Aunt Ping——

These three words startled Emperor Jingming so much that he even forgot to ask for details immediately.

During the Lantern Festival, Princess Fuqing was in danger in Xuande Tower. Because of Yu Jin's words, although Emperor Jingming could not suspect the Empress Dowager, he tacitly agreed to secretly investigate Cining Palace.

This Aunt Ping is the person who was recently found to have had frequent contact with Qingdai, Princess Fuqing's personal maid.

Aunt Ping is dead?

Emperor Jingming thought about this quickly and asked, "How did the Queen Mother see Aunt Ping's body?"

Aunt Ping was the female official in charge of clothing in the Cining Palace. She was in charge of the young palace maids who were in charge of the Empress Dowager's clothing. She was also considered a person of honor in front of the Empress Dowager.

The nanny kneeling on the ground lowered her head and said, "Aunt Ping brought the clothes that the Empress Dowager would wear on her birthday today for her to look at. The Empress Dowager thought there was nothing wrong with them, so she asked Aunt Ping to keep them properly. But Aunt Ping went to the west room and didn't come out for a long time. Later, a scream was heard. The Empress Dowager heard the noise and looked over, and saw Aunt Ping hanging herself -"

"Where is that slave girl?" Emperor Jingming asked with a sullen face.

The nanny said tremblingly: "It's still hanging on the beam——"

"Lead me the way!"

The nanny glanced at the queen in panic.

The Queen hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, don't let a lowly maid disturb you—"

Emperor Jingming waved his hand and sneered: "I have seen a lot, so why would I be afraid of a corpse?"

The queen couldn't persuade him any further.

Emperor Jingming glanced at the nanny on the ground and said coldly, "You lead the way."

The nanny had no choice but to get up and walk ahead nervously.

Emperor Jingming took two steps and said to the empress, "You and Fuqing don't need to follow me. Let the seventh son and his wife go with me."

Yu Jin's mouth twitched when he heard this.

What does that mean? It's normal to ask him to go along, why do you have to ask Asi too?

So if the Empress and Princess Fuqing are two beautiful girls, then his wife isn't a weak woman?

Yu Jin muttered to himself, but his steps were not slow. He looked at Jiang Si again and found that he was walking faster than him.

The box where the empress dowager's clothes were kept was in the west room, and it was only a few steps away.

A corpse was swaying slightly on the beam, and an embroidered cushion with flower and bird patterns lay alone on the side.

There were many palace maids standing at the west room entrance at this moment, but no one dared to move. When they saw Emperor Jingming and his two companions coming over, they hurriedly saluted.

Emperor Jingming stood at the door, looked up at the woman hanging from the beam for a moment, then glanced at Pan Hai.

Pan Hai whispered, "It's Aunt Ping."

Emperor Jingming was silent for a while and then spoke: "Seventh Brother, check to see if there is anything abnormal."

"yes."

Yu Jin walked into the house.

Jiang Si didn't hesitate and followed him in.

The maids in Cining Palace were shocked, thinking that Princess Yan was very courageous. Then they stole a glance at Emperor Jingming's accustomed expression and were even more shocked: Could it be that the royal family now chooses their daughters-in-law based on their courage?

Princess Fuqing glanced towards the west room and whispered, "Mother, Aunt Ping--"

The Queen held Princess Fuqing's hand tightly and whispered, "Don't say anything."

The Empress Dowager's wardrobe lady died in her bedroom. Things are becoming more and more confusing. It is best to remain silent at this time.

Emperor Jingming came back and asked the maid who had been there before: "Did Aunt Ping go to put away the clothes by herself?"

The nanny hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, there is another little palace maid accompanying Aunt Ping."

"Where is the little palace maid?" Emperor Jingming asked immediately.

A timid voice came: "Slave, the slave is here..."

As a person knelt in front of him, Emperor Jingming saw the appearance of the little palace maid clearly: she was a girl who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old. At this moment, her face was pale and she was about to cry. It was obvious that she was very frightened.

"Where were you when Aunt Ping was hanging herself?"

It couldn't be that this little palace maid committed suicide while watching Aunt Ping.

"Slave, I'm not in the room..." The little maid fell to the ground, shaking like a sieve, "Aunt Ping asked me to get some spices to put in the box to fumigate clothes. I went to get the spices, but when I came back and entered the room, I found Aunt Ping hanging herself -"

Emperor Jingming's face turned pale when he heard this, and he asked the maid, "Didn't you hear any noise before?"

An embroidery cushion always makes a sound when it falls to the ground.

The nanny shook her head: "The Queen Mother was listening to a song at the time and didn't hear the noise coming from the west room. It was not until the young palace maid screamed that the Queen Mother came out to see -"

Having said this, the nanny glared at the little palace maid fiercely.

If it weren't for this bitch's screaming, how could the Queen Mother have been frightened to death? If Aunt Ping should be whipped, this little bitch should also be beaten to death.

Emperor Jingming ignored the young palace maid's misbehavior and focused all his attention on Aunt Ping.

If he killed Aunt Ping, the most important thing is to find the murderer. If Aunt Ping committed suicide, why did she choose to hang herself in such a conspicuous place?

There were footsteps. It was Yu Jin and Jiang Si walking over.

Emperor Jingming asked hurriedly: "How is it?"

Princess Fuqing looked at Yu Jin and Jiang Si, also revealing an expectant look.

The queen took in the two people's reactions and raised the corners of her lips secretly.

She said with some shame that she was far less worried about the Empress Dowager than the Emperor, and that was why she could see things more clearly.

The emperor may not have realized it himself, but when something like this happened, he valued the Prince of Yan very much.

It is certainly a happy thing that my son is valued by the emperor.

Yu Jin shook his head: "There are no signs of struggle, and no external injuries on her body. My son asked the palace maids, and they said that except for those who stayed in the Queen Mother's room, everyone else was standing outside, and no one went to the west room. In this case, we can basically conclude that Aunt Ping committed suicide."

Emperor Jingming was silent for a long time, then angrily said, "This bitch!"

At this time, a palace maid ran over and said, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother has woken up."

When Emperor Jingming heard this, he hurried in.

The empress dowager was half-sitting up with the help of a palace maid. When she saw Emperor Jingming coming over, she smiled weakly, "The emperor is here."

"Mother, are you okay?" Emperor Jingming asked concernedly while sitting beside the empress dowager.

The Queen then asked, "Is mother feeling better?"

Princess Fuqing wiped her tears and smiled: "Grandmother, I'm glad you woke up."

Yu Jin quietly touched Jiang Si's hand, and the two of them greeted the Queen Mother together.

The Queen Mother scanned the crowd, her eyes lingering on Yu Jin for a little while, and asked weakly, "You came to the palace today to pay your respects to the Queen, right?"

Yu Jin nodded: "I wanted to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager, but I was afraid of disturbing your peace."

Except on necessary days, it is impossible for princes, princesses and other guests from outside to come to Cining Palace all the time when they enter the palace, and the Queen Mother does not have the energy to deal with all of this, so it is not considered rude for Yu Jin and Jiang Si not to come to Cining Palace to pay their respects.

"I wish it was more lively..." The Queen Mother paused, as if she suddenly thought of something, and said in a hoarse voice, "Is Aunt Ping really dead?"

Emperor Jingming nodded slowly.

The Queen Mother patted the bedpost and sighed, "This Aunt Ping clearly wanted to die on purpose for me to see!"

Emperor Jingming was stunned for a moment, and asked hurriedly, "What do you mean, mother?"