Upon hearing this, Mother Zhang felt chilled to the bone and had no choice but to believe that Zhu Yue was the one who poisoned her.
"Stop making random accusations!" Xu Mo's face turned ashen as he shouted, "Mother Zhang has been with the prince since he was very young. You could say she watched him grow up. How could she possibly poison him?"
"Your Majesty, I entered the Grand Prince's Mansion when I was seven or eight years old. I am also an elder in the Grand Prince's Mansion. Why should Madam Zhang be eliminated as a suspect just because she has been there longer than the four of us maids? I refuse to accept this! And Madam Zhang always has her keys with her. So, after breakfast and before lunch that day, is it possible that Madam Zhang went back to the small kitchen and poisoned the water tank while no one was paying attention?"
When everyone heard this, they thought it was possible and subconsciously looked towards Mother Zhang at the outermost edge of the yard.
"Your Majesty!" Mother Zhang rushed out and knelt before Emperor Qianyuan. "She is throwing dirty water on me. This is a false accusation! I locked the small kitchen and went to the main kitchen to have breakfast. I checked the ingredients delivered to the mansion with Butler Hu. We then arranged for the second and third-class maids to tidy up the courtyards and for the gardener to bring servants to trim the flowers. I had no time to sneak back to the small kitchen of Xiaoyun Pavilion and poison it. Many people saw it at the time, and they can all testify with me. Also, the prince was seriously ill, and Xu Mo arranged for many guards to strictly guard Xiaoyun Pavilion. There were also people guarding the small kitchen. If I had returned to the small kitchen, the guards would not have been able to see it!"
Mother Zhang looked at Xu Mo and said, "Guard Xu, can you ask the guards on duty near the small kitchen that day whether I have secretly returned to the small kitchen? Please ask them to come over and clear my name!"
Xu Mo quickly called over the guards who were on duty near the small kitchen that day and asked, "Did you see Mother Zhang return to the small kitchen alone before lunch on the day the prince vomited blood and fainted?"
Guard A: “No!”
The guard said: "Mother Zhang only brings Qinglian and the other maids to the kitchen when she's about to cook!"
"Zhu Yue!" Xu Mo helped Zhang's mother up and looked at Zhu Yue lying on the bench with hatred!
Not only did she poison the prince, she also slandered Mother Zhang, "Tell the truth now, and stop struggling!"
"Your Majesty, I don't know how the water jar could have been poisoned. I didn't do anything like that. The pheasant His Majesty ate that day was sent by Zhang Mama's neighbors, the Niu family. It's most likely that Zhang Mama poisoned the pheasant, and then poisoned the water jar while I wasn't paying attention to frame me! Hahaha... That's right! That's how Zhang Mama framed me!"
"Someone!" The Empress Dowager didn't want to hear any more. "Beat me, beat me hard! Stop her from making random accusations!"
"Queen Dowager, I will have you beat me to death here today. I didn't do it, and I didn't do it. The real murderer is not me. The real murderer will also poison the prince...ah..."
This time the blow was heavier, and Zhu Yue could no longer speak complete words, only howling in pain.
Xie Wanyi was worried that Zhu Yue was not the murderer and that she was wrongly accused, allowing the real murderer to go unpunished. The prince and she would be persecuted again. After all, the water had not been tested. Just as she was about to speak out to save Zhu Yue, a voice came from behind her before her.
"stop!"
At this time, Xiao Lingyu came over with Xiao Xier, followed by a Chinese pastoral dog, Mo Shu, Nie Jiu and others.
"Princess, I... am innocent!" Zhu Yue saw Xiao Lingyu as if she had seen a savior, "Princess... please believe... me!"
Xiao Xier brought Xiao Huang to Zhu Yue's buttocks, which were beaten to pieces...
"Sister Princess, are these five bowls of chicken blood poisonous?"
Xiao Lingyu nodded: "These five bowls of pheasant blood are indeed poisonous, and they are exactly the same poison that the prince was poisoned with."
Mother Zhang thought to herself, "Princess, could these five bowls of chicken blood be from pheasants hunted by the Niu family?"
"Yes, this is what Mo Feng brought back from the Niu family yard in Zhangjia Village."
"Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, I'm truly innocent! The prince vomited blood and fainted because he ate the poisoned pheasant sent by the Niu family!" Zhu Yue felt the pain in her butt subside, and her voice rose a few notches: "Mother Zhang is the real murderer. Your majesty, Empress Dowager, she took the opportunity to poison the water tank after she had cooked the pheasant soup that day and framed me. I beg Your Majesty and Empress Dowager to investigate! Clear my name!"
"Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, I... was not aware of this. I didn't know that the Niu family would send poisoned pheasants. I am innocent!" Mother Zhang was also dumbfounded at this moment. She couldn't explain it clearly. She was the one who introduced the Niu family!
"Mother Zhang, you are the murderer. You asked the Niu family to deliver the poisoned pheasant, and then took the opportunity to poison the water tank to frame me and make me the scapegoat. The Niu family and you have cleared yourself of suspicion!"
"No! Your Majesty, Queen Mother, this old slave didn't do this. Someone must have learned of my relationship with the Niu family and bribed them to send poisoned pheasants to harm the prince!"
"It's you. That day in the kitchen, we didn't pay much attention to you, nor could we have paid attention to your every move. We were all helping you, with a clear division of labor. It would have been easy for you to poison the water tank while we weren't paying attention. If anything happened, I would have been the scapegoat!"
"Zhuyue is right." Baizhi spoke up at this time, "Mother Zhang, Shaoyao and I didn't pay much attention to your every move at that time. You did have the opportunity to poison the water tank."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Xu Mo firmly believed that Mother Zhang was not the murderer. "How could Mother Zhang poison the prince? Don't forget, Mother Zhang tastes every dish to determine the saltiness, and of course she tastes the pheasant soup. If she really poisoned it, how could she dare to taste it herself?"
"The princess said that this poison is a slow-acting one. It won't take effect immediately on a healthy person. Since Madam Zhang dared to poison someone, she must have tasted the poison. Who knows, she might have the antidote."
"Yes, Mother Zhang tested the poison on herself to eliminate suspicion." Shaoyao agreed.
"Your Highness!" Mother Zhang knelt before Feng Jinyu. "It's hard for me to prove my innocence now, but please believe me, Your Highness. I will never harm you. I never thought the Niu family would send poisoned pheasants!"
Feng Jinyu couldn't really believe that Zhang's mother was innocent, but he still said, "I believe you...you won't harm me. The Niu family has disappeared without a trace."
"What, missing?"
Xiao Lingyu saw that her reactions were all genuine and did not seem fake.
Mo Feng said, "Yes, Mother Zhang. We went to Zhangjia Village to check on the Niu family. When we got there, we found that the Niu family was gone. There were only five poisonous pheasants left in the yard, so we brought them back for inspection."
Zhu Yue suddenly became anxious. How could Mother Zhang gain the prince's trust so easily?
"Your Highness! The evidence now points to Mother Zhang. She is inextricably linked to this. You cannot trust her so easily. The Niu family is missing. Perhaps Mother Zhang sent them away early and they were unable to testify against her, leaving me as the scapegoat!"
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