Chapter 211 Niu Kulu Clan: What a black pot!
Jiang Nan paused, looking at the midwife's suddenly pale face, and became even more certain of her guess.
His tone grew increasingly chilling, carrying a murderous intent.
"You were the first to come out and report the news, and you steered the situation to an unexpected point with your confident words. Now you are cleverly pushing the blame onto the common people's habit of fainting from severe pain. Compared to the person next to you, your mind is quite clear. I ask you, why did you harm Ma Jia? Tell me now, and I may give you a quick death."
The midwife suddenly looked up; though fear lingered in her eyes, a trace of composure remained.
"Your Majesty, please understand! This servant is innocent! This servant has not harmed anyone!"
"Oh--"
Jiang Nan chuckled and turned away from her, giving instructions instead.
"Zhao is triumphant."
"Your servant is here!"
Zhao Deyi immediately bowed and replied.
"Go, investigate these two midwives thoroughly for me. Find out who their relatives are outside the palace—parents, brothers, children, and grandchildren. Don't miss a single one."
Jiang Nan's voice was indifferent, carrying an undeniable air of authority.
"Once the matter is cleared up, arrest them all. Murdering the mother of a prince is tantamount to treason; their entire families are worthy of being executed alongside Lady Majia. Let their family members go first, as for these two..."
Her gaze swept calmly over the ashen-faced midwife.
“After their families have all arrived, drag them to the Censorate and have them beaten to death.”
"Yes, Your Majesty! Your servant obeys!"
Zhao nodded in agreement and turned to go and do it.
The other midwife, who had been trembling and silent the whole time, broke down first, crying and kowtowing.
"No! No! Your Majesty! It was all my doing! Please spare my family! I'm willing to be buried with Master Ma Jia!"
The midwife, who first informed the family and then tried to deny it, was shocked to see that Jiang Nan's methods were so ruthless that she didn't even spare her own family.
Her psychological defenses completely collapsed, and she cried out urgently, tears streaming down her face.
"This servant says, this servant confesses everything, please, Your Majesty the Empress, have mercy and spare my family!"
She suddenly raised her head, turned her gaze to Consort Niohuru beside her, and cried out with a sense of despair, as if she had given up all hope.
"Master Niohuru, I... I'm so sorry, but if I don't speak up now, my whole family will be wiped out!"
She then turned to Kangxi and Jiang Nan and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, all of this... all of this was ordered by Lady Niohuru. She said... she said that although Lady Ma Jia is from her palace, according to palace rules, the child should be raised by her after birth. But she was still worried that the child would only recognize his birth mother when he grew up and would not be close to her... Only by removing the mother and keeping the child can this child truly be considered her son and can she rely on him in the future. I... I was confused for a moment and blinded by greed. I beg Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Empress to have mercy!"
These words shocked everyone in the room.
Kangxi's sharp gaze instantly fixed on Consort Niohuru, filled with unbelievable rage.
Tongjia gasped and instinctively looked at Niohuru.
His eyes were filled with fear and a secret understanding.
It was as if to say: As expected, the waters of the harem run so deep.
Consort Niohuru was stunned by this sudden accusation.
She stood up abruptly, her body swaying slightly from shock and anger.
She knelt directly in front of Kangxi and Jiang Nan, her face deathly pale, her voice trembling violently.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty the Empress! I am innocent! This person is slandering me. I live in the same palace as Sister Ma Jia. Although we are not particularly close, I have never intended to harm her. If I really wanted a child to protect me, I could have asked Your Majesty and Your Majesty for mercy. Why resort to such a heinous method? How can I bear the infamy of taking away the mother and leaving the child? I beg Your Majesty and Your Majesty to investigate!"
Emperor Kangxi's chest heaved violently as he looked at Consort Niohuru with a complex expression.
The midwife's identification was reasonable and in accordance with palace regulations.
The saying that one cannot tame a woman is not without precedent in the harems of previous dynasties.
