Chapter 174
The queen had slightly slanted eyes, and she looked delicate and noble. She was already in her thirties, but years of pampering had made her look ageless.
Lu Jiaxue looked at her and said, "Empress, I do have a question. Since Xie Min didn't know that the maid next to her was the second sister-in-law, how did you know?"
The Queen didn't hesitate for a moment before saying, "Of course, it was Lu Jiaran who told me. That girl wasn't your second sister-in-law's woman at first. She was bribed by your second sister-in-law, who threatened her brothers' lives to keep her in line... Her death at the hands of Xie Min was a perfect opportunity to pin the blame on her. It was a two-birds-with-one-stone plan."
Lu Jiaxue's impression of his second sister-in-law was that she wasn't scheming. Although her family background was strong, she didn't stand out compared to the former Marquis' wife, and couldn't compare to Xie Min. So much so that when she died, it was silent. Apart from Second Master Lu mourning for a year, no one else noticed.
"My second sister-in-law has been dead for thirteen years." Lu Jiaxue leaned back in his chair, crossing his fingers. "I can't possibly dig up the body and interrogate her. You're the only witness left. Even if that girl was actually yours, it's completely reasonable for you to kill her out of jealousy."
The Queen was a little excited when she heard this, but she suppressed her emotions and said, "I do like Lu Jiaran, but I can't possibly kill for him... I'm the Crown Princess after all! I would never do such a thing for him. If I loved him so much, you, the Governor, would have killed him with your own hands. Then why would I have tried to please you all these years? I should have hated you to the core long ago."
Lu Jiaxue remained silent.
The Queen was somewhat dejected. She sighed, "Well... If you really want to know everything, I have a few more suspects. I'm not sure about them. The only person I'm relatively sure of is your second sister-in-law. But what they said about Lu Jiaran is absolutely true. You were right to kill him..."
"Who else is there?" Lu Jiaxue suddenly asked.
The Queen's expression hardened. "The wife of the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion back then was also your legal mother. Lu Jiaran was her only son, and she knew everything about him. She might not want to see Lu Jiaran continue to do this, but she couldn't afford to damage her son's reputation. So she wanted to eliminate him completely... It's even possible that..."
Lu Jiaxue waved his hand.
"No need to say more." He said calmly, "Go back. I'll bring someone to see you. Tell her what we talked about today."
The queen's words were vague and ambiguous. Lu Jiaxue had originally sought the truth out of revenge. But now he had changed. He simply wanted an explanation. He didn't even want to delve into the deeper holes in the queen's words. Few of those implicated survived, and the only survivor, Queen Zhou, still had some use for him.
The Queen was stunned. She would probably never guess what Lu Jiaxue was thinking. Seeing that Lu Jiaxue was about to leave, she immediately stopped him and said, "My Lord, how can I casually tell anyone about this? I am the Queen after all, and I am only telling you this. I will never tell anyone else!" If this got out, her life would be over!
"The Queen is a smart person, so I don't need to say more." Lu Jiaxue left after saying this.
He was going to Datong. He had just married, so he couldn't leave her alone.
Snow fell heavily, and the queen suddenly collapsed, covering her eyes and trembling. No matter how honored her position, there were still too many things she couldn't handle. Without her own children, what good was she even as the mother of a country? She drank the hot wine, called the palace maid in, and prepared to return to the palace at noon the next day.
The next morning, Zhao Mingzhu went to the Queen's Palace to pay her respects.
She had caught the emperor's eye and was quite favored among the three new concubines. She was given the title of Beauty and moved to Chuxiu Palace. However, when she went to pay her respects to the empress that day, the head maid told her that she was unwell and asked them to go back.
The Queen's distant niece, however, was still only a consort, and her face darkened the moment she saw Zhao Mingzhu. After Zhao Mingzhu had left, she whispered to one of the palace attendants, "This lowly creature really thinks she's someone important... She's just a lowly woman pretending to be a phoenix! She's relying on her status as a member of the Duke of Ying's Mansion to act so pretentiously..."
The maidservant serving Zhao Mingzhu overheard this and complained, "My beauty, the talented lady's words are too harsh! You are one level higher than her. I think you should tear her mouth apart if you get the chance!"
Zhao Mingzhu didn't care at all: "She's jealous of me because she sees me being happy. I was afraid she wouldn't scold me. It's just right that she scolded me. I can talk about it when I go to deliver soup to the emperor tonight."
She asked again, "I asked you to give the inkstone to your father. Did you do it?"
The palace maid smiled and said, "Don't worry, my beauty. I will definitely do what you asked."
Zhao Mingzhu nodded and said, "Remember to tell the kitchen to make a bowl of ham and pigeon soup when you get home. Add more red dates. The emperor likes sweet food."
Yantai was actually delivering the message to Luo Shenyuan. As she was at the emperor's bedside, she was the first to know of any unusual developments. With the current tense situation at court, she would tell Luo Shenyuan everything.
Xu Wei was sentenced to death a few days after his imprisonment, beheaded on the 25th. In the past few days, officials have been pleading for mercy, and many have been implicated by the emperor, but only Luo Shenyuan has been spared. The emperor has been busy discussing alchemy with a Taoist priest from Qingcheng Mountain, paying little attention to state affairs. No amount of talk will help.
Luo Shenyuan's relationship with Wang Yuan became unclear. He became closer to Wang Yuan, and Wang Yuan no longer targeted him in court. There was even talk of Luo Shenyuan taking over the position after the Minister of Works retired. The Minister of Works had always served concurrently as Grand Secretary of the Wuying Palace, effectively serving as a Cabinet Elder... Could Luo Shenyuan be the next Grand Secretary?
Zhao Mingzhu was terrified at the thought of this, and she didn't know if he could do it!
Zhao Mingzhu sighed. She didn't understand any of this. She decided to go back and make some soup. She'd help as much as she could, as a way of repaying Yining.
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