Chapter 294: Granting Wine

Listening to the noise behind her, Concubine Shen felt a surge of heat on her cheeks. She felt that every question Chu Liuzheng asked was like a slap in the face, burning with pain.

Xie Jieyu felt very happy and was about to say a few more words to add insult to injury, but suddenly she remembered that the emperor did not allow her to speak. She could not help but hold back her words in grievance and sulked at the corner of her clothes.

Chu Liuzheng ignored Wen Meng, who was about to cry, and stood up to face the emperor: "Your Majesty, I have finished my questions."

Xiao Jingfan gathered his emotions, frowned, and said angrily, "Shen, you are so bold!"

Concubine Shen's face turned pale from being drunk. Just as she was thinking of a solution, Wen Meng suddenly came forward on her knees and said, "Your Majesty, this has nothing to do with Your Majesty. This was all done by me and Wen Xiang. I couldn't stand Xiao Fuzi's frequent visits to Yihe Palace to curry favor with Concubine Xie, so I wanted to vent my anger on my master, so I poisoned the sweet soup that my master gave him."

She kowtowed twice and said, "Xiao Fuzi was poisoned by me, Your Majesty has nothing to do with it. I beg Your Majesty to understand."

Concubine Shen almost made her die of anger.

Everyone was speechless.

Although his desire to protect his master is commendable, he could still make some excuses by forging a suicide note, but he directly admitted to poisoning because he felt that Concubine Chen did not die quickly enough?

Chu Liuzheng was also stunned by this amazing assist.

[No, I haven't even mentioned poisoning yet, why did you admit it yourself?]

[Then is it unnecessary to prepare the witness? ]

She thought about it and felt that her witness should not be wasted and that Concubine Shen should not be given a chance to turn things around.

She said, "Your Majesty, a maid in the Zhaiyue Hall who was cleaning the house witnessed Xiao Fuzi's death. Please summon her into the palace."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Chen and Wen Meng were both shocked. Hadn't they already sent the people away? Someone actually saw it!

Xiao Jingfan said: "Spread it."

After a while, a thin little palace maid was brought in and knelt down to greet him: "The servant Hehua greets Your Majesty, may Your Majesty be well."

Wen dreamed that it was her and was so angry that he wanted to rush over and hit her, but Xiao Anzi and his men restrained him, gagged him and pushed him to the ground.

Xiao Jingfan looked at He Hua and asked, "Did you witness Xiao Fuzi being poisoned to death?"

Lotus nodded: "Yes."

Xiao Jingfan said: "Tell me everything you saw."

"I saw Miss Wenxiang call Eunuch Fu into the house. Not long after, I heard a 'bang' sound, like a bowl breaking." Hehua's voice was soft, but her pronunciation was clear. "I took the broom and wanted to go in to clean, but Miss Wenmeng was guarding the door and would not let me in. She sent me to sweep the yard instead."

"The yard wasn't dirty, but there were some weeds growing in the flowerbed. I squatted down to pull them out, and suddenly I heard the door open, so I looked up. I saw..."

She pursed her lips tightly and spoke a little louder, "I saw Miss Wenxiang and Madam Liu carrying Eunuch Fu out. His eyes were wide open and his chin was covered in blood."

"They carried Eunuch Fu's body into the side room. I heard some noises inside, but I didn't dare to look closer. I was about to leave when I heard Miss Wenmeng ask me to go in and clean up, so I went in with a broom."

"The master was dressing when a bowl of sweet soup broke and spilled all over the floor. Miss Wenmeng asked me to sweep it up and throw it away. I was just about to do it when Miss Liuzheng and Eunuch An arrived."

Everyone looked at Concubine Chen, thinking that there was no way to escape this time.

Concubine Chen looked so ugly that she wished she could turn around and strangle Hehua to death.

She thought she treated her subordinates well, so why would this slutty servant betray her master?!

"Your Majesty, please do not trust this servant." She looked up at the emperor, tears welling in her eyes. "I did not poison you. I am innocent."

Xiao Jingfan had a cold face and said nothing.

Wen Meng mumbled and tried to speak, but Xiao Anzi ripped the cloth from her mouth and heard her shout, "I was the one who poisoned her. The master didn't know about it. Stop talking nonsense!"

