Chapter 293 The Purpose is to Lock Up Ye Liang's Concubine
Jiang Fenghua said calmly, "I believe it, but some people don't! They're determined to make the Eastern Palace restless."
Seeing her nonchalant attitude, and noticing everyone staring at him, Xie Shang said, "Do I need to inform you who I like?"
Everyone was taken aback, then quickly lowered their heads to indicate that they didn't need it.
Su Tingwan then looked at Lu Xuefei, "She's nothing special. His Highness's taste is getting worse and worse." She's not as pretty as her. What is Xie Shang doing this to this young lady? And Song Fengyi, she's like a fool. What's so good about her?
Xie Shang glared coldly at Su Tingwan.
Lu Xuefei was the victim and the subject of the gossip, so it was reasonable for her to stand up. She added, "There are a few doubts now, namely, who is spreading rumors that His Highness the Crown Prince has bad private conduct? Can these kinds of things be said so casually?"
"This servant is upright and fearless in the face of gossip, but His Highness the Crown Prince is different. As the head of the Eastern Palace, his status is exalted. If these words were to reach the common people or other countries, the consequences could be severe. People might think that the Crown Prince of our Great Zhou Kingdom is a dissolute and licentious man, a disgrace to the nation. Therefore, this matter must be thoroughly investigated."
She knelt before the Crown Prince, pleading, "Please give me time, Your Highness. I will definitely clear my name and Your Highness's name."
Now Xie Shang couldn't smooth things over even if he wanted to. Regardless of whether he wanted to help Su Tingwan or not, he couldn't call a halt now.
Jiang Fenghua said, "How does Palace Maid Lu plan to investigate? Consort Su, Concubine Ye, and Consort Song all say they haven't spread these fabricated rumors." She has already discussed it with Lu Xuefei; it remains to be seen whether this girl has truly mastered the legal system.
“Your Highness, as the person directly involved, I shouldn’t be the one to request an investigation into this case. However, I just want to prove my innocence. Consort Song, Concubine Ye, and Consort Su seem to have no connection, and they all deny it. But that’s alright. Fortunately, the source is with these three. If we follow the clues and unravel the mystery, it will be simple. I believe there is a cause and an effect. It takes two to tango, and there’s no such thing as something made up. There must be an answer to this matter. It just depends on whether Your Highness is willing to let me investigate.”
Xie Shang knew she had been studying the law and had even wanted to show it to him in detail, but he was too busy to do so. He wondered what kind of research a young girl like her could possibly come up with. Today, he thought, it would be a good opportunity to see what she could come up with.
Xie Shang already knew the ins and outs of the matter. The biggest suspect on the surface was Song Fengyi, and he also found out about Su Tingwan. However, based on his understanding of Su Tingwan, he didn't think she was so clever as to have schemed against everyone.
So if it really is Su Tingwan, she must have the Su family helping her. It seems that the last time we cleaned up the Su family's hidden agents, we didn't finish cleaning them up.
These palace maids all pointed to Su Tingwan, but what exactly happened?
"I grant you permission to investigate," Xie Shang said calmly.
"Yes." Lu Xuefei turned around and went out to inquire.
A moment later, Lu Xuefei returned with a palace maid. "Your Highness, Your Highness, I think we already have the answer."
"Who is she? How did you find out about her?" Xie Shang asked.
Lu Xuefei said, "Please ask her to tell me everything she knows first, and then I will answer Your Highness's other questions."
The palace maid said, "Your Highness, I am a maid from the laundry department."
“One day, I happened to be delivering washed clothes to Zhongming Pavilion when I saw that Consort Ye was walking alone in one direction without any servants. I wanted to go up and pay my respects, but then I saw Consort Su with her… I saw that what Consort Su gave her looked like a silver note.”
Everyone was shocked by these words. Lu Xuefei spoke first: "So, Consort Su is actually acquainted with the mistress of Zhongming Pavilion. They even exchanged something, which proves that they are connected."
Su Tingwan was stunned. "You're talking nonsense."
Jiang Fenghua said, "What nonsense is this? Concubine Ye and Consort Su are both concubines of the Crown Prince. You have lived together in the Crown Prince's residence for so long, you see each other all the time, how can you deny that you don't know each other? Didn't Consort Su give Concubine Ye a beautiful dress back then? Consort Su, why are you so nervous? I saw with my own eyes that you and Concubine Ye have a good relationship."
She added, "Lu Xuefei, please continue."
"Yes." She continued, "The little palace maid said she saw Consort Su give Ye Liang a silver note. What is this silver note for? Does this silver note actually exist? Is the little palace maid lying, or is she seeing things?"
"Whether there are silver notes or not, just send someone to search Ye Liang's concubine's room, and everything will be clear," said Zhu Zhenzhen, who hadn't spoken for a while. She was the one who distanced herself the most from the whole incident.
Ye Susu stared at the little palace maid. She was certain she had never seen her before. When Su Tingwan gave her the silver notes, Song Qing hadn't told her about Chengguang Palace yet.
She rarely speaks up, for fear that someone might set a trap for her.
Before she could come up with a good excuse or even a countermeasure, Su Tingwan seemed to have seized on a loophole, "That's right, I did give Ye Liangfei silver notes, but that was a long time ago, before the incident in Chengguang Palace. The rumors in Chengguang Palace only started in the last two days. I gave Ye Liangfei silver notes when we first entered the palace. At that time, who knew you were hiding in Chengguang Palace?"
Once this is said, it can be almost confirmed that Su Tingwan is spreading rumors.
“But just now Consort Su denied knowing about the rumors in Chengguang Palace, and now she says that the rumors only started two days ago. Has Consort Su forgotten what she just said?” It was Zhu Zhenzhen who spoke again. She continued, “Since Consort Ye and Consort Su are acquainted, did Consort Ye tell Consort Su these things in private, and then Consort Su spread them around to the Laundry Department, deliberately damaging His Highness the Crown Prince’s reputation?”
"Now, Consort Su won't say that the palace maids framed you, will she?" Lu Xuefei said. "I think if one palace maid is framing you, that's nonsense. But if many palace maids are framing you, that's nonsense too. It's hard to believe that Consort Su can just say that she doesn't know anything."
Su Tingwan seemed speechless: "No..."
Ye Susu knew there was no turning back. Ever since Su Tingwan gave her the silver notes, she had been under someone's watchful eye, and that person was none other than the Crown Princess.
The only way to save her now is to sacrifice Su Tingwan; luckily, she is pregnant.
She knelt before Xie Shang and said, "Your Highness, I told Consort Su about this, but I really didn't know that Consort Su would spread it around."
When I was at the Crown Prince's residence, Consort Su gave me a lot of clothes and jewelry, wanting to build a good relationship with me. At the time, I didn't think much of it, so I got a little closer to her.
After entering the palace, she was confined to her quarters by His Highness and could not go anywhere. Her concubine visited her a few times, and then she wanted to ask her concubine about His Highness's whereabouts. However, her concubine had nothing to tell her, so she said that Consort Song had been favored by His Highness. She also accidentally told Consort Su what Consort Song had told her.
"I didn't mean it; I just wanted Consort Su to think more positively, after all, the Crown Prince and Consort Su used to be so close."
Jiang Fenghua really wanted to give Ye Susu a Best Editor Award; she really could make up for everything!
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