Chapter 421 It is Empress Zheng

Sheng Sheng frowned, sighed softly, and helped her up: "Get up first. There's something I need to tell you. Your sister, Niu Cuilan, didn't die back then. But about two years ago, when I had just returned to the palace, she was sent by Empress Zheng to assassinate me, but she failed. Later, she was imprisoned in the imperial prison and interrogated, but she refused to reveal the mastermind behind her death because she always believed that as long as she served Empress Zheng faithfully, her family would always be protected by Empress Zheng."

"Wh-what?"

Under Niu Qingru's incredulous gaze, she continued, "It's true. However, Empress Zheng was still afraid that she would be implicated, so she sent her head maid to sneak into the imperial prison, leave her with poison, and tell her to commit suicide."

Recalling the conversation Xiao Hei overheard, Caiyun promised Cuiyun that as long as she committed suicide by poisoning herself, Empress Zheng would provide for the Niu family for the rest of their lives.

But she couldn't explain to Niu Qingru how she knew what Caiyun had said to Cuilan, so she simply said, "In the end, Cuilan was found to have committed suicide by poison. Based on what I said before, you should be able to guess why she willingly committed suicide by poison, right?"

Niu Qingru looked incredulous and said cautiously, "Could it be that...could it be that my sister thinks she can protect our family by obediently listening to Empress Zheng?"

Sheng Sheng felt a pang of sympathy. In this family, one side thought the other was long dead, while the other thought the other was living well under Empress Zheng's care.

Unfortunately, the Niu family had already been murdered, and Cuilan's sister was forced to feign madness and leave her hometown.

Unfortunately, Cuilan had been doing all sorts of bad things for her family. She thought that by being a bad person, she could make her family live a better life. Little did she know, her family members were already dead.

"Yes, I think that's what she thinks."

Niu Qingru burst into tears, overwhelmed with a mix of heartache, despair, regret, and resentment...

All the emotions rushed up at once, and Niu Qingru cried silently, almost unable to breathe, and stumbled and slid down the chair to the ground.

"How could this happen? How could this happen... If I had known my sister wasn't dead, I would have risked my life to denounce Empress Zheng!"

Niu Qingru's son had never seen her like this before; he sat there blankly.

After crying for a while, Niu Qing's mood finally calmed down a bit, and he began to kowtow to her again: "Your Highness, our family is sorry for you, sorry for you and the Imperial Concubine!"

"Don't be like that. You were a victim in this too. What did you do wrong? You're already amazing. You survived from the powerful Empress."

Li Qingru's eyes flickered slightly, and she choked out, "But...but I...Your Highness, my sister..."

Sheng Sheng pulled her down to sit, shaking his head: "Actually, even if it weren't your sister, Empress Zheng would have found someone else to do this. Do you think your sister's refusal would change the fact that she wants to harm me?"

Hearing what Sheng Sheng said, Zijuan's anger towards Li Qingru gradually subsided.

Yes, if Empress Zheng wanted to harm the princess, how could she possibly give up just because a palace maid didn't cooperate?

Even if the princess had someone by her side that night, or if there hadn't been a fire, Empress Zheng would have simply looked for another opportunity to strike.

Cuilan was just a palace maid; to refuse meant death, and to accept meant even greater death.

The entire Li family paid with their lives for this, except for Li Qing, who escaped death by feigning madness and barely made his way to the State of Jin, where he finally escaped the nightmare.

If anyone is to blame, it's Empress Zheng.

As expected of a bodyguard, Zhuifeng quickly organized the information Li Qingru had provided and then reminded her, "Miss, the most important thing for us now is not to understand Cuilan, but to find out what Empress Zheng instructed Cuilan to do and how Cuilan managed to get you out of the palace."

"Yes, that's right."

Sheng Sheng nodded, suddenly remembering the contract of servitude that Xiao Hei had stolen during the rat army's rampage in Kunning Palace.

Sheng Sheng asked excitedly, "Zijuan, do you still remember the indenture that Xiao Hei stole from Cuilan?"

Along with the contract of servitude was an unsigned letter.

The letter contained only a few sentences: one was "The matter has been accomplished," and the other was "His sister has contracted madness and her whereabouts are unknown."

At the time, they didn't understand what the accomplished task was, but now it seems to refer to the successful transfer of the sound of the fire outside the palace.

"This servant remembers!" Zijuan nodded excitedly. "At the time, this servant wanted to take that indenture to report Empress Zheng, but unfortunately, we stole it. If Empress Zheng denied it to the death, there was nothing we could do. Now that we have witnesses, can we take that indenture to report Empress Zheng?"

"No rush. You forgot, there's another name on that contract of servitude, which is even more crucial."

"Does the princess mean the deceased Granny Wu?" Zijuan realized. "Does the princess suspect that Granny Wu was the one who secretly sent the princess out of the palace after meeting with Cuilan back then?"

“Yes, that’s right. We suspected back then that the deaths of the Niu family and Granny Wu were suspicious. Now that it’s been confirmed that the Niu family was killed by Empress Zheng, Granny Wu is probably also involved with Empress Zheng. If she hadn’t done something for Empress Zheng, how could Granny Wu have suddenly died of illness? It seems that Empress Zheng probably made her ‘die of illness’.”

Niu Qingru tried hard to recall: "I think I know that Granny Wu. It was Granny Wu who took my sister into the palace when our whole family was begging. After a while, she left the palace and gave our family a sum of money."

Zhui Feng frowned: "That's difficult. If it really is related to Granny Wu, she's already dead. Even if we know it's related to her, where do we even begin to investigate?"

Sheng Sheng clenched her fists silently, the place she least wanted to remember flashing through her mind. She pursed her lips and said, "Maybe, if I go to the place where I was abducted, I can find something."

But she heard that even the servants in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had been replaced. After so many years, could she still find any clues?

Seeing her worried expression, Niu Qingru quickly said, "Your Highness, if Your Highness needs anything, I am willing to return to the capital with you to testify! After all, my sister was one of the murderers who harmed Your Highness, and I should repay her debt on her behalf. Also, I know that the Imperial Concubine doesn't care about the life-saving grace she gave me back then, so I will repay it to Your Highness as well!"

Niu Qingru is indeed a very important witness, and the best way is to bring her back to the capital and have her testify in front of everyone.

But Niu Qingru finally escaped from there and has now settled down and had children in the State of Jin.

Niu Qingru was also a victim of what happened back then, and she repeatedly said she didn't want Niu Qingru to impose these things on herself.

Sheng Sheng originally thought that she should write a testimony and then ask the Shen family for help to find a credible notary, such as a high-ranking official like the Prefect of the Capital, or the third young master of the Shen family who had risen to the rank of Minister.

In the presence of a credible witness, Niu Qingru was asked to affix her fingerprint to her testimony.

Then, they just need to take the testimony back with them.

If anyone doesn't believe this testimony, they have found witnesses and can send someone to the State of Jin to verify it at any time.

In this way, the testimony can become the most powerful evidence to expose Empress Zheng.