Ah Xiang was so angry that she stomped her feet. She was worried that there would be problems when the little princess treated the palace maids, so she carefully kept these written agreements. She never expected that Tan Biao would be so shameless as to say that these agreements were forged!

"Lord Tan, so many handwritings and fingerprints can't be faked!" Ah Xiang's chest heaved with anger, her brows furrowed.

Tan Biao looked at her with amusement, his eyes darting all over her.

As the two were locked in a stalemate, footsteps sounded at the door. It was Granny Liu who arrived, followed by a thin, dark-skinned man with a headscarf and wearing a brownish-yellow coarse cloth. Several eunuchs behind her carried a stretcher with a person covered by a white cloth.

"Your Majesty, this old servant led people to find the body and found Hui'er's body in the dry well in the Cold Palace." Granny Liu wiped the sweat from her forehead. The little princess had just instructed her to find the body in the dry well in the backyard of the Cold Palace, and she immediately led people there. After moving the large stone on top, they found the palace maid Hui'er, who had already begun to decompose.

Knowing the importance of this matter, she dared not delay any longer and hurriedly carried the person towards Anqing Palace.

Tan Biao stared in shock at the person covered by a white sheet on the stretcher. "What?! How did they find him?!"

"Impossible! How could that old nanny have found the palace maid's body so quickly?"

[The person inside definitely isn't Hui'er; it must be an imposter they hired.]

Tan Biao's palms began to sweat.

Looking at the group of people who had entered, Yun Beiye asked Granny Liu with some confusion, "Who are you?"

Yun Beiye felt that the old woman looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before.

"This old servant greets Your Majesty. This old servant is Granny Liu, who serves the little princess in the Fushuang Palace."

"Hmm." Yun Beiye remembered that he had indeed seen her frequently in Fu Shuang Palace.

"Granny Liu, you just said that the person on this stretcher is Hui'er?"

"Your Majesty, yes, this is the palace maid Hui'er from the Xin Zhe Ku that Lord Tan mentioned."

Where did you find it?

"This old servant found it in the dry well in the backyard of the Cold Palace."

[The Cold Palace?]

Yun Beiye pondered for a moment, but couldn't quite recall who lived in the Cold Palace.

"Your Majesty, Consort Zheng and Consort Yu are living in the Cold Palace." Zhao Zhongquan noticed the puzzled look on Yun Beiye's face and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

Yun Beiye nodded, and then asked Granny Liu, "Who is this person beside you?"

“Your Majesty, this is the coroner,” said Granny Liu, kneeling on the ground.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects." The coroner, somewhat trembling, kowtowed earnestly to Yun Beiye.

"Raise your head and tell me, what's the deal with this palace maid?"

"But was he poisoned due to improper medication?"

"Your Majesty, I have examined the wounds and affected areas on this palace maid's body, and there are no signs of poisoning."

"Oh? How did she die?" Yun Beiye's expression softened considerably upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty, this palace maid died from a severe head injury. I suspect she was thrown into a dry well and her head was hit, causing her death."

"Furthermore, there were whip marks on the palace maid's back, arms, and legs in many places, and the wounds were old wounds that had not yet healed and new wounds were added.

"What?!" Yun Beiye was a little angry. It was common for servants to be disciplined in the palace, but to use such a cruel method showed how vicious he was. It was no longer about disciplining servants, but about real abuse, treating human life as worthless.

“Your Majesty, please calm down. This old servant will definitely speak to the manager of the Imperial Laundry.” Zhao Zhongquan said from the side.

“Minister Tan, you have heard it too. The palace maid in the Xin Zhe Ku did not die because of the Ninth Princess’s treatment. Therefore, the rumors outside the palace are not true.”

"Your Majesty, I believe that relying solely on this old woman's one-sided account is unlikely to convince the public and will not silence the gossip!"

"Who knows if the person on this stretcher is Hui'er?"

"You!" Granny Liu wanted to curse loudly, but seeing the emperor sitting above her, she didn't dare to speak.

"So, what does Minister Tan mean?"

"Your Majesty, I suggest that we ask the steward of the Imperial Laundry to come and see if the corpse on the stretcher is a palace maid from the Imperial Laundry."

"Bring the men from the Xin Zhe Ku (a place for laborers) up here!"

"Where is the manager of the Imperial Laundry? Bring him here as well!"

Zhao Zhongquan hurriedly went to call for people, and a moment later the people from Xin Zhe Ku were brought up. Cui Ling also returned from the side door, bringing a palace maid with her.

"Your Majesty, this old servant Zhou Youchun pays his respects!" Zhou Youchun knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

“Look at these people on the ground, they belong to your Xin Zhe Ku.”

Yun Beiye coldly stared at Zhou, the steward of the Xin Zhe Ku, who was kneeling on the ground.

Manager Zhou glanced at Tan Biao, who glared fiercely at him. Manager Zhou quickly looked away.

Manager Zhou lifted the white cloth and glanced at it, barely suppressing the urge to vomit.

"No..." Steward Zhou tried to deny it, but a palace maid suddenly ran out from the side and threw herself next to Hui'er's body.

"Yes! This servant can testify, this is Hui'er!" The palace maid who shouted and rushed towards Hui'er's corpse was the same palace maid who had come in with Cuiling.

Empress Zhaoyuan had long suspected that the manager of the Xin Zhe Ku had colluded with Tan Biao, which is why she asked Cui Ling to find a few people from the Xin Zhe Ku who were on good terms with Hui'er to act as certifiers.

Yun Beiye noticed that Steward Zhou's expression was a bit off, as if he was trying to hide something. He pointed at Zhou Youchun and said sternly, "I'll ask you one more time, is this person Hui'er? Think carefully before you speak. If you are deceiving the emperor, it is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"

Steward Zhou stammered, "This, this palace maid, is..."

"It's Hui'er." Steward Zhou's head was bowed low. He gritted his teeth and told her what had happened. After all, offending Tan Biao was better than offending the emperor.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, Hui'er was beaten to death!"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, please, Your Majesty the Empress, do justice for Hui'er!" cried a palace maid who was on good terms with Hui'er.

"Wu Zuo?!"

"You just said that Hui'er has many wounds?" Yun Beiye asked the coroner.

"Your Majesty, Hui'er does indeed have many wounds on her body, which are similar to whip marks. I also found Scutellaria barbata ointment on Hui'er's skin, which should be the prescription given by the princess to treat the wounds."

"Manager Zhou, tell me, is Hui'er's death related to you?!"

Hui'er was most likely beaten to death by the steward of the Xin Zhe Ku (a place for laborers), and then thrown into a dry well.

"What else do you have to say?!"

(Hey everyone~ I'm Yun Duoduo! I hope you all like my work, add it to your bookshelves, like and favorite it. It's almost the end of the month, so please give me some recommendation votes! Duoduo gives you kisses, muah! Love you all!)