75 Caning
◎She and I are irreconcilable and will fight to the death◎
"What's your name?" Rong Qianyu was sitting in the hall and asked coldly.
The maid was young, but she knew she had done something disrespectful. Even with her careful thinking, she couldn't help but feel nervous. "Your servant... Your servant enters Hua."
Rong Qianyu then asked her, "How old are you? How long have you been in the palace?"
"I am sixteen and have been in the palace for more than a year."
"Where did you work before? How did you get assigned to Yixiang Palace?"
"I used to be... a second-class maid in the Sizhensi, assigned here by the Shanggong Bureau..."
Seeing that there was no flaw in her reply, Rong Qianyu also guessed that she was specially sent by Cui Rumei. She should have paid more attention to her when assigning palace maids to An that day, so she took advantage of the opportunity to sow discord.
Xue Ji had seen many people like this, so he questioned Rong Qianyu. There were some things he didn't want her to do, and he would bear any evil that came his way. He couldn't let Rong Qianyu suffer the same fate as him.
He also has a way to deal with such people. Evildoers must be dealt with by evildoers.
He stood upright beside her, his slender eyes slightly lowered, his gaze falling on the panicked eyes of the palace maid.
"The Empress is giving you a chance. Tell me the mastermind behind this, and you'll live. But if you're willing to cover up for others, you won't have anyone else to blame if you're beheaded."
The few of them were at a stalemate. Rong Qianyu naturally hoped that the palace maid would reveal the mastermind behind the scenes so as not to implicate An Moru. However, the palace maid refused to change her words no matter what she said.
An Moru came from a humble family. Before entering the palace, she was uninformed, simple, kind, and harbored no malicious intent. After all, she was a servant under her command. Even if she had falsely accused him, reprimanding him to his face would have been a disgrace to her, the head of the palace. She hoped Rong Qianyu would show leniency.
She knelt down and begged Rong Qianyu, "Your Majesty, please have mercy on me, Your Majesty. I really didn't know anything about this. I've only been the mistress for less than two weeks, and I've only just met these people. How could I have the guts to disobey the orders of the Empress Dowager? There must be some misunderstanding here, Your Majesty, please see clearly!"
Although she was not clear about the reason, it seemed more like the Queen was targeting her today. This frame-up did not make her see the true face of others, but instead deepened her resentment towards Rong Qianyu.
Rong Qianyu is not a cruel and unkind person. This matter is a grudge between her and Cui Rumei. Seeing that An Moru had no way to defend herself, she knew that she was wronged but she could do nothing about it.
Xue Ji interrupted and said, "Mrs. An, you said you didn't know, but this palace maid insisted it was you. What should the Empress do?"
Her eyes were filled with tears, and a feeling of grievance surged into her heart like a tide. No one had ever told her that the palace was like this before she entered it.
Her body trembled slightly, as if she was trying hard to suppress her emotions, but the tears still rolled down uncontrollably.
Her sobbing was heartbreaking, and the tears on her face showed the grievances she had suffered, and she had no way to defend herself.
She was timid, and this posture had frightened her. She turned around and grabbed the informing maid, shouting at her helplessly, "I never instructed you. I have no grudge against you. Why are you slandering me like this?"
"Come here, give this palace maid a hundred strokes of the cane as a warning to others." Rong Qianyu gave the order calmly without even looking at her. Then two young eunuchs came and dragged the person to the courtyard to be shown to the public.
The Party Central Committee also announced the punishment for An Moru, "Tairen An was not strict in her administration and disobeyed the Empress Dowager's order. She is punished with three months of imprisonment and one month of house arrest as a warning to others."
An Moru felt extremely aggrieved and cried, "Your Majesty...I really didn't know. I really didn't know, Your Majesty!??"
Seeing that she had no sense of propriety, Xue Ji acted as the bad guy again.
"Concubine An is so foolish. This maid is from your palace. How can you deny her responsibility when she says she acted under your instructions? Unless she can reveal the true mastermind behind this, please don't embarrass the Empress. This matter has a great impact on the diplomatic relations between the two countries. It could be a big deal or a small one. You can only blame Concubine An for being so inept in hiring people and getting implicated."
Bai Yi had specifically ordered this. Everyone was present at the time, and she was unable to control the servants. This meant she was breaking the law knowingly, which was an even more serious crime.
This was Rong Qianyu's public interest. Personally, Fu Hua's naming of Anshi Moru was a vexation, a clear attempt to disgust him. She hadn't noticed such an obvious thing, and now she was being used as a pawn. She couldn't blame anyone else for her cluelessness.
The two eunuchs pressed the palace maid onto a long wooden chair, stripped off her pants, leaving only her underpants. They beat her to scare her.
Listening to the screams outside, she felt a rare sense of relief.
She waved her hand and called Yuanqing closer, "Yuanqing, go out and tell her, if you don't want to be beaten to death, then tell her now, otherwise I won't be in the mood to waste time with her."
"yes,"
An Moru looked at Rong Qianyu who was so calm and composed, and she really couldn't imagine how the person who was so kind that day could become like a different person now.
Yuanqing went to the courtyard to convey the Queen's oral instructions, "The Queen said that you can confess within the first 100 strokes of the cane. After that, the Queen will not waste time with you."
This is clearly giving her a way out, but Rong Qianyu still doesn't want to implicate innocent people.
But the palace maid was very loyal. She refused to say anything even when her waist and legs were beaten to pieces with a wooden board. Instead, she insisted that it was An Moru who ordered it.
"It was Concubine An who ordered me to do this. Even if she beats me to death, it's still Concubine An." It wasn't enough to just frame An Moru. She was originally sent by Cui Rumei, so she naturally wanted to take the opportunity to disgust Rong Qianyu. She also shouted at her, "Rong Qianyu, don't even think about being tortured into confessing. You're a jealous woman who doesn't have any favors. No wonder His Majesty won't touch you, jealous woman!"
