Chunman Palace

Chapter 116
The news that the eldest princess was killed in the bedroom quickly spread. Xuan Yin was furious when he learned about it, and ordered a strict investigation to find out the cause of the eldest princess' death.It was late at night at that time, and only He Er and a few maids were waiting for the eldest princess to go to bed. Now, although He Er was suspected to be dead, the other three court ladies were also executed due to ineffective care.

Due to the pain of losing her daughter, the queen mother's condition took a turn for the worse, and she fell into a coma. The queen stayed by her side to take good care of her.

As soon as this news came out, people in the palace panicked, worried that there would be an assassin lurking in the palace, and they couldn't sleep at night.

But at this time, it was Lin Qingyu who was most worried about it.

Seeing that something happened to the eldest princess, Xuan Yin must conduct a thorough investigation, but I can count the people who have grudges with this eldest princess on their fingers. Thinking about it carefully, the person behind this matter...

Lin Qingyu couldn't help but clenched the handkerchief tightly, attracting Mo'er.

"What happened last night, can you find out any details?"

Mo'er leaned close to the man's ear and whispered: "It is said that the eldest princess died of being stabbed in the heart with a dagger after being poisoned. The guards searched last night and found the maid who was burying the poison beside the rockery in the imperial garden. He'er, he was executed on the spot."

Lin Qingyu heard the suspicious point: "Since someone poisoned the eldest princess, why bother to stab her again? Unless the person who poisoned the eldest princess was not the same as the one who killed the eldest princess with a dagger, or the murderer hated the eldest princess very much, but What reason does the maid have to be so resentful?"

Mo'er shook her head: "I don't know why He'er hates the eldest princess so much, I just feel that she is too...too..."

Lin Qingyu sighed: "You said last night that the guards found He'er who buried the poison in the rockery in the imperial garden. Since He'er knew that killing the eldest princess was a capital crime, even if she buried the evidence, it would be difficult for her to serve her closely as the eldest princess." Why bother to escape to death?"

She took a sip of tea and said solemnly: "Besides, the guards just saw He'er burying the poison and executed him on the spot, without even asking. No matter how strange it looks, those guards must be hiding something."

At this time, Fei Xing came in hurriedly, saluted and said: "Your Majesty, the servants got news outside, saying that the guards who patrolled last night had some news that they didn't tell. The Emperor doubted this, so he used punishment, and they all spoke up."

"Sure enough, what did the guards say?"

Fei Xing said: "That's right...they didn't kill the court lady He'er last night, when they saw the guards beside the rockery, He'er was already stabbed to death with a sword, the poison bag was also found by the guards."

After hearing this, Lin Qingyu couldn't help but ooze some cold sweat.

This incident is actually related to Zeyu, which means... If it was really done by Zeyu, and there are confessions from the guards, he may not be able to get away.

Lin Qingyu thought of this, and said, "Where are the guards now? Where is the emperor?"

"After those guards vomited cleanly, the emperor sent someone to tell the guards Zeyu to pass it to Huachen Palace. The Empress, Concubine Jin, and Concubine Chang are also there. It's time to start questioning."

There was a faint sadness between Lin Qingyu's brows, like the autumn wind sweeping the fallen leaves, adding a lot of trouble to her heart, "Go to Huachen Palace."

Mo'er doubted: "Is your empress going to Huachen Palace too? Now that the emperor and empress are all here, if you think you won't be wronged, you will be the guards, not to mention, there is also the empress Jin?"

Lin Qingyu glanced at Mo'er in surprise, quickly regained her composure, and said slowly: "I understand what you mean, but this matter is extremely important, and I have to go."

Mo'er raised her head in embarrassment, and begged: "If your empress insists on going, you must be careful in your words and deeds, and don't say anything wrong in front of the emperor and empress."

Lin Qingyu twitched the corner of his mouth, showing a faint smile: "I know, let's go."

In Huachen Palace, Zezu saluted Xuan Yin respectfully, Xuan Yin looked at him calmly and drank a sip of tea.

"The guards who inspected last night said that you were by the side when you found the maid who buried the poison. Is there anything wrong?"

Zeyu said calmly: "Back to the emperor, the minister was indeed there that night."

Xuan Yin said with a serious expression: "Then besides finding that the palace maid was burying something, what else did you find?"

Zeyu's eyes were as clear as the bright moon, without any impurity, and his tone was calm and indifferent: "It was getting late that day, and I noticed that the court lady was sneaking around beside the rockery, so I went up to ask and found that she had hidden a medicine bag in the dirt behind her. In the pit, Wei Chen stepped forward to check and found that it was poison that could kill people."

"Yeah." Xuan Yin took another sip of tea and pondered: "The guard said that he was stabbed to death by a sword before he found the maid, didn't you kill it?"

"The minister did it."

