Chapter 65 Crisis Resolved
Catching Jiang Fusheng's subtle gaze, Yun Wan realized that he was trying to help her, and immediately seized the opportunity to speak out:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Concubine Shen's maid, Hongxiu, just kept saying that her mistress couldn't touch lilacs since she was a child. But that day, she told me that Concubine Shen loved lilacs, and hinted that I could use lilacs in incense to satisfy Concubine Shen."
This was the second time she said this. Unlike the first time when Emperor Jingxuan was away, this time Concubine Li only frowned suspiciously and said, "Master Yunxiang, your words are really far-fetched. Is there anyone who can testify for you?"
Yun Wan lowered her eyes: "We were talking in the small cubicle at the time, and there was no third person present."
As expected, Concubine Li sighed and said, "Your Majesty, it's not that I'm embarrassed, it's just that her words are hard to convince the public..."
Concubine Zhang, who was usually on good terms with Concubine Shen, said weakly, "Master Yunxiang's words are hard to convince the public, and Hongxiu's words are also hard to believe..."
Her voice was so soft that everyone present could hear it clearly.
Concubine Li's beautiful eyes flew up as she glanced over coldly, frightening Concubine Zhang so much that her shoulders shrank and her head almost dropped to her chest.
Emperor Jingxuan said coldly: "Where is Hongxiu?"
Hongxiu, who had lost her presence since Emperor Jingxuan appeared, knelt on the ground and said, "Your servant Hongxiu pays respects to Your Majesty."
Emperor Jingxuan: "Your master has been forbidden to touch cloves since childhood?"
Hongxiu lowered her head, her voice trembling, "Your Majesty, that's right."
"I swear, I have already told Master Yunxiang about this matter, but who could have known... that she would dare to harm my master."
Her voice was choked with sobs, and she looked like a master and servant with deep affection.
Yun Wan thought that she had misjudged Hongxiu, thinking that she was a flamboyant and straightforward person. In fact, it would be a pity if she didn't become an actor.
She loudly defended herself, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I have never met Concubine Shen and have no grudges against her. Why would I harm her? If I really wanted to harm her, how could I be so foolish as to add cloves to the incense I made? Wouldn't that be telling everyone?"
Hongxiu whispered, "What if you are taking advantage of people's hearts and doing the opposite?"
Emperor Jingxuan's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he looked at Hongxiu with a dead look: "Come here, drag this slave away and interrogate her severely. I want to hear the whole truth from her mouth."
Hongxiu suddenly raised her head, her face pale. "Your Majesty, please spare me! Please spare me! Every word this servant said is true, absolutely true! Please spare me, Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
"My Lady, save me—Mmmmm!"
The eunuch guarding outside received the order and quickly dragged the man out.
This sudden change caught everyone off guard and made them panic.
In this prison, people always go in standing up and are carried out sideways.
It is a great blessing to be able to save one's life.
Concubine Li spoke with difficulty: "Your Majesty, do you suspect Hongxiu of lying?"
Emperor Jingxuan's brows were gloomy. "If you are lying, go to the Criminal Justice Department and you will know for sure."
Why not send Yun Wan to the prison as well? Why only send Hong Xiu in?
Concubine Li felt very uncomfortable.
She hesitated for a while and said, "But Hongxiu is Shenpin's person after all. She serves her master wholeheartedly and there is nothing wrong with that..."
She looked embarrassed. It would be disheartening to hear that the servant who had served her so wholeheartedly had met such a fate.
"No fault yet?"
Emperor Jingxuan raised his hand, and the Ru kiln porcelain cups fell heavily to the ground, shattering into pieces. His voice was as deep as water:
"Knowing clearly that the master cannot touch cloves, yet allowing something containing cloves to approach the master, is this considered faultless?"
Everyone was horrified.
Before they could calm down, Emperor Jingxuan's expression darkened slightly, "Master Yunxiang, do you have anything to say?"