As the head of the Yikun Palace, Niohuru certainly had the motive to do so.
He was already seven or eight parts convinced, his voice heavy with grief and disappointment.
"My beloved concubine...you...why did you go to such lengths? If you truly desired a child, wouldn't I...wouldn't I consider it in the future? Why resort to such cruel methods, creating unnecessary bloodshed!"
The atmosphere in the hall froze instantly, and everyone's eyes were focused on the kneeling Consort Niohuru and the furious Emperor Kangxi.
However, Jiang Nan watched this absurd scene with amusement in her eyes.
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Looking at Kangxi's pained expression, as if he had already believed the midwife's lies.
Jiang Nan finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
The laughter sounded particularly jarring in the somber side hall.
She spoke with a sarcastic tone.
"Your Majesty, how can you be so honest? You believe everything this servant says without question. The Ministry of Justice requires personal and physical evidence in its investigations, with each piece of evidence linked to the next. Now, you believe a servant who is about to lose her head, who is making baseless accusations, saying that Sister Niohuru was the mastermind? What if she turns around and says that I ordered it, or that my cousin Tongjia ordered it? Would you believe her immediately?"
Kangxi was so embarrassed by her laughter that he frowned even more.
But the anger seemed to dissipate somewhat from the sudden interruption, and he said in a deep voice...
"Nannan! Stop talking nonsense! I only..."
"Don't worry!"
Jiang Nan interrupted him, her tone light but carrying an undeniable force.
"Whether something is true or false cannot be determined by just talking."
As she spoke, she gracefully squatted down, looking directly at the midwife whose eyes were darting around and who was weeping.
His calm gaze seemed to see through all her pretenses.
"Since you insist that Consort Niohuru ordered you to harm people, then tell me when, where, and how she instructed you? And what great benefits did she promise you that made you dare to risk the crime of exterminating your entire clan to harm people?"
The midwife, flustered by Jiang Nan's gaze, forced herself to continue fabricating a story.
"Your Majesty, it was...it was the servant girl sent by Master Niohuru the night before last. She was...she was told about this in a corner of the Imperial Garden, and she was given two hundred taels of silver..."
"Oh? The night before last? In a corner of the Imperial Garden?"
Jiang Nan raised an eyebrow slightly, her tone playful.
"You've made up quite a story. Who was sent? Do you recognize them? Can you confront them face to face?"
"It's...it's too dark, I couldn't see her face clearly..."
The midwife's voice grew weaker and weaker.
Jiang Nan nodded knowingly, her voice calm and composed.
"Oh—so you mean you have no idea who really ordered you, and you just pinned the blame on Consort Niohuru, is that right?"
Before the midwife could offer any further explanation, she slowly stood up, turned to the still-shaken Consort Niohuru, and softened her tone.
"Sister, get up quickly, look how scared you are. This is not a case where she can just throw mud at you with empty words."
Consort Niohuru, feeling as if she had been granted a pardon, said in a trembling voice.
"Thank you for your wise judgment, Your Majesty!"
He was helped to his feet by a palace maid, his legs still feeling a little weak.
Tongjia, standing to the side, couldn't help but mutter to herself.
"How can it not be? This servant clearly identified it..."
Jiang Nan suddenly turned her head and stared at her with a cold, piercing gaze, and shouted angrily.
"You brainless idiot, shut your mouth!"
When Kangxi saw Nannan scolding her cousin like this, most of the anger he had been holding back because of being mocked for being honest dissipated.
This was the first time someone had ever satirized the emperor for being honest.
To put it bluntly, what Nan Nan just said was clearly a veiled criticism that he was brainless.
At this moment, seeing Tongjia being reprimanded so harshly, he realized that Tongjia was being treated with such stern words.
Kangxi felt somewhat more at ease, at least Nannan had been relatively polite to him just now.
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Finally, a live audiobook is available! I've started listening myself, and it's pretty good! Haha, consider this chapter a celebration.
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