Xuan Yin placed the cup heavily on the table, and angrily reprimanded: "Okay, then tell me, why didn't you ask what the court lady was doing at that time? How do you ask me to give the Queen Mother an explanation for such sloppy behavior!" His eyes darkened, his brows and eyes were clouded, and he said in a deep voice, "Or do you have another purpose?"

Then he knelt down and said, "I dare not."

At this time, Li Qiao ran over steppingly and said, "Your Majesty, my concubine is here."

Xuan Yin was slightly displeased: "What is she here for?"

The queen said with a smile: "Xu is the concubine's younger sister who is worried about the emperor's holy body, so she came here to appease."

Xuan Yin shook his hand: "Forget it, let her in."

Not long after, Lin Qingyu followed Li Qiao into the hall, and saluted one by one: "My concubine to the emperor, and the empress, please be well. Your majesty, the empress and empress are blessed and safe."

The queen smiled and said, "Get up, concubine concubine, why are you here at this time?"

Lin Qingyu said: "The concubine heard that she has found clues to what happened last night, so I came here to take a look."

Chang Xiuru sneered disdainfully, and said: "It's really time for my sister to come, don't come early, don't come later, when the emperor and empress find out the clues are on the bodyguard of Zeyu, they will come again, are you going to watch a play?" ?”

With a smile on her face, Lin Qingyu sat down gracefully like a weak willow supporting the wind: "I have a heart for the empress dowager, so I have to help the empress dowager investigate thoroughly after such a big incident happened."

Mu Pingting hooked the corners of her lips, her eyes were cold and gloomy: "Xiu Ru's words are too harsh, maybe the concubine concubine also has good intentions, and wants to help the empress dowager find the real culprit, so as to relieve the empress dowager's pain of losing her daughter ?”

The empress's smile faded away, and she said in a louder voice: "Okay, before the matter is clarified, don't start arguing about it!"

Xuan Yin was also extremely depressed at this time, he looked at Xuan Yin in great disappointment, and said word by word: "Zezu, you are getting more and more powerless in doing things."

Chang Xiuru smiled lightly, and a bit of coldness flashed in the corner of her eyes: "Your Majesty, are the guards just dereliction of duty? But the concubines don't think so. Not to mention why the guards went to the Imperial Garden late at night, and it happened that they didn't Coincidentally, he came to the rockery, how did he know that He'er murdered the eldest princess, since he found something strange, why did he stabbed him to death without asking? This is more like killing to silence her."

With just a few words, Zeqi has been pushed into a dangerous situation.

Zeyu bowed his head and said earnestly, "Your Majesty, last night's minister..."

Before he finished speaking, Mu Pingting interrupted: "Your Majesty, after dinner, my concubine went for a walk in the imperial garden, and when she returned to the palace, she found that a pearl flower on her head was missing. Ask the guards of Zezu to help you find it." After speaking, Mu Pingting took out a pearl flower of Jinmei Zanxue from her sleeve, and said, "This is the pearl flower sent by the guards of Zezu today, please examine it by the emperor."

Xuan Yin picked up the bead flower with a dark expression, and sighed: "It's just a bead flower, why bother to find it."

Zeyu looked at Mu Pingting suspiciously, and continued, "Your Majesty, my subject..."

Mu Pingting continued: "The guards don't need to say anymore, I know you don't want to drag me down, so I concealed it at this time, but this matter is indeed because I am sorry for you, and made you a burden."

She smiled softly at Xuan Yin: "Although this bead flower is inconspicuous, it is a gift from the emperor, and the concubine is not willing to give up even a single bit of what the emperor bestows on my concubine."

Seeing this, Chang Xiuru frowned and said, "But it was already curfew time when the eldest princess had an accident, why did the guards still stay in the palace?"

Mu Pingting gave her a very cold look, and her tone became serious: "Zezu's guards were trying to help me find that bead flower, which delayed the time. Besides, it was late at that time, and the bead flower was small and hard to find. It will take a long time." She got up and knelt down towards Xuan Yin, and said: "It is my concubine who entrusted the guards to help find the pearl flower, and the delay is the fault of my concubine, please punish me by the emperor."

The Empress knew that Xuan Yin would not punish her, so she said gently: "Concubine Jin also pays too much attention to the emperor's wishes, why don't the emperor spare Concubine Jin's punishment?"

Xuan Yin sighed for a long time, and said in a voice like a thunderbolt: "If it were normal, I could have lightly exposed this insignificant matter, but now it is about the Empress Dowager and the eldest princess, the people involved, I Not one can be tolerated."

"But your majesty..." The queen was about to speak again, but Xuan Yin interrupted sharply: "Concubine Jin, because of a trivial matter, the guards in the palace were stranded in the imperial garden and demoted to concubine, and she will be punished in Xuanji Palace from now on. Copy the Lotus Sutra a thousand times and ground your feet until the Empress Dowager wakes up."

