34 Deceiving the Emperor
◎This move is risky, but the chances of success are high◎
"These two desserts..." The Queen Mother paused and said with embarrassment, "Both the taste and the appearance are top-grade. I can't say for sure."
Princess Zhaochen said, "Since mother doesn't know how to evaluate it, why don't I make a suggestion? This osmanthus wine cheese is delicious, but it lacks a bit of flavor. This lotus root and purple potato cake, on the other hand, has the word 'purple' in it, implying purple air coming from the east and auspicious clouds, which is more suitable for today's scene."
After hearing these words, the Queen Mother nodded and thought they were interesting, so she chose Chun Sanniang's lotus root and purple sweet potato cake as the winner.
Chun Sanniang, the leader, straightened her back proudly and looked at Song Jinyi with contempt, "Even if you don't join my game, you will still lose to me, right?" Seeing that Song Jinyi still ignored her, she felt that she had lost face.
The three of them stood in the center of the hall and should have been cautious in every move, but Chun Sanniang was in high spirits and became a little bolder.
She took the initiative to approach Song Jinyi and threatened in a low voice: "You lose! Return to Yunzhou, you must publicly admit that you defeated me by dishonorable means."
Song Jinyi looked at Chun Sanniang in disbelief. How could she say such shameless words in public? She asked, "Why?"
"I'm the leader chosen by the Empress Dowager, I'm the tea chef at Zuichunlou, and I have a great reputation in Yunzhou. If you refuse, don't blame me for being rude.
I know you opened a sweet soup shop in Shuchengfang. If you don't want to go wrong and lose everything, just do as I say."
Song Jinyi's pupils shrank when she heard Chun Sanniang mention her sweet water shop. This shop was her blood and sweat, and she had put so much effort into making it what it is today. If anyone dared to touch her weak spot, she would fight them to the death.
A fragment suddenly flashed through her mind - someone put drugs in the water tank before leaving. Now she couldn't help but connect the two things together. Could it be Chun Sanniang's doing?
Song Jinyi observed her and thought to herself, "This Chun Sanniang has always harbored hostility towards me. If I let her take first place this time, her arrogant nature will inevitably lead her to do something outrageous. And with the bounty, she doesn't want to admit defeat."
Seeing the eunuchs announcing the Queen Mother's decree and the palace maids bringing the rewards, Song Jinyi suddenly said, "Wait a minute!" when Chun Sanniang took the reward.
Suddenly, everyone's eyes were focused on her.
Song Jinyi's hands hidden in her sleeves trembled slightly. She was also under a lot of pressure. This was not a vegetable market, and the person above was not an old lady buying vegetables.
The people sitting around her are all important figures in Daxia. A casual word from any of them could easily take her life.
But she had to take the risk. She came up with a way that would not only allow her to use the Queen Mother's hand to determine the true winner with Chun Sanniang, but also perhaps completely eliminate the hidden danger of Chun Sanniang.
But she was not sure about the feasibility of this method. The risk was too great. Her heart was hanging in the air, cold and numb. Her eyes drifted aimlessly until her gaze accidentally fell on Xie Wuyang.
The look he gave her was firm and ardent, as if no matter what she did he would be behind her and be her strongest support.
Her heart seemed to have found a place to settle down at that moment.
The Queen Mother asked, "I wonder if this Lady Song has anything else to say?"
Song Jinyi swallowed her saliva, adjusted her breathing, and said slowly, "I have something to report."
"What's up?"
"I want to report Chun Sanniang for the crime of deceiving the emperor."
"What?" some people present exclaimed.
The Queen Mother's eyes instantly turned cold, her brows slightly furrowed, and she said without a trace of emotion: "Go on!"
"I discovered that the lotus root and purple sweet potato cake I had just been served was not made by Chun Sanniang herself. Because of our fellow townspeople, I hesitated again and again. However, she boldly deceived me, and I dared not refrain from reporting her. Therefore, I had no choice but to report her."
A palace guard dressed in pure blue stepped forward from the Empress Dowager's side and asked, "Madam Song is saying that Madam Chun is a fraud. Do you have any evidence?"
Song Jinyi did not directly answer whether or not, but said: "I have seen Chun Sanniang doing some menial work before, and the real fine work was handed over to others.
Because everyone was busy with their own work and didn't pay attention, and I just saw it accidentally."
There is no evidence, but it can be created.
"You're talking nonsense, I didn't do that!" Chun Sanniang really "jumped up" and pointed at Song Jinyi and shouted. Before she could finish her words, she was sternly scolded by the blue-robed palace guard, "How dare you! Where is this place? How can you be so presumptuous in front of the Queen Mother!"
Chun Sanniang immediately fell silent, knelt down with a plop, and apologized, "I just heard a villain spreading rumors. In a moment of desperation, I wanted to clarify the truth and forgot the situation. I beg the Queen Mother to forgive me!"
The Queen Mother ignored her, so Chun Sanniang had no choice but to continue kneeling with her head down, not daring to stand up to stop Song Jinyi from speaking.
