Chapter 53 Scapegoat

The next day, Su Jingyao woke up slowly, her face was refreshed and her beautiful eyes were sparkling.

That’s great. At least I can have a few days off from serving a man and have a break.

However, Jun Zechen did not leave Zhaochun Palace last night, but moved to a side hall of Zhaochun Palace.

As an emperor, considering leaving Zhaochun Palace in the middle of the night, it would definitely trigger all kinds of speculation about her in the palace tomorrow.

In order to avoid these, Jun Zechen chose to sleep in a side hall.

Su Jingyao also agreed. If he went back to the Qianqing Palace late at night, she would be the one being talked about tomorrow.

Last night, Jun Zechen was lying on the bed in the side hall, his eyes staring straight at the ceiling, he himself was a little dazed.

I don't know how I ended up here.

How could he agree to sleep in the side hall!

He is the emperor!

Jun Zechen even felt a little annoyed.

Forget it. Her birthday yesterday made her so sad. It would be nice to help her calm down.

Su Jingyao found it funny when she thought about how Jun Zechen left her bedroom last night.

After yesterday's test, Su Jingyao had some idea of ​​Yu Jun Zechen's thoughts.

At least Jun Zechen's attitude towards Ling Yue is developing according to her expectations. The mere use of the word "first wife" to describe Ling Yue is enough to show Ling Yue's current position in Jun Zechen's heart.

If Ling Yue let go now, perhaps Jun Zechen's slight sense of guilt would ensure her a life of wealth and glory.

Unfortunately, people are always greedy.

At this time, Miaoyun walked in with a worried look on her face.

"Master, when His Majesty left this morning, his face was so dark, is he really okay?"

Su Jingyao raised her eyebrows slightly and replied calmly, "It's nothing. I know what's going on."

After a while, Miaoxia hurried in and reported, "Master, Aunt Jinhua is here."

Su Jingyao was slightly startled and raised her eyebrows. Could there be any good news if the Queen Mother came to see her?

Then she walked towards the main hall, where Aunt Jinhua was already waiting respectfully.

Aunt Jinhua bowed and saluted, "This servant greets Concubine Chun Shu."

Su Jingyao raised her hand and gestured, "Aunt Jinhua, please get up. But what does the Queen Mother want?"

Aunt Jinhua stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother ordered you to investigate the matter of the imperial concubine being poisoned yesterday. This is the evidence that His Majesty sent people to find yesterday. Your Majesty, please take a look."

Having said that, he presented the evidence.

Su Jingyao reached out and slowly took the stack of papers from Aunt Jinhua.

His eyes immediately fell on the paper and he began to examine it carefully.

As she watched, her dark eyebrows couldn't help but frown slightly, and a hint of doubt flashed in her eyes.

"All this evidence seems to point to An Zhaorong?"

"Yes, your majesty." Aunt Jinhua responded respectfully.

"Your Majesty found out all this yesterday. Originally, Your Majesty wanted to convict An Zhaorong directly, but the Queen Mother felt that the current evidence was not enough to convict An Zhaorong, one of the Nine Concubines. If she were to convict her, it would be too hasty."

"So what the Queen Mother meant is that she hopes you can find out the truth within three days. If you can't prove that this matter has nothing to do with An Zhaorong, then your majesty will directly convict An Zhaorong based on the evidence."

The corners of Su Jingyao's mouth lifted slightly, but the smile seemed a little forced.

She looked at Aunt Jinhua and said softly, "Aunt Jinhua, this case doesn't seem that easy to handle."

Aunt Jinhua said quickly, "Your Highness, the Queen Mother has always believed in your ability, and His Majesty and the Queen Mother both recognize your kindness and fairness. An Zhaorong and the Imperial Concubine both have a good relationship with you. In this case, the Queen Mother thinks it is most appropriate for you to investigate this case."

Su Jingyao nodded slightly and said slowly: "I thank the Queen Mother for her kindness. I will do my best to find the murderer who poisoned the concubine."

"Then I will take my leave." Aunt Jinhua bowed and left.

After Aunt Jinhua left, Su Jingyao walked to the couch with the stack of evidence in her hand and sat down.

Placing the evidences on the table, she stared at them and fell into deep thought.

What do the Queen Mother and Jun Zechen mean?

Do you want to sandwich her in the middle?

Obviously, Jun Zechen didn't want to continue investigating after he got to An Zhaorong. As an emperor, Jun Zechen had a deep mind and it was impossible that he didn't understand everything.

Since he released such a signal, Su Jingyao had to guess.

Because Ling Yue holds a certain weight in his heart, for Jun Zechen, no matter whether it was Ling Yue who framed her or An Zhaorong who poisoned her, Jun Zechen wanted to convict An Zhaorong.

Some of An Zhaorong's previous tricks had completely made Jun Zechen hate her to the extreme. Even if Ling Yue retaliated and framed An Zhaorong, Jun Zechen would definitely choose Ling Yue between An Zhaorong and Ling Yue.

But now the Queen Mother has handed this thorny issue to her, obviously wanting her to get to the bottom of it rather than letting Jun Zechen deal with it as he pleases.

