The national teacher gave Fugui a satisfied look and said, "Well said, if you can speak, say more."
Fugui thought to himself, it’s all over, the Imperial Master had a fake smile on his face, he must be secretly holding a grudge.
"Who is Xia Chan?"
When the emperor asked this question, the queen's back, which had been straight, suddenly softened, and Xia Chan knelt on the ground to answer.
"Your servant Xia Chan pays homage to His Majesty."
"Are you Xia Chan?"
"yes."
"I ask you, where were you at noon five days ago?"
"At that time, I was feeding the parrot under the eaves."
"Hey, how many talking parrots are there in Qiwu Palace?"
Xia Chan answered without hesitation, "There are five parrots in Qiwu Palace, three of which can talk and two cannot."
"Xia Chan, have you met anyone special recently?"
Xia Chan glanced at Ruyi quickly, then quickly lowered his head.
"The person I met was very ordinary."
"I understand."
The emperor had obtained the clues he wanted from his conversation with Xia Chan, and Xia Chan retreated as if relieved.
Zhen Fei took out the account book that Yi Fei had given her and walked to the emperor's side: "Your Majesty, please look."
The emperor flipped through the account book and took a long breath. This was a considerable amount. The emperor tapped the table lightly and pointed at the account book and said, "Queen, you are really good at accounting."
When the Imperial Master saw that the Emperor was about to start a tirade, he immediately ran away, "Your Majesty, I have to pee urgently."
What a good excuse. People have urgent needs, and the emperor had no reason to stop him.
The imperial teacher ran very fast, as if he was riding on a Hot Wheels.
Zhen Fei said, "Your Majesty, I have to go back and feed the cat. I'll take my leave."
Zhenfei hurriedly took Gu Yinwei away.
Concubine Rou stood up from her chair and said with her red lips: "Your Majesty..."
Before Concubine Rou could finish her words, she was interrupted.
"The Imperial Noble Consort, Consort Yi, and Consort Rou will stay. The others can leave on their own."
Fugui trotted to Zhang Ji, took a thick stack of testimonies, and then took three letters from Ms. Pei.
Zhang Ji left with the female officials. When they walked out of the gate of Qiwu Palace, they all breathed a sigh of relief. They had been busy investigating the case these days and hadn't slept in for several days. They had to go back and have a good rest.
"Your Majesty, this is the testimony collected by Lord Zhang of the Ministry of Justice, and this is the evidence collected by the ladies-in-waiting."
The emperor took a rough look and made a decision in his mind.
The young emperor's eyes were cold and he asked, "Who will speak first?"
Concubine Rou spoke first, "Your Majesty, let me tell you something. I'm good friends with Ning Shuyi. Whenever Ning Shuyi talks to me, she often brags about her family's wealth. She also said that a high platform collapsed thirty years ago..."
"Don't bring up the past events of thirty years ago. Today I will only investigate the harem's accounts and the poisoning case."
"The accounts were kept by Concubine Yi, and the poison was also administered by Concubine Yi." Concubine Rou spoke in a calm tone. After she finished speaking, she looked at Concubine Yi, waiting for her to refute.
"It is indeed I who did the accounting. It was the Empress who asked me to do it, and I was just following orders."
The Queen slammed the table fiercely and said, "How dare you! How many heads do you have left to chop off? How dare you falsely accuse me of this?"
"The Empress is ready to abandon me, so I must protect myself. I did have a backup of the account book I gave her that night, and that backup is the one Concubine Zhen just sent me."
"The Empress treated me like a discarded child. She took the initiative to send the accounts to the Imperial Noble Consort and even instigated her to poison Ning Shuyi, hoping to use her to expose me."
"What a joke! Why would I do this?" The Queen raised her eyebrows, her eyes filled with anger.
"Kill three birds with one stone. Kill Ning Shuyi and use this to get rid of the concubine, the imperial concubine, and the concubine Rou."
The concubines argued with each other, and the emperor deduced the whole story through testimony and evidence.
The cause of the incident: The Queen withheld the palace's monthly salary to lend money. In order to cover up the truth of the matter, the Queen asked Concubine Yi to cook the accounts.
What happened before: Concubine Yi gave the account book to the Queen for safekeeping, but the Queen gave the account book to the Imperial Noble Concubine.
The result of the incident: The Imperial Noble Concubine used the account book to expose Concubine Yi, but was worried that the account book was not enough to convict Concubine Yi, so she deliberately poisoned Ning Shuyi and framed Concubine Yi for murder.
The queen sat steadily and gracefully.
The Imperial Noble Consort, Consort Yi, and Consort Rou were arguing fiercely with each other. They blamed each other, exposed each other, and brought up all the trivial matters.
Which woman in the harem, especially those in high positions, has not committed murder? And who can truly withstand exposure?
The Queen loves her mother's family, Concubine Rou loves fine clothes, the Imperial Noble Concubine loves power, Concubine Jin loves chess, and Concubine Rou loves cats. No one truly loves him.
Xun He saw the loneliness in the emperor's eyes and brought him a cup of steaming hot tea.
The people in front of him were all flesh and blood, but their hearts were cold. Only the cup of tea in front of him was hot.
After a long silence, the emperor finally made a decision.
"The Queen's moral conduct is flawed, and her salary will be fined for one year."
The Queen opened her mouth slightly, but ultimately said nothing in rebuttal. She replied, "I know I was wrong."
"Xun He has already sent people to search Chunxi Palace. Apart from Concubine Yi's dowry, nothing was found. It's not enough for you to just admit your mistakes. You still have to make up for the losses."
"I understand."
"It's good that you understand. I asked you to manage the harem, not to enrich yourself. You are my wife first, and the daughter of the Qiu family second."
"I am terrified."
The queen lowered her body and knelt down. The emperor walked past her without even looking at her.
"The Imperial Concubine has poisoned someone. From today on, she is confined to Qionghua Palace. Without my written permission, she is not allowed to leave."
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