Chapter 64 Consort Su is banished to the Cold Palace
The man trembled with fear and kept begging for mercy, "Don't kill me, I'm innocent. She lured me into the palace to the Imperial Garden. I waited there until it got dark. I... I don't know why I'm here. She was the one who took the initiative. She asked for it, so I gave it to her."
The man's mouth was full of foul language, and he completely forgot the words Consort Su had instructed him to say.
Consort Su regretted that she should not have tricked him into hiding outside; she should have just killed him.
She drew Commander Gao's sword and was about to slash at the man, but was deflected by a sword.
Xie Yu's eyes were filled with hatred. He had never expected that Consort Su would get her revenge so quickly after plotting against him. He said, "I never thought Consort Su would have this day. This is truly catching her red-handed."
Consort Yan had not originally attended the banquet, but since the commotion in the harem was so great, she naturally had to join in the fun. "Consort Su is young and beautiful, so naturally she can't stand the loneliness of the deep palace. Does the Consort think that His Majesty is getting old and his skin is loose enough to be used as bedding, so she found a young and strong man in his twenties to relieve his boredom?"
Upon hearing this, the palace maids and concubines chuckled softly.
Consort Yan finally felt relieved and cursed, "She's promiscuous."
Consort Su's cheeks swelled with anger, "You..."
Only then did she belatedly realize that she had been framed. "Who is it? Who wants to harm me?"
Consort Su thought to herself: The Imperial Garden? Could he be the man Yunfang found? This man was clearly prepared for Jiang Fenghua.
Did Jiang Fenghua do all this? Where did that damned Yunfang go?
"The adulterer has already confessed. How could he have entered the Imperial Concubine's palace without her permission?" Xie Yu added sarcastically. "I remember that on the eve of the banquet, it was Imperial Concubine Su who suggested that students from the Imperial Academy be invited to the palace. Could it be that Imperial Concubine Su had planned to use this opportunity to meet her lover, but she didn't expect that her affair would be exposed!"
The Empress also said, "It was Su Qingqing who suggested that students from the Imperial Academy enter the palace. It turns out that everything was traceable. You still want to deny it."
There was no way Consort Su would admit that the person they actually wanted to harm was Jiang Fenghua. This matter absolutely could not involve Wanwan. If they could protect Wanwan, they would still have a chance.
Now, if she kills the man, she can claim that he broke into the Luanfeng Palace and bullied her.
That wretched woman Yunfang, I will make her pay!
At the same time, Jiang Fenghua, holding Zhang Yumo's hand, squeezed through the crowd to try and get inside.
Just then, her hair was suddenly grabbed.
Jiang Fenghua turned her head and saw Xie Shang staring at her with eyes like a deep, cold abyss.
His eyes were cold and urgent, and he was slightly out of breath. Finally, he spotted her in the crowd. She lifted her skirt slightly and moved gracefully.
The next moment, she darted inside like a rabbit trying to escape. Even though Granny Xi had made it so clear that there was a naked man inside, she still dared to barge in.
Jiang Fenghua blinked her big eyes, seemingly confused, "Your Highness, why are you pulling my hair?"
Seeing that she was unharmed, he said in a deep voice, "Where did you run off to?"
"I didn't go anywhere." Jiang Fenghua's innocent eyes showed confusion. She stared at Su Tingwan beside him and explained, "Consort Su said she wanted to go to the Imperial Garden to admire the flowers, so Sister Zhang and I accompanied her there. But I suddenly had to relieve myself, so Sister Zhang accompanied me to find the urinal. Later, we returned to the Imperial Garden but couldn't find Consort Su. We saw flickering firelight and people shouting to catch the assassin, so we found a place to hide. After waiting for a while, we still didn't see the assassin, so we followed the figures here. When we first arrived, we didn't know what was going on here. Then the prince grabbed us by the hair."
Jiang Fenghua's eyes were clear. "Just now I thought I heard Granny Xi shout that there was a man inside. What happened? There are so many people gathered here."
Xie Shang also had his doubts. This man said that Consort Su had invited him to the Imperial Garden, but Consort Su was always in the inner palace and it was impossible for her to invite a man from outside the palace into the palace unless she had a helper. But who would dare to help her find a man to enter the palace for illicit affairs?
Consort Su has enjoyed the favor of the harem for so many years; she wouldn't dig her own grave.
Xie Shang sensed a conspiracy.
