Chapter 185 Question and Answer

Without wasting words, Hua Yueniang took a sip of the tea handed to her by Hua Wanli before beginning the interrogation.

"The first question is, what exactly caused Consort Wan's death back then?"

Sang Qinghuan did not hesitate, but simply lowered her head.

"After the Empress caught me in the act with that guard."

The empress asked me if I wanted to live or die. If I wanted to die, she said she would beat us both to death with sticks.

If I want to live, even the baby in my belly can live.

I was so scared that I said I wanted to live.

Empress Zheng at the time said nothing and acted as if nothing had happened, and let me return to the palace.

Just when Consort Wan was five months pregnant and the imperial physician said everything was fine and the baby was safe, Empress Zheng sent me a packet of medicine.

She said it was a regular abortion pill.

It is colorless and odorless. If you mix it into your food and eat it, it will cause you to miscarry your dragon fetus.

Although I was reluctant, I still put the medicine into the soup that Consort Wan drank that night.

Then, in the middle of the night, Consort Wan suddenly suffered unbearable abdominal pain. Before the imperial physician could even be summoned, the baby was gone...

When the late emperor arrived, Consort Wan was barely clinging to life.

After saying this, Sang Qinghuan suddenly raised her head again.

"I really didn't know that the drug would be so potent."

Seeing the bed covered in blood terrified me.

"You can't bear it? You're harming Consort Wan's baby for the sake of the baby in your belly. Is your 'can't bear it' just empty talk?"

Furthermore, when Consort Wan was dying, she told the late Emperor that she had spared your lives and hoped that he would not blame you.

How dare you say you were terrified at the time?

"Sang Qinghuan, how can you be so shameless!" Hua Yueniang said coldly.

Sang Qinghuan didn't dare to utter a single word in rebuttal, but simply lowered her head again.

Shangguan Jin also looked coldly at Sang Qinghuan.

She thought of Shangguan Yao, who was in the palace at that time.

Almost everyone around Shangguan Yao was a trusted confidant, and even after Shangguan Yao left, they did everything they could to help.

Consort Wan of the late emperor...

She's a bit naive and innocent, it's really not worth it...

"Alright, then I'll ask the second question. Back then, Consort Wan's family sent a girl into the palace to accompany her."

"Did that girl enter the palace?" Hua Yueniang continued to ask.

"That niece of Consort Wan?" Sang Qinghuan asked instinctively.

"Yes, it's that girl. I'm asking you, answer honestly, has she entered the palace?" Hua Yueniang continued to ask.

"No!

No, they did enter the palace, but it wasn't Consort Wan who brought them in.

The girl entered the capital, but before she could even enter the palace, Consort Wan had an accident.

The person who took her away was actually one of Empress Zheng's men.

However, after taking in that child, they first raised him outside the palace for a year.

"It was a year later that she entered the palace with five other girls," Sang Qinghuan said.

Hua Yueniang and Shangguan Jin exchanged a glance.

Now everything makes sense, so it seems Sang Qinghuan wasn't lying.

"The other five girls? Are you so sure?" Hua Yueniang asked calmly.

"I am certain of it."

Back then, the Empress liked to keep some girls in the palace, and the late Emperor didn't care.

Those girls were either children of disgraced officials or were bought from outside.

Because the Empress had no children of her own, the late Emperor turned a blind eye to these matters.

About a year later, when Consort Wan's niece and those other girls were sent in, the current Empress Dowager Zheng made a special trip to see them.

By then, I had already been transferred to the Empress Dowager's palace.

"I still remember something the Empress Dowager said," Sang Qinghuan said hurriedly.

"What did the Empress Dowager say?" Hua Yueniang pressed.

"The Empress Dowager said, since you enjoy being someone's concubine so much, then let all the girls in your family become someone's concubines from now on!"

"You lowly thing, how dare you compete with me?"

After Sang Qinghuan finished speaking, Shangguan Jin and Hua Yueniang were both speechless.

This old empress dowager...

Well, to put it simply, he's definitely a bit psychologically twisted and perverted!

But this would shift the hatred onto a three-year-old girl...

"Among the six girls in that batch, which one was Consort Wan's niece?"

"Do you know that?" Hua Yue Niang continued to ask.

"I can still know this."

Because those girls were trained to use their looks to please men.

Basically, whatever they taught in the brothel, they taught the girls.

Of course, because the Empress Dowager wanted to bestow these girls upon the ministers, she put some effort into their studies in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

One of the girls was particularly good at brewing tea.

I remember it very clearly.

When the supervising nannies reported on their studies to the Empress Dowager, they specifically mentioned that one of the girls was particularly good at brewing tea.

The Empress Dowager personally went to see the girl making tea.

Although she praised the girl for brewing tea well in person, the Empress Dowager smashed the tea that the girl had served after the girl was taken away.

He even swore at me a few times.

Those who say things that are beneath them will never be able to stand up to scrutiny.

A lowly person is a lowly person.

She uses these cheap tricks to seduce men.

It was common knowledge in the palace that Consort Wan was skilled in tea ceremony.

"The late Emperor took a liking to Consort Wan because of the way she made tea," Sang Qinghuan quickly said.

At this point, it's clear that Shangguan Jin and Hua Yueniang are both confirmed.

The cousin that Boss Ye is looking for is Aunt Xin from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion.

After going around in circles, we've come back to the original conclusion.

However... Shangguan Jin still felt a little emotional.

If it weren't for these events, Aunt Xin would have been the daughter of a wealthy family in Jiangnan.

When she gets married, there will be a grand procession of red bridal gifts!

Unlike now...

"Then I'll ask you one last question."

"Which of those six girls was Consort Wan's niece?" Hua Yueniang asked the last question.

Without thinking, Sang Qinghuan said, "That girl's surname was changed to Xin by the Empress Dowager, and her nickname was Yunniang."

Seventeen years ago, she was given by the Empress Dowager to the then Duke of Dingguo as a concubine.

That's Consort Xin of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion!

Hua Yueniang nodded, picked up the now-cold tea, and took a sip.

Great, perfect, everything fits together.

It was at this moment that a hidden door in the secret room opened.

A middle-aged man stepped forward and bowed respectfully to Hua Yueniang and Shangguan Jin.

Immediately, he turned and walked towards Sang Qinghuan, who was tied to a chair, and slit her throat with a knife.

Before Sang Qinghuan could even utter a sound, she collapsed, her neck tilted to the side.

The man slowly wiped the blood off the dagger, stuffed it into his boot, ignoring the bloodstains on his face, and then respectfully knelt down before Shangguan Jin.

"This humble citizen, Ye Wei, begs Madam Shen to write a document authorizing the release of his concubine."