Being recognized by the Emperor, Su Qing became even more panicked and trembling on her knees.
Seeing her like that, Emperor Yuanfeng frowned. This was the old man who had served Empress Hu in the past. Thinking of Empress Hu, his expression softened a little: "The Empress released you and gave you generous rewards. How did you become like this?"
Su Qing's tears flowed quickly and hurriedly: "When I returned home, all the rewards were squeezed dry by my parents and brothers, and I was married off casually to a merchant family..."
The emperor is far away and she later learned that Queen Hu had died. What other choice was there? She lived a very difficult life during those years.
Emperor Yuanfeng stared at her calmly: "So you went to deceive your old master?"
Su Qing shuddered and her tears fell even harder.
Mrs. He is Queen Hu's biological sister, so to her, she is naturally her old master.
Hearing what Emperor Yuanfeng said, Su Qing prostrated herself on the ground and kowtowed several times until her forehead was broken. She then closed her eyes and confessed her guilt in fear, crying, "Your Majesty, I really have no choice. I have four daughters who need to live. If I don't listen to them, my daughters... will be sold at will. I am already in this state, but the children are still young. I can't bear it... They asked me to tell the young lady that the Queen was angry to death because she discovered your affair with Miss Qi..."
Su Qing already felt guilty, and now that the matter had already come before Emperor Yuanfeng, she dared not hide it any longer. She cried and told the story of how she had been threatened and how she had helped Shen Huan, the Tongzhi of Qingzhou, to set up a trap to frame the prefect Zhang Minghe, and then lured Madam He to Qingzhou. She took the opportunity to meet Madam He and fabricated the truth about Queen Hu's death.
Her life these years was really not easy. She lost the protection of the Queen Mother and fell into the eyes of those who had ulterior motives. Her whole family was like fish on the chopping board. If it were her in-laws, she would not hesitate at all and would just let them die.
However, she also has four daughters.
Her life had been like this all her life, but she didn't want her child to go down with her, so she had no choice but to become someone else's tool.
But Su Qing herself couldn't bear it. She was the one who looked after Madam He when she was still unmarried. She knew even better the position of Queen Hu in Madam He's heart. So although she told lies against her will under threat, she still wanted to remind Madam He, which led to her escape.
Emperor Yuanfeng did not speak.
Su Qing kowtowed several more times, crying and begging for forgiveness: "It is not a pity for me to die, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Yuanfeng stared at her for a while, then suddenly shook his head and told Eunuch Xia: "Take her to Kunning Palace."
Then he said, "You go and see the queen."
Su Qing looked up in disbelief when she heard that, but Emperor Yuanfeng was no longer looking at her.
Such great hope suddenly surged in her heart that her hands began to tremble. She kowtowed several times before she stood up and followed Eunuch Xia.
Emperor Yuanfeng sent someone to invite Madam He.
The He family suddenly saw someone coming from the palace, and they were all a little worried.
Aunt He, in particular, felt overwhelmed when she thought about the matter in Qingzhou.
Mrs. He was quite calm. Seeing that Aunt He was too nervous, she comforted her calmly: "It's a blessing, not a disaster. If it's a disaster, it can't be avoided. No matter what, I will never do anything stupid. You just wait at home."
Aunt He had no choice but to force herself to relax. She nervously helped Mrs. He change into her clothes for going to the palace, and she and Second Madam He saw Mrs. He off.
Mrs. He arrived at the palace, but was not taken to the Taiji Hall, which made her feel a little strange.
The eunuch who came to pick her up was very smart and just said, "The emperor has ordered you to go to Kunning Palace."
In fact, although Mrs. He appeared to be very calm, she was still afraid in her heart. After all, she didn't know what tricks those people had this time. She also didn't know why Emperor Yuanfeng suddenly asked her to enter the palace, and whether he knew about the Qingzhou incident. Now Emperor Yuanfeng didn't want to see her again, but asked someone to take her to Kunning Palace. She was even more confused.
It was not until she arrived at Kunning Palace and saw the person kneeling in front of the bust of the Queen that she shook her body in disbelief.
Aunt Liu!
She was stunned. She didn't expect that Emperor Yuanfeng had actually found Aunt Liu. Thinking of what Aunt Liu had said to her, she felt a chill in her heart.
If Aunt Liu told Emperor Yuanfeng that she had already known the truth about Queen Hu's death, Emperor Yuanfeng would have summoned her to the palace at this time...
She closed her eyes before she stood firm.
Su Qing had heard the noise and turned around. When she saw it was her, she burst into tears again. She knelt down in front of her, hugged her legs and cried, "Miss, I'm sorry! I'm sorry. It's all because of my lack of conscience. I lied to you. The Empress did find out what Miss Qi was thinking, but it was Miss Qi who went astray. Your Majesty did not let the Empress down. For this reason, His Majesty even married Miss Qi off... Miss, it was Lord Liu and Lord Shen who forced me to say this. They threatened me with the child..."
Mrs. He has thought about it carefully these days and she also feels that Su Yao's analysis makes sense. If you think about it carefully, it is more likely that this is a conspiracy.
But when she heard Su Qing say these words with her own ears, the stone in her heart was finally lifted. She felt relieved all of a sudden, and her whole body relaxed. She lowered her eyes and looked at Su Qing, whose eyes were swollen from crying. She sighed deeply, and then reached out and touched Su Qing's hair.
Su Qing had been a maid in the Hu family since she was young. She had been with Queen Hu for a long time and had watched her grow up. To her, the affection between them was very special. Just as Su Yao said, she would only believe those words if Su Qing said them.
Su Qing couldn't stop crying.
Then, Mrs. He raised her eyes and saw Emperor Yuanfeng standing outside the door. She moved her mouth and wanted to speak, but she didn't know what to say.
Emperor Yuanfeng coughed, and when he saw Su Qing wake up and wanted to pay her respects, he waved his hand to let her go. He walked in front of Empress Hu's portrait, lit incense himself, and then turned to look at Madam He: "No wonder you refused to come to the palace several times. It turns out that this is the reason."
Now that the matter has been made clear, and Su Qing is here, Emperor Yuanfeng must have investigated the whole process very clearly. Mrs. He also knows that there is no need to deny it, so she simply nodded, pursed her lips and said softly: "Yes, I heard about this from Su Qing, and I am angry, panicked and scared."
Chapter 140: Aftermath