He gave Su Tingwan a deep look and said in a deep voice, "Just now, it was the concubine who invited the princess to go to the imperial garden to admire the flowers. When did Wanwan start to like admiring flowers?"
He remembered that Su Tingwan once said that she disliked tending to flowers and plants, finding it troublesome, and that she would rather practice swordsmanship than spend her time doing so.
Su Tingwan was a little nervous. "I know that Your Highness loves flowers and that the Imperial Garden is full of blooming flowers. That's why I wanted to go with her. Actually, I'm now married to Your Highness and I know that Your Highness likes Your Highness. I also want to learn from Your Highness and love flowers and plants to please Your Highness."
Her statement makes sense, after all, Xie Shang has been ignoring her for a long time.
Just then, a cry of "The Emperor has arrived!" rang out, causing everyone to immediately kneel and shout, "Greetings, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"
No one dared to stand up, let alone raise their head, and they had no idea how to face His Majesty's furious wrath.
Upon seeing the Emperor arrive, Consort Su immediately ran before him, knelt down, and cried out her innocence, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! Someone broke into my palace and forced me! I beg Your Majesty to do justice for me..."
This time, the emperor didn't even want to listen to her explanation. He kicked Consort Su to the ground without showing her any mercy. It is said that even a day as husband and wife is worth a hundred days of kindness. The emperor was cold and ruthless and did not treat her as his wife at all.
Consort Su trembled with fear. She had never seen the Emperor so angry. In fact, it was because the Empress had sent Granny Xi to describe the situation in too much detail, even mentioning that they had been caught on the spot...
Immediately afterwards, the emperor seized the guard's knife and stabbed the man to death with one stroke. The man didn't even have a chance to protest before he was killed.
Regardless of whether he was innocent or not, he took over Consort Su's body and should be torn to pieces and dragged out to be fed to the dogs.
The emperor then declared, "Consort Su is stripped of her title of Consort and demoted to commoner status. She is to be banished to the Cold Palace and never to leave it again." The emperor made this decision considering the existence of the Su clan; otherwise, he would have simply given her a three-foot-long white silk ribbon.
Consort Su trembled with fear. "Your Majesty, I am innocent."
"Cao De, immediately send her to the Cold Palace." The emperor refused to listen to her explanation.
Everyone watched as Consort Su was sent to the Cold Palace without even having a single piece of clothing taken away from her.
The Empress felt that the Emperor's decision not to kill her was already a mercy, and that the Emperor still harbored feelings for Su Qingqing, this "broken shoe."
Back then, she was wronged, and all she had was a handkerchief. Without any real evidence, the emperor had disliked her for so many years.
The Empress fell into deep thought. What happened back then must have been done by Su Qingqing, but she had no evidence. More than ten years had passed, and she still hadn't been exonerated by the Emperor. This caused Shang'er to be suspected by the Emperor, and even her cousin committed suicide by poison, dying with a grievance.
At this moment, the Imperial Guards found the palace maids and nannies sleeping in the side hall of Luanfeng Palace. "They have all been drugged." This means that Consort Su may have been framed. But even if Consort Su was framed, she did indeed have relations with a man.
The emperor's eyes were icy. "A bunch of useless bastards, drag them out and execute them."
Seeing this, Su Tingwan wanted to step forward to plead for mercy, but Xie Shang held her back tightly, warning her with his eyes not to act rashly. No matter what the conspiracy or scheme was, only Consort Su could bear the consequences. The evidence was conclusive and Consort Su could not deny it.
Now, anyone who dares to step forward will be implicated by her, and even more will be uncovered.
Xie Shang only hoped that Su Tingwan hadn't become repulsive, and that she wouldn't be instigated by Consort Su to do anything to harm Jiang Fenghua.
As for who helped Jiang Fenghua escape this calamity, Xie Shang thought he already had a guess.
Su Tingwan only dared to kneel on the ground. She was full of doubts and guessed that this man was the second-hand preparation made by Aunt Yunfang, who wanted to ruin Jiang Fenghua's reputation. But now Jiang Fenghua was safe and sound, while her aunt was framed.
She glanced at Jiang Fenghua and saw her kneeling properly on the ground, her expression showing the same surprise as everyone else, looking completely harmless.
Su Tingwan never expected that her aunt would be the one to suffer in the end, while Jiang Fenghua was completely unharmed. Where did things go wrong?
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