Chapter 49: Crab Incident
"Tell, of course we have to." Song Qingyuan slowly poured himself a cup of tea, "But we can't tell."
She looked at Caiwei, a glint of shrewdness in her eyes: "Hasn't Luzhu, who is beside the princess, been going to the storehouse to get some bird's nests and blood clams recently?
Go to the storeroom and 'run into' her by chance, and tell her that things have been getting unsettled in the kitchen lately. Some dishonest servants, relying on their master's favor, have dared to smuggle in some inappropriate things.
You 'accidentally' overheard that it seemed to be some freshwater fish or lake seafood. That's all I've mentioned; the rest depends on how smart Luzhu is."
This trick is called killing with a borrowed knife.
She not only delivered the news to Cui Jingyue, but also cleared herself of all charges, as if she was just a kind-hearted person who accidentally heard some rumors.
Cui Jingyue would definitely investigate if she got the news, and if she caught the perpetrators red-handed, it would be quite a spectacle. And she, Song Qingyuan, had been nothing but a spectator, quietly sipping tea in Hibiscus Garden from beginning to end.
In the evening, Xiao Dezi lived up to expectations and used an inconspicuous cloth bag to secretly deliver two large blue crabs with bared fangs and claws to the back door of Qingxin Cottage without anyone noticing.
Huamei was overjoyed and immediately asked her trusted little girl to take the crabs to the small kitchen and prepare to steam them secretly.
In the small kitchen, besides Huamei's confidant, there was also Wang Po, who was in charge of the fire. Wang Po had been fed up with Huamei's temper, and when she saw the two crabs, her eyes widened. But she said nothing, but silently added more fire to the stove, the flames reflecting off her old face, which was sometimes bright and sometimes dark.
Just when the crabs were put into the pot and the steam had not yet come out, the door of the small kitchen was kicked open with a bang by someone from the outside.
Lu Zhu led a few strong maids and stood at the door with a frosty face.
"How dare you! How dare you hide such a cold and deadly thing in the kitchen of the palace!" Lu Zhu's voice was not loud, but it was like an icicle, piercing people's ears and hurting them.
Huamei and the little girl were so frightened that their legs went weak and they collapsed on the spot.
Mrs. Wang immediately knelt and kowtowed, pointing at Huamei and shouting, "Miss Luzhu, please understand! This is not my fault! It was Huamei who insisted on steaming these crabs for Madam Wen! I can't persuade her to stop!"
Lu Zhu sneered, not even looking at Wang Pozi. Her eyes were like knives scraping at Hua Mei's face. "Tie her up! Catch her red-handed. Bring her to the main courtyard and let the princess decide what to do with her!"
When the news spread, the entire palace was shocked.
The main hall of the main courtyard was brightly lit.
Cui Jingyue sat at the head of the table, sipping a cup of ginseng tea leisurely. Kneeling before her were the bound Huamei and the frightened little girl. On the floor, on a tray, lay two half-cooked, reddened crabs.
This was the scene Wen Yue saw when he arrived.
She was lying in bed waiting to eat crabs, but she waited and waited, but instead of getting any, she received a panicked report from the servants. She knew something was wrong and didn't bother pretending to be sick, so she hurried over.
"Sister Princess," Wen Yue knelt down as soon as she entered the room, looking at Cui Jingyue with tears in her eyes, "This is all a misunderstanding! It was I... it was I who was greedy and ignorant that caused such a ridiculous thing.
Huamei was just loyally protecting her master and was confused for a moment. I beg you, Princess, to spare her this time for the sake of the baby in my belly!"
Cui Jingyue put down the teacup, and the bottom of the cup hit the table, making a crisp sound.
She finally raised her eyes and looked at Wen Yue, her eyes frighteningly calm.
"Sister, do you admit your guilt?"
Wen Yue was stunned and replied subconsciously: "I know my crime. I shouldn't have been greedy..."
"No." Cui Jingyue interrupted her, her voice still calm, yet filled with a tremendous force. "I'm not asking about your crime of greed. I'm asking about your intention to murder the prince's heir. What should be the punishment?"
"What?" Wen Yue was struck by lightning. She raised her head abruptly, her face filled with disbelief. "Princess! You...how could you say that! How could I murder my own child?"
"You don't know?" Cui Jingyue's lips curled up in a sarcastic arc, "What is this crab? It is very cold in nature. If pregnant women eat it, they will suffer from abdominal pain at the mildest and miscarriage at the worst. This is common knowledge that even three-year-old children know.
You had your servants sneak in, avoiding my inspection, and secretly cooked it in the small kitchen. If I hadn't discovered it early, would the crab have already been eaten by now? "
She paused, leaned forward slightly, and stared at Wen Yue: "Sister, please tell me. If you eat this crab, you will really have a miscarriage, or even... a miscarriage.
At that time, will you cry and tell the prince that it was your own greed that ruined you? Or will you say that it was my poor supervision and the food I sent was faulty, which killed the prince's only bloodline?
Every word Cui Jingyue said was like a heavy hammer, hitting Wen Yue's heart hard.
Wen Yue's face turned from pale to blue, and then from blue to a dead gray. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
She finally understood. This was a trap, a deadly trap that had been set for her since she opened her mouth and said she wanted to eat crabs!
If she ate it and something went wrong, the culprit would be Cui Jingyue, who was in charge of the meals. But now, she didn't get to eat it, and she was caught red-handed. The charges of "illegal intent and frame-up" were firmly pinned on her!
At this moment, Shen Yanzhi walked in from outside with a sullen face. He obviously knew the whole story, and without even looking at Wen Yue who was kneeling on the ground, he walked straight to the plate of crabs with a sullen face.
"Nonsense!" He kicked over the stool next to him and shouted angrily, "Wen Yue! You're so bold! You're so jealous that you're even plotting against your own flesh and blood!"
This angry shout completely broke Wen Yue's last psychological defense.
She collapsed to the ground, looking at Shen Yanzhi's furious face, and felt dizzy.
It's over.
It's all over.
Not only did she lose, but she lost miserably, and along with it, she also lost the last bit of pity and trust that the prince had in his heart.
She raised her head, and her resentful gaze passed over everyone, staring intently at the calm woman sitting in the main seat.
Cui Jingyue, you are so cruel!
The aftermath of the "crab incident" lingered over Jing'an Palace for several days before gradually subsiding.
The final result is full of the "wisdom" and "balancing" of the patriarch of the royal family.
The offending Xiao Dezi and the fire-stoker Wang Po were each given twenty strokes of the cane on the charge of "passing on information privately and neglecting their duties". They were then exiled from the mansion and their lives or deaths were unknown.
Huamei, as the main culprit, should have been severely punished. However, Cui Jingyue mercifully said that Wen Niang was pregnant and needed someone to take care of her. If she was punished too harshly, it would make her, as the princess, seem mean.
So, Huamei was slapped twenty times, made to kneel in the ancestral hall for a night, and then... was sent back to Qingxin Cottage intact.
This treatment is even more heartbreaking than beating Huamei to death.
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