Jing Huaixu was instantly enraged: "How dare you! You're still trying to hide things from me! Guards, punish him first!"
“Father, using torture first is not conducive to interrogation. We should first search the house of the dead palace maid, and then question the palace servants under this female official. We will surely get different information that she cannot deny,” Jingyan suggested.
Jing Huaixu waved his hand: "Some tough nuts to crack have to be cracked first."
Before Jingyan could say anything more, Yuejiang secretly grabbed his hand.
The female official was pressed down on the bench, and then a board was repeatedly struck on her back.
Jing Huaixu also ordered his men to search Lu Zhilu's dressing case and wardrobe, and then summoned the palace maids who shared the room with him.
When the three palace maids entered, they were immediately shocked by the female official who was being beaten and screaming. They then saw their companion, who had been laughing and joking with them during the day, lying on the ground at night.
One of the younger palace maids rubbed her eyes and said, "Sister Luzhi and Sister Luzhu have really done something foolish."
Upon hearing this, Yue Jiang and Jing Yan exchanged a glance.
With progress made, Jing Huaixu pointed at the female official who was being beaten and threatened her.
"Get up and answer them. What foolish thing they did? If you give an untruthful answer, that will be your fate."
The young palace maid was sternly called upon. She remained bowed and dared not get up, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Your Majesty, Sisters Luzhi and Luzhu had no choice. If it weren’t for Lady Kong’s strictness, which often resulted in beatings and scoldings, they wouldn’t have taken such a risk and fought to the death!”
As the young palace maid spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, revealing bruises and swellings all over them.
When the other two palace maids rolled up their sleeves, there were even signs of bone misalignment on their arms, indicating that the group had all been subjected to inhumane treatment.
Upon seeing this, Jing Huaixu immediately ordered his men to examine Lu Zhilu's body, and unsurprisingly, they found numerous wounds, both large and small.
"Is there anyone in my palace who commits private torture? Tell me the truth."
"Yes," the young palace maid who spoke first said, wiping away tears and filled with resentment.
"Lady Kong often beat and scolded the servants for her own amusement. The servants could not bear the torment and tried to complain, but every time they were discovered by Lady Kong's people, we were then plunged into an even bigger beating and scolding."
"Sisters Luzhi and Luzhu are the oldest in our household. They are braver than I am and have long wanted to seek justice for the sisters of Liushang Pavilion."
The maidservant continued, saying that Liushang Pavilion was not like the palace of the imperial concubines, where even if they suffered injustice at the hands of their colleagues, they could still appeal to their master for justice.
Apart from the female official in charge, no other master in Liushang Pavilion can help them. Even if someone knows, they may not be willing to help if the suffering is not one of their own.
When they learned that Liushang Pavilion was about to hold a banquet, they wanted to use the incident involving an important nobleman to draw attention to the matter of Lady Kong torturing palace maids.
"If you think that harming me will allow you to express your suffering, then why did they die from poisoning?" Yue Jiang didn't believe this flawed argument.
The young palace maid looked sad: "The sisters Luzhi and Luzhu said that they don't want to harm people, but something big must happen in Liushang Pavilion to attract everyone's attention. The Crown Princess is pregnant and everyone in the palace knows that, so it is the most suitable place to make a move."
"Just put some medicine that can cause miscarriage into the spicy wine, and the Crown Princess will be so agitated that she will need to see the imperial physician without even having to drink it."
"When the Crown Princess is in trouble, Sister Dewdrop will guide His Highness to discover the suffering we have endured."
"As for why the two sisters had this accident, it's because palace maids often died like this in Liushang Pavilion every year. I never expected that the two sisters would also encounter such a thing. They could have already sought justice."
The young palace maid's last words were filled with regret.
As Zheng Yutong listened to everything the little palace maid said, a storm of emotions surged within her.
It is true that she found two inconspicuous palace maids from Liushang Pavilion to send the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess away, but none of the things they mentioned happened.
The strange thing about those two palace maids is that they didn't want gold or silver, but instead asked me to take them out of Liushang Pavilion in the future. Could that be the reason?
If what she was seeing was the truth, Zheng Yutong suspected that she had been tricked by them.
At the same time, Jing Huaixu gave another order: "Send men to search Lady Kong's room."
Only after receiving the order did the attendant send someone away. The female official, who was being beaten, could no longer bear the torture and was trembling as she tried to confess.
"Your Majesty, I confess! I did it all! Please give me a quick death!"
Jing Huaixu signaled to stop, and the board that had been hitting the female official Kong disappeared. She also fell to the ground because she could no longer support herself.
"Slave...slave"
Before Lady Kong could finish speaking, there was no sound at all.
Jing Huaixu asked his attendant to check his breathing. After the attendant finished checking, he shook his head.
At this moment, the people who searched Lady Kong's room returned, bringing in a box containing a brown medicine bottle. After examination, the imperial physician found that it was exactly the same as the poison in the dewdrop.
Jing Huaixu looked at the evidence before him, the dead palace maids and female officials, paused for a moment, and then said, "Let's finish what we started."
"Now that the matter has been investigated, it is clear that the female official mistreated her subordinates, which led to the palace servants committing evil deeds. Although Kong is dead, her evil deeds remain unresolved. Her body will be exposed in the street, and her evil deeds will be recounted so that all the palace servants will be careful in their words and actions."
Empress Dowager Zheng didn't know where all this came from, but she felt relieved. She straightened her spirits and glanced at Empress Dowager Cheng with disdain.
"Sister Cheng, it turns out that Yu Tong is really innocent. Jing Shuo not only bullied our Yu Tong, but also made up lies to deceive His Majesty. In the end, he didn't even want to take responsibility."
“This can’t be the truth,” Jing Shuo said, shaking his head in disappointment.
"It's good that Sister Zheng believes it," Empress Dowager Cheng snorted dismissively, then asked the silent Jing Yan with a deeper meaning, "Is the Crown Prince at ease?"
"Your Majesties, please don't make a fool of yourselves in front of others," Jing Huaixu said. If it weren't for the fact that Zheng Yutong was from the Longevity Palace and might expose the secret machinations of his own mother, he wouldn't have needed to punish her like this. He felt he had let down the Crown Prince.
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