Seeing Yan Miao didn’t finish her words and suddenly lowered her head without moving, everyone instantly sensed that something was wrong.
Consort Su had been staring at Yan Miao the entire time. When she saw that there was something wrong with the way she lowered her head, she immediately ordered, “Go and check her.”
She had been focusing on Yan Miao and found that she had been suspicious since the man appeared. It seemed that she had been hiding behind the Empress. Hiding in the Empress’ shadow, she looked pale as if she had seen a ghost. When such a big thing had happened, she, the lead palace maid of the Empress, didn’t even bother to care.
When Ling Rui’er’s bellyband was found in Ma Er’s inner pocket, Consort Su had thought that Ling Rui’er had really not adhered to the rules of the womenfolk. She was enraged. When she thought of how Ding General Manor had sent temptresses to her son’s manor again and again, how could she not be angry? However, what made her pay more attention to was the anomalous manner of Yan Miao.
There must be something fishy going on when it was out of the ordinary. Now that Consort Su had given birth to the Emperor’s eldest son in the palace and had protected him to grow up, she was not an impulsive woman. She sensed that the Empress had intervened in this matter. When she had heard that the Empress had been involved in the matter that a maid had splashed the watermelon juice on Ling Rui’er, Consort Su wanted to claw at the Empress’ dignified face.
The Empress did not even care about her niece’s reputation in order to plot against Consort Su’s son. How could Consort Su not be furious? As such, she asked the eunuch by her side to go and check before the Empress’ order.
The Empress had long been flustered by the series of incidents that had unfolded before her. The situation was out of her expectation. She only wanted to push Yan Miao forward and take the fall. When Yan Miao stopped halfway her sentence, she felt that something was amiss. Seeing Consort Su was asking people to check on her, she did not say anything else. She was now trying to avoid arousing suspicion. Furthermore, she also wanted to know what was going on with Yan Miao.
The eunuch came over and gave Yan Miao a push. Immediately, the girl fell down following his gesture., and so did Ma Er, who was holding her hand. Then the eunuch saw the black blood on their lips, and knew that both of them were dead.
“Your Highness, both of them are dead.” The eunuch’s voice sounded rough.
Dead? Were they really dead?
Everyone was confused.
“Your Majesty, your lead palace maid is dead. What a coincidence! Why did she die when she was about to say the key point? It seemed that she committed suicide by taking poison. I don’t know what she meant by her unfinished sentence. Now that this maid is loyal to you, she should defend her master before she died. Now, what do we do about it?”
Consort Su’s words were sharp and she glanced sideways at the Empress. There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone. The loyal maid should defend her master before dying? She meant that it was the Empress who had caused the trouble. And obviously she wanted to embarrass Feng Yuxuan through Ling Rui’er.
That was right. For a man who was cuckolded by his wife, even if he was a prince, it would be an embarrassment to him.
The Empress held her neck tightly and tried her best not to scream. Looking at the pale face of Yan Miao who was lying on the ground, she felt pain in her heart. Yan Miao was loyal. Perhaps something wrong had caused this to happen, but Yan Miao had to die. Otherwise, the Empress would be involved in this matter.
But the question was that she should finish her words before dying. Now the matter was not very clear.
“The palace maid was so bold that she dared to plot against a prince’s first consort. We… we have to be careful in the palace in the future,” Consort Yu said to herself, and even reached out to cover her belly especially, as if she was afraid that someone would make her miscarriage. When others heard about it, they started to grow more suspicious of Yan Miao’s death.
How could a maid in the imperial harem do such a thing for no reason?
“Yeah. She hasn’t made it clear yet. The man said that he saw the body of Consort Chu. Is… is it true?” another consort said with a gentle smile, holding a handkerchief.
Their conversation awakened Ling Rui’er, who had been standing there in a daze all this while. No matter how this happened, the man had indeed said that he had seen her body, which meant that she had lost her chastity. Somehow, Ling Rui’er suddenly became smart.
She turned around forcefully and knelt down in front of the Empress. She reached out to grab the Empress’ hand that dropped beside her body and cried loudly. “Aunt Empress, how, how could there be such a person in your palace? She, she treated me well all the time. How could she do such a thing? She even told the feature of my body to someone else. Why… why did she hate me so much? Please do me justice, Aunt Empress. Please investigate this matter thoroughly.”
Ling Rui’er was crying so hard that drops of tears fell down her cheeks one by one. She had indeed been wronged this time. She thought of how Feng Yuxuan had forcefully shaken off her hand earlier. If she could not clarify it, and the rumors were to spread, what could she do? Suddenly, the sadness she felt grew and she cried even more miserably.
At this point, she could not be bothered to care that the Empress’ hand became cold and trembled when she heard what she said. She hated the Empress right now. She felt that it was the Empress who had plotted the whole thing. As such, she asked the Empress to investigate this matter thoroughly. Of course, she had also told everyone that Yan Miao knew the features of her body.
With her dead, there was no evidence at all. The man said that he had seen her body. She could say that he learned it from Yan Miao. Anyway, it was certain that the man wanted to harm her. The Empress had tried to harm her twice, so she pushed them both on her. After all, it was the Empress who thought of such a vicious idea.
