Chapter 103 Chapter 103 Concubine Shu's Sixteenth Day
Defei knew that Li Wanyi was not convinced, but this thought only flashed through her mind, because the more important thing now was how to remove herself and the Li family from this matter.
No matter whether she was demoted or confined to her room, as long as she kept a low profile during this period and Ji Cheng worked hard, there would still be hope.
But Li Wanyi had to die.
Concubine De looked at Ji Chen and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, it was because I, as her elder sister, did not fulfill my duty of discipline that she had such thoughts. Everything is my fault. I am guilty. Please punish me. But Wanyi is still young. She was bewitched for a while and had such delusional and vicious thoughts. Although she made a mistake and caused a terrible disaster, I beg Your Majesty to punish her leniently!"
"Your Majesty, please abolish my position and title. I can take her to live in seclusion in Yongshou Palace and will never let her appear in public again."
"Your Majesty, Wanyi is my sister who I have watched grow up. I cannot watch her die. Even if she has done a thousand wrongs, I beg Your Majesty to show mercy!"
Concubine De had already knelt down, sobbing loudly, with tears falling from the corners of her eyes, making people feel flustered and confused.
Concubine Xuan couldn't bear it and said, "Li Guipin is the biological mother of the Third Prince after all... I don't know how sad the Third Prince must be without his mother."
Lan Xiurong watched the scene indifferently, and when she heard this, she said coldly: "He Cairen is the biological mother of the Second Prince, why doesn't Li Guipin consider the Second Prince?"
Xian Fei followed, tears falling all at once: "Poor Concubine He, Min'er is close to her as his mother, and he already knows the situation. Now I dare not let anyone tell him the news. I just think about the despair that the Second Prince will feel when he hears this, and I feel sorry for him."
Her eyes were red, and the other concubines couldn't help but wipe away their tears.
Just as Concubine De had a glimmer of hope on her face because of Concubine Xuan's words, Lan Xiurong and Concubine Xian compared her to Concubine He, and she seemed to have lost her strength, becoming depressed and frustrated.
It was as if he had finally realized the truth and was no longer able to protect Concubine Li.
Beside her, Li Guipin looked at Defei with emotions in her eyes, but more of it was indifference.
She knelt down, but behaved in a dignified manner with her back straight.
Only Concubine Xuan was left with an embarrassed look on her face.
She didn't quite understand why Concubine De would speak for Concubine Li Guipin. Even if they were close and trusting of each other, wasn't it the most important thing to distance themselves from the matter at this time?
But because of her support for Concubine De, she still followed Concubine De's wishes and spoke for Concubine Li.
Seeing that Concubine De was out of her mind, Concubine Xian hurriedly said, "Since Concubine Li has already admitted it, it would be better to convict her as soon as possible to inform the spirit of He Cairen in heaven and also to give an explanation to the Second Prince."
Ji Chen did not respond, and looked at Li Guipin: "Did you cause Lin Baolin's death?"
Concubine Lin was buried with the title of Baolin, so he was not wrong when he called her Lin Baolin.
Li Guipin lowered her eyes and said, "If it was me, I will admit it, but if it was not me, I will not accept such a false accusation."
"Just because they are poisonous drugs that kill instantly, can you push a crime that has already been convicted onto me? There are so many poisons like this, and it is not difficult to find them if you take the trouble to look for them."
Her place had been cleared of all the stuff related to the fake pregnancy, and even if someone said now that they had found the spices that hadn't been disposed of, she would never admit it.
She could still vividly remember the eunuch's smug look after he faked Shi Liu's death. No matter how dumb she was, she would not fall into the same trap twice.
This matter may not involve Concubine De, but once the false pregnancy is proven, Concubine De will be implicated.
Shi Liu was the maid of Concubine De. If Shi Liu was involved in two murders, even the simplest concubines in the harem would not believe that Concubine De was innocent, let alone the emperor and the empress.
Moreover, it was not long after the false pregnancy that Shi Liu stopped following Concubine De out of Yongshou Palace. At this point, a perceptive person could easily detect that something was wrong.
Ji Chen did not listen to her explanation and said in a cold voice: "Take away all the palace servants who serve Concubine Lin and torture them severely. Make sure you get something out of them."
"Look at how many people are loyal to her. A concubine like her can have such powerful connections in my harem!"
Li Guipin's lips trembled when she heard this. The palace people were not an iron wall...
The Queen hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. It is my fault for not disciplining the harem strictly. Please punish me."
Defei closed her eyes, but she was not panicked at all.
"It's not your fault." Ji Chen said to the queen, and then thought about who would take over the matter. Seeing that Wang Ding was not here, he retreated and said, "Qian Quanzhong, I'll leave this matter to you."
Qian Ji stayed with him so he could be ordered around at any time and would be more useful.
Qian Quanzhong said yes, and after taking away the palace maid who was barely calm beside Li Guipin, he led the group straight to Li Guipin's residence in Yongshou Palace.
During this period, Qian Quanzhong sent someone to call Wang Jigui.
When it comes to torture, he is not as good as Wang in torturing people. He used to wonder, why are they all eunuchs, so why is he not as perverted as Wang Jigui?
Just now, he also realized that the emperor was looking for Wang Ding and Wang Jigui, but Wang Ding was busy and Wang Jigui never set foot in Chengqian Palace, so this fell to him.
As soon as Qian Quanzhong left Chengqian Palace, Wang Ding and Qingyu arrived with their men.
Wang Ding and Qingyu reported the matter and then went inside.
The Queen and Qingyu made eye contact for a moment, and the Queen said, "Your Majesty, Qingyu went to investigate the incident of oil being poured on the palace road. I think there is a clue."
