Chapter 116 Closest Family

Xiushui Pavilion was packed with people, and the Peony Garden had been surrounded by people from the Imperial Household Department.

Consort Wu sat regally at the doorway, with Aunt Cui standing beside her.

The people picking bones out of the mud inside are now from the Ministry of Justice.

Consort Wu looked grim, while Consort Ruan stood on the other side with an even more uneasy expression.

...

It wasn't until the sun was setting in the west that the people from the Ministry of Justice brought over everything they had dug out of the ground.

A set of human bones had already been arranged by the old coroner from the Ministry of Justice.

"She has slender bones, which indicates she is a woman!"

The flesh and blood of the corpse had decomposed and dissolved, and it was initially determined that it had been buried here for almost three years.

Based on the age of the bones, it should be between fifteen and sixteen years old, with blackening of the bones from the throat to the spine, indicating obvious signs of poisoning.

There were no hard injuries on the bones, and the initial suspicion is that he died from poisoning. "The old coroner said, bowing.

"Is it possible to determine the identity of this skeleton?" Aunt Cui asked seriously.

The old coroner immediately shook his head.

"The flesh and blood had rotted away, and the pieces of clothing were mixed with the soil."

Although a small amount of jewelry remains, it is currently impossible to discern its exact nature; it will require the work of experienced craftsmen to restore it.

However, a bead was found next to the remains, and it didn't look like an ordinary item!

As the old coroner spoke, he had someone place a bead found next to the remains on a tray and bring it up.

The Ministry of Justice officials carried a tray for Aunt Cui and Consort Wu to see the cleaned bead.

Aunt Cui examined it carefully.

The thumb-sized bead, though it has been hidden from the world for almost three years, still retains its former dazzling brilliance.

And the color seems to be golden...

Such fine beads are not commonly seen even in the palace.

Aunt Cui glanced at it only once before asking Consort Wu to take a look.

Consort Wu held a handkerchief to her mouth and nose, intending to take a quick look before having it taken away.

But I was still taken aback when I saw the bead.

“This bead… seems somewhat familiar!” Cai Xian, who was beside Consort Wu, whispered.

"You noticed it too?" Consort Wu looked at Cai Xian in surprise.

Cai Xian nodded and took another serious look.

“Your Majesty, this… looks a bit like one of the beads from the box that was presented as tribute from Lingnan three years ago.”

I remember that the box of beads was seven-colored, all the same size but different colors.

The Imperial Household Department sent three boxes of pearls as tribute. His Majesty bestowed one box upon you, and the other two boxes are kept in His Majesty's private treasury.

There were fourteen beads in total. You had the people in the Imperial Household Department make two pairs of shoes for the princess, using four beads.

You also had two gold beads made into sachets.

The remaining beads are still in the chests in Ronghua Palace.

"This bead...it resembles the gold bead used to make sachet pendants back then," Cai Xian whispered.

Consort Wu immediately remembered.

Two sachets were made at the time. I thought the gold beads were dazzling and unique when they hung on the sachets, so I had them made into pendants for the sachets.

I made two sachets. I don't know where I put one in Ronghua Palace, and the other one...

"I remember when Miss Ruan Qingyun first entered the palace, I gave her a sachet with a bead like this on it..."

"Look more closely, and you should be able to find eight smaller beads." Consort Wu immediately remembered.

...

Soon, the Ministry of Justice searched the soil again and finally found three more small pearls.

Consort Wu examined the three beads carefully, and then had Cai Xian bring over another sachet she had found in Ronghua Palace for comparison.

"Yes! That's it!"

The same beads! The same beads were on the sachet I gave Qingyun back then.

"So...this person is Qingyun?" Consort Wu was a little incredulous.

Ruan Qingyun was the one she had her eye on; she was exceptionally talented, dignified, and had a good personality. Her own son, Prince Zhao, also liked her.

It was she who initially thought of giving Ruan Qingyun to Prince Zhao as a concubine.

Who would have thought that three years ago, before the Mid-Autumn Festival, after Ruan Qingyun entered the palace, she went to Bao'en Temple to offer incense, but was actually robbed by bandits...

No, if it was kidnapped by bandits, then what is here...?

"What...what exactly is going on?"

Consort Ruan, I remember that Qingyun was summoned by you after she left my place.

Was it your people who escorted Qingyun out of the palace?

How did this sachet end up here?

"Also, Qingyun was only two months away from turning sixteen at that time!" Consort Wu quickly realized what was going on.

The onlookers were stunned.

The person buried was actually Ruan Qingyun, the niece of Consort Ruan and who almost became a concubine of Prince Zhao!

this……

Consort Ruan was pale and could only shake her head.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty doesn't know what happened! Qingyun is my niece. She is so smart and understanding. How could she have been so cruel!"

"I don't know what happened either..."

“It was this servant who did it!” Consort Ruan’s head maid, Zhu Yan, suddenly knelt down.

Everyone was stunned.

"You did this? You mean you harmed Ruan Qingyun?" Consort Wu looked at Zhu Yan in disbelief.

Zhu Yan raised her head and looked at Consort Wu.

Consort Wu could tell that her hands seemed to be trembling.

"Yes! It was this servant who did it!"

The second young lady is two different people in public and in private. In front of others, she is always well-behaved, cute, sensible, and reasonable.

They are vicious and ruthless behind the scenes, and they either beat or verbally abuse us.

I have returned to the Ruan family several times to deliver things to the lady, but I have been humiliated by the second young lady each time.

When the second young lady entered the palace that time, after leaving the Consort's palace, she came to pay her respects to the Empress. It was this servant who went to fetch the second young lady.

She became even more arrogant and rude, confident that she was about to become a concubine of the King of Zhao.

In a moment of impulse, I poisoned her!

All of this was done by me alone; it has nothing to do with anyone else!

We implore Your Highness, and Aunt Cui, to investigate this matter thoroughly!

After Zhu Yan finished speaking, she quickly pulled out a pair of scissors from her sleeve and resolutely plunged them into her own neck.

Seeing Zhu Yan's unclosed eyes and the blood still gushing from her neck, the people around her screamed repeatedly.

Consort Ruan was so frightened that she fell to the ground.

Only those very close could notice that Consort Ruan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

...

The body buried in Xiushui Pavilion is that of the second young lady of the Ruan family, Ruan Qingyun, who was once thought to have been kidnapped by bandits.

She was actually poisoned by Consort Ruan's personal maid...

One message after another was sent out, and no one could believe it.

Everyone thought Zhu Yan was just the one carrying bags...

The person died in Xiushui Pavilion, which must be related to Consort Ruan.

Wasn't Consort Ruan always kind and gentle? How could she possibly harm her own niece, who was also from her own family?

Those are my closest relatives!

...

"Is that all? Consort Ruan got away?" Song Zhimian looked at Xiao Huaijin in disbelief.