The topic of royal heirs is always taboo, and Chu Rui is the son of the late emperor and the brother of the current emperor. It is a huge scandal that an uncle and his niece's wife are having an affair. The words of the national teacher that there is no father-son relationship made the emperor, who was already suspicious, even more suspicious.
Concubine Lin then took the opportunity to chime in and said, "Your Majesty, no matter whether what Princess Showa said is true or false, this matter has already involved the royal bloodline and... and scandal. This matter is of great importance and I think it cannot be easily let go. I ask Your Majesty to investigate it thoroughly!"
The emperor's face turned livid. He looked at Zhong Xiu, who was kneeling in the hall, and Lu Yanluo, who had an expressionless face, and said angrily, "Lock them both in a side hall for the time being, and send someone to find Prince Chang'an to me. I must get to the bottom of this matter today!"
Before he finished speaking, the emperor stood up and walked out angrily. Concubine Lin glanced at Lu Yanluo meaningfully, followed him and left.
For a moment, only Lu Yanluo and Zhong Xiu, who was still kneeling on the ground, were left in the hall.
After a moment, Zhong Xiu stood up and looked at Lu Yanluo with pride. Her previous humility and submissiveness were no longer there, revealing her true face.
"Lu Yanluo, what right do you have to compete with me? Do you think you are so great? Humph, it's a pity that your ambition is as high as the sky, but your life is as fragile as paper!"
Faced with Zhong Xiu's provocation, Lu Yanluo ignored him because she was thinking about something.
Why did Zhong Xiu dare to tell such a big lie?
You know, even if she spoke beautifully in front of the emperor, even if Concubine Lin fanned the flames and that unknown imperial teacher helped her, as long as Chu Rui denied it, her lies would be self-defeating.
Because they have no evidence at all to prove what happened back then.
Unless... she was very sure that Chu Rui would cover up this lie for her...
Thinking of Chu Rui's shocked and distraught look when he heard that Zhong Xiu was the Night King's concubine, Lu Yanluo suddenly realized and had a vague guess.
"Zhong Xiu." Lu Yanluo called out calmly, "You know Chu Rui, right? No, I should put it another way. Your relationship with Chu Rui is definitely not simple, right? For so many years, Chu Rui has helped you conceal the dirty things you did in the palace, right?"
Lu Yanluo stared at Zhong Xiu closely and said word by word, "She even took a lot of blame for you in secret."
Zhong Xiu's proud expression collapsed instantly, and he looked at Lu Yanluo in shock: "How did you know!" Then he realized something and shouted angrily: "Lu Yanluo, you cheated me!"
Lu Yanluo was a little unsure at first, but after seeing Zhong Xiu getting angry and embarrassed because of his guilty conscience, she understood everything.
I didn't expect that a quiet and indifferent man like Chu Rui is actually a lovesick man. I just don't know how he feels now that he knows that his beloved woman has become someone else's concubine.
Lu Yanluo felt sorry for Chu Rui for a moment: "Chu Rui will not help you this time, Zhong Xiu, although people's hearts are fickle, but you deceived Chu Rui into taking responsibility for you with love, and then you are sincere to Chu Xuan. You are too vicious! Can you live with your conscience?"
Zhong Xiu shouted fiercely: "You don't need to ask about my affairs, Lu Yanluo, you'd better wish yourself good luck!"
Zhong Xiu firmly believed that Chu Rui would definitely stand on his side this time. Chu Rui loved her so much that he took the blame for the witchcraft case five years ago for her. Now, Chu Rui would definitely help him with such a small matter.
Just as Zhong Xiu was waiting confidently, the emperor finally sent someone over to question Lu Yanluo and Zhong Xiu in the main hall.
As soon as they entered the room, they saw Chu Rui already standing in the hall.
Wearing a green robe, he gave off a sense of immortality.
Even though the emperor was sitting in the palace at this moment, he did not feel frightened. He walked as if he was strolling in the garden, neither humble nor arrogant, and calm and indifferent.
Before the two of them could stand still, the emperor asked, "Prince Chang'an, I want to ask you, do you know Princess Ye, Lu Yanluo? What is your relationship with her?"
Chu Rui sneered when he heard this: "Your Majesty, what are you asking? I have never seen Princess Ye, how can I know her, and what kind of relationship can I have with her?"
Zhong Xiu, who was originally waiting to see Lu Yanluo make a fool of herself, immediately changed her expression. Her heart tightened and she secretly clenched her hands in her sleeves. A feeling of being out of control surged up.
Chu Rui turned sideways and looked at Zhong Xiu, smiling meaningfully: "But I do know Princess Showa, and I have a very close relationship with her."
"Prince Chang'an, you!" Zhong Xiu's face turned pale and he tried to stop Chu Rui from speaking.
But Chu Rui came here today to seek justice for himself, so how could he give up so easily? He just opened his mouth slowly and told the story of what happened five years ago.
"Five years ago, Princess Showa Zhongxiu and I had a close relationship, and we often communicated privately without the knowledge of the people in the palace..."
"Chu Rui! You are crazy! Shut up, do you hear me!" Zhong Xiu yelled and tried to grab Chu Rui, trying to stop him from speaking.
Chu Rui dodged lightly, sneered, and continued: "Princess, why are you in such a hurry? I haven't finished speaking yet. The witchcraft incident five years ago was originally because Zhong Xiu was dissatisfied with the Queen Mother. She cursed the Queen Mother behind her back and wanted her to die. She didn't want the truth to be exposed. The witchcraft incident was discovered, and she was scared, so she came to find me, and I was..."
Chu Rui laughed at himself: "I was blinded by love at that time. I loved her too much and couldn't bear to see her get into trouble, so I took advantage of your majesty's favor and took on this matter."
Zhong Xiu yelled and questioned: "You slander me! What evidence do you have? Chu Rui, it's obviously you who can't get me, and you deliberately retaliate against me! What benefits did Lu Yanluo give you to make you treat me like this!"
At this moment, Zhong Xiu no longer had her former dignity, generosity, nobility and elegance. She was like a mad woman, shouting non-stop.
Chu Rui took out a yellowed letter from his bosom expressionlessly: "You may have forgotten this letter." Chu Rui smiled self-deprecatingly and presented it to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this is the handwritten letter that Zhong Xiu wrote to me when the incident happened. I have kept it with me. Please take a look, Your Majesty."
The young eunuch walked quickly forward, carefully took the letter, turned around and handed it to the emperor.
The emperor read through the book quickly and exhaled deeply, obviously suppressing his anger. He frowned and looked at Zhong Xiu: "Showa, tell me clearly, what is going on!"
Zhong Xiu immediately knelt on the ground and said pitifully, "Your Majesty, Zhaohe is innocent! The Queen Mother took good care of Zhaohe, how could Zhaohe be so cruel as to curse the Queen Mother to death? It must be Lu Yanluo!"
Zhong Xiu pointed at Lu Yanluo viciously and said, "She must have bribed Chu Rui to slander me in front of Your Majesty! Your Majesty, if you want to know the truth, you can torture Chu Rui and force him to tell the truth!"