Wang Ding stood aside, and Qingyu reported back: "After checking with Eunuch Wang one by one the twenty-three palace servants who passed by the palace road, we found that a eunuch witnessed the whole process. He did not dare to speak out before, which delayed it until now. In his testimony, he saw a palace maid directing three eunuchs to take out the oil bottles hidden in their sleeves, pour the oil on the palace road, and then leave in a hurry."
"Because it was dark in the morning, the eunuch only saw the maid's appearance clearly. He described her as being very similar to Concubine Xuan's maid Huanyun, and the maid was wearing an orchid hairpin on her head."
Everyone's eyes fell on Concubine Xuan and her maid Huanyun.
Seeing that she was indeed wearing an orchid hairpin, he couldn't help but understand.
When Qingyu came in, she didn't even look at Huanyun, and reported the matter directly to the emperor and the empress. Wang Ding, who was with her, left to investigate the matter before Huanyun appeared in Chengqian Palace.
There was no way to know in advance what Huanyun was wearing.
In this way, there is no deliberate frame-up.
Huanyun knew it in her heart, and her hands were shaking uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Qingyu asked, "Huanyun, do you plead guilty?"
Concubine Xuan summoned up her courage and said, "Huanyun is good-looking. Good-looking people always look alike. Maybe the eunuch made a mistake. Huanyun is a very honest girl. Please don't wrongly accuse her."
Qingyu ignored Concubine Xuan and continued to repeat it.
Her words came to Huanyun slowly and steadily, and Huanyun's heartstrings tightened little by little, and she even had difficulty breathing.
But Concubine Xuan had done her a favor, and she couldn't betray her.
Huanyun raised her head, but not at Qingyu in front of her, but rushed straight into the pillar beside her.
Everyone around was shocked by her action and subconsciously took a few steps back.
Wang Dingze, who was a little closer, immediately tried to stop her, but Huanyun was too determined and Wang Ding was accidentally injured. He said, "Miss Huanyun's death is a small matter, but dying in Chengqian Palace is a big sin."
The queen finally had a child, and he didn't want Chengqian Palace to be tainted with bad luck.
Seeing that his attempt to commit suicide failed, Huanyun looked dazed.
The Queen took the opportunity to ask harshly, "Xuan Jieyu, do you have anything else to say?"
Xuan Jieyu was at a loss. She pointed at Li Guipin and said in panic, "Li Guipin threatened me to do this. If I didn't agree, she would harm me first. Besides, she said that she would not harm Shufei's life, and the oil would not have much effect, so I agreed."
"I am helpless in the palace and dare not disobey Concubine Li's orders. I beg the emperor and the queen to understand!"
The Queen rebuked: "Nonsense, it was Concubine Li who threatened you, why didn't you report it to me?"
"…I was frightened by Concubine Li for a moment. She was the main lady, and I was both terrified and afraid. That’s why I didn’t ask the Queen to make the decision."
The Queen asked Concubine Li: "Concubine Li, do you recognize what Concubine Xuan said?"
Li Guipin was not burdened by many debts, so she said, "I admit it. My threat to Concubine Xuan was true."
Concubine Chen raised her eyebrows slightly with a puzzled tone: "If it is true as Concubine Xuan said, Concubine Li threatened Concubine Xuan, then why didn't Concubine Li expose Concubine Xuan just now, but was so kind as to cover up for Concubine Xuan?"
"Is this the attitude you should have when threatening? Why do I look like I'm complicit in this?"
Concubine Xuan didn't even have time to wipe the sweat off her face: "Concubine Chen, be careful with your words. Concubine Li didn't give me away because she needed me to protect her. She has something on me, so I have no choice but to speak for her."
Concubine Chen's eyes became subtle: "It turns out that Concubine Xuan had no intention of revealing the truth after entering Chengqian Palace..."
Instead, he was thinking of speaking up for Concubine Li Guipin.
Ji Chen was no longer silent, and said with finality: "They covered up for each other, which was a conspiracy. Take Concubine Xuan and her palace maids away, and then further investigate and punish them according to their crimes."
Concubine Xuan opened her eyes wide and was taken away in panic.
She didn't expect that the emperor would easily determine that Concubine Chen was guilty just based on some of her ambiguous words.
She was indeed not wronged, but if it was Concubine Shu who stood here, would the Emperor not let Concubine Shu defend herself clearly?
After all, she was just a concubine and her weight in the emperor's heart was too low.
After the incident of Gong Dao pouring oil and He Cairen's death were dealt with, there was only one thing left.
Whether the false pregnancy involves Concubine Li.
The emperor's bringing up of the matter has made the concubines realize that the situation is not simple and Concubine Lin may have died unjustly.
The Queen and Concubine Xian thought about it and decided that if Concubine Li was involved in the fake pregnancy, then Concubine De must have played a role in it.
After all, even Concubine Xian didn't know about it until it was discovered that Concubine Lin's maid Feicui had a private relationship with the eunuch Shen Yi of the Qianqing Palace.
How did Li Guipin, who entered the palace later, know about it? She could even make Feicui and Shen Yi commit suicide so that there would be no evidence.
Fortunately, everyone didn't have to wait too long in Chengqian Palace, and Qian Quanzhong came back to report.
Qian Quanzhong said, "Reporting to the Emperor and Empress, Li Guipin's maids could not bear the torture and confessed everything they knew. The thing that Empress Shufei misdiagnosed as pregnancy was something that Li Guipin got by chance. The Imperial Hospital still considered this medicine difficult, but it turned out that a mixture of several precious spices would produce an odorless fragrance, which could turn a woman's pulse into a pregnancy pulse if smelled for a long time."
The Empress and Consort Xian's gazes slowly fell on Consort De.
This matter is actually related to Concubine De!
Even if the palace maids avoided mentioning Concubine De in their testimonies, they would take advantage of this great opportunity to severely damage Concubine De.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
