Lotus had barely finished speaking when a group of palace maids rushed in from outside the hall, led by Granny Sun. They all had arrogant and fierce expressions, and their origins were clearly ill-intentioned.
"Your Highness, the Empress Dowager has summoned you to Cixi Palace for questioning. Please come with us."
Lotus's expression changed drastically. She turned around and opened her arms to protect Gu Jiangli.
"Granny Sun, His Majesty has been investigating Consort Lan's matter. If anyone should be questioned, it should be His Majesty who asks!"
Granny Sun sneered, "This old servant has no idea what Her Majesty the Empress Dowager wants to ask, let alone whether it has anything to do with Consort Lan. This old servant is just following orders. Consort Chen would not dare to disobey the Empress Dowager's decree, would she?"
Gu Jiangli calmly stepped forward and patted Hehua's hand. "It's nothing, just asking a couple of questions. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is an upright person, nothing will happen."
"Granny Sun, lead the way."
She followed behind Granny Sun and the others with a calm and composed tone.
This is quite a show of force, it's as if they've already treated her like a heinous criminal.
The Empress Dowager sent so many people to find her; she was determined to bring her back, and there was no escaping it.
The fact that Consort Lan committed suicide and caused her such a huge trouble must have been the work of the Eldest Princess.
The eldest princess, having failed to harm the emperor, turned around and tried to harm her instead; she certainly knows how to think quickly.
The Princess also completely exploited Lan Zhaoyi's value.
The Empress Dowager is now interrogating her, which shows that she has never suspected the Eldest Princess. Therefore, to deal with the Eldest Princess, the Emperor must be involved.
Gu Jiangli placed her right hand on her lower abdomen; this news could no longer be kept secret.
————
Cixi Palace.
Everyone fell silent, terrified.
Gu Jiangli could feel the oppressive atmosphere as soon as she stepped through the door.
The Empress Dowager sat upright, her complexion much better, though a hint of anger still lingered between her brows.
It's good that you can still get angry; your body seems to be recovering well.
The eldest princess stood beside the Empress Dowager, watching Gu Jiangli as if she were enjoying a good show, and even pretended to be angry.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to the Empress Dowager and the Eldest Princess."
Gu Jiangli was as polite as ever. Especially at times like these, she couldn't afford to make any mistakes and wanted to avoid giving anyone a handle to use against her.
The Empress Dowager put down her teacup and asked in a cold voice:
"Have you heard that Consort Lan committed suicide in prison?"
Gu Jiangli replied neither servilely nor arrogantly, "Your Majesty, I had just heard the news of Consort Lan's death when Granny Sun summoned me here."
"Hmph, your calm demeanor does have a certain air of composure. Do you know that Lan Huier left a suicide note before she took her own life, clearly explaining that she had poisoned someone?"
She said she had no intention of harming anyone, but only hoped to gain the emperor's favor. So she put a tonic that could arouse desire in the emperor's soup, hoping that the emperor would favor her after drinking the medicine.
"Unexpectedly, the soup that was meant for the emperor was delivered to me instead."
"By a twist of fate, I ended up drinking that bowl of highly nourishing soup."
"Consort Lan knew that using such despicable drugs in the inner palace was a capital offense, so she did not try to argue and committed suicide out of fear of punishment."
"But in the end she said that this method was not her own idea, but rather something that you, Consort Chen, told her."
"Consort Chen, do you plead guilty?"
The Empress Dowager's last words were extremely authoritative, and several palace maids in the room couldn't help but shiver.
Gu Jiangli remained expressionless, but a chill ran through him.
It turns out that the supplement was a drug that aroused sexual desire.
The eldest princess was truly vicious to the extreme.
She quickly changed her mind and looked directly into the Empress Dowager's eyes. "Your Majesty, Consort Lan and I have always been at odds. In her opinion, her lack of favor is my fault. Why would she listen to my opinion?"
"Furthermore, Your Majesty has recently shown me great favor. I am already enjoying Your Majesty's grace, so why should I teach other concubines how to gain favor? What benefit would that bring me?"
"Finally, I have also heard that the aphrodisiacs that increase lust are basically the most despicable things circulating outside the palace."
"In the three years since I entered the palace, I have never left the palace gates and have never had any contact with people outside the palace. Where can I find such a tonic?"
"I had neither the motive nor the means to commit the crime that Consort Lan poisoned the royal family. Yet now you want to pin the blame on me. Isn't this a case of false accusation?"
"Or is it that Your Majesty the Empress Dowager has been instigated by some treacherous person, leading you to conclude that I am the one behind the plot to harm His Majesty?"
As Gu Jiangli spoke, she turned her gaze to the eldest princess beside the Empress Dowager.
She could easily guess what the eldest princess had whispered in the Empress Dowager's ear. The eldest princess was determined to convict her and must have used a lot of words to persuade her.
At that moment, after she finished speaking calmly, everyone's gaze became hesitant.
Every word she uttered was more coherent and convincing than the confession made by Consort Lan before her death.
The Empress Dowager's anger gradually turned into deep thought.
Only one person spoke up in desperation.
The eldest princess slammed her hand on the table and stood up. Her initial sneer and anticipation of the show vanished, replaced by a surge of anger.
"You, Consort Chen, you're just making excuses! Consort Lan is dead, what reason would she have to harm you?"
"Your Highness is mistaken. Consort Lan was my sworn enemy during her lifetime. What's wrong with her using her death to harm me? However, more than Consort Lan harming me, I am surprised that someone of her character would choose to atone for her sins by dying in prison."
Gu Jiangli's eyes were like knives as he stared intently at the Princess, not missing a single change in her expression.
"Consort Lan's uncle is the current prime minister. According to her will, she did not intend to harm His Majesty. His Majesty is now investigating this matter carefully. If she tells the truth and the prime minister intercedes on her behalf, she may be able to escape death."
"But she suddenly chose to die without any warning. Doesn't the Empress Dowager find this suspicious?"
"It seems to me that someone secretly forced Consort Lan to her death and then made her pin the blame on someone who is completely impossible."
The eldest princess shouted, "Enough! Gu Jiangli, you are simply making excuses! If someone really forced Consort Lan to her death, that person must be you! Only with her dead can you so brazenly slander others, because a dead person cannot confront you in court!"
Looking at her ferocious appearance, Gu Jiangli chuckled inwardly at her impatience; a few words were enough to provoke her into revealing her true colors.
"What is the Princess so anxious about? I only want to clear my name of this injustice, how could it be worth making you so angry?"
The eldest princess panicked for a moment, "I..."
But in an instant, that hint of panic turned into a vicious look, "I just don't want to see you making excuses like this!"
She turned to the Empress Dowager and said, "Mother! We should arrest Consort Chen as soon as possible and torture her severely! No matter how stubborn she is, she will eventually tell the truth!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
