Concubine Xian was horrified and glared at Concubine Rong with her eyes wide open.
"Sister Rongfei, you have the audacity to slander me in front of His Majesty."
Having said that, he knelt before the emperor.
"Your Majesty, please investigate this matter. The Crown Prince is indeed at fault. I will teach him a lesson in the future. However, Sister Rongfei has slandered me in front of the court officials and ladies. I hope Your Majesty will help me."
Emperor Xuande had no intention of taking his anger out on Concubine Xian, it was just that the Crown Prince had made some mistakes in his teachings.
So he looked at Concubine Rong and said in a deep voice, "If you don't have evidence, my beloved concubine, don't speak nonsense."
Rong Fei looked across the crowd at her confidant Ruixue who was hurriedly walking towards her. Ruixue nodded slightly at her.
"Your Majesty, I am not speaking nonsense. I have evidence that proves that Concubine Xian is disrespectful to the late Empress."
Emperor Xuande frowned and asked, "Tell me, what evidence?"
Concubine Rong glanced at Concubine Xian, then spoke seriously.
"Your Majesty, do you remember that every year on the anniversary of the late Queen's death, Consort Xian would personally copy the scriptures and pray for the late Queen."
Emperor Xuande nodded and said, "I remember that Concubine Xian's heart can be said to be a role model for other concubines."
Rong Fei sneered inwardly and continued, "Your Majesty may not know that although Sister Xian Fei said she copied it herself, in fact, only the cover of the scripture and the few copies she showed Your Majesty were copied by her own hand."
"The rest of the scriptures were handled by my servants. If they had copied them carefully, it would have been fine, but I discovered that the contents were not all scriptures, but were indistinguishable from ghostly scribbles."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Xian's face changed drastically. How did Concubine Rong know all this? She did all this in secret, and the people who did it were all her confidants. She thought she hadn't revealed any flaws.
Although she was nervous, Concubine Xian still held out some hope. Concubine Rong might not have any evidence, perhaps she was just guessing.
After calming herself down, Concubine Xian spoke righteously, "Sister Rong, please be careful with your words. You can't talk nonsense about these things. Don't I know whether I copied those scriptures?"
"I have always been devoted to the late queen. How could I do such a treasonous act?"
Emperor Xuande also didn't believe that Concubine Xian would do such a thing. Since the death of the late empress, Concubine Xian had been copying scriptures for the late empress every day for twenty years. How could it be fake?
Even though the Song family had always been dissatisfied with Concubine Xian, Emperor Xuande believed that Concubine Xian was not a bad person. Otherwise, he would not have allowed her to take charge of the harem and made her eldest son the crown prince.
So when Emperor Xuande saw Concubine Rong speaking so confidently, he was puzzled for a moment.
"My dear Concubine Rong, do you really have evidence?"
Concubine Rong nodded and said, "I dare not deceive the emperor."
As he said this, he gestured to Ruixue to hand the thing in her hand to Eunuch Hu.
"Your Majesty, this volume of the 'Sutra of Rebirth' was copied by Consort Xian for the late Queen. Please first examine the cover to see if it is Consort Xian's handwriting. Then please take a look inside to see what is written."
Emperor Xuande took the scripture from Hu Lu and first glanced at the cover. It was indeed Consort Xian's handwriting, with words of respect for the late Empress written on it. It was exactly the same scripture Consort Xian copied for the late Empress every year.
Under the gaze of the crowd, Emperor Xuande opened the scripture and began to read. After reading only a few pages, his face darkened.
The content inside has nothing to do with the "Sutra of Rebirth". To call it a ghost painting is indeed appropriate.
When Emperor Xuande thought about burning something like this for Zi Ning, the thing in his hand hit Concubine Xian's head directly.
"Xianfei, you are so brave."
At this moment, Concubine Xian didn't care how Concubine Rong got the scripture. In panic, she could only admit her mistake and beg for mercy.
"Your Majesty is very discerning. Someone must have framed me. When I copied scriptures back then, I would first write the cover and then concentrate on copying the scriptures."
"Did someone steal the unfinished scriptures I copied and scribbled over them?"
The prince also knelt beside the virtuous concubine, not caring about his own affairs, and began to plead for her.
"Your Majesty, I'm a wise man. I was watching Mother copying the scriptures. This couldn't be faked."
"Father, please don't let Mother's heart down. Her love for the Queen Mother is evident to all."
The prince said this with great confidence.
Concubine Rong said, "Your Majesty, I got this scroll by chance."
"If Sister Xianfei feels that the evidence is insufficient, why not compare the handwriting and find the person who wrote this scroll?"
She had held this scroll for a long time, but had never found the opportunity to present it to the emperor. Today was a rare opportunity.
Even if he couldn't completely overthrow Concubine Xian, he could still skin her and the Crown Prince alive.
Even though Concubine Xian tried her best to control herself, a hint of panic still appeared on her face.
Emperor Xuande only took one look and knew there was no need to proofread the handwriting.
"Concubine Xian is under house arrest in Zhaohua Palace. Without my order, you are not allowed to move around freely. Concubine Rong will be in charge of the harem for the time being."
Xianfei had been in the harem for over twenty years, having encountered danger several times and survived all of them to reach her current state. She had seen many storms and waves, so she was not overly afraid.
How the Emperor dealt with her wasn't the most important thing. What mattered was the Crown Prince's heart. As long as he remained the heir apparent, she would eventually regain control of the harem.
So the virtuous concubine did not cry or make a fuss, but calmly thanked the emperor for his grace.
Emperor Xuande looked at the crown prince again, and after a long pause, he remained silent. Changing the crown prince involved the foundation of the nation, and could not be done lightly.
Chen Zheng held his breath. If today's incident had simply been the Crown Prince sleeping with the Saint of Xiyue, it wouldn't have been a big deal. But with the late Empress now involved, Chen Zheng felt uneasy.
Given the emperor's obsession with the late queen, he wouldn't find it strange if he said he wanted to depose the crown prince.
In addition, the prince's performance during this period was not outstanding, and Chen Zheng became more and more uncertain.
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