Consort Zhang looked confidently at Emperor Wenjian.
Emperor Wenjian turned his gaze to the three people and scrutinized them for a long time. He only recognized the two palace maids from Consort Liu's palace, but he had no recollection of the midwife.
"Your Majesty, you must not believe Consort Zhang's words. These three people were caught by Consort Zhang, so they must have been threatened by her beforehand."
Consort Zhang either arrested their relatives to threaten them, or poisoned them as a form of coercion. Please do not believe their testimonies!
Before Emperor Wenjian could ask a question, the Empress spoke first.
"Your Majesty, why are you so nervous? If they are lying, why are you so agitated? Your Majesty, the Empress is just feeling guilty!"
Consort Zhang tried her best to expose the Empress's guilty conscience. In her opinion, the Empress's words were actually a sign of fear.
Emperor Wenjian pursed his lips and remained silent, glancing at the two of them as if pondering their words.
"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, it would be better to first have the imperial physicians examine these people to see if they have been poisoned, and then check if they have any family members?"
At this moment, a eunuch who was with Emperor Wenjian saw that the emperor was in a dilemma, so he took the initiative to help him.
Emperor Wenjian thought it was a good suggestion and immediately ordered someone to carry it out.
After a while, the eunuch returned and reported.
"Your Majesty, of these three, only the two palace maids have relatives, but it has not been found that their relatives have been arrested, and none of the three have been poisoned."
"Your Majesty, you see, I didn't lie. The Empress is just feeling guilty!"
Upon hearing that the result was in her favor, Consort Zhang immediately straightened her back even more.
The Empress's hands were clenched tightly, and her back was already slightly sweaty.
If the truth is revealed later, she will have no choice but to tell the truth about what happened back then. In that case, although Xiao Ye is still the emperor's son, his half-sister will ultimately have no official status, and Xiao Ye will be a child who cannot be seen in the light of day.
Seeing this, Emperor Wenjian also glanced at the Empress with suspicion, and accidentally caught a glimpse of her nervous and helpless expression.
His eyes narrowed dangerously, and his suspicion of her intensified immediately.
So he asked the kneeling midwife in a deep voice, "Tell me, what exactly happened back then? Was the Crown Prince born to the Empress?"
If you are lying even a little bit, I will surely take your head!
The old woman, her body trembling, knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
"Your Majesty, it is true that the Empress gave birth to the Crown Prince. This old servant was threatened by them to give false testimony to frame the Empress, but seeing Your Majesty's majesty, this old servant dared not lie!"
What!
The Crown Prince is the Empress's son!
Everyone looked at the old woman in surprise when they heard her words.
Especially Zhang Pin's incredulous gaze, as if she were dreaming.
how so?
Didn't King Xiao say they would expose the Empress?
Why would they say that?
Emperor Wenjian also felt a little strange. Was the Crown Prince really the Empress's son?
Why was the Empress nervous just now?
To confirm, he looked at the two palace maids and asked, "Did you really hear Consort Liu say that she discovered the Crown Prince is not the Empress's son?"
"Your Majesty, I was only threatened by Consort Zhang and the others. In fact, I never heard Consort Liu say such a thing. If Consort Liu really knew, why didn't she tell Your Majesty?"
The palace maid spoke in the same tone as the midwife.
"You're talking nonsense! How did I threaten you? I didn't poison you, nor did I arrest your family members. You must have been bribed by the Empress to lie here!"
"Your Majesty, you must order them to be severely tortured! They will surely reveal the truth: it was the Empress who bribed them beforehand!"
Consort Zhang pointed at them and cursed them excitedly.
"Heh, Consort Zhang, you brought these people here. How can I bribe them? Hmm?"
The Empress slowly came to her senses and guessed that Xiao Ye and the others had probably taken care of things down below, so she no longer looked tense.
However, she did not expect that Emperor Wenjian would still have doubts about her because he had just seen her nervous expression.
At this moment, Emperor Wenjian neither trusted Consort Zhang nor the Empress.
He frowned and remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Since you all have your own versions of events, I think it would be better to have the imperial physician perform a blood test on the Crown Prince and the person in question."
If Consort Zhang is lying, I will naturally execute you for falsely accusing the Empress. If she is not lying, then... I will handle the matter impartially.
Ultimately, he still had his doubts.
"Your Majesty, I will obey your every command."
Upon hearing this, Consort Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced triumphantly at the Empress, only to see her head bowed and her face pale. This gave her even more confidence.
Little did she know that the Empress's grim expression was not due to concern about Xiao Ye's background, but rather because she was heartbroken that the man who had been by her side for decades still did not trust her.
Before long, Xiao Ye was invited into the palace.
The Imperial Medical Academy quickly used their method to perform a blood test to determine kinship between the Emperor and Xiao Ye. Apart from the Empress and Xiao Ye, everyone else waited anxiously for the results.
"Your Majesty, you and the Crown Prince are indeed biological teachers."
After a while, the imperial physician happily announced the results.
Emperor Wenjian's doubts dissipated, and he turned to look at Consort Zhang with anger.
"Guards! Consort Zhang has falsely accused the Empress. She is hereby stripped of her consort title and given three feet of white silk to hang herself. She is forbidden from being buried in the imperial mausoleum after her death!"
"Your Majesty, spare me! I did not falsely accuse the Empress. It must be that the imperial physician was bribed by the Empress! I beg Your Majesty to see the truth!"
Consort Zhang only realized what was happening after being captured. She knelt on the ground and refused to leave, begging for mercy in terror.
In her view, Xiao Wang's investigation results must be correct; the Empress and the Crown Prince must have bribed the imperial physicians and tampered with things to cause this.
But at this moment, the imperial physician who had been falsely accused stood up with a face full of anger and righteous indignation.
He cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have served Your Majesty diligently in the Imperial Hospital for many years, always maintaining integrity and incorruptibility. Consort Zhang's slanderous accusations against me are truly an insult!"
How could he have been bribed by the Empress?
The verification results are clearly accurate, yet Consort Zhang has so falsely accused the Empress and herself. She is truly despicable!
Seeing the imperial physician's attitude, Emperor Wenjian became even more convinced of the verification results. He quickly waved his hand and ordered someone to go and get rid of Consort Zhang immediately.
By the time Prince Xiao learned that Consort Zhang had been sentenced to death, her body had already been placed in a coffin.
"Mother!"
King Xiao stumbled from outside the palace to Consort Zhang's chambers. Upon seeing the dark coffin, he was so frightened that he staggered and fell to the ground.
how so?
Why was my perfectly healthy mother forced to commit suicide?
Isn't everything all arranged perfectly?
He had no idea that what he thought was evidence had already been betrayed and destroyed by Xiao Ye, and that Su Liluo had given them a poison that no one could detect.
Now that they have completed the testimonies, the three of them have escaped the capital by faking their deaths.
The Emperor, upon learning of the three deaths, would assume it was a deliberate act of revenge by Prince Xiao.
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