The Empress’ hands and feet were cold and weak. There was a wave of blood in her throat and she almost could not suppress it and spat out a mouthful of blood. However, she knew that she could not show it now. She held it back, held Ling Rui’er’s hand, and comforted her, “Rui’er, I know it’s not you. It’s this lowly maid. Now that she dared to collude with an outsider and harm the people of Ding General Manor, I will not let her off. Don’t worry, Rui’er. I will do you justice.”
She had to take a clear-cut stand and appease Ling Rui’er. She especially brought Ling Rui’er and herself in the same camp. Both of them were from Ding General Manor. It meant that she was not the one who had plotted the whole thing.
This matter could not be explained clearly now, but it made the Empress even more anxious. When she found out that Yan Miao was dead, she was happy at first. But after hearing what the crowd said, she realized that she had fallen into an inexplainable and dangerous situation.
All the evidence led to her, but she didn’t know how to make it clear. Now she would rather Yan Miao was still alive. As long as Yan Miao pointed out that another consort asked her to do it, even if she died at that time, she could divert everyone’s attention. But now, she died before she made it clear, and it all fell on her master, the Empress.
After all, no one would believe that a palace maid would dare to frame a prince’s wife.
“Your Majesty, you do have to look into this matter. Xuan’er’s wife is very obedient. She seldom offends others. Why was she framed like this? I heard that she was scolded by the Emperor in the palace last time because of some trivial things. She was even removed from the position of the first consort. She got into trouble in the palace over and over again. Rui’er, come here and let me have a look.”
Consort Su said, pretending to be gentle. She reached out to hold Ling Rui’er’s hand and gestured for her to go over. She accused as she described the facts. Her words pointed at the Empress and even mentioned the fact that the Empress had schemed in secret last time and caused the Emperor to fly into a rage. Ling Rui’er immediately grew angry after hearing her words.
Ling Rui’er pushed the Empress and rushed to Consort Su, crying aggrievedly, “Mother, I really don’t know what’s wrong. Why did I get into trouble as soon as I entered the palace? I’m fine in King Chu’s Manor. Is it possible that I don’t fit in the palace so that I got into trouble again and again here?”
The womenfolk in the imperial harem were led by the Empress. Since Ling Rui’er often got into trouble in the palace, it was probably because of the Empress!
She only wanted to put all the blame on the Empress. Furthermore, Consort Su was Feng Yuxuan’s birth mother. Feng Yuxuan must have been angry at what happened today. She had to ask Consort Su to put in a good word for her. Therefore, she would listen to what Consort Su had said and didn’t have time to care what the Empress was thinking.
The Empress wanted to ruin her reputation. At the thought of it, Ling Rui’er was both angry and hateful. Since the Empress dared to plot against her, she would not let her off the hook easily. She would return all the humiliation she had suffered to the Empress. So she put all the blame on the Empress. Now that the Empress was cruel to Ling Rui’er, then she should not blame her for being unjust.
“Somebody, investigate it thoroughly. We must find out what happened. I don’t believe anyone would dare to do such a thing under my nose. How dare someone put a hand in front of me?” The Empress was furious, resentful, and fearful. All sorts of emotions poured into her. This made her face turn pale and the Empress slammed heavily on the table as she scolded.
“Your Majesty, this is such a big matter. How could a man enter the palace? The security of the palace will be worrying. We have to find out the truth. Just investigate carefully and don’t let anything else happen. It concerns Xuan’er’s manor again. Matters have not been settled these days,” Consort Su mocked coldly. She had already slapped in the Empress’ face mercilessly. She leaned back and tapped her fingers on the table, putting on a mocking smile at the corners of her mouth.
Everyone could hear her aimed at the Empress. The Empress was the most powerful person in the imperial harem. Other than the Empress, it was difficult to find anyone to send someone else into the palace without others’ noticing. Besides, incidents happened to King Chu’s manor, and Consort Chu had been framed again and again today.
Everyone would only think that it was the Empress who had done this. As for the reason, it must have been King Chu was not the prince that the Empress thought highly of. It was sufficient.
Being ridiculed by Consort Su like that, the Empress would have rebuked her in the past, but she didn’t have adequate reasons to do it today. All the evidence pointed at her. Then, she noticed everyone’s doubtful eyes, Feng Yuxuan’s cold face, and Ling Rui’er’s undisguised anger…
All these people were forcing her, pushing her. She felt that they would not spare her until she died! Her hands trembled slightly. She wanted to speak, but she found that she couldn’t. There was a sharp pain on her head, and she was almost breathless. She only felt that every expression of these people seemed to be cutting her flesh.
“Your Majesty, don’t worry. Perhaps someone is plotting against you behind your back. If you really fall, you might fall into someone else’s trap.” A gentle voice sounded in her ear. Someone reached out to support her. The Empress immediately came to her senses from the suffocating sense of despair.
Yes, she couldn’t fall down. It was a trick, a trick against her. She turned her head and looked at the gentle smile on Imperial Noble Consort Wen’s face. She calmed down a little. Not everyone didn’t believe her; there was still someone believing her.
It was good that someone believed her. Now that there was a person who believed her, the Emperor would believe her as well as long as she did it cleanly. Yes, she still had a chance. And…
