Qiu Cairen swore solemnly and spoke firmly.
Her firm attitude made the guests present trust her a little more.
The Queen watched all this gracefully. After Qiu Cairen finished speaking, she turned to Leng Hong and said,
"Ms. Qiu has always been prudent and never meddled in other people's affairs. She also has a witness. Your Majesty, do you think it would be wise to summon the witness for questioning?"
"This matter concerns the Imperial Concubine's background. I think it would be better for His Majesty to confirm it."
Leng Hong's eyes were deep and emotionless. He said calmly, "What does the Imperial Concubine have to say about this?"
Su Wanti was calm and composed, her red lips curled up in a sweet smile.
"Your Majesty, I am your majesty. I am not someone else, and I do not wish to live under someone else's identity. I have a clear conscience and am not afraid of confrontation. Master Qiu may invite as many witnesses as he has, and I will confront them one by one."
She said this with confidence, without any guilt about lying.
Combined with her calm and composed attitude, she can really fool a lot of people.
Leng Hong heard her words, glanced at her, and a hint of smile appeared in his deep eyes.
Then he said, "Then let's follow the Queen's wishes and summon the witnesses to the palace."
Qiu Cairen signaled to the eunuch serving beside her, and the eunuch turned and went out. After a while, he brought all the witnesses into the hall.
The one kneeling in the front was the eunuch who had accepted one hundred taels of silver from the original owner's mother and brought the original owner into the palace.
Behind him knelt two families, Su Shuang's family and the original owner's family.
Behind the two families was an old man dressed in luxurious clothes, who was fat and had a big belly.
Although his head was lowered, the fat on his cheeks was sticking out, making it impossible to ignore it.
After everyone arrived, Consort Qiu went to the old eunuch first and said sternly, "Eunuch, you are an old man in the palace. The crime of deceiving the emperor is a serious crime that will punish all nine generations of your family. Now, in front of the emperor, you cannot lie."
"Three years ago, the Imperial Noble Consort entered the palace as a maid, replacing a woman named Su Shuang, right?"
The old eunuch knelt in the hall, his whole body shaking like a fallen leaf in autumn. His face was withered and yellow, covered in cold sweat, and he said with trembling lips:
"Slave, slave says...what Qiu Cairen said is true. This slave accepted 100 taels of silver and let the Imperial Noble Consort replace Su Shuang and enter the palace."
Qiu Cairen heard a satisfactory answer, raised her eyebrows and looked at Su Wanti, pretending to be surprised and said: "Royal Concubine, is there any misunderstanding here? Would you like to explain it?"
Su Wanti looked at her pretentious performance without any anger at all. She even laughed and said:
"I have nothing much to say, but there are still several witnesses. Let them finish speaking. I want to hear how you make up a story for me."
Qiu Cairen felt like she had punched cotton and didn't get the expected reaction.
She also felt that Su Wanti was a person she couldn't understand.
At this moment, Su Wanti's indifferent reaction made her feel panicked.
She raised her eyes and glanced at the queen unconsciously. The queen was also looking at her and nodded to her, signaling her to calm down.
Qiu Cairen had no choice but to calm down. She sneered and said:
"Does the Imperial Concubine feel that I have slandered you? Well, I will prove to the Empress Dowager, His Majesty the Emperor, the Empress, and all the nobles present that what I said is true."
These witnesses were all found by the queen's family, and Qiu Cairen had personally questioned them.
She felt that the evidence was irrefutable and solid that the Imperial Concubine had replaced someone else to enter the palace and deceived the Emperor. She thought that Su Wanti's calmness at the moment was just a pretense of composure.
She didn't believe that Su Wanti would still be so calm after all the witnesses had finished speaking.
Qiu Cairen cleared his throat and looked around, his voice clear and loud.
"Identity can deceive people, but appearance cannot. The Imperial Concubine's stunning beauty is obvious to everyone. Initially, Your Majesty was attracted by her beauty and fell in love with her at first sight, and took her into the harem."
"But, I've learned from the Su family that the real Su Shuang is not bad looking, but not stunningly beautiful. She's nowhere near the Imperial Noble Consort's appearance. Now that the Imperial Noble Consort's real family and Su Shuang's family are here, why not let the two families identify her?"
She raised her eyebrows and looked at Su Wanti, as if she had seen through her true face and could tear her mask to pieces in the next second.
Su Wanti showed no fear.
"Okay, I've had this face since I was born. Just look at it. Mr. Qiu, even if you call everyone in the village here, I'm not afraid."
There was no trace of guilt on Su Wanti's face, which made Qiu Cairen feel uneasy.
Although she was very powerful, she was just pretending to prove to the Queen that she was serving her well.
In fact, she felt uneasy inside, especially since Su Wanti was not as panicked as they had expected...
Qiu Cairen pursed his dry lips and said, "Okay, then let Su Shuang's family see if the Imperial Noble Consort is Su Shuang herself."
Three people came to Su Shuang's family, Su Shuang's uncle, third uncle and third aunt.
They were all farmers in the suburbs of Beijing, and had never even seen the prefect of Beijing, let alone the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the royal family.
So after they entered the hall, they could only kneel down obediently, knocking their heads on the bluestone brick surface, not daring to raise their heads.
Only after hearing Qiu Cairen's order to look up did they dare to look up.
Qiu Cairen stood beside them, pointed at Su Wanti, and said, "That is the Imperial Noble Consort. Please identify her and see if she is your niece Su Shuang. Look carefully and don't make the mistake."
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