Chapter 82 Testimony
Since this incident occurred in the palace, Caihe should have been taken away and interrogated by the Imperial Prisoners.
However, when Madam Xiao saw that Xiao Yuyao, who had been speaking normally, suddenly burst into tears and knelt down, and that the maid beside her had been kicked down by Princess Wenyue, she was afraid that someone was bullying Xiao Yuyao again, so she quickly came over.
"What happened? Even if the servants of our Xiao family have made a mistake, they should be dealt with by our Xiao family. Why bother the Ministry of Justice?"
The Crown Prince had only made a brief appearance, leaving Chunwen behind before departing. At this moment, Eunuch Liu of the Censorate, having received orders, was about to pull Caihe away from Xiao Yuyao when he heard this and paused.
"Madam Xiao, we servants are just following orders. Please don't make things difficult for us."
Liu Gonggong flicked his whisk, and although his words were humble, his overall aura was by no means weak.
As the head of the Censorate, he feared no one except the Emperor, Empress, Empress Dowager, and Crown Prince.
However, for a mere second-rank minister's wife, the fact that he patiently said a few kind words to her was already giving her enough face.
“Eunuch Liu, even if you want to arrest someone, there must be a procedure. I am the mistress of the Xiao family, a third-rank noblewoman. Now you want to interrogate the servants of my household, do I not even have the right to know?”
Madam Xiao was somewhat angry, not at the arrogant servants in the palace, but at Xiao Yuxuan.
In front of so many people, the Censorate was taking away the servants of the Xiao family. Wasn't this a slap in the face to the Xiao family? How could Xiao Yuxuan remain so indifferent?
Didn't you see that Yuyao was protecting the maid and preventing her from being taken away? As the younger sister, she actually stood by coldly, not even offering a word of advice, acting like it was none of her business. It's truly disheartening.
Her gaze swept over Xiao Yuxuan, only to find that the other was looking at her, but there was no warmth on her face, as if she were looking at a stranger.
The next moment, Zheng Yanling took the initiative to explain the whole story in detail.
She even "thoughtfully" emphasized the words "betrayal," "false accusation," and "fabricating something out of nothing," as if afraid that Madam Xiao might not have heard her clearly.
"This matter occurred in the palace. Deceiving superiors and concealing it from subordinates is a minor matter. What would be a major issue is if, inadvertently, the noblemen and masters of the palace were injured. Therefore, sending them to the Censorate is only reasonable. Don't you agree, Madam Xiao?"
"Or do you think it's alright for the servants to behave this way, and that you, as the mistress, have intentionally protected them, which is why you are in the palace today..."
"How is this possible?!"
Zheng Yanling was only deliberately trying to provoke him. Seeing that Madam Xiao had hurriedly interrupted, she simply stopped talking.
"Eunuch Liu, these two..." Two?
Madam Xiao was just following Zheng Yanling's words when she suddenly stopped. Only then did she see that Chunwen, who was next to Xiao Yuxuan, had been pinned down by the young eunuch, her mouth stuffed with cloth, and her eyes were swollen from crying.
She realized what was happening, and a wave of exhaustion washed over her.
"Alright then, I'll have to trouble Eunuch Liu."
As both the mistress and mother, Madam Xiao's two daughters' maids were so useless that everyone looked at her with a subtle unease.
It is said that the Xiao family has a clean and upright family style. Minister Xiao is handsome, honest and incorruptible, and does not indulge in wine and women. Back then, he was the most desirable son-in-law candidate among the high-ranking families in the capital. It is just a pity that he was engaged to the youngest daughter of the Lin family at an early age.
In the end, however, his wife couldn't even manage the servants in the mansion...
Caihe and Chunwen were taken away, but to the guests they were nothing more than two ungrateful servants, and the hall quickly returned to its usual cheerful atmosphere.
The Xiao residence.
When Xiao Yuxuan saw Caihe and Chunwen, the two were no longer recognizable as human beings.
What good can come of being sent to the Censorate?
They would interrogate their ancestors for eighteen generations, and their entire life from childhood to adulthood would be thoroughly investigated. A single question would be asked repeatedly, dozens of times.
If you show the slightest impatience or give inconsistent answers, a whole host of tricks await you...
After asking all the questions, he was almost driven mad.
Caihe lay on the shelf, barely alive, her body covered in wounds, yet her clothes were spotless, without a trace of blood, demonstrating the remarkable skill of the people here.
Chunwen, standing nearby, was also in critical condition. Qin Yuan stepped forward, lifted the white sheet covering her, glanced at her, then frowned and covered her again.
Chunwen's clothes were pulled off from her back to her knees, revealing a patch of skin with a strange bluish-purple sheen. Compared to the superficial wounds caused by the board directly breaking the skin, this method of breaking bones and flesh without piercing the skin was ten times more painful.
Xiao Yuxuan watched the two of them quietly, but felt no joy whatsoever.
These two were just unlucky scapegoats pushed out by Xiao Yuyao. The retribution they are suffering now is merely paying the price for what they did, and it cannot extinguish the slightest bit of anger in her heart.
“Madam Xiao, these two have confessed quite a bit, and their testimonies are all here. However, His Highness the Crown Prince instructed that although their lives were not at stake, the most important thing was to get information out of them. Therefore, his men were a bit too harsh. Do you have any further instructions?”
The young eunuch from the Censorate, with a smile on his face, handed a thick confession to Madam Xiao.
Madam Xiao felt nauseous just seeing these two vibrant people turned into this state. Naturally, she had nothing to give at the moment and waved her hand to tell Li Mama to invite the young master for tea.
Li's mother also accepted the testimony, not intending to look at it again.
Xiao Yuyao clutched the handkerchief, her eyes barely leaving the testimony. As she watched Li Mama tuck it into her sleeve, she bit her cheek.
Caihe was her confidante and knew quite a lot. At yesterday's palace banquet, she stopped the people from the Censorate from taking her away, naturally because she was afraid that she would say something that would be detrimental to her.
Now that there is testimony, she absolutely cannot let the Xiao family see it!
We need to find a way to take it from Li's mother and destroy it.
"You should go back first. Those two are probably no good anymore. We'll find a matchmaker tomorrow and pick out a few better ones for you."
She couldn't be bothered to care how those two maids had betrayed their mistress; they wouldn't live much longer anyway, and it would be better if they died.
Yuyao grew up by her side from childhood, growing from a lovely and innocent girl to the dignified and graceful woman she is today. It must be that girl named Caihe who went astray.
As for Yu Xuan, although she is her biological daughter, she has only recently returned to the Xiao family and is still unfamiliar with many people and things. She doesn't know how to manage her subordinates, so it's normal for Chunwen to have ulterior motives.
Madam Xiao looked tired. She had been restless for the past few days, as if something terrible was about to happen. She couldn't eat or sleep properly, but she couldn't find the reason no matter how hard she tried. It was really strange.
"Mother, it's all Yuyao's fault. If Yuyao hadn't failed to notice Caihe's feelings, causing her to harbor resentment towards Fifth Sister, then yesterday's events wouldn't have happened..."
Xiao Yuyao personally helped Madam Xiao sit down and gently pressed her temples, looking extremely guilty.
Xiao Yuxuan could guess what she was thinking, but then her sleeve twitched and Qin Yuan tugged at her.
"Young lady, that old man is waiting for you."
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