The palace guard asked questioningly, "Mrs. Song just told the story but didn't provide any evidence?"
Song Jinyi said, "The evidence is... the lotus root and purple sweet potato cake she made today. The more authentic one would add..." At this point, she scratched her head in frustration and muttered repeatedly, "What did she add? Brown sugar, or..."
In order to prove that she made it herself, Chun Sanniang blurted out: "It's white sugar, and it's one-fifth the proportion of white sugar to the dough."
Song Jinyi clapped her hands and affirmed, "Yes, it's white sugar!" Then her face turned stern and she shouted, "But this lotus root and purple sweet potato cake clearly uses less sweet powdered sugar instead of white sugar. How could you, a cook yourself, not know this?"
Fortunately, Song Jinyi had tasted a little at that time. She tasted the specialness of it and used it to turn over to Chun Sanniang.
Song Jinyi pressed on step by step, forcing Chun Sanniang to panic. She was so panicked that she didn't refute how Song Jinyi knew it. She hesitated for a long time and couldn't say a single useful piece of information.
The palace guard suddenly said, "If it's just as Madam Song said, there should be a key witness in this matter."
Song Jinyi nodded and said, "Yes, this dessert was actually made by Chun Sanniang's sister."
Chun Sanniang said, "She's just a crude and stupid girl. How could she make snacks? She's just helping me. Don't you have an attendant to help you? Could it be that your snacks are made by someone else?"
Chun Sanniang turned around and said, "If you don't believe me, you can bring my stupid girl up here for questioning."
After a moment, Li He was brought up. It was the first time she had seen such a scene, and she was so scared that her head almost dug into the ground.
Song Jinyi had noticed that Li He was mentally retarded before. When she was at the Gu Mansion, she heard that Li He, like Song Yunting, had a brain damaged by a fever and had the intelligence of an eight-year-old child. In addition, he had been kept in captivity by Chun Sanniang for so many years, so he definitely would not dare to disobey Chun Sanniang.
Song Jinyi lifted her skirt and stood in front of Li He, preventing her from meeting Chun Sanniang's threatening gaze. She bent down and said gently, "Don't be afraid. They just want to ask you a few questions. They won't hurt you. Just answer truthfully."
Li He lowered her head, half leaning towards Song Jinyi. She heard a voice coldly questioning her, "Did you make the lotus root and purple sweet potato cake?"
She frantically looked for Chun Sanniang, only to see Song Jinyi's lotus-pink skirt blocking her entire view to the left.
Li He had no choice but to look up at Song Jinyi. She patted her shoulder gently and said with a smile, "They all like the snacks you make. They want to ask how you make them. You can tell me without worry."
"Really?" Hearing that everyone liked the snacks she made, Li He's mouth curled up happily and a blush appeared on her face.
She said shyly, "My cooking is not very good, but my sister can make it too." At this point, she quickly changed her words, "No! It's Madam Chun who can make it too. She said she made it for the old lady upstairs. I just replaced the white sugar with powdered sugar when I made it.
I think the taste will be better and not too sweet. By the way, I'm telling you this in secret, don't tell anyone else, Madam Chun won't let me tell anyone."
The truth is revealed.
Ever since the argument at Gu's house, she became suspicious when she saw that Chun Sanniang had no calluses on her hands. She also thought that Li He did not look very smart, but Chun Sanniang always brought Li He with her, which was abnormal.
She had no actual evidence and relied entirely on speculation.
Fortunately, she won the bet.
“Although this move is risky, the chances of success are high. [1]”
Song Jinyi looked at the distraught Chun Sanniang and said, "I didn't want to do anything extreme, but she was so vicious to Li He, and she has a vicious temper.
If we can't get to the bottom of this, she'll definitely cause trouble again in the future. After today, she won't be a threat anymore."
Chun Sanniang's face was as pale as paper, and her whole body was like a kite hanging on a tree, swaying precariously. She felt pain all over her body, but she couldn't tell where it hurt.
She felt pain both physically and mentally, as if a stick had hit her head on, smashing her into a bloody mess.
Chun Sanniang lowered her head and did not respond to anything around her until someone called her name. She raised her head but looked around blankly.
For a moment, she forgot who she was and why she was here. Seeing the unfamiliar faces around her, she felt panicky.
She slowed down and thought carefully about what had just happened. She seemed to understand what had happened, but also seemed not to understand.
What do you mean she lied? Bullshit. Li He is her sister, how can she not be considered hers? Li He didn't fight, everything was fine, it was obvious that nothing would happen, it's all... it's all this woman's fault.
She suddenly raised her head, making a "crackling" sound, as if a zombie was twisting its body. Her red eyes were filled with immense hatred, as if she wanted to skin Song Jinyi alive.
Even though Song Jinyi was used to seeing scoundrels in the street, it was the first time she saw such a vicious look. She was shocked and had a hunch that Chun Sanniang might do something bad to her.
In the blink of an eye, Chun Sanniang pulled out the eight-treasure gold hairpin inlaid with pearls on her head and stabbed Song Jinyi fiercely.
【Author’s words】
【1】TV series lines
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