"Shut her mouth!" Xue Ji wanted to kill her with his own hands after hearing these words. Shutting her mouth was already a good thing for her.
"Lord Xue, that's not necessary," Rong Qianyu's voice came from the inner room. She was more patient than she was two years ago.
This alone was not enough, she ordered the servants to bring chairs, "I want to hear how she scolds. Bring two chairs, and I will go outside to watch."
The maid was sweating profusely, but she continued to curse, her words making everyone present feel ashamed. Although the queen had gone too far this time, she was always extremely lenient towards her servants. Right and wrong were in the hearts of the people, and Rong Qianyu didn't care at all what she said.
She can scold him, it won't cause any loss to her. Besides, if she starts to waver after just a few words, it would be better for her to give up the throne of queen as soon as possible.
But An Moru was a newcomer. On the one hand, she couldn't stand the bloody scene, and on the other hand, she couldn't stand hearing so much dirty talk. She couldn't understand why Rong Qianyu was not angry.
She opened her mouth again to plead for the maid, "Your Majesty, please stop. She is really going to be beaten to death."
Rong Qianyu felt the afternoon autumn breeze, closed her eyes, and said calmly, "This is the Queen Mother's will. The informer will be killed. She deserves to die for her audacity. However, I gave her a chance, but she refused to speak. I can only let Concubine An be punished as well. I am truly sorry."
After beating for a while, the two young eunuchs were out of breath and said, "Madam, she has fainted."
"How many strokes?" Rong Qianyu asked.
The young eunuch replied, "There are still fifty-two sticks left."
"Find a basin of cold water, pour it over her to wake her up, and then continue beating her."
"yes."
The maid was dying, but she still had some strength left to curse at her. "You evil woman, you deserve to have no man touch you for the rest of your life, you evil woman! You'd better not even think of peeping at me even if I kill you!"
Rong Qianyu ignored everyone's attempts to stop her, walked closer, squatted down, and spoke to her in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Your master's plan is good. Tell her in your dreams that she and I are irreconcilable and will fight to the death. Just let her wait."
The maid suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter, her laughter extremely unbridled. He endured the pain in his lower body, clenched his teeth, and the corners of his mouth twitched. "Hahahahaha, you vicious woman! Bitch..."
His laughter was like a midnight gale, carrying an unspeakable madness that made people shudder.
"Compared to your master, I'm just a novice," Rong Qianyu patted her back, stood up and returned to her original position, "Keep fighting!"
After being hit for more than thirty times, the palace maid was completely silent.
"My lady, she's passed away."
Rong Qianyu was completely relieved. "Find a straw mat and throw it out."
An Moru's face turned gray in an instant. This was the first time she saw a dead person. She was trembling all over, especially seeing such a bloody and tragic death.
But Rong Qianyu was no longer surprised. On the day of forcing the emperor to abdicate, she returned walking on a sea of blood and corpses.
"Wait, does she have any jewelry or other objects on her?"
The young eunuch replied: "There is a jade bracelet."
"Take it off." Rong Pan handed the bracelet to Rong Qianyu. She looked at it for a while and then told Rong Pan to keep it well.
"Today's matter has been resolved. If I hear anyone spreading rumors again, this will be the end!" After saying this, she returned to her pleasant and cheerful self as the Empress Dowager. "Teacher An is frightened. I will be leaving now."
An Moru was so frightened that her face turned pale. She was supported by the people beside her and finally stood up and bowed to her, "Farewell, Your Majesty."
On the way back to the palace, Rong Qianyu was still in shock. Xue Ji noticed that she was a little uneasy, "Your Majesty, you are being a little cruel."
"It's a good plan that kills three birds with one stone. Her death is well deserved!" Although she was afraid, she had to be severely punished. Cui Rumei had her in a hold, and no matter what she did, she would be criticized.
"I'm worried that it might be too sharp."
Although she felt a little scared, she did not regret it. The open and secret struggles between her and Cui Rumei had already begun.
She hadn't wanted to argue with her, but she insisted on killing her. "This is the Queen Mother's intention, not my fault. If there's any talk of this in the palace lately, I hope Master Xue will take care of it."
"Yes, I respectfully send your Majesty off."
In Ci'an Palace, Fu Tao had not returned home for several days. He had been pestering Bai Yi and had cried and made a fuss several times. He did not want to marry no matter what.
"Mother, what does my brother mean? I won't marry..."
Bai Yi felt distressed, but was also truly annoyed by her nagging. Furthermore, she had no say in the matter and could only helplessly comfort her. "No, no, Queen Mother would not marry you even if she asked you to become a nun. At worst, you could just say you've already become a nun. Do you really want to marry a nun?"
Aunt Sun came into the room and replied, "Her Majesty the Queen, the Queen executed a palace maid today."
This matter has become known to everyone in the palace. The Queen Mother beat a palace maid to death, and Concubine An was frightened to the point of falling ill.
"Because of the marriage? Damn it, it's because I've always been too lenient with them, that's why they're so lawless."
"The Empress said that she has been ill recently and will not be coming to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager."
Bai Yi nodded. She didn't want to get involved in this matter. Besides, Rong Qianyu did nothing wrong. The queen in the harem had the final say and didn't need to report to her.
"The Queen presented a jade bracelet that she had taken off the hand of the palace maid, and said that she must ask the Empress Dowager to see it." As she said this, she handed over the jade bracelet.
Fu Tao took the bracelet with a sad face, "This bracelet is so clear, it really belongs to a second-class palace maid?"
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