Yun Wan pursed her lips and said, "Your Majesty, Imperial Concubine, if I can prove that I did not add cloves to the incense pills I made for Concubine Shen, can I be cleared of suspicion and be cleared of all charges?"
"nature."
"May I ask, Your Majesty, if you could let me have a look at that box of incense pills?"
Concubine Li gave a look and asked someone to take out the things and hand them to her.
Yun Wan sniffed it carefully and indeed smelled a strong scent of cloves. She put down the incense pill and said to the two of them, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this incense pill is indeed mixed with cloves."
Changing the subject, she said calmly, "But it wasn't me who added it during the production process. Someone coated the surface of the incense pill with a layer of clove powder. After it solidified, it looked just like anything else. That's how Concubine Shen got tricked."
Concubine Shu: "You mean someone added cloves to it, so Concubine Shen fell into the trap?"
Yun Wan nodded and asked the Changqing Palace maid, "How many incense pills were originally in this incense box?"
The maid thought for a moment and said, "There were nine when Sister Hongxiu brought them back. My mistress used one today, so there are eight left."
Yun Wan curled her lips: "That's it, the quantity matches."
"But I actually made eleven incense pills in total."
Upon hearing this, everyone had different expressions and was surprised.
Concubine Li's breath hitched, and she heard Yun Wan continue, "One of them is in Lin Gongzheng, and the other is still in my room."
Facing everyone's puzzled expressions, she said truthfully, "I have never met Concubine Shen, but that day she was determined to ask me to create a unique fragrance for her. I was puzzled, so I kept it in mind."
"After the incense pills were made, Miss Hongxiu came to pick them up in person and had them inspected by Lin Gongzheng. She picked out two for record keeping. After confirming that they were all normal, she sealed the incense box and had it handed to Miss Hongxiu."
"During this period, I have never touched the incense box or the incense pills again. Therefore, I only need to compare this box of incense pills with the other two to know if I have lied."
As it turned out, Yun Wan's intuition was correct. After listening to Hongxiu's words that turned the tables and confused right and wrong, she quickly sorted out all the things and details in her mind.
From the beginning to the end, this was a trap, a blatant trap!
And this trap was only aimed at her on the surface, but actually it was aimed at Concubine Shu.
Unfortunately, Yun Wan also realized that Concubine Shu could not help her and only she could save herself.
Soon, Lin Gongzheng arrived. In addition, she also brought two small square boxes.
Jiang Fusheng said, "Lin Gongzheng, tell me what happened when Master Yunxiang came to see you that day."
Then Lin Gongzheng slowly told the story, and the general outline of the story was exactly the same as Yun Wan's.
Finally, she added solemnly, "The incense-making process of the incense master is recorded in a book. The spices used and the steps taken are all recorded until the completion. Incense Master Yun never touched cloves while making incense for Concubine Shen. This servant can prove it."
At this time, the incense pills taken for identification had also yielded some results. The eunuch who delivered the message said truthfully, "Your Majesty, after confirmation by several imperial physicians, these two incense pills do not contain cloves and are harmless to the body."
"On the contrary, this box does have traces of cloves on the surface."
The box he was talking about was the one used by Concubine Shen.
Concubine Li smiled faintly: "It seems that Hongxiu lied. She is the most suspicious."
"But I'm curious. Hongxiu deliberately told you about the clove, but why didn't you use it? Could it be that Master Yunxiang already knew someone was going to harm Concubine Shen?"
She looked straight at Yun Wan.
Yun Wan: "Your Majesty has misunderstood. Originally, I also wanted to cater to Concubine Shen's preference and use cloves as the incense, but this way the fragrance of the incense pills is far from the effect Concubine Shen wanted."
"After careful consideration, I decided to give up Dingxiang. If Concubine Shen doesn't like it, I will make some improvements."
"I just didn't expect something like this to happen. Even though I gave up Dingxiang and didn't fall into the trap the thieves wanted, Concubine Shen still suffered."
A moment later, a eunuch came in with a bloody smell and reported:
"Your Majesty, there's a result from the Criminal Justice Department!"
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