The queen turned around and asked someone to call Xing'er and Xiao Luzi.

"Where is the evidence now?" asked the Queen.

Wu Qing nodded and said, "Please follow me, Madam."

Wu Qing first led everyone to see the wall behind her bedroom.

She rubbed the wall for a while.

As his fingers moved, a red stone brick that looked no different from the surrounding ones quietly loosened and was taken away by Wu Qing.

Wu Qing pointed to the stone trough on the wall and said, "This is one of the physical evidences. The real murderer would hide the files here every day, and Xing'er would take them away. In return, Xing'er would also place the silver bills she got here."

It is said to be a stone trough, but in fact it is a gap in the wall.

Normally, stone bricks will directly block the opening of the stone trough, and it cannot be discovered without careful observation.

The Queen frowned and questioned Xiao Luzi, "Before Lady Ji moved in, I told you to take good care of the East Bedroom. Did you only clean the inner room and not repair the outer wall?"

Xiao Luzi knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold stone bricks, "My lady, it's all because of my lack of consideration. I was only thinking about how to make Lady Ji live comfortably."

"As for the wall, I just ordered the craftsmen to repair it according to the palace practice." Xiao Luzi blamed himself.

The queen narrowed her eyes slightly.

As per usual?

In other words... any servant with a little power in Kunning Palace can get involved.

The queen opened her mouth and said calmly: "Go and receive the ten sticks."

Fortunately, it was only ten strokes. Xiao Luzi breathed a sigh of relief.

He kowtowed quickly to express his gratitude, then stood up and prepared to go to a quiet place to be punished, so as not to pollute the empress's peace in the Kunning Palace.

At the same time, Xing'er and Xiao Xiangzi were also brought there.

What is surprising is that Xing'er and Xiao Xiangzi did not struggle or resist at all when faced with such a scene.

Xing Er knelt first: "I am guilty! I admit that I was the one who went to Jing Yi Xuan to sell files every night. All the transaction records were written on a piece of paper by me. Please have a look, Your Majesty!"

Xiao Xiangzi knelt down and said, "Xing'er and I are servants serving Princess Xiyan. Every night when Xing'er comes back, it is I who opens the door for her. I am guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty!"

The two of them shared everything they knew and cooperated very well.

There was no quibbling or excuses, and all the drafts prepared in advance by the concubines were invalidated.

Why don't you follow the procedure? Shouldn't you first cry and say that you are being wronged?

They are not even given the chance to perform in front of Concubine Ji!

Wu Qing said softly, "Madam, of the four hundred taels of silver, one hundred taels originally belonged to them. Considering that they were able to repent in time and did not covet the silver, can you reduce their guilt a little?"

The Queen pondered.

Xing Er said, "My Lady, I am willing to be punished. But I beg you to ask Lady Ji to remove the Assam poison from Xiao Xiangzi and me, so that we can regain our freedom!"

Xiao Xiangzi followed closely behind, nodding his head repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes, Madam, I only ask that you can remove this poison, and I will leave the rest to you."

The concubines suddenly realized.

It turned out that Concubine Ji had poisoned them both, making them as obedient as quails.

I don’t know what the poison is?

Wu Qing's inner voice answered for them: [Don't worry, it's just an ordinary earth ball, just drink more water. ]

[I just scared them by saying that they would like to drink golden juice after eating it.]

The concubines all took a step back, their faces pale with fear: "..."

Ouch, this is much stronger than ordinary poison.

Xing Er: "My lady, I have another piece of evidence."

She pulled out a piece of paper from her bosom. "The boxes in the warehouse were moved here by Xiao Xiangzi and I in the early morning. This was all ordered by the real murderer."

The queen took the paper and found that what was written on it was exactly as Xing'er had described.

The scribe asked Xing'er to put the box in the corner of the warehouse before the morning meeting and took away 100 taels of silver as a reward.

With both witnesses and evidence, the general outline of the incident has surfaced.

The only question left is who the real murderer is.

Who wanted to falsely accuse Concubine Ji of secretly selling files for profit?

The queen asked in a deep voice: "Lady Ji, who do you suspect?"

Wu Qing: "Uh... this person must be an old man from Kunning Palace, and he has a feud with me."

"She knew about the theft of the list, and she also knew that Xing'er and Xiao Xiangzi were short of money..."

"She knew that the warehouse would be aired today, so she was able to secretly manipulate people to enter the warehouse to create chaos, and she was able to remain unnoticed..."

[Although I didn’t mention the name, everyone knows who I’m talking about.]

[Ah, it’s mainly because of this name. The Queen will probably be very sad after I tell her about it.] Wu Qing thought silently.

[Besides Xiwen, who else in Kunning Palace can do all this? ]

Concubine Lin was somewhat gloating. She pretended to be sad and said, "Yes, this person is so hard to guess..."

Among the concubines present, who doesn't know the status of Xiwen in the Queen's heart?

——The Queen’s dowry, the head maid of Kunning Palace.

Now, it depends on how the queen chooses.

"Xiwen." The Queen fixed her eyes on Xiwen who was standing at the edge of the crowd. "Come here."

Xiwen's heart trembled, and for the first time he felt terrified towards the queen.

She suppressed her fear, pretended to be calm as she walked through the crowd and saluted the queen, "Your Majesty, do you have any instructions?"

The queen said coldly: "Kneel down."

Xiwen pursed her lips and knelt down in front of the crowd.

Everyone in Kunning Palace was looking at her, including the lowly servants whom she had never looked down upon.

The queen asked in a deep voice: "Did you do this?"

Xiwen immediately kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am not familiar with Xing'er and Xiao Xiangzi, how could I have instructed them to do such a calamity? Please be discerning!"

The queen looked at her, and the disappointment in her eyes gradually solidified like frost flowers in a cold night.

Since when did the gentle and polite Xiwen become so unfamiliar?

"In Kunning Palace, besides you, who else can have such means?"

Xiwen's eyes were filled with tears: "My lady, I am so wronged! Lady Ji doesn't like me, you know that!"

Wu Qing turned around and bowed to the queen: "Your Majesty, I dare to search Aunt Xiwen's body."

"Last night, Xing'er took seven hundred taels of silver notes from me and put them into the stone trough in the early morning. Aunt Xiwen is very busy, so I guess the silver notes are still with her."

As soon as these words came out, Xiwen's face changed drastically.

She argued, "Lady Ji, even if I have the banknotes, it doesn't prove that they are yours."

The emperor decisively said: "Search."

Xiwen struggled in vain and was held down by several eunuchs.

Soon, the eunuchs found an envelope on her body, which contained 1,700 taels of silver.

Wu Qing took out his only two hundred taels and sprinkled two drops of water on it.

"I have smeared 'dry fragrance' pollen on this banknote. This pollen has a peculiarity. Once it comes into contact with water, it will emit a fragrance that is hard to ignore."

The water droplets quickly merged into the paper, and after a moment, a strong and unique smell spread.

Wu Qing's eyes widened instantly: [No, why does it taste like durian! And it's the amount of ten durians!!!]

[The "hard to ignore" mentioned in the original book turned out to be this "hard to ignore"! ]

Wu Qing threw down the banknote and ran to the edge of the crowd.

The concubines looked frightened and moved quietly following Wu Qing's steps involuntarily.

What a stinky thing! What is "durian"? Is it golden juice! ? They thought.

Xing'er and Xiao Xiangzi, who were kneeling on the spot, were filled with fear and anxiety.

This taste... is like the taste of golden juice.

But why does it not smell bad, and even tastes sweet?

Ugh, it’s over, they are really poisoned!