Chapter 449: Telling Everything You Know
This was the first time in his life that Lord Qian was so close to the emperor. He was sweating coldly on his back and was extremely nervous.
The person who brought him up just now also handed the booklet containing his life investigation to the emperor.
How could he not know what he had done? He was already feeling guilty, so how could he not be afraid now?
But it’s hard to say.
Xuanyuan Ling read the life story of this Lord Qian. He was quite successful in the officialdom. He was a fellow imperial examinee of Shen Zhizhuo. However, compared with Shen Zhizhuo's tortuous experience of being selected into the Hanlin Academy but eventually being sent out and then being demoted again when he returned to Beijing, this Lord Qian's experience was much more stable.
Because he did not perform well in the palace examination and did not enter the Hanlin Academy, he was directly sent out to other places, but he has been rising steadily all the way and is now the magistrate of Jinzhou.
Xuanyuan Ling looked at Mr. Qian and said calmly, "Do you know why I asked someone to bring you here?"
Lord Qian kowtowed to Xuanyuan Ling and said, "I didn't know. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
He felt so regretful and painful in his heart. If he had known that this matter would be brought to the attention of the Emperor, he would never have interfered. He had been in the officialdom for so many years, but he didn't expect that he would end up in trouble for this.
When he was instructed to do this, he thought it was just to ruin Shen Zhizhuo's reputation.
After all, there were many rumors outside about the favor of Concubine Xian. It was possible that she was not favored by the Empress Dowager. After all, the Shen family only had two people in the court, father and son, and it was not a big family. Using the name of Shen Zhizhuo to do such a thing and letting people talk about it would only suppress the Concubine Xian's edge.
Lord Qian was counting on the Chen family to rise in career, so this kind of thing was nothing more than a few words. He thought he understood it and just did it, thinking that even if someone investigated it later, it would be a small matter.
He never expected that the Chen family was so ruthless in this move. It was not meant to suppress Concubine Xian at all, but it directly killed the entire Qiao family. When the Qiao family was wiped out, he actually felt that something was strange, but it was too late. Now that the matter has come, it is too late to regret.
What can he say? He doesn't dare to say it, so how can he say it?
After all, it was Concubine Qiao who did this. If he didn't tell anyone, the emperor would be furious and would kill him alone. If he really told anyone, it would be tantamount to murdering the royal heir. Would his family members be able to survive?
He didn't want to protect the Chen family, but he couldn't escape death anyway, so at least he saved his family.
Xuanyuan Ling looked at Lord Qian and sneered, "I will only give you one chance to tell me what you know. If you don't tell me now, it will be considered as murdering the entire Qiao family. Concubine Qiao assassinated Concubine Xian with the intention of murdering the heir to the throne, which is equivalent to treason. At that time, the entire family will be executed and no one can save them. If you tell the truth, I will give them a way out and leave you with a whole body."
Xuanyuan Ling disdained to use flattery. As an emperor, why would he use flattery with him?
Lord Qian had originally wanted to die, but now he suddenly realized that the Emperor was going to take action against the Queen.
The fact that she went to such great lengths to dig out this little secret proves that the Empress was planning to murder Consort Xian. It's not right to say that she was planning to murder Consort Xian, because doesn't Consort Xian have a child?
In this case, the Chen family is doomed and can't take care of themselves. Even if he said so, he might not have the time to take care of his family.
Lord Qian smiled bitterly in his heart. He was going to die anyway, and the only choice was to save his family. Now that the emperor gave him a choice, what else could he do?
He kowtowed heavily to Xuanyuan Ling: "Your Majesty, I will tell you everything I know."
The queen suddenly felt a little nervous when she woke up from her nap today. She couldn't tell why, but she just felt a little uncomfortable.
Seeing the queen frowning, Jinzhi asked, "Madam, do you want to call the imperial physician?"
The queen was only panicked for a moment, and now she shook her head: "I think it's because I didn't sleep well last night."
"I will change your pillow later."
