Chapter 1142 The death of the late queen was not an accident!
The concubines around were whispering.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent! I, as a witness, have definitely not been bribed, and those medicinal herbs do exist, but..."
Jiang Xue was speechless and extremely anxious, but she didn't know how to prove her innocence.
The queen waved her hand impatiently, interrupting Jiang Xue's words.
"That's enough! I don't want to hear your excuses anymore. Someone, take the princess away and keep her under strict watch!"
At this moment, a eunuch's shrill voice suddenly came from outside the palace: "The emperor has arrived!"
Everyone was shocked and knelt down to pay their respects.
The emperor put on the dragon robe and walked in majestically.
His eyes swept across everyone and finally landed on Jiang Xue.
"What's going on?" The emperor's tone was calm, but with a hint of unquestionable majesty.
The queen quickly stood up and narrated the whole story with exaggeration, putting all the blame on Jiang Xue.
After listening to the Queen's story, the Emperor frowned slightly and turned his gaze to Jiang Xue.
"Princess, do you have anything else to say?"
Jiang Xue took a deep breath, and a sense of awe emanated from her body, as if a plum blossom bloomed proudly in the snow, unafraid of wind and frost.
"Your Majesty, I did bring witnesses, and more than one." Her tone was firm and powerful, and every word struck everyone's heart.
As she finished her words, two palace maids were brought up.
One of them was the palace maid on duty in the Imperial Garden that day, and the other was a medicine boy in the Imperial Hospital.
Although the two were trembling with fear, they still mustered up the courage under Jiang Xue's encouraging eyes and recounted what they had seen and heard that day.
The maid in the Imperial Garden recounted how Rongpin had instructed her to put poisonous spices into the incense burner and how she had deliberately lured Jiang Xue closer.
The pharmacist of the Imperial Hospital testified that Rongpin had gone in and out of the Imperial Hospital many times and secretly took some special medicinal materials.
Their testimonies corroborated each other and were logically sound. Rongpin's expression gradually turned ugly, with beads of sweat oozing out of her forehead.
"You...you are talking nonsense!"
Rongpin retorted in panic, but her trembling voice and evasive eyes revealed her guilty conscience.
The Queen's confident expression also began to crack. She glared at Rongpin fiercely, as if blaming her for her poor performance.
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense, as if it was a taut string that could break at any time.
"Your Majesty, I guarantee with my life that everything they said is true." Jiang Xue reiterated.
Just when everyone thought the truth was revealed, the maid in the imperial garden suddenly fell to her knees, crying and saying:
"Your Majesty, spare my life! I have something else to report! This matter... this matter is also related to Concubine Rong, but the mastermind behind this is..."
The maid's voice became quieter and quieter until it was almost inaudible.
She raised her head and looked at the queen in horror, her lips trembling, but she still didn't dare to say the name.
"Tell me! Who is it?" The emperor's tone was majestic and left no room for doubt.
The maid took a deep breath, as if she had used up all her strength, and said tremblingly: "Yes...it's the Queen!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar.
Everyone looked at the queen in disbelief, as if they had heard some shocking secret.
The queen's face turned pale in an instant. She stood up suddenly, pointed at the maid and angrily shouted, "You daring slave! How dare you slander me! Come, drag her away and beat her to death!"
“Wait!”
Jiang Xue shouted, "Why is the Queen so anxious? Is she feeling guilty?"
The queen suppressed her panic and snorted coldly, "I am upright and honest, why should I feel guilty? This lowly maid was clearly instructed by someone to deliberately frame me!"
"Yeah?"
Jiang Xue sneered, "Since the Queen is so confident, let her finish her words. Perhaps she knows more than we thought."
The palace maid in the imperial garden raised her head again, her eyes filled with fear and despair.
She glanced at Jiang Xue, then at the queen. Finally, she gritted her teeth and said, "This servant... this servant wants to talk about the late queen..."
"Shut up!" the queen screamed hysterically, her voice sharp and piercing, echoing in the palace.
However, the maid didn't care about that anymore. She seemed to have given up and continued, "The death of the late queen was not an accident!"
The queen's face became even paler, and she stared at the palace maid. The atmosphere in the palace became extremely tense, like the calm before the storm.
At this moment, the palace maid suddenly stopped, her eyes widened, and she looked towards the door in horror, as if she saw something terrible.
"You...you!" The palace maid stretched out her hand tremblingly, pointing at the door, her voice intermittent.
Everyone followed her gaze and saw a person standing at the door!
"It's you!" Jiang Xue exclaimed.
"The Emperor has arrived!" The shrill announcement reached everyone's ears, and they all looked towards the palace door. Under everyone's gaze, the Emperor walked in slowly.
If Xiao Zhan's appearance had thrown the Queen into disarray, then the Emperor's arrival would undoubtedly have made matters worse for the Queen.
The queen's originally ugly face turned even paler at this moment, while Jiang Xue's heart was filled with anticipation and nervousness, not knowing which side Xiao Zhan would stand on.
She secretly glanced at Xiao Zhan beside her, but found that he still had no expression on his face, as if all this had nothing to do with him.
This unknown fear tightly wrapped around her heart like a vine, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
The queen took a deep breath and tried to maintain her composure.
She walked slowly before the emperor, performed standard court etiquette, and then said in a tearful voice:
"Your Majesty, I am innocent! Princess He and Concubine Li are colluding to disrupt the order of the harem. I just can't stand it anymore, so..."
As she spoke, she wiped the non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, looking extremely aggrieved.
Upon seeing this, Rongpin immediately stepped forward and echoed, "Yes, Your Majesty, the Empress was devoted to the peace of the harem, but was framed by these two people. It's really chilling!"
The two of them sang in unison, cooperating seamlessly, as if they had rehearsed it long ago.
Jiang Xue and Concubine Li were so angry that their faces turned red, but they could not refute.
Their eyes all turned to Xiao Zhan, hoping that he would stand up and say something fair.
However, Xiao Zhan remained expressionless, like a cold sculpture, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.
Jiang Xue felt a trace of despair. She clenched the rag in her hand tightly, with her fingertips almost embedding into her palm.
The atmosphere around was suffocatingly oppressive, like the calm before a storm.
She felt like a butterfly trapped in a spider web, unable to escape no matter how hard she struggled.
Concubine Li noticed Jiang Xue's uneasiness, touched her hand gently, and signaled her to calm down with her eyes.
Jiang Xue herself knew that now was not the time to panic. She had to keep a cool head at all times in order to find a way out of the situation.
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