Xiao Shengxing's dark eyes darkened slightly, his expression dignified, and the aura of a king made everyone dare not say a word for a moment.
He glanced at Su Lijin and said, "Queen Dowager, what the Queen said just now is correct. The doll in Du Xi's room doesn't look like a witchcraft doll. It's just an ordinary doll."
The Queen Mother glared at Su Lijin and said, "Even if it's not witchcraft, everyone saw the spell with their own eyes. It can't be fake, right?"
Nodding, Xiao Shengxing said, "That talisman is indeed real."
Hearing this, the Queen Mother waved her hand and said, "That's it, isn't it? Du Xi framed Chen Yue, and we have all the witnesses and evidence. Just take her away."
The Queen Mother waved her hand and sent someone to take Du Xi away, but Xiao Shengxing stopped her. He said, "I think Chen Yue is just putting on an act!"
The Queen Mother suppressed her dissatisfaction and asked, "Then what does the Emperor want?"
Xiao Shengxing continued, "Every case needs to be thoroughly investigated. A hasty conclusion will only cause panic among the people. Someone dared to use witchcraft to create panic. I must thoroughly investigate this matter!"
The Queen Mother sighed, and there was really nothing she could do: "Then let's do as the Emperor says."
Xiao Shengxing gave Su Lijin a look, and Su Lijin understood and took a step forward.
"Chen Yue was clearly pretending to faint just now. Otherwise, she wouldn't have jumped up immediately after hearing me shout "There's a cockroach."
She said with a firm look, "Now, Chen Yue stays here, and the other actors leave."
The actors looked at each other, took the order and walked out.
After giving the order, Su Lijin said to the palace maid beside her, "Go over and ask them."
After saying this, he winked at the palace maid without leaving any trace.
The palace maid understood, bowed her head, turned around and followed the actors.
Chen Yue looked at this scene, her heart in a panic, and the tension on her face could hardly be concealed.
After a while, the palace maid came back and whispered something in Su Lijin's ear.
While listening, Su Lijin looked at Chen Yue meaningfully.
This look made Chen Yue feel uneasy and she had a bad feeling.
After a pause, Su Lijin suddenly shouted, "Bold Chen Yue, you actually committed the crime of using witchcraft to frame your colleagues. Drag her out immediately and give her thirty lashes, and then throw her out of the palace!"
Everyone was shocked and immediately looked at Chen Yue.
Chen Yue retreated in panic, her face pale. She gritted her teeth and said, "Empress, you have no evidence, and you are arbitrarily convicting me of a crime. Isn't that unfair?"
"Yeah, it seems there is no evidence to prove her guilt, right?"
Many people also became confused.
Xiao Shengxing glanced at the palace maid who had just left, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.
"Evidence?" Su Lijin smiled and looked at her. "Just now you pretended to faint, but you were found out. Isn't that evidence?"
Without waiting for Chen Yue to refute, he immediately said, "My people have already interrogated you clearly. The person behind you saw that the situation was not good and has already dragged you out to convict you. He pointed out that it was you who did it!"
"He said that you were jealous of Du Xi, so you planned all this. You used spells and witchcraft to frame Du Xi. Do you think this counts as a witness?"
"What? He said I did it?"
Chen Yue's face turned pale, and her face was filled with panic and anger.
She seemed to be extremely angry, no longer caring about the occasion, and cursed: "Bastard, he actually pushed everything onto me and made me take the blame for him!"
When everyone heard this, they all looked at her in surprise.
Is there really another person involved here?
"It sounds like you and the person behind you haven't reached an agreement." Su Lijin smiled.
Chen Yue's face was filled with anger. "Your Majesty, someone instigated me to do this. He told me to falsely accuse Du Xi of witchcraft and sorcery, and wanted to have him imprisoned for this crime."
She knelt down before Su Lijin and pleaded, "I believed him for a moment, so I pretended to faint and did all these things. Please understand, Your Majesty. These were all instigated by him, not intentionally by me!"
Xiao Shengxing said, "It seems the Queen is right."
Faced with Chen Yue's confession, everyone's faces turned ugly.
In a short period of time, the situation reversed several times, and now their eyes looking at Chen Yue became unfriendly.
The Queen Mother's face also looked very ugly. She wanted to close the case from the beginning. If she closed the case directly, the person who was arrested would be Du Xi.
But the person who actually set the trap is still at large.
From time to time, people's eyes were cast on her. The empress dowager felt very embarrassed. She looked at Su Lijin who was praised by everyone, and her face sank even more.
Su Lijin looked at Chen Yue with satisfaction, then turned to Du Xi, helped her up, and said, "Now the truth is out. Du Xi didn't use any witchcraft at all. She was framed and is innocent."
Du Xi had never expected Su Lijin to clear her name. She was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes. "I thank the Queen for her great kindness."
"Since Du Xi is innocent, the real person behind the scenes should be found out." Su Lijin said in a slightly cold voice.
"Chen Yue, tell me now, who is the person behind this?"
Chen Yue was stunned and her eyes widened in horror.
Only then did I realize that Su Lijin had no idea who was behind the scenes.
"You cheated me?!"
"Why not?"
Su Lijin raised her eyebrows, without a trace of guilt on her face. The palace maid she had sent out just now was simply a cover, deliberately done for Chen Yue to see.
The purpose was to make Chen Yue mistakenly believe that the person behind the scenes really pushed her out to take the blame, forcing Chen Yue to give up the person.
She was very confident that given Chen Yue's character, she would never take the blame on herself.
The facts before our eyes are indeed so.
Xiao Shengxing's dark eyes were filled with admiration as he said, "The Queen was simply using normal interrogation methods. You are simply guilty of your crimes."
Nodding in agreement, Su Lijin gave Xiao Shengxing a smile and looked at Chen Yue. "Framing someone and implicating them in witchcraft is a serious crime. Do you want to take the blame alone, or expose the person behind this?"
At this point, it was impossible to argue any further. Chen Yue confessed with a pale face, "The one who instigated this woman to frame Du Xi was the head opera performer here!"
Before she finished speaking, her finger was already pointing at a middle-aged man dressed as an actor.
Du Xi murmured in astonishment: "How could it be you? You were my father's best friend when he was alive!"
Su Lijin looked at the head opera performer and said, "Now that the witness, Chen Yue, is here, will you plead guilty?"
Everyone looked at the head opera performer, their faces filled with surprise.
They never imagined that the person behind the scenes had been standing there for a long time!
"It's actually him?"
"Why would he, the head of a theatrical troupe, frame a female theatrical troupe?"
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