Chapter 374 Yixiu 52
Rouze also glanced at Yixiu with regret. She was much more patient than Nian Shilan. She had been lying like a useless person under Yixiu's hands for so many years, but she really didn't reveal any evidence.
Therefore, Rouze thought about it again and again, and was not sure whether to drag Yixiu into the water. Moreover, if that were the case, Yixiu would probably join forces with Nian Shilan. At that time, she would probably have no choice but to go underground and implement all her plans.
"You don't have to worry about it. Everyone in the mansion has their own opinion of what kind of person my sister is. If she really wanted to harm me, she wouldn't have waited until now."
Since we can't drag everyone into this, we can just use her as a tool.
After Rouze finished speaking with awe-inspiring dignity, Yixiu pretended to hold her hands tightly, as if she was so moved that she couldn't speak. "Sister, with your words, I can die without regrets..."
Yinzhen's expression softened slightly as he spoke to Yixiu, "Don't talk nonsense about life and death." He then turned to Rouze and said gently, "You and Yixiu have been married for over a decade. I know you very well."
"Your Highness, do you not trust my character?"
Nian Shilan looked at him in disbelief. She was easily led astray and even forgot about important matters like Huan Yixiang. Her only thought was "Does my master love me?"
Seeing her like this, Rouze felt annoyed and winked at Lianxing, who was standing beside her. She then left and came back with a maid.
The maid knelt down as soon as she entered the room, and her whole body was trembling, perhaps out of fear or something else.
"Tell me who you are and what you did. Tell me everything clearly. If you tell a lie, think about the consequences."
The maid's face grew even more fearful after hearing this. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "I am Xiaohong, a servant in Concubine Nian's courtyard. Yesterday, I was on duty as usual and ran into Lady Cao coming to pay her respects to Concubine Nian. This is a common occurrence, so I didn't think much of it."
"Because that day, Sister Fuzhi said that the peonies under the window of the Concubine's east side room seemed to be sick. I used to work in the flower room, so she pointed me to go and see."
"I am small... and those large peonies have been growing for a long time, almost half a person's height. Perhaps I was squatting among the flowers and digging for roots, so no one else saw me..."
The maidservant's expression grew uglier as she spoke, almost as if she were mourning a loss. "In the end, this servant heard... something about bitter almonds, they're poisonous. Just a few of them, and this servant is terrified..."
The more she spoke, the uglier Nian Shilan's face became. When she heard the last part, she could no longer hold back and kicked the servant girl, saying sternly, "How dare you, you lowly servant, spread nonsense and frame me? Who told you to make up these lies to harm me?"
"Why don't you pull Concubine Nian away!"
Seeing that Yinzhen seemed to have reached the limit of his patience, Yixiu was afraid that he would just give everyone an unreasonable "thirty lashes" and the show would be over, so she immediately took on the basic qualities of a bystander and helped everyone maintain discipline on the field.
Seeing that Nian Shilan was still about to attack after being pulled away, Rouze followed Liangliang and said, "What? Do you think Ninghua Hall is your Nian Mansion? Are you going to beat the witness to death in front of me and my master?"
Then, before Yinzhen could speak, he ordered another servant to be brought in. Without waiting for anyone to ask, he pointed directly at Lianxing: "I'm not in the mood right now, you speak."
Lian Xing bowed, then knelt on the ground and said calmly, "Your Highness, this maid is Qing Xing from the Ninghua Hall kitchen. Yesterday, Xiao Hong was snooping around outside our courtyard and was brought in. She said this before we could even ask her. Our wife didn't believe it at first, saying it must be a misunderstanding. However, as servants, Shi Yue and I naturally took this matter to heart, so we brought people to conduct a search."
"I didn't expect to find these poisonous bitter almonds in Qingxing's place. She initially denied it, but we found out that one of her parents was sick, one had a broken leg, her three older brothers were still unmarried, and she had two younger sisters who all depended on her monthly allowance for their survival. But two weeks ago, she suddenly made a fortune and moved away with her entire family, claiming they were returning to their hometown."
Lian Xing's face was filled with genuine anger, and she didn't forget to glare at her fiercely at the end. "Unfortunately, there's always a loophole. Her eldest brother is a gambler. He ran away and couldn't control his money. He was detained by a small gambling house in a small county town less than ten miles from Beijing. When she saw that the whole family had been arrested and brought back, she told the truth."
"You traitor, why don't you tell me all the dirty things you've done?"
Lian Xing's sweet cry seemed to have freed Qing Xing from her muteness. Chun Xing, who had been kneeling on the ground without saying a word, immediately opened her mouth and blurted out everything: "This servant deserves death, this servant deserves death. I was blinded by greed. It turned out that Sister Lingzhi from Concubine Nian's room had found me and told me to mix three or five almonds into Concubine Nian's daily tea. This servant had no other choice... Your Highness, please spare me, Concubine, please spare me..."
Yinzhen pinched his brows, waved his hand and had Qingxing, who was kowtowing non-stop on the ground, dragged out, and said in a calm tone: "Nian, do you have anything else to say?"
Those who knew him well understood that he was clearly impatient.
Yes, the matters concerning the inner curtain are really a troublesome and trivial matter for Yinzhen now. Not only are they useless for major matters, but they are also dirty and disgusting.
However, Nian Shilan's eyes kept looking at Lian Xing, who was kneeling on the ground and had never looked at her from beginning to end. Her silver teeth were about to break.
What Xiaohong and Qingxing said just now was true. This was exactly her plan. But her plan only involved herself, Cao, Lingzhi, and...
The Lian Xing in front of him knew it.
Even if Nian Shilan was unscrupulous, she knew how serious a crime it was for a concubine to murder a prince's wife. How could she be so careless as to be overheard by a servant sweeping the floor? She certainly wouldn't send Lingzhi, who was by her side, to personally deliver poisoned almonds to the servants in the concubine's courtyard.
It was obvious that she had ordered those almonds to be mixed with the Ganoderma lucidum in the last portion given to the concubine, and she also made special marks to make it easier for Lianxing to distinguish them.
She never expected that one day she, Nian Shilan, would be fooled by a servant girl.
But how could she refute it now? With all the evidence, she couldn't just say someone was using her to kill Fu Jin and set her up, right?
After hesitating for a moment, Nian Shilan could only hold on and said unreasonably, "They are just two servants. How can their words be taken seriously? Who knows if they were bribed or threatened?"
What Nian Shilan said was indeed true, but unfortunately no one would believe it, because she was always flamboyant and everyone knew her arrogant attitude as the housekeeper.
At this moment, Rouze snorted and laughed, "Is Nian talking about me... I never thought that one day, I would hear Nian's mouth... ahem... bribery and threats. Who else in this mansion can bribe someone who threatens you?"
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