Gu Jiangli stood beside the emperor, her expression radiating confidence and elegance. Her vibrant and beautiful appearance contrasted sharply with the filthy prison cell.
Her eyes seemed to be watching a play, observing herself, the empress, in the prison cell.
"Your Majesty, Consort Gu..." The Empress's voice was hoarse, her eyes filled with disbelief, because behind these two people, besides some palace servants, was a face that she was truly familiar with.
"Eunuch Li?"
Eunuch Li looked at her with the same shocked expression.
However, this shock was mixed with a great deal of sadness and pain.
He couldn't believe that his master, whom he had always trusted sincerely, would personally come to the prison to kill him today.
If the emperor hadn't arranged for him to be placed in another cell, he would probably have been strangled by the empress today, and then the whole thing would have been made out to be a case of "committing suicide out of fear of punishment."
After all, this wasn't the first time the Empress had done something like this; she was quite adept at it...
The emperor's calm expression revealed no emotion, but those who knew him well knew that his tightly pursed lips were proof of his hidden anger.
"Your Majesty, you have worked hard all these years to portray the image of a gentle and dignified woman."
A look of bewilderment appeared on the Empress's face.
"Your Majesty, please let me explain..."
The emperor did not interrupt her. The people behind him brought two chairs for him and Gu Jiangli, and the two sat down.
"I'll listen to your explanation. Tell me your reasons for being willing to take matters into your own hands to get rid of Eunuch Li."
"A secret they would kill to keep."
The Empress stared blankly in the direction of Eunuch Li, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word for a long time.
The emperor urged, "Will you speak for yourself, or will you have Eunuch Li speak for you?"
The empress closed her eyes once, and when she opened them again, they had turned a dull gray.
"Where shall we begin, Your Majesty? Would you rather know more about the Gu poison?"
The emperor looked at her coldly and said nothing.
The Empress smiled self-deprecatingly and continued, "The gourd jade pendant was originally intended to kill people. When the craftsmen made the jade pendant, they would put poisonous insects into it."
"When they are first put in, they are just insect eggs. When they are needed, they are roasted over a fire. After three to five days, the insect eggs hatch."
"After coming into contact with a person's body temperature, it will crawl out of the jade pendant, seep into the skin, and enter the human body."
The emperor frowned. "You have never had any grudge against Consort Gu, so why did you harm her?"
Empress: "Actually, I didn't think that much about it. The gourd jade pendant entering Guangming Palace might harm Consort Gu, or it might harm you."
"You can harm anyone, I'll be happy."
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