After letting go, Wanxia knelt down first and whispered, "This servant is guilty."
"We'll talk about it later." Yinzhen's eyes were fixed on Shan Xiu, his gaze filled with coldness.
"Has Fu Hui been found?" Qian Shengyan looked at the sunset.
Wanxia paused, then shook her head: "This servant has already sent people all the way to the prince's residence to search for him."
"Fu Hui?" Yinzhen turned to look at Qian Shengyan, who sighed and said, "The blow that caused Shan Xiu's miscarriage might have been Fu Hui's..."
"What?" Yinzhen was shocked.
Qian Shengyan said, "Perhaps there's some misunderstanding..."
She repeated the questions she had just asked Wanxia, and then gestured for Wanxia to add more.
There was no one else in the hall, so Wanxia didn't give Shanxiu any face and directly told her that she had locked herself in her bedroom for a day and a night without coming out, as well as what Fu Hui was worried about. She also showed everyone the marks on Shanxiu's body without hiding them.
“I deserve to die a thousand deaths. Only after careful investigation did I discover that the back window of the bedchamber was open. It seems that the lecherous thief also entered through that back window. And Fu Hui is so young, I don’t know how she found it. She must have climbed in through the back window as well,” Wanxia said, bowing her head.
Yinzhen sneered, "You truly deserve to die."
Wanxia trembled, not daring to say anything more, but her hatred for Shanxiu grew even stronger—if only she had behaved herself, how could she have been implicated?!
Upon hearing Yinzhen's punishment of Wanxia, Shan Xiu knew her life was in danger. She frantically kowtowed, "Your Majesty..."
"Hmm?" Yinzhen interrupted coldly.
"This servant...this servant Shan Xiu knows, knows she is guilty, I beg Your Majesty, I beg Your Majesty to spare my life..."
Unlike Wanxia, Shanxiu had not undergone systematic training and her fear of the emperor was ingrained in her bones. Even now, she still hoped to save her life so that she could leave this place.
Yinzhen was so exasperated by her that he laughed: "Whose child is it?"
Shan Xiu bit her lip and looked at him without saying a word.
"Tell me everything, and I'll consider sparing your life," Yinzhen said slowly. "Your word is law; you cannot lie."
A flash of joy crossed Shan Xiu's eyes, but the next moment, her brows furrowed even more tightly.
Qian Shengyan was also waiting for Shan Xiu's reply.
Moreover... I wonder if Shan Xiu noticed the loophole in Yinzhen's words. He only said he would "consider" sparing his life, but he didn't say he would actually spare it.
But clearly, Shan Xiu didn't catch the linguistic trap. She frowned and pursed her lips, obviously caught in a dilemma.
"Your Majesty, Prince Fu Hui has arrived." A voice sounded from outside the door.
Shan Xiu froze for a moment, then remembered that it was this brat who had hit her in the stomach, causing her miscarriage. Immediately, Shan Xiu perked up and knelt up, shouting, "Your Majesty, Fu Hui attacked the concubine, causing her miscarriage. Your Majesty must not let him off lightly!"
Yinzhen: ...
Qian Shengyan: ...
Qian Shengyan: "Are you an imperial concubine?"
Shan Xiu: ...
Qian Shengyan: "You're pregnant with the dragon's child?"
Dan Xiu's eyes sparkled even more.
Qian Shengyan laughed and turned to Yinzhen, saying, "It seems Your Majesty can reward Fu Hui well."
"Then let's look back and find a good family to raise us," Yinzhen said casually.
Su Peisheng had already opened the door and welcomed Fu Hui in.
The blood on the child's hands had been washed off, but the bloodstains on his body remained, clearly indicating he hadn't had time to change his clothes. He walked in tremblingly, and upon meeting Yinzhen's gaze, he knelt on the ground with a thud: "Father, your son... is guilty..."
"Fu Hui, what did you see?" Yinzhen asked.
Upon hearing this, Fu Hui trembled, lowered her head even further, and stammered, unsure of what to say.
"I haven't visited Consort Hua in a long time, Fu Hui, do you understand what this means?" Yinzhen continued to ask.
Fu Hui suddenly looked up: "Impossible, that was a eunuch!"
"Hmm?" Yinzhen narrowed his eyes.
Fu Hui pursed her lips, then glanced at the slumped Shan Xiu, looking quite troubled.
He didn't want to betray his mother, but he also didn't want to deceive his father, the Emperor. He...
He lowered his head and said, "Fu Hui is mistaken. The Empress Dowager's miscarriage was all because Fu Hui hit her..."
"What did you use to smash it?" Qian Shengyan asked.
“Stone,” Fuhui City replied.
"Where did the stone come from?" Qian Shengyan continued to ask.
Fu Hui pursed her lips: "I found it outside the back window..."
How do you know you can climb in through the back window?
Fu Hui avoided the question, turning her head to one side and refusing to return.
Yinzhen sternly called out "Fu Hui," but Qian Shengyan said, "I understand. When the eunuch came, you were also in Consort Hua's bedchamber, weren't you?"
Fu Hui looked at her in surprise.
Qian Shengyan carefully analyzed the situation: "Or perhaps, when you heard the noise at the back window, you were kicked out by Consort Hua, and then when you saw that your mother hadn't come out for two days, you were worried and ran to the back window to check, is that right?"
“…Yes.” Fu Hui’s heart and throat were filled with bitterness. He glanced at Consort Xi sitting at the head of the table, then lowered his head deeply.
If only this were his mother, so that she could be a perfect match for the Emperor, so gentle and intelligent, and most importantly, she wouldn't do such a shameful thing.
"Didn't you see the eunuch's face clearly?" Qian Shengyan asked again.
Her guess stemmed from the fact that Fu Hui was only frightened by her mother's situation and was surprised that the fetus wasn't the Emperor's. If Fu Hui had recognized her third brother and now knew it wasn't the Emperor's child, she would probably be terrified and wouldn't be behaving this way.
Fu Hui responded, tears streaming down her face: "Father, your son is scared..."
"What did you see? Don't be afraid, tell Father Emperor," Yinzhen asked.
Fu Hui still didn't want to speak ill of her mother. Since things had come to this point, Yinzhen had no need to hide anything anymore, so he revealed that he was not Consort Hua's biological son.
...After a moment of shock, Fu Hui understood.
Why is his mother so cold to him? Because he's not her biological son!
He also understood that only those of the rank of concubine or above could have their own children in the palace. He figured that perhaps his mother's rank was too low, which was why he became the child of Consort Hua.
As if a heavy burden had been lifted from her heart, Fu Hui bowed deeply and choked out, “Your son saw… saw that eunuch whipping your mother… He then covered his face and ran away, but his clothes were not fastened properly. Your son saw that he had a purplish-red mole on the left side of his chest.”
"You're talking nonsense! He's talking nonsense! There's no mole!!" Shan Xiu shouted. She wanted to say something more, but she immediately shut her mouth after meeting Yinzhen's gaze.
Yinzhen coldly said, "Su Peisheng, go and check all the guards and imperial physicians in the Eastern Six Palaces. If you can't find them, check everyone in the entire inner palace."
"Shan Xiu, be sentenced to death by flogging."
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