Chapter 38 Dealing with Li Jieyu

On the fifth day after returning from the enclosure, just as I was paying my respects, a voice suddenly rang out from outside:

"Your Majesty has arrived—"

The Queen and the concubines in the palace were all startled. His Majesty came to the harem at this time, most likely because there was some progress on the matter of the enclosure.

Li Jieyu's breathing stopped suddenly and she clutched the hem of her clothes anxiously.

She didn't know if it was an illusion, but she always felt that when He Yanchen came in, he paused in front of her.

The Queen led everyone in greeting and asked, "Your Majesty, have you come here now? Is there anything you want to tell me?"

He Yanchen did not call out, but directly asked Chu Yi to bring the person in.

After seeing one of them, Li Jieyu's face lost all color.

The man said indifferently: "I don't know, there are many hidden dragons and crouching tigers in my harem, and they can order people in the palace to the enclosure."

"Li Jieyu."

Li Jieyu knelt on the ground with a "bang", and the sound of her knees hitting the ground was painful.

"I don't know what your majesty means..."

"Don't know?" He Yanchen sneered and signaled Chu Yi to bring the man forward.

"You tell me."

The one being brought in was a young eunuch. He kowtowed tremblingly and said, "Your Majesty, I was momentarily bewildered by a demon. I absolutely do not have the courage to murder you, my master!"

Seeing He Yanchen's impatience, Chu Yi kicked him and said, "Tell me everything you know."

"I am a palace servant serving in the enclosure. Before the emperor came to the enclosure, someone bribed me to tamper with Yu Ronghua's colt."

"The stables are heavily guarded, so I had no choice but to disguise myself as a guard and sneak in under the guise of patrol."

Fortunately, he happened to encounter He Yanchen and Yueli who were lost in the forest, which gave him the opportunity to sneak into the stable. However, the eunuch guarding the stable was too vigilant, so he was discovered when he came out.

Chu Yi interrogated: "Who bribed you?"

"It was a eunuch I didn't know. He gave me a lot of silver."

"But in this temple?"

The young eunuch looked up, glanced around, and shook his head.

Li Jieyu couldn't help but cry out, "Your Majesty, how can you prove that it was I who did it, based solely on this one-sided statement from this dog slave?"

"Don't be anxious, Concubine Li." Chu Yi interrupted her, asked someone to bring a tray, and picked up a scroll from it.

The young eunuch nodded hurriedly as the scroll was opened: "It's him, it's him! This eunuch has a big mole on his face. I remember it very clearly."

"Your Majesty, the person in this painting is the eunuch in charge of purchasing for the imperial palace. He must have heard the rumors and disappeared when I went to the palace. I have ordered a search for him. I have also found that he has an adopted son who is the steward of Concubine Li's mother's household."

Li Jieyu's face turned pale. "Nonsense! How can we determine the truth of this matter based solely on Commander Chu's one-sided statement?"

"If I wanted to harm Yu Ronghua, why didn't I just tamper with her carriage?"

The young eunuch cried and said, "I was the one who tampered with Yu Ronghua's carriage, but Yu Ronghua didn't have a carriage. It was the eunuch who told me that Zhaoyi Shen and Yu Ronghua had a good relationship, and they might be together someday..."

"Your Majesty, I am a slave who has lost my mind due to greed. I beg Your Majesty to spare my life!"

At this time, Chu Yi's subordinates presented some more things, which were the silver that the young eunuch had accepted as bribes. "Your Majesty, this silver came from the Zhou family bank in the west of the capital. According to the serial number above, I found out that the person who went to collect the silver was the manager of Li Jieyu's mother's family."

Cui Zhaoyuan, who had been silent the whole time, frowned and said, "It seems that people from Concubine Li's mother's family also know about this matter."

"I dare to say that the Yang family is so audacious that they dare to act recklessly in the palace. If they ever harm Your Majesty, they will be guilty of a thousand deaths."

The Queen was also very worried and scolded Li Jieyu: "You Yang family simply don't take the palace rules seriously!"

"Your Majesty, please punish me severely."

Li Jieyu completely collapsed on the ground. She had done it so secretly, why was it discovered so quickly?

"I am really wronged!" Li Jieyu didn't know how to defend herself, and kept repeating this sentence over and over again.

"Li Jieyu has committed the crime of murdering a concubine. This crime is unforgivable. Effective immediately, she will be demoted to a commoner and banished to the cold palace."

There was a moment of silence in the hall. This was the first concubine to be banished to the cold palace since His Majesty ascended the throne.

The Queen suddenly realized that although His Majesty had a reputation for brutality, he seemed to be lenient in dealing with the previous dynasty and the struggles in the harem.

But this time, was it because Li Jieyu's actions challenged the imperial power, or was it because she wanted to stand up for Yu Ronghua?

The Queen subconsciously didn't want to admit that it was the second reason.

Li Jieyu wept bitterly, crawling forward to grab the man's clothes: "Your Majesty! I really know I was wrong, and I will never dare to do it again!"

"Please, Your Majesty, please forgive me this time! Your Majesty!"

Li Jieyu kowtowed continuously, her beautiful face full of fear, which made people feel a little uncomfortable to watch.

He Yanchen pulled back his clothes, too lazy to read any further, and stood up to leave.

"Your Majesty..." Li Jieyu burst into tears. "I have served Your Majesty for many years. Why are you so cruel to me?"

"Being banished to the cold palace is a life worse than death for me! I was given to you by the late emperor in marriage. Have you forgotten that you promised to treat me well..."

Li Jieyu cried incoherently, but the queen frowned secretly.

You really want to die if you speak without thinking like this.

Cruel?

He Yanchen sneered.

He is cruel, so does that mean she is not cruel for wanting to trample Yueli to death with horse hooves?

Besides, he hated it most in his life when people mentioned the late emperor.

"Life is worse than death?" The man turned around and looked at Li Jieyu with a cold expression without any emotion. "If you don't want to live, then go die."

"Pass on my order to have Yang executed with a stick."

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty!" Li Jieyu was so frightened that she rolled and crawled to reach him. "Your Majesty, please spare my life! I know I was wrong. I really know I was wrong!"

Seeing that she looked crazy, Ji Ming quickly ordered someone to hold her down and drag her out.

Li Jieyu's legs thrashed as she tried to struggle. She glanced at Rong Jieyu, who was standing beside her. Remembering that they were good friends, she stretched out her fingers feebly to try to reach her: "Sister Rong, save me..."

Rong Jieyu just glanced at her lightly, but Li Jieyu's confused mind suddenly became clear at this moment.

It's her.

It was she who mentioned to her that there were many accidents in the paddock, so she thought of using the foal to harm people.

It was she who reminded herself that there were guards patrolling everywhere in the enclosure, so she had the idea of ​​having eunuchs pretend to be guards.

It’s all her!

"You hurt me..." Li Jieyu's voice gradually became smaller until it completely disappeared outside the hall.

There was no expression on Rong Jieyu's face. She picked up the teacup and took a sip slowly.