26. A Scheme Within a Scheme (Last Day, Please Add to Favorites)
"Your Highness, you must save me! Everything I did was because you asked me to do it. I was just following orders. You said that if I did it, you would save my life and give me five hundred taels of silver. You can't betray me now. You must save me. I don't want to die!"
The maid's words undoubtedly confirmed Gao Debao's statement. However, this time Gao Debao had learned his lesson and did not jump out again. Instead, he quietly hid to the side and did not make any comments.
Compared to the extremely agitated maid in front of her, Liu Hanruo appeared very calm, because she knew very well that only by remaining calm could she sort things out and find the flaws. She coldly looked at the maid who was kneeling on the ground crying and begging her, and suddenly felt that the maid in front of her seemed somewhat familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen her before. She pondered quietly.
From Liu Hanxue to Gao Yiyi, everything seemed to happen too coincidentally, which gave Liu Hanru a bold idea. She reintegrated the two events and came up with a new hypothesis.
If this was a series of schemes from the beginning, then Liu Hanxue's matter was just a prelude. Whether it was useful or not, the person behind the scenes would definitely still use the maid to poison Gao Yiyi, using both methods simultaneously, presumably to achieve some purpose, and I am probably the ultimate target of the person behind the scenes.
If everything Liu Hanxue did from the moment she was poisoned to her appearance at the banquet was entirely predictable, then the person behind the scenes must have known the relationship between the two sisters and Liu Hanxue's temperament well. If Liu Hanxue discovered she was poisoned, her first thought would undoubtedly be herself. Given Liu Hanxue's impulsive nature, she would surely think she had been caught red-handed and would definitely use this incident during the Dragon Boat Festival banquet to make her lose face in front of everyone, forcing her reputation to be ruined and unable to recover. However, regardless of the outcome, this matter seems to have had little impact on the person behind the scenes.
If that's the case, then from the very beginning of the banquet, everything might have been under the control of someone behind the scenes, and Liu Hanxue might just be a dispensable pawn. The two of them are probably trapped in the same game without even realizing it.
Thinking of this, Liu Hanruo couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. She had to admire the cunning of the person behind the scenes, whose plans were meticulously crafted. If she hadn't been well-versed in medicine and hadn't drugged Liu Hanxue first, she would have been unable to defend herself in the face of the two incidents.
However, Liu Hanruo seems to have forgotten that her current situation is not optimistic either. In front of her is a maid who is crying and begging her for help, and behind her is Gao Debao who is eyeing her with a tiger's eye. Neither of them are good people. The former is trying to frame her, and the latter can't wait to kill her. How can she get out of this situation?
After hearing the maid's words, the carefree prince raised an eyebrow, glanced thoughtfully at Liu Hanruo, and then turned his gaze back to the maid kneeling on the ground. His cold voice carried an imposing authority.
"How dare a mere servant girl falsely accuse the Princess? In my opinion, she must have eaten the gall of a leopard!"
"I'm innocent, Your Highness! I was just following orders. Everything was done by the Princess Consort. Even the Seven-Day Seven-Flower Powder was given to me by the Princess Consort! I deliberately kept some on me to protect myself. If Your Highness doesn't believe me, I can show it to you right now as evidence!" The maid cried out loudly, pleading her innocence, and even took out the Seven-Day Seven-Flower Powder hidden in her bosom in an attempt to gain his trust.
With a glance from the Prince of Xiaoyao, the guards quickly stepped forward to take the Seven-Day Seven-Flower Powder and handed it to Physician Liu, who had been standing to the side. After receiving the powder, Physician Liu bowed, turned and took his leave to study and prepare the antidote for the Seven-Day Seven-Flower Powder.
After Imperial Physician Liu left, they heard the Carefree Prince let out a cold snort, a faint mockery:
"Hmph, I haven't even said anything yet, but you're already so eager to take the thing out, making me suspicious of your intentions."
“Your Highness, everything I have said is true. It was indeed the Princess Consort who ordered me to secretly put the Seven-Day Seven-Flower Powder into General Gao’s daughter’s food. At first, I refused, but the Princess Consort threatened to kill my whole family if I didn’t comply. I didn’t want to implicate my family, so I had no choice but to obey the Princess Consort’s orders and secretly poison her. I was truly forced into this situation. Please, Your Highness, have mercy!”
"How dare you, you lowly servant! Are you trying to play tricks on me? Just now you said that the Princess Consort promised you five hundred taels of silver if you succeeded, but now you've changed your mind and said that the Princess Consort threatened you. Hmph, you have quite the nerve to lie to me. It seems that unless I get serious, you lowly servant won't tell the truth!"
The carefree prince gave a glance to his personal guard, Wang Hai. Wang Hai understood and immediately took the maid away. A moment later, the two men carried in a barely alive maid, tossing her to the ground. The maid was beaten until her skin was torn and bleeding, barely breathing. The carefree prince didn't even glance at her, coldly speaking again:
"Speak! Who told you to do this! If you don't tell the truth again, next time it won't just be a beating. You decide whether to speak or not."
The maidservant lowered her head, gritted her teeth, and silently told herself that she had to hold on, she absolutely had to hold on! Sheng-ge was still in that person's hands. If she didn't complete that person's task, that person would definitely not let Sheng-ge go. No, she absolutely couldn't let anything happen to Sheng-ge! Even if she died, she had to complete the task that person had given her!
"Your Highness, everything I said is the truth. It's true, it's true. It was the Princess Consort who initially threatened me, and then, fearing I would tell others, promised me five hundred taels. Your Highness, every word I said is true, without a single lie. I truly had no choice but to agree against my conscience. I beg Your Highness for mercy. I know I was wrong. I beg Your Highness for mercy!"
Seeing that even after being beaten like this, the maid still did not change her testimony, all the ministers present believed in their hearts that what she said was probably true. Only Prince Xiaoyao and Marquis Ximen were the exceptions. They intuitively felt that things could not be as the maid said. They understood that Liu Hanruo was not stupid and would never play tricks at the banquet that they had arranged. However, they were helpless because they had no evidence. Even if they wanted to help Liu Hanruo, they were powerless to do so.
With the maid's testimony and the evidence of the Seven-Day Seven-Flower Powder, all unfavorable factors pointed directly to Liu Hanruo, making her undoubtedly the prime suspect. According to the law, Liu Hanruo must be temporarily detained in prison until the truth is uncovered before a decision is made. However, if this were to be done, the Prince of Xiaoyao would feel reluctant. As a prince, how could he not know what the dungeon was? Once inside, it would be extremely difficult to get out unscathed. Caught in this dilemma, the Prince of Xiaoyao suddenly remembered the phoenix pendant, breathed a sigh of relief, and secretly channeled his inner energy to transmit his voice.
---Aside---
This is my top recommendation; please add it to your favorites.
I recommend my friend Qingqing's harem romance novel, "The Mischievous Wife, So Many Suitors."
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