpose was to help Feng Yuran draw the officials over to his side. Lian An did not want to be his side, which was why he had gotten into this trouble.
Lian An would regain his position, and Mo Xuetong would die without a proper burial; Consort Xuan would be reelected, and the He family still had unmarried girls. There would still be time… in this case, Consort Zhao, Lian An and the He family hidden behind the scenes would be the ones who would benefit the most. It was a chain of connections that was impossible to guard against!
Feng Yuran’s cold gaze landed on Consort Zhao’s face, with an unconcealed disgust in his eyes. His usually lazy voice seemed to be filled with a layer of ice. “Consort Zhao, why are you feeling pity for her? Is it because the maid’s indenture is in your hands?”
Feng Yuran’s words caused everyone present to change their faces.
“Your Highness, isn’t she a maid of your manor?” the interrogating eunuch couldn’t help asking.
Feng Yuran smiled wickedly and his eyes were filled with contempt and mockery. “Tong’er only said that this person was in our manor. She used to be in Lian’s Manor. I heard that Minister Lian’s back courtyard was in chaos and that Madam Lian wanted to sell the two maidservants into a brothel. The two maidservants fled to my manor overnight and hoped that Tong’er would take them in. However, their selling indentures were not in our manor and these maidservants could not be considered servants of our manor either. Could it be that such a person is Tong’er’s trusted subordinate? Would Tong’er ask her to do such a secret thing? Once the maidservant’s previous master took out their selling indentures, it would be easy to ask her to frame Tong’er.”
His statement was extremely impolite, but it made people believe that Mo Xuetong would not have used a maidservant that she had just taken in if she had tried to do something like that. This person did not even have an indenture. Who knew if she had been sent into the manor intentionally?
“But even if that’s the case, what does it have to do with me?” Standing aside, Consort Zhao was furious.
Mo Xuetong smiled slightly and stepped forward to stand beside Feng Yuran. A cold smile appeared on her lips as she pointed at the maidservant on the ground and then at Consort Zhao. She said with a smile, “Consort Zhao, don’t worry. I was not in a hurry when you pointed at me just now. I just mentioned you, but why are you angry? Look, everybody, does this maidservant resemble Consort Zhao?”
Her words stunned everyone. Suddenly, they all looked at the face of the maidservant, who lay on the ground with her eyes half open and died unsatisfied, and then at the bright face of Consort Zhao. Immediately, someone exclaimed, “This maidservant is really similar to Consort Zhao.”
“That’s right. Look at how similar to Consort Zhao she is. Is she a relative of Consort Zhao?”
“She is not one of the two young ladies of the He family. The two young ladies don’t look like Consort Zhao very much, but she looks more like…”
The Empress’ eyes also fell on Consort Zhao’s face, and then on the dead maid on the ground as a cold smile appeared on her lips. No wonder she felt familiar when she saw the maid just now. It turned out that she was quite similar to that bitch. What she hated most was the face of Consort Xian, including the faces that were similar to Consort Xian’s. Consort Zhao was also one of the people she hated.
Why did the maid of Lian’s Manor look so similar to Consort Zhao? Why did the two maids flee to King Xuan’s Manor? Given King Xuan, Feng Yuran’s character, he did not seem to be the one who would take the weak in. Why did the two maids head to King Xuan’s Manor? What was the purpose of this?
For a moment, everyone went silent.
Consort Zhao had sweat on her forehead, and she had a bad feeling. But she didn’t believe that her secret had been exposed to others. So she just sneered and said, “It’s normal to see similar people and things. Consort Xuan, what do you mean by this?”
Mo Xuetong slightly smiled and didn’t fight against her. Instead, she said in a soft voice. “Consort Zhao, you’re overthinking. I didn’t mean anything. I just noticed that her face is similar to yours. Your Highness, this girl is Ming Xia and there is the other girl named Ming Yu. They both look similar to you.” Then she looked at Consort Zhao again as if she really felt strange.
Her gaze made Consort Zhao feel the veins in her forehead throb. However, she knew that she could not fall out with Mo Xuetong now. She gritted her teeth forcefully and a gentle smile appeared on her face. She asked in confusion, “I also think the maid looks similar to me. What a coincidence!”
“It’s indeed a coincidence. When I came here with Elder Brother just now, I saw a eunuch holding something and sending it to the Mingyue Palace. Seeing the eunuch act secretively, we asked people to arrest him. I didn’t expect that he had two selling indentures. And the two happened to be the maids who fled to my manor. I’m really curious.”
Feng Yuran waved his hand as he spoke. A eunuch handed over an open box respectfully. Everyone looked into the box and saw that there were two selling indentures with the government seal on them.
