This question revealed that while the eldest princess was unharmed, the concubine behind her had definitely been exposed.
Even if they didn't interrogate Consort Yi for the sake of the two princesses, they could easily guess that it was Consort Ke who did it.
Inside Qianqiu Tower, the Fourth Prince, who had just returned from the Fifth Prince's place, sat for a while.
"After all this fuss, you just want to make it all disappear?"
"Then what do you mean, Your Highness?" asked the eunuch Yang Li.
“What I mean is, let’s add fuel to the fire.” The Fourth Prince smiled. “This play isn’t going well.”
"Yes, then this servant will definitely make sure the play is a success," Yang Li said with a smile.
The fourth prince merely glanced into the distance; for a ten-year-old, his maturity was truly beyond his years. But how many children in the palace are truly innocent?
Hua Lan is still in the torture chamber. Even without severe torture, she has already confessed everything she needed to.
The needlework was done by a palace maid who served Consort Yi.
The matter was naturally instructed by Consort Yi to be done by the princess.
The reason for using a princess is naturally because of her noble status. If something happens, at least His Majesty won't suspect anything.
And even if it's found out now, nothing will really happen.
As for the steps involved, not only Hualan, but even the eldest princess was unaware of them.
Now everything has been explained clearly.
After finishing dealing with Hualan's affairs, and before His Majesty could even punish Consort Yi and her son, another incident occurred at Leshou Palace.
One of the palace maids serving the eldest prince committed suicide.
Logically speaking, he had already been interrogated and had escaped punishment, so wouldn't it be suspicious if he committed suicide at this point?
The person who served you so closely could die so suddenly. How can you not be puzzled by that?
With this girl dead, the matter seems to have become even more complicated.
The eldest prince was originally the victim, but now it seems as if he is not innocent either.
The girl who died could be said to have died out of fear of punishment, or it could be said to have been silenced.
Was he silenced by outsiders, or by his own master?
Inside Guiyun Pavilion, Consort Jin Cong, who had been feeling unwell for the past few days, was holding a cup of hot tea and asked, "Is it all done?"
"Your Majesty, rest assured, no matter who it is, they would never expect it to be us who made the move," Hongchou said.
"Of course I never imagined it, and I only understand it now. In this harem, what else is there to compare besides favor? Being without favor and children is pitiful, but it's also carefree. In their eyes, I, Consort Jincong, am a useless person, aren't I?" Consort Jincong sneered.
She has been silent ever since her child died.
He was already out of favor, and after the death of his child, he never served His Majesty again.
Now, Guiyunxuan is a deserted place, with no one coming to her, but so what? The Huo family is still around.
She'd figured it out. Back when the Empress Dowager was alive, even though she had no children of her own, didn't the Emperor and the Empress Dowager still have to show her respect?
The Empress Dowager still harbors resentment towards the late Emperor; if she were to become Empress Dowager, she wouldn't need to feel that resentment.
Why does Baba need offspring? If he can't have any, so be it. Wouldn't it be better to support a new emperor?
The fourth prince is excellent. Although the Jiang family is declining year by year, the fourth prince still has a useful uncle.
Consort Rong was low-key and unassuming, but unfortunately, she gave birth to a prince. In this palace, there wasn't a single prince who didn't want to be the crown prince.
The eldest prince is going mad with the death of his maid. What kind of mess is this?
This is really hard to explain, but he is truly innocent; he didn't do anything.
Therefore, Consort Yi naturally would not admit to this.
Hua Lan dared not change her mind, but what she said might also be framing the princess.
Inside Zhaochun Palace, Yan Nangui laughed so hard he almost fell over: "What's this called? The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind? It's really interesting."
"Your Majesty, wasn't this all done by Consort Ke and her son?" Jiangxiang asked, puzzled.
"I don't know, but I don't think so. It's just that the eldest prince is so hated these days?" Yan Nangui laughed: "Well, Consort Xiangxian, Consort Ke, and Consort Ning are all formidable, and the princes are still quite young."
“Yes, but now that things have escalated to this point, it’s up to His Majesty to decide what to do,” Jiangxiang said.
"Based on my understanding of His Majesty, it will likely be resolved soon," Yan Nangui said.
"But who could it be this time? Do you think it might be the Empress Dowager?"
"You think too highly of the Empress Dowager. Over the years, although the Empress Dowager has done her fair share of disgusting things, if she were to actually do something... it would probably be to frame and kill Consort Jing?" Yan Nangui said.
"If you put it that way, even I think the Empress Dowager is quite good," Jiangxiang said.
"Indeed, they can still tolerate it. In fact, the Ye family is weak at heart. Back then, the eldest prince, Shu Changfeng, followed the Ye family. Actually, given the Duke of Ye's status back then, if he had been more assertive, Consort Jing might not have been without the right to compete for the Empress's position."
"The Ning family is truly ruthless, it's just that the Empress's temperament is flawed. I've been observing them over the past few years. Consort Ning, what do you think?"
“That must be extraordinary. After all, she was just an unfavored concubine back then, and it was already quite an achievement that she could give birth to the eldest son. She had been out of favor for many years,” Jiangxiang said.
“Yes, but have you noticed that she had the eldest prince, and even before she became Consort Ning, she steadily built her position step by step, day by day. She hid behind the Empress, making people forget that she was a member of the Ning family,” Yan Nangui said.
“What you say makes sense. The eldest prince is practically ready to become the crown prince now. Once he does, she will have made a name for herself,” Jiang Xiang said.
"It's not just that. Although the Duke of Ning has retired, many members of the Ning family still hold official positions. Civil officials still look up to them. The Ning family has lost an empress, but they still have the eldest prince. In fact, without an empress, the Ning family can only rely on Consort Ning and the eldest prince. And don't people from the same clan fight each other? Look at the Empress Dowager and Consort Ye. So, when the empress was involved in so many things, was this cousin involved?"
Jiangxiang nodded: "Your Majesty is right. When the prince was young, we only cared about how much he was loved. Now that he's grown up, we need to think about it from a different perspective."
Yan Nangui nodded: "Everyone wants to live well. In fact, the less favored a person is, the more they want to live well. It's only human nature."
Shu Chengfeng naturally wanted to investigate, but he was unwilling to let such witchcraft go out, because if it did, it would be a huge problem.
He's young, so he's not afraid of this kind of thing. But he can't start that.
Sure enough, His Majesty issued the decree very soon.
The eldest prince is engaged to the daughter of the Xu family, and they will get married next year.
The second prince is engaged to the daughter of the Ding family, and their wedding will take place next year.
The Third Prince is engaged to a daughter of the Yan family, and the wedding will also take place next year.
The eldest princess was betrothed to the second son of Marquis Xie, and a princess's residence was built. The wedding was to take place the year after next.
Consort Yi was found to have failed in her duties, which damaged the princess's reputation. Therefore, she is to be demoted to the rank of Jieyu and stripped of her title.
They moved into Yichun Pavilion.
The eldest princess and the third princess moved to Liufang Pavilion.
The late emperor's ninth and tenth princesses have both married out, and now the twelfth princess of the late emperor lives in Liufang Pavilion; she is still young.
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