Chapter 197: Presenting a Will on the Spot
Fu Qingyin took the painting back in his hand and showed it to everyone.
The queen said coldly: "Noble Concubine Shu, you must be more careful with the people you employ in the palace in the future. It is better not to employ people like this who have immoral and unruly families."
Imperial Concubine Shu pursed her lips, lowered her eyes and said, "It was my negligence. Your Majesty the Queen was right to teach her a lesson."
The queen looked at her and refused to believe that she was really giving in.
Fu Qingyin continued, "According to Xianglan's confession, she was coerced by the palace maid Suzhuo, so she had no choice."
"She only sold the beads secretly and deceived Princess Ruiyang. As for whether the prince was related to Concubine Yu's death, she didn't know."
When Suzhuo was mentioned, the queen's face became hot.
Concubine Shu sighed softly: "Empress, the people in your palace are not that good either."
Queen: “…”
"Suzhuo is dead," the queen said solemnly, "there is no cure for death, but Xianglan is just talking nonsense."
"Is it nonsense?" Fu Qingyin smiled. "The results of the interrogation in Zhenqiao Tower will show it. If the Queen has any questions, just speak up."
The Queen said to the Emperor: "Your Majesty, the maid was at fault. I was guilty of not keeping a strict control over my subordinates, but this has nothing to do with the Emperor's son."
The emperor nodded slightly: "Qingyin, let's not talk about the dirty deeds of the palace maids for now. Is the death of Yu Guiren related to the prince? Has this matter been investigated clearly?"
Yu Shengsheng felt a little nervous. Indeed, Xianglan's confession alone could not prove that the prince was the one who killed Concubine Yu. Even if she was deceived by Xianglan, she could not directly prove that it was the Queen's intention.
Once Suzhuo died, everything was cut off.
Fu Qingyin said nothing, the Queen got up from her seat and knelt down, and the Prince saw this and also knelt behind her.
The queen's eyes were red, and every word she said was sincere: "Your Majesty, I apologize to you."
There was a flash of sarcasm in Yu Shengsheng's eyes.
The emperor asked, "Why is the queen asking for forgiveness?"
"I was eager to save my son, so I secretly sent someone to investigate and found out... there was a maid missing from Concubine Yu's palace. Her name was Xing'er."
"Where is Xing'er?" The Queen looked at Fu Qingyin, "Can the Commander find out why she died?"
Fu Qingyin nodded: "Throw it into the well."
The Queen let out a light breath, as if filled with endless sorrow: "Your Majesty, I think that Xing'er's death was strange, and she would not have jumped into the well for no reason, and it was such a coincidence that she died on that day, so I ordered people to search Xing'er's residence, and the result was..."
The Queen pulled a letter from her sleeve: "I found this."
Eunuch Wei hurried over and presented it to the emperor with both hands.
The emperor unfolded the letter and saw that it was a suicide note.
Yu Shengsheng was suspicious. In order to exonerate the prince, the queen couldn't wait to send someone to investigate personally. This was understandable and indeed in line with the queen's character.
But, how come she found the thing by such a coincidence?
The Red Dragon Guards also searched at that time, but did not find anything useful.
She suppressed her doubts and listened carefully.
The emperor frowned as he read the suicide note. The content was very simple, saying that she committed suicide and was willing to die. She did not blame anyone but her former master, Concubine Shu.
The emperor frowned and looked at Concubine Shu. Concubine Shu didn't understand and her face was full of tension.
"Your Majesty, what's wrong?"
The emperor threw the letter to her: "Read it yourself."
Imperial Concubine Shu picked up the paper, lowered her head and looked at it carefully, her expression suddenly changed: "Your Majesty, this... Xing'er did work in my palace, but I never treated her harshly, so how can I say that I forced her to leave?"
"If you don't believe me, you can call anyone from my palace to ask me how I treat Xing'er. You will know the answer after asking."
The queen shook her head and smiled bitterly: "Sister, you still refuse to admit it? Summon the people in your palace and ask them, who dares not to listen to you?"
"What does the Queen want me to admit?" Concubine Shu asked, "Admit that I have treated the palace maids harshly, or admit that I have framed the Crown Prince?"
The Queen let out a long breath and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, Imperial Concubine Shu used the maid Xing'er to spin the hollow flower ball in Imperial Concubine Yu's palace, causing the Crown Prince to fall into a coma and lose consciousness. She also ordered someone to strangle Imperial Concubine Yu to death, framing the Crown Prince."
"Xing'er...could not bear to do such a sinful thing, and could not bear the coercion, so she left a letter and jumped into the well and died!"
"Su Zhuo died in Zhenqiao Tower. Xianglan pushed the blame on her. There is no evidence. Fortunately, this letter can return the name of this concubine, the prince, and Su Zhuo to justice."
Yu Shengsheng thought that what the Queen said was the same as what she said when she discussed with Fu Qingyin that night. The evidence all pointed to Concubine Shu, but it was too smooth.
The emperor's face was gloomy as water, and he stared at Concubine Shu coldly: "What do you have to say?"
Imperial Concubine Shu slid down from her chair and knelt, her face ashen: "I have never treated the palace maids harshly, nor have I ever coerced or instigated anyone to harm the Crown Prince."
The queen said angrily: "You still say no, the evidence is all here!"
Concubine Shu's tone was completely different and calm: "May I ask, Prince, are you familiar with Concubine Yu?"
The prince blurted out: "Not familiar. Never..."
"If you are not familiar with her, why would you go to Concubine Yu's palace? Whether it's the scent ball or the trap, it has to be you who goes there and appears there for it to be effective."
"Why are you going?"
The prince was stunned, thinking back to the situation at that time. He had drunk a lot of wine and his head was a little dizzy. He wanted to sober up, but when he went out, he saw Qi Mubai at the end. He was originally a useful chess piece, but it turned out to be a bad chess piece. He felt even more annoyed.
Later... when he saw Concubine Yu, he realized that she was not skinny but rather plump, with fair skin and wearing a string of pearls. He was dazed for a moment.
Of course, he also knew that Yu Guiren was the emperor's concubine and could not be touched. So, he just saw her and left without taking it to heart.
Later, he met the little palace maid named Xing'er, who said that Concubine Yu had sprained her ankle and asked him for help.
He went to help, and then, what happened next was no longer clear.
But how do I say this?
Faced with Concubine Shu's questioning, he didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Concubine Shu looked at him and said, "Why? Is there something you can't say?"
The emperor frowned and looked at the prince. This matter was strange in itself and there were many puzzling points. Now the prince couldn't explain it, which really made him suspicious.
"emperor……"
Just as Concubine Shu was about to speak, the Queen spoke first, "Your Majesty, I have something else to ask for forgiveness."
The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly: "What's the matter?"
The Queen kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have another reason for caring about the maid Xing'er."
"What is the reason?"
"Because of her... Your Majesty, the Crown Prince once returned to the East Palace and ran into Xing'er. Xing'er was wearing ordinary clothes at the time, not the clothes of a palace maid. The Crown Prince thought that she was a female relative who came to the palace to visit relatives. She drank some wine at the time, and then..."
The rest of the words were not finished, but everyone present understood.
"Afterwards, the prince found out that she was a palace maid. He regretted it so much that he wanted to ask the emperor for forgiveness. I was worried that the emperor would be furious, so I stopped him from doing so. I wanted to wait until after the prince's wedding before thinking of a solution..."
Yu Shengsheng was shocked. The fetus that Xing'er aborted was actually the prince's?
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