Feng Jian walked into the room, his eyes swept across the women in the room, and finally stopped at the Queen, "Everyone, stand up."

Walking to the top and sitting down, Feng Jin said expressionlessly: "I heard that the Queen was interrogating a criminal slave today, so I happened to pass by and came to take a look. You guys continue."

The queen was stunned, not knowing what the emperor meant. She couldn't help but glance at Zhuang Yuyan. Did the emperor care so much about Zhuang Yuyan's child?

"Your Majesty, I have already found out that among these five people, two have had contact with people in Shuguifei's palace, one has had contact with people in Roufei and Xu Zhaorong's palaces, another has had contact with Yan Guipin and Zhuang Jieyushi, and the other has had contact with people in Shuguifei, Yan Guipin, Roufei, and Ye Shurong's palaces. Just now, a servant refused to plead guilty and has been punished by me according to the law. That servant once served in Roufei's palace." The empress explained in detail the powerful relationships between several servants and various palaces, and all the concubines who were named showed expressions of being wronged.

Zhuang Yuyan frowned slightly. The Queen's move actually dragged several people into the water. What was her intention? Although there were no real good sisters in the harem, they would not tear each other apart. Did the Queen have other plans for this move or was she desperate and had to do this?

"Hmm?" After hearing what the Queen said, Feng Jin looked at the concubines who were named with interest, "The Queen means that these people are suspicious?"

The Queen bowed slightly and said, "I think that all the sisters have served the Emperor wholeheartedly. It is best to clear their suspicion as soon as possible."

"Your Majesty, this is very polite," Feng Jin pointed at a palace maid, "Can you tell me which servants in the palace she has come into contact with?"

"Your Majesty, this maid is called Xiaoju, and she is on duty at the Imperial Food Bureau. She was in charge of serving food to Zhao Chongyi that day," Ming Lu replied. "This maid had contact with Consort Shu, Consort Yan, Consort Yan, Consort Rou, and Ye Shurong. I have also checked the servants who had contact with her, and there seems to be nothing suspicious about her."

"Everyone is suspicious, and no one is suspicious," Feng Jin looked at the queen with a smile, "Then my queen, please tell me who among these people murdered Zhao Chongyi, or is the person who murdered Zhao Chongyi not among these people at all?"

The queen did not expect the emperor to speak so harshly, and she knelt on the ground immediately.

When the other concubines saw the empress kneeling, they did not dare to sit anymore. They all stood up and held their breath. Of course, some of them were laughing in their hearts.

"I just said this, Queen, there is no need to do this. I understand your intentions." Feng Jin helped the Queen up with one hand, glanced at the five servants, and said lightly, "Since these people do not admit it, they should all be beaten to death."

How can we continue the investigation if all these people are beaten to death? The queen was shocked, but she dared not say anything to object. She could only watch these servants being dragged away.

Gao Dezhong led several powerful eunuchs to drag these criminal slaves out. As soon as they reached the gate of Jingyang Palace, they saw Ye Cairen and Jiang Xianpin walking towards them. Ye Cairen looked much more reserved, and no one could tell that she was Ye Shuyi, the most favored concubine in the harem a few months ago.

"I have met Concubine Jiang Xian and Concubine Ye." Before Gao Dezhong finished his ceremony, Concubine Jiang Xian exempted him from the ceremony.

"What's going on, Eunuch Gao?" How could Jiang Xianpin, an unfavored concubine, dare to act like a master in front of the eunuch chief? She carefully glanced at the servants who were being escorted behind him and vaguely guessed something.

Before Gao Dezhong could answer, he heard Ye Cairen's cry of surprise.

"Hey, aren't you from the same hometown as Mu Yue, the senior palace maid next to my sister? I remember that you stole Mu Yue's bracelet last year and were caned. What did you do wrong today?" Ye Cairen pointed at Xiao Ju and looked at Gao Dezhong in confusion. "Eunuch Gao, what did she do wrong?"

Gao Dezhong glanced at Xiaoju and bowed to Ye Cairen. "Thank you for your reminder, Ye Cairen. I still have something to report to the emperor. Please allow me to take my leave." After that, he asked the eunuch behind him to leave Xiaoju behind, and he turned around and walked back to Jingyang Palace.

Ye Cairen was even more confused now. She looked at the servants who were taken away and Xiaoju who was left behind, and turned to look at Concubine Jiang Xian, "Sister, what do you think this is?"

Concubine Jiang Xian looked at the puzzled expression on Ye Cairen's face and shook her head with a smile: "Ye Cairen, I don't understand either."

Before the two men had taken a few steps out of the room, a eunuch ran out in a hurry and said that the emperor wanted to summon them.

As soon as Concubine Ye and Concubine Jiang Xian entered the side hall of Jingyang Palace, they saw many people sitting in the room. Xiaoju was kneeling in the middle of the room, looking disheveled.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, Your Majesty," Ye Cairen saluted blankly, and saw that her sister Ye Shurong was also there with an unhappy look on her face. She looked at her in confusion, but unfortunately she didn't look at her, so she had to look away helplessly.

"Talented Lady Ye, you just said that Xiaoju and the maidservant beside Ye Shurong are from the same hometown. Is that true?" The Queen looked at Talented Lady Ye with a burning gaze.