Lin Qingyu trembled all over, she never thought that Xuan Yin would punish Mu Pingting like this, facing her former favorite concubine, she was not relentless when ordering, which shows that she is extremely heartless.

Mu Pingting, on the other hand, was expressionless, and bowed deeply: "Concubine, accept the order." After she finished speaking, she got up and glanced at Zeyu, and then exited Huachen Palace with the palace servants.

Xuan Yin's complexion was a bit ugly, and now, he had no choice but to punish the Queen Mother heavily to calm the heartache and anger of the Queen Mother.

Chang Xiuru's face was a bit smug, seeing that her provocative words had already attracted Mu Pingting's guilt, she couldn't help chasing after the victory and said: "Your Majesty, although Sister Mu said that it was because of her that the guards stayed in the Imperial Garden for so long, Otherwise, why did the guards kill He'er with a sword without asking clearly? You must know that the real murderer behind this scene has not yet been found out!"

Seeing Mu Pingting's sacrifice like this, Lin Qingyu secretly felt a desire to compete, and said, "Your Majesty, Fei Xing, a maid in the concubine's palace, met He'er that night."

Chang Xiuru frowned and said, "Meet me? Then why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Lin Qingyu ignored it, and only said: "The incident happened suddenly, and the concubine only learned about it early in the morning, and Fei Xing was extremely timid, and only dared to tell it in the daytime."

Xuan Yin took a sip of tea, his face was calm: "What did she say to you?"

"It's better for Feixing to talk about this matter."

"pass."

As soon as the words fell, Fei Xing hurried in, and after saluting, he said: "Back to the emperor, this servant is Fei Xing."

The queen spoke slowly: "What did He'er tell you last night?"

Fei Xing said calmly, "My servant and He'er are from the same village, and they got closer after entering the palace, but just a few days ago, He'er suddenly cried to my servant, saying that the eldest princess treats her very badly and that she can't do little things. Then he beat and scolded, his arms and legs were covered with scars, and he even told his servants that he wanted to die."

Xuan Yin slapped the table violently, and said angrily: "If I can't do my job well, the eldest princess will punish me and blame others?!"

Fei Xing nodded and said: "Yes, the servant has also comforted He'er. It's just that He'er had a big fight with the servant, and then the relationship faded away... until a few days ago, He'er suddenly asked the servant to apologize, Last night, I even cried for a long time with my servant, saying that she could no longer bear the torture of the eldest princess, and wanted to die with her."

The queen was silent for a moment, then sighed: "This damn servant, who can't do things well but blames her master! She still has such evil thoughts, Your Majesty, it seems that the matter has been clarified, but this He'er is a crime that cannot be punished."

Chang Xiuru immediately said: "No hurry, Your Majesty, I have something I want to ask Fei Xing." She hooked her hands, signaling Fei Xing to go towards her.

Fei Xing took a few steps forward, Nuonuo said: "I don't know what the concubine Chang wants to ask the servants?"

Chang Xiuru slapped her violently and slapped her on the ground, trembling again and again.

Lin Qingyu reprimanded: "Concubine Chang! What do you mean?"

Chang Xiuru smiled frivolously, then rubbed her fingers, and said: "I don't mean anything, I just want to test the authenticity of this slave girl's words, people are cheap, if I let her answer so calmly, I'm afraid It's nonsense."

She stretched out her slender fingers and pointed at Fei Xing: "Come here, I ask you, you and He'er are friends in the same village, but what village? What is He'er's real name?"

Meteor trembled again and again, his feet moved slowly like lead, and just passed by, he received another hot slap on the face, his teeth touched his tongue, and blood oozed from the corners of his lips.

Fei Xing opened his bloody mouth, and said in a trembling voice: "The servant girl and He'er are both from Wuling, and the village they live in is a place called Taohua Village. He'er's real name is Mo Qiuhe, because she lost her father when she was young. , so I followed my mother's family name."

As soon as she finished speaking, Chang Xiuru's slap came down like a sharp sword, Feixing's cheek met her, her whole head shook violently like a tumbler, and then she burst into tears from the severe pain.

Lin Qingyu hurriedly said: "Did Feixing answer wrong? Why do you want to beat her, Concubine Chang?"

Chang Xiuru smiled, wiped the blood on her finger with a handkerchief, and said: "She is not wrong, but the concubine wants to ask a question and slap her. This kind of answer is the most authentic, and the more critical the answer, Before asking the question, the courtiers and concubines had to hit harder. This is only three points of strength, and there are more important questions that I haven't asked."

She leaned close to Fei Xing's ear, whispering softly, like the whisper of a murderous ghost: "Come on, let's continue."

(End of this chapter)