Chapter 270 The Emperor Wants to Depose the Empress

The evidence is solid and the people are pointing fingers at him.

The queen looked at the concubines kneeling in the hall and asking Xiao Jingheng for permission to punish her. At this moment, she had no choice but to cry out for justice.

Xiao Jingheng glared at her with a frown, "I have already given you a chance, but I didn't expect you to be so despicable and do such a vicious thing!"

"Your Majesty, please understand!"

The queen suddenly slammed her knees to the ground and said bitterly, "Your Majesty, please think carefully. Why did I want to prevent them from having dragon offspring? I am already infertile. I am destined to be childless in this life...

Since the emperor said that I am vicious, I should hope more than anyone else that they can give birth to a prince safely, and then let the mother leave the child and raise him in my arms! I am the queen, and harming others will not only gain nothing but also hurt myself, so why would I do such a foolish thing? "

Concubine Chen looked at Xiao Jingheng's uncertain expression and said:

"Your Majesty, the palace maids around the Queen must know better than anyone whether she did such a thing or not. And someone has to find the right time to throw the Nine Yin Powder into the pond in the courtyard to destroy the evidence.

Since the Queen is crying foul and refuses to admit it, the Emperor should just arrest the people around her and interrogate them carefully. Under severe punishment, sooner or later someone will give in."

Ying Fei said: "Shuang Ruo has been with the Queen from beginning to end, so she has no time to destroy the evidence. The only person who can gain the Queen's trust is probably the chief eunuch Yan Jiude."

She was silent for a moment, looked around and said, "Yan Jiude has always been diligent in serving the queen, but I didn't see him today."

The Queen explained to Xiao Jingheng: "Since my palace body was damaged, I have had symptoms of blood stasis. After lunch, I asked Yan Jiude to go to the city to buy some herbs to promote blood circulation and menstruation, so he..."

"Oh." Concubine Chen sneered, "The people in the Imperial Pharmacy brought so many medicines but they couldn't cure your illness. The medicine prescribed by the barefoot doctors in Suzhou City can make you rejuvenated? You really are..."

"My Lady, you are not allowed to be rude to the Queen."

Xiao Jingheng interrupted Concubine Chen's words in a stern voice, and she rolled her eyes at the Queen and fell silent.

Then Xiao Jingheng ordered, "Go and find Yan Jiude for me."

The people in the imperial court always do things efficiently.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Yan Jiude was brought before the emperor by Xiao Yinzi.

Xiao Yinzi said, "I just rushed to the courtyard where the Queen resides, and I saw Eunuch Yan rushing back from outside, and he was indeed holding a bag of medicinal herbs in his hand."

Yan Jiude knelt down and trembled as he replied, "Your Majesty, I did go to the city to help the Empress buy herbs for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis."

His backpack was also brought back by Xiao Yinzi.

After checking the herbs in the backpack, Doctor Guo replied, "Your Majesty, it is true that the herbs in here are indeed herbs that can promote blood circulation and dissipate blood stasis."

Yaopin said, "Even if he went to buy things, it would only take two quarters of an hour to go back and forth by boat. Who knows when he went there? Is there any witness?"

Yan Jiude supported himself on the ground with both hands and kowtowed to Xiao Jingheng repeatedly, "Your Majesty! I am just a servant. I travel to and from the island in the middle of the lake by myself in a small boat. How can anyone testify for me?"

When Yan Jiude was speaking, Concubine Chen was closest to him.

She noticed something black between Yan Jiude's fingernails, so she asked, "President Guo, go and see what's stuck between his fingernails?"

Xiao Yinzi held Yan Jiude tightly.

Judge Guo used a silver needle to pick out the tiny amount of dark brown powder hidden in the cracks of Yan Jiude's fingernails. After checking, he reported back:

"Your Highness, this is... musk, the most important ingredient used to make Nine Yin Powder!"

Concubine Chen angrily said, "Okay! You still say it wasn't you? If you didn't deal with those dirty things for the Queen, how could you have this thing stuck in your fingernails?"

Yan Jiude was horrified and kowtowed, saying, "Your Highness, you have misunderstood! This... When I went to buy blood-activating and blood-stasis-removing medicine, the shopkeeper brought many herbs for me to choose from, and this was the one placed next to me.

I didn't know it was musk at that time, so I asked carefully when I was picking it up, and then I heard the shopkeeper say that it was musk. This thing is forbidden in the palace, so I quickly put it back and didn't buy it! I think the musk between my fingers should be... should be accidentally stained at that time."

Concubine Chen sneered, "That's really a coincidence. Your Majesty, do you believe what this humble servant said?"

Who would believe such a coincidence and such an untenable explanation?

At this moment, Xiao Jingheng's expression was extremely ugly, and the look he gave the queen was extremely dim.

"This servant was not conscientious in his duties and mixed dirt into the plum soup prepared by the Queen, endangering the life of the heir. Such a useless servant does not need to stay by the Queen's side to serve."

Jiang Deshun nodded and said hurriedly, "I understand. Come, take him away and deal with him."

The guards blocked Yan Jiude's mouth while he was crying out and dragged him out.

Xiao Jingheng's action confirmed the Queen's guilt, but he did not say it explicitly, which also left some face for the Queen and himself.

The queen knew that there was no way to save the situation, so she just sat on the ground and cried in despair.

Xiao Jingheng didn't even look at her, and just said, "The queen suddenly got sick from an old illness, so she was immediately sent back to the palace to be nursed back to health."

Jiang Deshun said with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, it has been raining recently and the river has swelled. It would be dangerous to send the Queen back to the palace at this time... In addition, the Silkworm Ceremony will be held in two days. According to the rules, the Queen must preside over this ceremony in person..."

Xiao Jingheng said coldly: "Since it is difficult to travel due to the heavy rain, let's wait until the rain stops before setting off. As for the silkworm ceremony, the queen is ill, so you don't have to worry about these trivial matters. All matters will be left to the imperial concubine to handle."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Chen was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed, "Thank you very much for your trust, Your Majesty. I will definitely live up to your trust!"

The Silkworm Ceremony was presided over by the Empress herself, who led all the concubines to worship the silkworm goddess Leizu, pick mulberry leaves and feed the silkworms, and encourage the people to be diligent in weaving.

Since the founding of the Qi Dynasty, the silkworm ceremony in every dynasty has been performed by the Empress herself.

Unless there is no master in the imperial palace, power will be delegated to the imperial concubine or concubine.

Now that the Queen is still alive, Xiao Jingheng has done this without regard for the Empress's face. I'm afraid he has probably already thought of deposing the Queen.

The queen's shrill cries made people's scalps numb.

However, Xiao Jingheng turned a deaf ear to him. He just told people to comfort Tong Changzai and then left.

After he left, Concubine Chen walked slowly to the Queen, looked down at her and sneered:

"Come here, take her away and put her under house arrest. Once the rain stops, send her back to the palace immediately. Otherwise, if the emperor sees her, he will feel unlucky."