Her face was ferocious, and the lotus frightened her. She whispered, "I, I, I'm not talking nonsense. The queen was in the room at the time."

Wen Meng wanted to scold her, but Xiao Anzi stuffed the cloth back into her.

Chu Liuzheng watched coldly and silently gave Xiao Anzi a thumbs up.

She said, "I have brought back all the broken pieces of porcelain. Your Majesty, please have the imperial physician examine them."

"Let me do it." Feng Jing, who had been listening behind the screen, jumped out, checked the broken porcelain pieces in public, and performed an autopsy on Xiao Fuzi.

After a moment, he said, "It is definitely the Cold Marrow Powder."

Xiao Jingfan immediately looked at Concubine Shen: "Now that we have all the evidence, what else do you have to say?"

"Your Majesty doesn't believe me, so what's the point of me saying more?" Concubine Shen smiled sadly, "Thunder and rain are all blessings from heaven, and I am willing to accept the punishment."

Seeing that she was still acting, Chu Liuzheng secretly rolled his eyes.

[Haha! You have evidence, but you're just trying to instigate trust. Are you trying to arouse the tyrant's suspicion and buy time to save yourself?]

[That is, Xiao Fuzi saved He Hua's life, and He Hua couldn't bear to see him die in vain, so she risked offending the Shen family by telling the truth. Otherwise, this carnivorous plant would be really hard to kill.]

Xiao Jingfan's voice was cold and stern: "Concubine Chen is vicious and murdered Concubine Shu and the princess, and poisoned the palace maids. Her crimes are unforgivable. I will give her wine. The rest of those involved will be killed!"

The emperor is indeed ruthless.

Shen Zhiyi's body shook twice, and under the gaze of everyone, he held on to the last bit of dignity.

Xie Jieyu was a little frightened. Although she did want Concubine Chen to die, she was also frightened by the fact that the emperor had no regard for their old feelings and really gave her poisoned wine.

Xiao Jingfan waved his hand: "Take him away."

"Wait!" Feng Jing said, "Your Majesty, since the poison was administered by Concubine Shen, she might have the antidote for the Cold Marrow Powder."

Hearing this, Shen Zhiyi felt a little hope again.

Perhaps Your Majesty can spare her life because she gave you the antidote?

Xiao Jingfan also remembered that Chu Liuzheng had mentioned in his inner voice that there was a doctor who was preparing to detoxify Concubine Shen. Maybe there really was one.

But before he could ask, he heard a voice from his heart.

【The antidote is fake.】

Chu Liuzheng quickly read through the gossip in front of him.

[Well, it's not fake, but the antidote doesn't remove the poison. Instead, it forces the poison to a certain part of the body. If it gets into the brain, you'll become stupid, and if it gets into the legs, you'll become lame. It's completely uncontrollable.]

[Tsk tsk, this Thousand Hands Scholar is a real rip-off. He only guarantees that you won't die after taking the antidote, but he doesn't guarantee full recovery.]

Xiao Jingfan: "..."

That was a close call.

He thought about it, then went through the motions and asked, "Do you have an antidote?"

"Yes." Shen Zhiyi nodded without thinking.

Xiao Jingfan: "It turned out to be you who poisoned me."

Shen Zhiyi:???

Wait, was that a trap?

No, you were about to give me poison wine, why did you set a trap for me?

If it weren't for the wrong occasion, Xie Jieyu would have almost laughed out loud.

This guy surnamed Shen thinks he is smart, but it turns out he is even dumber than her. Tomorrow she will tell this to the Queen Mother as a joke.

Xiao Jingfan said: "Take it away."

Feng Jing reminded: "Your Majesty, she has the antidote." So decisive, isn't he going to get the antidote?

"The words of a vicious woman cannot be trusted." Xiao Jingfan reached out and patted Feng Jing's shoulder, "I believe you."

It was a good feeling to be trusted by the emperor, but Feng Jing looked at the hand on his shoulder with a complicated expression: "Your Majesty, I was bored just now and smeared some poison on your shoulder."

Xiao Jingfan: "..."

Everyone:!!!