Prince Zhuang saw the look Emperor Mingde suddenly gave him and sneered, "I think you've gone mad! My mother is a woman of great virtue and understanding. She clearly saw that the atmosphere between my father and several ministers was tense and she proposed such a sound solution. Now you're trying to make random accusations. I think you've been exposed and are desperate!"

King Zhuang flicked his sleeves, sat aside, and took a sip of cold tea.

Xie Siheng glanced at Wang Delu, who was lying on the ground, tortured to the point of being on the verge of death. "According to Eunuch Wang, Concubine De arrested his entire family as a threat, which is why he was willing to take the risk. I have already ordered a search of Concubine De's villa, and they found Eunuch Wang's family in a dark room."

Chuan Qiong brought Wang Delu's family over at the right time. These common people had never seen such a scene before. As soon as they entered the door, they knelt on the ground and trembled uncontrollably: "Your humble servants... pay their respects to the emperor!"

Jiang Qianruo looked at Concubine De expressionlessly: "The Crown Prince is gone, and the Emperor's grandson is in poor health. Even if I take back a princess, what good will it do? I can't take the throne from your son, so why would I do this?"

"I am innocent!!"

Concubine De looked as if struck by lightning. She turned in disbelief and looked at Wang Delu, who was only breathing his last. "You little slave! I thought I treated you well, but you actually framed me like this! Who bribed you? Who on earth did it!"

She rushed over and shook Wang Delu desperately. If she hadn't been rational, she really wanted to strangle this dog slave to death.

"Mother... Mother... I have tried my best... Please... Mother... spare my... family's... lives!"

Concubine De looked at Wang Delu angrily as he was pretending to be nice. Just as she was about to speak, Wang Delu's eyes suddenly widened, his body stiffened, and he didn't move.

Xie Siheng lowered his head and placed his fingers on the wings of Wang Delu's nose, then on his neck to feel it: "He's dead."

Concubine De shuddered, suddenly awakened, and stepped back in fear: "It's not me! It really isn't me!"

"Mother!"

Prince Yi looked at Concubine De in despair.

He hasn't been convicted yet, but his mother actually killed Wang Delu. Now there is no evidence to prove his guilt and he can't change his statement. Isn't this a case of no evidence at all?

Concubine De looked up at Emperor Mingde, bewildered. Seeing his cold and angry expression, she collapsed and shouted, "It really wasn't me!"

"It's not you? Then who is it!"

Emperor Mingde was furious and threw the teacup on the table in front of Concubine De.

The sound of the teacup shattering and the look on the emperor's face, as if he wanted to eat them, filled Concubine De with sadness. "Since entering the palace, I have always fulfilled my duties and served the emperor wholeheartedly. But now, the emperor has even shown me the slightest trust!"

Emperor Mingde sneered and threw a memorial in front of Concubine De: "Wang Delu is the eunuch by your side. All your affairs pass through his hands. Don't you know what he has done?"

Defei picked up the memorial on the ground and became more and more frightened the more she read it.

The above lists all the things she had ordered Wang Delu to do over the years, including but not limited to drugging concubines, contacting the concubines' families outside the palace to ask them to eliminate dissidents, discussing countermeasures against the prince with Prince Yi, taking action against the queen... and so on.

The expression on Concubine De's face changed from being at a loss at the beginning to suddenly calming down at the end.

Wang Delu was her most loyal dog. Everyone in the palace knew it, and she herself thought so before today.

So she had no way to defend herself.

She could not escape any of the blame for the above crimes, but she could never admit to this matter.

Once convicted, Prince Yi will inevitably be implicated.

She couldn't, at least not now, she couldn't bring shame to Prince Yi.

Concubine De straightened her back a bit and sneered, "Normally, this slave boy treated me with respect and always put me first. That's why I promoted him to the position of Grand Eunuch of Chunyi Palace. Who knew he harbored such evil intentions? To be honest, Your Majesty, I only found out about this today."

"As for the above crimes, although I don't know who slandered me, I will naturally admit what I have done! And for what I haven't done, no one can force me to admit it by pressing my head!"

"I know I can't defend myself now, but I hope Your Majesty will investigate the truth and not let the real murderer go!"

"I am willing to die to show my determination!"

After saying that, she stood up resolutely and rushed towards the dragon pillar beside her.

"Mother!"

"Empress Defei!"

Prince Yi and the eunuch exclaimed and quickly reached out to pull Concubine De, but saw a faster figure rushing over.

Defei banged her head against the pillar with a fearless attitude.

But he felt someone kicking him hard on the butt. He lost control and fell flat on his face in front of everyone. His mouth hit the ground because he kicked too hard.

Prince Yi's heart, which had nearly jumped out of his chest, instantly returned to normal. He scrambled over to look at her, "Mother! How are you?!"

Defei lay on the ground and felt her lips burning. She touched them with trembling hands.

Not only was her hands covered in blood, but she could also clearly feel that her lips were almost swollen to the same height as the tip of her nose!

She was so angry that her blood rushed to her head. She felt so ashamed and angry that she wished she had just hit her head and died!

Prince Yi looked at his mother's face which had suddenly deformed and swollen like a pig's head. The tension in his eyes froze and he became confused.

Jiang Qianruo retracted his foot: "You all want to die before you figure out the truth? Nothing in this world is that simple!"

Emperor Mingde came back to his senses and his face looked even worse.

That was close!

A concubine was forced to death in the Yangxin Palace by him. If this were to get out, wouldn't the people in the Censorate be so excited that they would spit at him while standing in the court?

He almost lost his dignity.

Emperor Mingde was so angry that he overturned the dragon table: "How unreasonable! This is simply nonsense!"

"Come here! Draft an edict for me!"

"De Fei Jiang was disrespectful in front of the palace, brutally harmed the concubines, and ordered the release of the beasts from Piaomiao Garden, resulting in numerous injuries and deaths. Her viciousness is unworthy of a concubine. She is stripped of her title and demoted to a noble lady! She is also imprisoned in Chunman Palace to reflect on her mistakes for an indefinite period of time!"

Prince Yi looked at Emperor Mingde in disbelief: "This was not done by my mother! Yet you humiliate me like this..."

"If you keep talking nonsense, go home and think about it!"

Emperor Mingde looked at Prince Yi coldly, without any mercy.

Concubine Jiang never expected that the emperor would be so heartless. After accompanying her for many years, he would just strip her down without any mercy.

But when she saw Prince Yi, hope rose in her heart again. She tugged at Prince Yi's sleeve to signal him not to say more.

…

Out of the Yangxin Palace.

King Zhuang had a somewhat smug look on his face. He looked at King Xuan's silence and said with a half-smile, "It's strange. When we first recognized our relatives, my fifth brother was the loudest in shouting, but today he seems particularly silent. If I hadn't seen you come out with me, I would have forgotten about you!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Yi raised his head with a gloomy face and looked at Prince Xuan.