“Ming Yu, Ming Xia.” Someone read the names on it. It was a voice that was neither too loud nor too small, but everyone could hear it.
Consort Zhao’s face was as pale as a sheet of paper that could be blown away and torn apart at any time when she saw the box. She looked at the paper and then at Feng Yuxuan and Feng Yuran. Then, she suddenly forced a smile and asked, “Where’s the eunuch?”
She was certain that she hadn’t asked Lian An to send her the selling indentures, so someone must have done something to harm her. Her years of experience with the palace fight told her that she couldn’t be affected now.
“The eunuch died in the same way she did. Somebody, come and see if the marks on the female corpse are made by the hands of that eunuch?” Feng Yuran smiled evilly and stretched out his hand. The crowd parted and he saw a guard dragging a eunuch’s corpse from outside.
The timid young ladies in the crowd let out short screams. There were dead people one after another, and there were two lying on the spot. At this time, another was dragged over. It appeared chilling no matter how one looked at it. The young ladies trembled.
The guard pulled the dead eunuch to the side of the dead palace maid and picked up his feeble hand and made a gesture on the palace maid’s neck. Then he stood up and reported respectfully, “Your Highness, the palace maid was pinched by him, and the mark on his hands are exactly the same as that on her neck.”
Hearing the report, everyone was in an uproar. Just now, they all made an issue of the maid named Ming Xia. Now they found that the accidental link seemed to have nothing to do with the previous murder. What did the palace maid mean? Everyone’s eyes were focused on the palace maid kneeling beside the palace maid Fei Huan.
This maid was supposed to be from the Empress’ palace, wasn’t she?
“The palace maid was threatened by that eunuch to steal Consort Chu’s handkerchief, and then was killed by him. He walked with the palace maid all the way, and maybe he said he was afraid. But since it was the matter of the master in this palace, the palace maid didn’t dare to say anything about it. Later, she died an unnatural death. In the end, she blamed it on my wife. Now, the most important thing is to find out which palace the eunuch belongs to. Then we might be able to find his master.”
Every word of Feng Yuran pointed to the loophole in the matter just now. In fact, besides that, everyone just now was only paying attention to the maid Ming Xia and had forgotten that the interrogating eunuch had once told them that the murderer was a man. How could such a weak woman like Ming Xia kill a palace maid who was about the same age as her?
Hearing his words, the maid kneeling on the ground was sweating profusely and did not dare to lift her head. She could sense the Empress’ cold glare on her head and did not dare to move. What she said was told by the Empress in order to make people suspect Mo Xuetong. However, the situation had changed and she did not know how to deal with it. As such, she lowered her head and pretended to be sad. She ignored the matter no matter what Feng Yuran said.
Which palace did the eunuch come from? No matter which palace he came from, he must be from the palace. The consorts following the Empress were all stunned. They had just been watching the scene of bustle and now they found that it was possible for them to be framed. So their faces turned pale.
No matter who got involved in this kind of thing, it would not be good.
“The eunuch was going to send a gift box to Consort Zhao’s Mingyue Palace. Of course, he is Consort Zhao’s people. Will he come from the other consorts’ palace? If no one received this gift box, he would still be exposed. It means that there is someone in the Mingyue Palace to receive it,” Consort Yu said lazily.
With her pregnancy, she normally did not have much energy, so she was the least likely to be the culprit. Now she directed at Consort Zhao, without considering her dignity. She listened happily. No matter what, this matter was related to Consort Zhao. She had long suspected that Consort Zhao had some sort of connection with Lian’s Manor, so of course she wanted to add insult to injury.
“That’s right. I heard that Consort Zhao’s family had once had a good relationship with Minister Lian, and that Consort Zhao’s relationship with Minister Lian was also quite good. So what if he gave her two maids’ selling indentures?” In order to get rid of her suspicion, another imperial consort smiled charmingly and pushed the matter onto Consort Zhao.
“Needless to say, the second miss of the He family was Minister Lian’s mistress. I heard that he had made a big scene because of it. In this case, even Minister Lian could be considered Consort Zhao’s niece’s husband. It really isn’t a big deal to give her a gift.”
“You’re right. I heard that Second Miss He is Consort Yu’s brother’s fiancée. She eloped with Minister Lian now. Minister Lian seemed to be quite decent at ordinary times, but unexpectedly, he couldn’t control himself in the carriage that day. He and Second Miss He… Many people saw it in the capital along the way. It’s, really…”
The imperial consort who was speaking looked shy, but she made it clear what she wanted to express.
