Liu Qiao'er was also slightly startled: "Su Xueying? The prince hid you in the palace? No wonder the Pei family couldn't find you no matter how hard they tried. The palace is really a good place."
Su Xueying's face darkened and looked a little ugly.
That year, she broke off her engagement with Lu Yunzheng, fell in love with Pei Yuanshan, and followed him all the way to the capital.
Who knew that Pei Yuanshan’s original wife was so vicious that Su Xueying was about to be killed by her, but was saved by Liu Qiaoer.
After providing Zhao Ziyu with some evidence against Pei Yuanshan, the Pei family fell, and Zhao Ziyu kept his promise and protected her safety.
Su Xueying is now a little maid in the Empress Dowager's palace and also Zhao Ziyu's spy. As for what her use is, Liu Qiaoer doesn't want to ask, nor does she want to know.
Liu Qiaoer didn't want to say more to her and left in a hurry.
When she returned to the princess's palace again, it was also in a mess. Princess Mingxin came back from watching the fun and was a little tired, so she tidied up and went to sleep.
But just as the palace door was closed, it was opened by the palace guards.
"My Lady, I am under the order of the Imperial Palace to arrest the arsonist..."
While Princess Mingxin was still confused, a group of people broke into the room where Liu Qiaoer lived.
"That's her. Catch her."
Liu Qiaoer had just changed her clothes and lay down on the bed when she was shocked. This shouldn't have happened. No one saw her setting the fire. How could she be caught so quickly
Even Princess Mingxin was a little surprised: "You said she was the one who set the fire in the Queen's Palace?"
Liu Qiaoer was taken to the Queen's palace, which was crowded with people.
Normally there aren’t so many people in the palace. It’s such a big palace, and even palace maids are rare.
Now they are all concentrated in the Queen's palace.
Looking again, several palace maids were already kneeling in the palace hall, all of them lying on the ground crying out that they were wronged.
"My lady, it is unjust. I did not set the fire."
Liu Qiaoer was caught and also knelt on the ground. She knelt straight and spoke with certainty.
"Your Majesty, I am here to treat Princess Mingxin's illness. The fire in the palace has nothing to do with me."
The queen was a dignified and elegant woman in her thirties, covered in pearl hairpins. Her appearance could not be seen clearly from too far away, but I heard that she seemed very virtuous.
The emperor has three thousand beauties in his harem, and his favorite is Concubine Su.
Concubine Su is the mother of the Third Prince, and happens to be Su Xueying's cousin, the younger sister of Right Prime Minister Su Yu'an.
The Queen sat in the main seat, and Concubine Su sat in the first seat on the lower right. She looked at Liu Qiaoer coldly and gave a look to Su Xueying below.
Su Xueying immediately stood up and said, "I saw you setting the fire with my own eyes, so don't make excuses anymore."
Liu Qiaoer's heart skipped a beat. It turned out that Su Xueying was waiting for her here. But she had no grudge against Su Xueying and she even helped her. Why did she slander her and put him to death
Liu Qiaoer pretended to be surprised and bit back: "But it was obviously you who set the fire. And, I saw you... you..."
Liu Qiaoer didn't finish what she was saying, but left a sentence on purpose.
I only heard the Queen ask impatiently: "What else did you see her do?"
Liu Qiaoer pretended to be weak and helpless and said, "Your Majesty, I saw her go to the Queen Mother's bedroom and steal her things..."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and the queen only said one sentence: "Search the body."
As expected, the palace maids found the jewelry belonging to the Queen Mother on Su Xueying.
The Queen didn't know the importance of this jewelry yet, but when Concubine Su saw it, she gasped in shock.
"This, this..."
That’s right, Liu Qiaoer stuffed the nine-headed phoenix hairpin that the late emperor had bestowed on Zhao Ziyu’s mother onto Su Xueying.
