Chapter 437: A Common Heart and a Disaster 2

Rong Yue tried her best to suppress the flickering light in her eyes and looked carefully at the half-burned love knot.

Fortunately,

The characters in the middle have been almost burnt.

The original character "Yan" only had a lonely character "Wang" left, so it's not impossible to say that it was Xiao Jingheng's character "Heng".

In this way, her flustered mood finally settled down, and then she calmly picked up the knot from the ground and said:

"This knot is exactly mine. I don't know which servant in the palace was careless and burned it too much."

"Hmph." Concubine Yun sneered, "Just admit that it's you. Half of the name on the knot has been burned off, and now only the character for king is left. I wonder whose name you sewed on it?"

Rong Yue frowned and stared at Concubine Yun, and said confidently: "What do you mean, Concubine Yun? This is of course the emperor's name."

"Oh? Really?" Concubine Yun sneered disdainfully and turned to Xiao Jingheng and said:

"Your Majesty has just taken a look. The stitches inside the knot have turned yellow. This thing is made of the finest silk from the wild silkworm. It would not be so old without five or six years of filing. How many years has Concubine Shun been in the palace? Could it be that she had already fallen in love with the emperor before she entered the palace?"

After saying that, she looked at Rong Yue again and raised her eyebrows frivolously, "You hadn't even seen the emperor at that time, but you were already suffering from lovesickness? Tsk tsk, I don't think so. Maybe... the name on this knot should belong to someone else."

"Is there someone else?" Rong Yue stood up straight, with sharp anger in his eyes, staring at Yun Fei.

"What do you want to say?"

"Of course I said what you did." Concubine Yun stroked her hair and said jokingly, "You live in Lin'an. It just so happens that Prince An also served in Lin'an for two years seven years ago, and he also had a good relationship with the admiral of the navy. You and Prince An are of similar age, and you are in love for the first time. Seeing each other every day, it is possible that you can't bear it and do something inappropriate."

Hearing Concubine Yun mention Xiao Jingyan, Rong Yue felt her heart tighten.

She saw Xiao Jingheng's face becoming more and more ugly as he remained silent throughout the whole process. She had no choice but to put on a posture and drink it back.

"Empress Yun! How can a concubine like you casually accuse me and the prince of innocence?"

As he spoke, he bowed deeply to Xiao Jingheng and said with a choked voice:

"Your Majesty, I have never done these unfounded things. I also believe that Your Majesty can understand my feelings. I have always been loyal to Your Majesty. Today, Concubine Yun said these unpleasant words for no reason. She really has ill intentions..."

"Haha, do I have ulterior motives?"

Concubine Yun raised her hands and clapped her hands three times, then shouted to the outside of the palace:

"Bring the man in."

After he finished speaking, Rong Yue looked back and saw that it was Cai Jie who walked in with his head lowered and in small steps following the people in front of the emperor.

Cai Jie was assigned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to serve Rong Yue after she entered the palace.

But I have never been able to get close to him, and over the years I have mostly been doing some cleaning work in the yard.

At this moment, Cai Jie knelt beside Rong Yue, but with his head lowered, not even daring to look at her.

Concubine Tingyun said to Xiao Jingheng: "This girl has seen many things. Your Majesty can ask her."

Xiao Jingheng then spoke in a deep voice, "Tell me the truth. If you dare to say a single word, watch your tongue."

The emperor was furious, and his aura was so frightening that Cai Jie kowtowed and trembled as he said:

"Reply, reply Your Majesty, last night, I was picking up firewood in the woodshed, and suddenly I saw Caiying sneaking into the back garden. I followed her because I was suspicious, and saw her squatting in a corner and lighting a fire, and I don't know what she threw in. Later, when Eunuch Wang called her, she was in a hurry to go. When I saw her leaving, I went to see what she was burning...

After putting out the fire, I found this half-burned love knot inside. This love knot is a gift between men and women. If it was given by the emperor to Concubine Shun, then the Concubine should cherish it and would never burn it. I was terrified, and coupled with some things I had seen before... I was really at a loss, so I told Concubine Yun about it..."

"You are a servant who is always making trouble out of nothing!" Rong Yue glared at her and said, "Even if you found something wrong, why didn't you tell the Queen or the Imperial Concubine, but instead told Concubine Yun? I don't know, is Concubine Yun the one who is in charge of trivial matters in the harem now?"

"This..." Cai Jie was speechless for a moment, and after hesitating for a long time, he explained in a panic:

"I was originally going to look for the Queen, but I ran into Concubine Yun on the way. Concubine Yun saw that I looked flustered, so she asked me the reason..."

Not only Rong Yue, but even Xiao Jingheng would not believe such an explanation.

However, it was not uncommon for concubines to place spies in the palace for newly-arrived beauties.

This kind of unhealthy trend is not what Xiao Jingheng wants to pursue now.

What he wanted was an explanation from Rong Yue that would make sense.

Therefore, he did not delve into the affair between Concubine Yun and Cai Jie, but instead asked Cai Jie,

"You just said that you accidentally saw something that made you feel terrified? Can you tell me in detail what you saw?"

"I, I saw it..." Cai Jie seemed to have remembered something horrifying, and her whole body was trembling as she answered.

"After Concubine Shun was crowned as a concubine, she lived alone in Zhuixia Palace. On New Year's Eve three years ago, I slept late and heard some noise in the courtyard, so I hurried out to take a look. In the dark, I saw a tall man who seemed to have climbed over the wall and entered Concubine Shun's inner chamber..."

"Cai Jie! What nonsense are you talking about!?"

Rong Yue was shocked beyond words.

Since she entered the palace, she has never had much contact with Xiao Jingyan, let alone letting Xiao Jingyan climb over the wall into the palace in the middle of the night to meet her privately?

Cai Jie must have been instigated by others to say this.

The dirty water was ready, waiting to pour down on her, leaving her with no way to refute.

Cai Jie received Rong Yue's rebuke, but instead of changing his words, his tone became even firmer.

"Even if Your Majesty wants to send me to Xinzheku, I have to tell you the truth... The Emperor has treated you well over the years, why do you want to..."

'Pop'

Rong Yue slapped Cai Jie hard on the face and shouted:

"I have never done anything like this! Don't collude with others and slander me!"

"In cahoots with each other? Is Concubine Shun talking about me?" Concubine Yun raised her rosy lips and sneered, "What she said doesn't count, but your maid Caiying has been arrested by my people and imprisoned in the Ministry of Punishment for severe torture. If she has suffered all the punishments in the Ministry of Punishment and can still insist that you have nothing to do with Prince An, then this matter is somewhat credible. As for you..."

Concubine Yun paused for a moment, then turned to Xiao Jingheng and said:

"Your Majesty, Consort Li just asked to see you. I think she also has something to say about this matter."

Xiao Jingheng rubbed the ring on his thumb from time to time.

"Let her in," he said.