The queen sat and dressed, looking at herself in the mirror. She often looked at herself in the mirror like this. The women in the palace always spent a large part of their time on dressing up. It was not only because women naturally loved beauty, but also for the emperor.
She wanted the emperor to be pleased with her, but even though she had been living a life of luxury over the years, she was still very thin and her complexion was not very good. It was ironic that she and Xuanyuan Ling had been married for life, but now the emperor was in his prime, while she, as the queen, looked old.
She has more white hair, more wrinkles, and her face looks a little saggy.
It is obvious that she is one year younger than the emperor. She is thirty-six years old this year. Ordinary people of this age can also become grandmothers. In fact, she is about to become a grandmother. Although Prince Huai was not born by her, she is his biological mother. The prince's wife should also call her the imperial grandmother for this baby.
Thinking of this, the queen wanted to curl the corners of her mouth, but she didn't smile.
There is nothing funny. She has never given birth to a child of her own in her life. She went to great lengths to get the Fourth Prince, but he turned out to be a hopeless person and instead brought trouble upon her.
After scheming for half her life, all was in vain in the end. Now she holds the position of Queen, but she is still afraid because of Concubine Xian.
Her life as a queen was extremely frustrating.
After she had combed her hair and put on her clothes, a maid brought her the fragrant soup for rinsing her face. The queen sipped it casually for the whole day. When she put the cup back, it knocked on the tray and slipped out of her hand.
With a loud bang, the cup fell to the ground and broke into two pieces.
The servant who was serving immediately knelt down and said, "This servant deserves death."
Jinzhi's heart skipped a beat: "My Lady..."
The queen glanced at the palace maid kneeling on the ground. The palace maid trembled as she looked at her. She said calmly, "Go down."
The maid hurriedly thanked the queen, then lowered her head and quickly picked up the broken cup and went away. The queen did not punish her, but she was also afraid.
Over the years, the Queen Mother generally wouldn't get angry, and wouldn't scold people after they did something wrong, but every once in a while, occasionally, someone would disappear inexplicably.
As for where he had gone, none of the servants in Fengyi Palace dared to discuss it in private.
Jinzhi asked again: "Don't you really need to call the imperial physician?"
The Queen was lost in thought: "Has the Qiao incident been going on for more than a month? Jinzhi, why don't you tell me that the Emperor hasn't dealt with it yet?"
Jinzhi's heart also skipped a beat.
In fact, after Jinse committed suicide, they thought that the emperor would not be able to find out the truth and the matter would be settled naturally. After all, there is no evidence without proof. They had done everything that Qiao knew. Even if others investigated, what they found would be the same as the information Qiao got.
But it has been more than a month, and the emperor has been holding Qiao in custody and has not yet dealt with her.
Jinzhi was actually quite nervous, but seeing that the queen was upset, she could only comfort her: "Don't worry, your majesty, everyone involved in this matter has been dealt with now."
Originally, Mr. Qiao was poisoned to death, and then Mrs. Qiao was strangled to death to make it look like suicide. The suicide note was naturally written in the handwriting of Mrs. Qiao. Those who poisoned and strangled Mrs. Qiao, and even those who imitated the suicide note, have all been killed. Even if the matter was suspicious, there was no human witness. As for the physical evidence, the letter to Jinse had been destroyed. After all, with Jinse's death, there was no human witness or physical evidence.
The queen used to be afraid of leaving any evidence behind when she did things, so this time, didn't she know how to be cautious? She has always been the most cautious.
Just like the previous few times, whenever the emperor found out and had no evidence, he would be suspicious. Or even if he was sure, she was the queen after all, and the Chen family was not a small family. Besides, the empress dowager was still there, so even if the emperor suppressed her and deprived her of her power, he would not depose her.
To depose the queen, one needs a reason that can be made public so that all the ministers cannot speak for her. Without evidence, this reason will not hold.
However, this time the matter has dragged on for so long that she felt really uneasy.
ps: The next chapter will be late, you can read it tomorrow
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