The Nine-headed Phoenix Hairpin was a piece of equipment only for the empress. Zhao Ziyu's mother was liked by the late emperor and was given to her, but she never wore it.
Because there was the empress dowager above her, and it was because of this nine-headed phoenix hairpin that she was punished by the empress dowager and knelt in the ancestral hall while pregnant.
The Queen Mother later took the nine-headed phoenix hairpin away. Liu Qiaoer saw it in the Queen Mother's warehouse. It was so exquisitely made that she couldn't let it go.
But she didn't expect that Su Xueying would stab her in the back, so when she came in just now, she stuffed the Nine-headed Phoenix Hairpin into Su Xueying's body.
Just when the Queen didn't know how to judge the case, someone came from the Queen Mother's palace in a hurry.
"Your Majesty, something bad has happened. Something in the Queen Mother's palace has been stolen."
When the Queen heard this, she didn't care about the burning of Concubine Su's bedroom, and hurriedly took people to the Empress Dowager's palace.
Liu Qiaoer was also taken into the Queen Mother's palace by them.
In the crowd, Yue Niang followed everyone to watch the fun. When Liu Qiaoer passed by her, she nodded slightly.
Things are a bit more responsible, their plans are advanced.
In the Empress Dowager's palace, Su Xueying was interrogated about why she entered the Empress Dowager's palace to steal things. Su Xueying knew nothing and just listened to Liu Qiaoer's answer.
"After Su Xueying was rescued by Prince Yi, she was concerned about him. When she learned that the cause of death of Prince Yi's mother was suspicious, she asked around in the palace about Prince Yi's mother. I was also asked by her about women's hemorrhage during childbirth. I guess she did it for Prince Yi."
The Empress Dowager had never had a good impression of Zhao Ziyu's mother. When she heard about this, her face became terribly gloomy.
"Oh, Su Xueying, do you think it was me who harmed Concubine Xian?"
Su Xueying struggled helplessly: "No, Queen Mother, this is all her nonsense, I know nothing..."
At this moment, Yue Nishang ran out from the crowd, holding an eight-headed phoenix hairpin in her hand, and said, "I can testify that it was indeed Miss Su who asked me to help find the remains of Empress Xian. There is blood on this hairpin, and it was given to me by Miss Su."
The Eight-Headed Phoenix Hairpin was a hair accessory often worn by Zhao Ziyu's mother. The empress dowager naturally recognized it. She thought she had hidden it well, but she didn't expect it to be found out.
This piece of jewelry was given to Concubine Xian by the Empress Dowager after she accepted the Nine-headed Phoenix Hairpin given to her by the late Emperor. Although the items used are not bad, they contain medicine that can cause miscarriage in pregnant women.
Although it had been almost twenty years, Liu Qiaoer still found clues from it.
Yue Nishang continued, "I heard from Miss Su that this hairpin contains a drug that can cause infertility, which is the evidence that the Queen Mother killed Concubine Xian."
As soon as Yue Nishang finished speaking, she heard the Queen Mother shout angrily: "How dare you! You can also speculate about my affairs."
Su Xueying didn't expect that she just wanted to frame Liu Qiaoer, but was forced to be involved in the Queen Mother's past affairs.
No one present dared to breathe, even the Queen and Concubine Su.
After all, the feud between the Empress Dowager and the former Concubine Xian was an old case from twenty years ago, which everyone knew about, but no one had any evidence to prove.
The late emperor doted on Concubine Xian and wanted to pass the throne to her unborn child. The empress dowager naturally disagreed and killed Concubine Xian first. The child born by Concubine Xian was weak and could be protected by the late emperor during his reign.
After the death of the previous emperor, Zhao Ziyu's situation became very difficult. Everyone knew that he was dying, so he actually went to Yuzhou for refuge. However, twenty years later, he was well again.
However, Zhao Ziyu never mentioned her past entanglement with the Empress Dowager.
But now it was turned out by Su Xueying on her own initiative. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that it was Zhao Ziyu's work.