Humph, what a bastard. The Queen Mother is just testing her.

This bastard agreed, so don't blame her for discrediting the 'first wife' in his mind.

Su Jingyao narrowed her autumn-water eyes slightly, with a thoughtful gleam in her eyes.

The slender fingers gently turned the delicate bracelet on her hand.

Yesterday she said she didn't like the jewelry Jun Zechen sent her, of course she did it on purpose.

Only in this way can she better demonstrate her noble character and her attitude of not being moved by external things. She also doesn't want Jun Zechen to always treat her as a superior and reward her with gifts that she thinks are precious.

The gift that Jun Zechen put so much thought into is always more important than these external things.

But the things he sent were indeed very good. The jewelry in the palace has always been exquisite and luxurious.

What’s more, these tributes are equivalent to modern limited editions. They are not only extremely valuable, but also very rare.

The bracelet on her hand was the one Jun Zechen had bought not long ago when he saw that she had beautiful hands and thought of the purple jadeite bracelet with kingfisher feathers in the warehouse that was sent by a subordinate country, so he gave it to her.

Regardless of how high the quality of this jade is, the color alone is superb, not to mention the kingfisher feather inlay craftsmanship on it, which is extremely complicated.

It is necessary to carefully select emerald feathers with bright colors and soft texture, decorate them on gold and silver through extremely delicate inlay techniques, and then tightly wrap them around the bracelet.

Now that I wear it on my hand, I feel pleasing just by looking at it.

"Master, how are you going to investigate this case? If it is finally discovered that it was the Imperial Concubine who framed An Zhaorong, will you report it truthfully?" Miaoyun asked softly.

Su Jingyao looked indifferent.

"In the harem, you have to be careful every step you take. The concubine made such a scene yesterday, and I am angry because Your Majesty broke the promise yesterday. If I tell Your Majesty directly that it was the concubine who carefully arranged the trap, even if I present the evidence to Your Majesty, Your Majesty will inevitably suspect that I framed the concubine out of jealousy."

"But if it was the Concubine's conspiracy, the master just needs to find out the truth." Miaoyun had a puzzled look on her face.

"Hey, Miaoyun, now that we are all in the game, even Your Majesty is part of it. What is the truth? Does it matter?"

Su Jingyao's lips curled up slightly with a faint smile.

"What's important is how our Emperor views this, who he thinks the murderer is, and how to investigate this case to the satisfaction of the Queen Mother and His Majesty. This is the most important thing."

"So no matter whether the noble concubine is the real murderer or not, I will not let her be punished openly this time."

Su Jingyao's short-term goal is not to make the Imperial Concubine suffer so much, but to make Jun Zechen not care about the Imperial Concubine, even if he feels guilty about it.

If she told Jun Zechen and the Queen Mother, she would know that all this was a conspiracy carefully planned by the Concubine.

The Queen Mother will certainly be fair and strictly enforce the law to punish the Royal Concubine. However, once the Royal Concubine is punished, Jun Zechen will inevitably feel distressed.

They may even feel that the imperial concubine is isolated and helpless in the harem, and is framed and bullied by everyone.

After all, some of men's thoughts are always inexplicable.

Now that the Imperial Concubine has already taken action, her original image of being "kind and pure" no longer exists. Su Jingyao will only make Jun Zechen more annoyed with the Imperial Concubine in the process.

And she would try her best to avoid letting Jun Zechen feel even the slightest bit of guilt and pity towards her.

When she investigated this case, it was not important whether the truth came out or not. What was important was to let Jun Zechen know clearly that it was the Concubine herself who had carefully planned and framed others.

Su Jingyao will stand firmly on Jun Zechen's side, do her utmost to protect the royal concubine, try her best to help the royal concubine, and give the royal concubine the dignity she deserves.

"Master, An Zhaorong is outside asking to see you." Miaoxia walked in lightly and reported respectfully.

"No, let her go back."

Su Jingyao frowned slightly, a hint of displeasure flashed across her eyes, and her tone was a little cold.

She had just accepted the important trust from the Queen Mother and His Majesty. An Zhaorong came here at this time. Could it be that she was blatantly trying to bribe her?

Idiot.

Miaoxia just turned around and prepared to leave, but Su Jingyao suddenly spoke again.

"Go back and tell An Zhaorong that I will handle this matter impartially."

When Su Jingyao said this, she even deliberately emphasized the word "impartial".

Miaoxia naturally understood the meaning of her master's words, nodded quickly, and then quietly retreated.

The reason why Su Jingyao said this was because she was worried that An Zhaorong would lose her temper.

After all, Jun Zechen did intend to use her as a scapegoat, so it was understandable that An Zhaorong was so anxious.

Let Miaoxia tell An Zhaorong that she would handle it "impartially" so that An Zhaorong could feel at ease.

Su Jingyao unconsciously turned the bracelet on her hand again, her brows slightly furrowed, and a thoughtful look appeared on her face.

But there must be a scapegoat for this matter. An Zhaorong is still useful, and she is not prepared to let An Zhaorong be abandoned just like that.

So who should be the scapegoat?