"This servant...this servant was just confused for a moment, I was just following orders! I beg Your Majesty to spare my life! I beg Your Majesty to spare my life!"
Xiao Lu Zi's earth-shattering accusation, made in an attempt to save his own life, was like a resounding slap in the face of Consort Hui, and also a slap in the heart of everyone present!
A plot twist!
A stunning reversal!
Just moments ago, Consort Hui was a pitiful victim, crying and complaining that she had been "mistakenly accused," but in the blink of an eye, she has become the mastermind behind this vicious conspiracy?!
This dramatic turn of events left everyone stunned and speechless, their minds reeling for a moment.
When Consort Hui heard Xiao Luzi's merciless counterattack, she felt as if all her strength and soul had been drained away, and she collapsed to the ground.
Her delicate face was completely drained of color, leaving only a deathly ashen hue.
It’s over…
Only those two words remained in her mind.
She never imagined that the most inconspicuous and easiest-to-control piece she had carefully selected would turn around at the most crucial moment and bite her so badly!
However, the instinct for survival still caused her to unleash a final, frantic burst of strength in her extreme despair.
"No! It wasn't me!"
She suddenly raised her head, pointed at Xiao Luzi, and screamed in an almost insane, hysterical voice.
"Your Majesty! Don't believe his lies! It's him! He was bribed by the Empress! They conspired to frame me! It's the Empress! This was all a scheme set up by the Empress!"
She was like a venomous snake driven to the brink of despair, trying to unleash all her venom on the woman who had driven her to this dead end in her final moments.
She cried her heart out, and her pitiful appearance was so convincing that it was almost indistinguishable from reality.
Some of the noble ladies present, seeing this confusing scene, couldn't help but whisper among themselves, unsure of whom to believe.
After all, on one side was the concubine, caught red-handed and poisoned on the spot.
On the other hand, there is a lackey who would bite into anything to survive.
It's really hard to tell what's true and what's false in all of this.
However, how could Lin Wanwan possibly give her any chance to turn the tables?
Faced with Consort Hui's final, desperate slander, Lin Wanwan's face remained completely calm.
She just watched her quietly, her eyes like those of someone watching a clown performing his last, clumsy act.
She didn't even utter a word in her own defense.
Because she knew that the best defense was never words.
Rather... irrefutable evidence!
Just as Consort Hui was still crying and pleading that she had been "wrongfully accused," Ruolan, who had been quietly standing behind Lin Wanwan, suddenly seemed to have noticed something and let out a perfectly timed low exclamation.
"Oh? Your Majesty, look, what's that?"
She pointed to a corner under the altar, cluttered with miscellaneous items, which had been in chaos due to the "fire," with a look of confusion on her face.
Everyone's eyes instinctively followed the direction she was pointing.
In that inconspicuous corner, a "royal mulberry basket" identical to the one in front of Consort Hui, tied with a bright yellow ribbon, lay quietly, covered with several charred pieces of silk. It had clearly been forgotten there in the chaos just now.
"this……"
Everyone was stunned.
How... how come there's another mulberry basket that looks exactly the same?
When Consort Hui saw the mulberry basket, her pupils suddenly contracted!
She knew that the mulberry basket contained...
Lin Wanwan looked at her face, which suddenly turned terrified, and a cold smile curled at the corner of her lips.
She calmly instructed Ruolan, "Go and bring up that mulberry basket as well. Let the imperial physician examine it carefully."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Ruolan immediately obeyed the order, quickly stepped forward, and brought up the "forgotten" mulberry basket, placing it side by side with the one in front of Consort Hui.
Two identical "royal mulberry baskets".
A basket was placed in front of Consort Hui, containing only a few mulberry leaves.
The other basket was overflowing with fresh, vibrant green fruit.
The imperial physicians, who had been summoned long ago, immediately stepped forward and began their examination.
His expression grew increasingly grave as the investigation deepened.
He first used a silver needle to test the two baskets of mulberry leaves.
The silver needles did not turn black.
This indicates that the substance applied to the mulberry leaves was not a traditional, highly toxic poison.
Then, he took out the medicinal powder he carried with him and, with an extremely professional technique, sprinkled a little on the leaves of the two baskets of mulberry leaves.
A miracle happened.
Almost simultaneously, a faint, eerie purple layer appeared on the leaves of both baskets of mulberry leaves!
"Reporting to Your Majesty, reporting to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager!"
The imperial physician's voice echoed endlessly in the silent hall, filled with shock.
"Both baskets of mulberry leaves have been coated with a poisonous powder called 'Silk-Breaking Grass'! This substance is colorless and odorless, and while it is not highly poisonous to humans, it can kill silkworms instantly after they ingest it! Moreover..."
He looked up, glanced at Consort Hui's still swollen and red hand, and added:
"Moreover, if this substance comes into direct contact with human skin, it can cause severe rashes and itching, just like Consort Hui's!"
The evidence is irrefutable!
Both baskets of mulberry leaves are poisonous!
Moreover, the poison is exactly the same!
The symptoms on Consort Hui's hands perfectly matched the characteristics of this poison!
Now, no one doubted it anymore.
The truth is now crystal clear!
This is not a "mistake" at all, but a meticulously planned, earth-shattering conspiracy to switch the mulberry baskets and frame the Empress!
Consort Hui, who was just crying about being wronged, is the mastermind behind this conspiracy!
"No...no...that's not how it is..."
Consort Hui looked at the two baskets of mulberry leaves, both of which had turned an eerie purple color, looked at her own swollen and red hand, and then looked at the contemptuous and disgusted gazes around her. Finally, at this moment, the string called "reason" snapped completely and utterly!
She's finished.
She knew that this time, she was completely finished.
Faced with such irrefutable evidence, both physical and witness testimony, any attempt at sophistry will only appear more ridiculous and feeble.
An immense fear, like an invisible hand, gripped her heart, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
No!
She can't die!
She can't just die like this!
Driven by an extreme will to survive, she did something unexpected and crazy that surprised everyone.
Ignoring everything else, she crawled like a mad dog toward the Empress Dowager, who had remained silent throughout but whose face was extremely pale, sitting on the main seat!
She reached out, trying to grab the Empress Dowager's skirt, as if grasping at the last straw.
Her face was covered in tears and snot, and all traces of her usual gentle and graceful demeanor were gone, replaced by endless madness and despair!
"aunt!"
She let out a piercing, desperate scream!
"Aunt! Help me! Please help me!"
"Aunt, wasn't all of this... wasn't it all at your behest?! You made me do it! You can't just stand by and watch me die! Aunt!"
Her shout was earth-shattering!
Directly and mercilessly dragged the mastermind behind the scenes, who had been sitting calmly and trying to stay out of it, into the water!
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