"Your Majesty, they know each other. I didn't know it at first. It happened that last year I heard the senior palace maid beside my sister complain that her fellow villager had stolen her bracelet. I was very angry at that time, so I had Xiaoju punished with twenty strokes of the cane. I still remember that my sister blamed me for making a fuss and said that it was just a misunderstanding. Later, I never asked about it. Why..." Ye Cairen seemed to realize what the emperor and the empress were investigating. Her face changed and she stopped talking.

The empress glanced at the emperor, and seeing that he did not speak, she said, "Someone, go to Ye Shurong's palace and bring Mu Yue here." After saying this, the empress saw Xiaoju's face change, and she had a vague guess in her heart.

Zhuang Yuyan watched the drama in front of her with a sick face. She didn't expect that the relationship between the Ye sisters was not as good as she imagined. She didn't believe that Ye Cairen was so brainless. After she said everything she should and shouldn't say, she realized what was going on.

But why would Ye Cairen treat her own sister like this? What good would this do for her?

In less than an incense stick of time, Mu Yue was brought to a side hall. Seeing Mu Yue kneeling on the ground and his master with a pale face, Mu Yue knelt down without changing his expression.

"You are such a good servant! Why don't you ask Xiaoju why she is kneeling here? Why did the Emperor and I call you here?" The Queen looked at Ye Shurong coldly. "Ye Shurong, this is the maid beside you. Why don't you ask her to tell the truth?" The Queen did not expect that this matter would be related to Ye Shurong. Ye Shurong has not been favored in these years. Even though she holds the position of Shurong, she is still unknown. Even the loss of her child a few months ago did not attract much attention from the harem. How could she interfere in such matters?

Ye Shurong moved her lips but did not speak. In the end, she just glanced at Ye Cairen.

Mu Yue kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, Empress, I plead guilty. This was all because I was resentful of Zhao Chongyi, so I asked my fellow villager Xiaoju to help. It has nothing to do with my master."

"What grudge do you have with Zhao Chongyi that made you do such a cruel thing?" the queen asked.

Zhuang Yuyan's eyebrows moved. Was the Queen going to dig up her dark history? She glanced at Mu Yue. She didn't have much memory of this palace maid. Not to mention this palace maid, she didn't even have much memory of Ye Shurong. She never thought that Ye Shurong wanted to deal with her.

"A few months ago, I bumped into Zhao Chongyi by accident and was slapped in the face by Zhao Chongyi for half an hour and made to kneel for three hours. That day was the day when the palace maids came to visit relatives once every two years. Just because Zhao Chongyi was unhappy, I couldn't see my relatives. How could I not hate her?" Mu Yue glared at Zhuang Yuyan fiercely, "Just because I am of humble status, do I let others trample on me?"

"The palace has its own rules. I have offended my master and I should be punished. Even if Zhao Chongyi has punished me too severely, you should not harm the heir to the throne!" The queen said sternly, "Aren't you afraid that the emperor and I will exterminate your entire clan?"

"My mother and I depended on each other for survival. My mother passed away some time ago. I am alone now. There is nothing for me to worry about." After Mu Yue finished speaking, she suddenly kowtowed in the direction of Ye Shurong. The empress realized something was wrong, and before she could stop her, she saw dark red blood flowing from the corners of Mu Yue's mouth and ears, and her body fell limply.

Several eunuchs rushed forward to drag away her body, and palace maids wiped the floor. In the blink of an eye, a life was cleared away.

Ye Shurong's body swayed, and she collapsed on the chair, with no trace of blood on her face.

The whole room suddenly fell into deathly silence. All the concubines lowered their heads, not daring to look at the floor where Mu Yue had been lying.

"Forget it. Since things have come to this, let's do this." Feng Jin stood up and spoke expressionlessly, "Ye Shurong is incompetent in governing her subordinates, so her title of Shurong is revoked and she is demoted to a seventh-rank noble lady and moved to a side hall of Jingqiu Pavilion. Zhao Chongyi has made great contributions in pregnancy, but was framed by a villain and had a miscarriage. She is promoted from a third-rank Chongyi to a third-rank Xiuyi."

After saying this, Feng Jian looked at the empress again, "There are many affairs in the harem now. I am worried that the empress is tired. Concubine Shugui, Concubine Ning, and Concubine Xian will help the empress manage the affairs of the harem." After saying this, without even looking at the empress's face, "It's getting late. I should go and take care of government affairs."

"Farewell, Your Majesty."

After seeing the emperor off, the empress still maintained her dignity, but there was still a hint of sadness between her brows.

"I am tired too, please leave."

The concubines tactfully withdrew. The Empress was in a bad mood, and they would not be so foolish as to violate her taboos at this time.

During the ceremony, Zhuang Yuyan seemed to see Ye Cairen giving Ye Shurong an ambiguous smile, but when she looked closely, she only saw Ye Cairen's confused and anxious face.

Zhuang Weiyan withdrew her gaze. As expected, there was no one in the harem who couldn't act.

Although the emperor did not explicitly blame Ye Shurong this time, the fact that she was demoted from the second-rank Shurong to the seventh-rank noble lady was enough to prove the emperor's inner thoughts on the matter.

Ye Shurong's demotion will not benefit Ye Cairen in any way, so why did she do this?