Liuzhi had obviously been tortured. There were whip marks on her body and her ten fingers were bleeding from being pierced by silver needles.
The eunuch from the Ministry of Punishment dragged her in and threw her to the ground like a piece of rag.
"Jieyu...Jieyu, please save me, please save me!"
As soon as Liuzhi saw Ye Jun, she crawled over quickly and saved Ye Jun's legs as if she had seen a life-saving straw.
Her hands were covered in blood, which stained the light-colored hem of Ye Yun's skirt and looked particularly glaring.
"The Emperor and the Empress are both here. As long as you tell us what you know, we will not wrongly accuse you."
Concubine Wende stared at the palace maid, hoping that she would say something.
Liu Zhi swallowed her saliva, a trace of entanglement flashed in her eyes, she gritted her teeth and said, "I'll tell you, I'll tell you, it was Concubine Ming who was jealous of Concubine Yi's pregnancy, so she ordered me to find a way to poison Concubine Yi. Concubine Yi's neighbor Qionghua is from the same hometown as me. Concubine Yi was not feeling well during her pregnancy, and she was occasionally beaten and scolded. Qionghua was indignant and told me a few times. I found out the leak from her and added musk to Concubine Yi's incense burner."
"Ming Jieyu, just plead guilty. The crime of murdering the heir to the throne is punishable by death. I cannot conceal this for you any longer!"
Liuzhi fell to the ground and cried bitterly, not knowing whether she was afraid or out of guilt.
Concubine Wende pulled at her handkerchief, her heartbeat quickened slightly, and she spoke to Ning Chen in a low voice.
"Your Majesty, the witness is here. Ye has been arrogant since she entered the palace. Now that she is in a high position in the family, I am afraid she will be even more arrogant. It is not impossible that she is jealous of Concubine Yi's pregnancy and will kill her next time."
"Your Majesty, you are too hasty to convict me based on only this girl's one-sided story." Ye Jun said coldly, "Or is it that my death will just be a chance for someone to take the blame?"
"Ye, stop slandering me! You..."
"That's enough! Shut up!"
Ning Chen shouted angrily, and Concubine Wende shrank back in fear. She suppressed her annoyance and lowered her head.
The queen was watching from the side and felt extremely happy.
This was the first time that Concubine Wende was yelled at by the Emperor.
"Ming Jieyu, the person has been brought here. If you want to confront him, then go ahead and ask."
"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty." Ye Jun bowed slightly.
At this moment, she had roughly sorted out some clues in her mind, and she spoke without hesitation.
"Since you say I ordered you to do it, then tell me where the musk came from, when I gave it to you, and how much it was."
"I don't know where it came from. You gave it to me when you were released from house arrest two or three days ago. I don't remember how much it was. It was just a small packet. I gave it all to Qionghua and told her to put some in Concubine Yi's incense burner every day."
"Your Majesty, I request that you send someone to call this palace maid named Qionghua and search her residence." Ye Jun said neatly.
Yuan Jiu stepped forward with an embarrassed look on his face and said that the palace maid named Qionghua was dead.
It turned out that he had been beaten with a stick before entering the Ministry of Punishment, and the injury had not been treated, so his condition was not good. He couldn't hold on after just entering and receiving a little punishment.
Ning Chen frowned, "Then send someone to search her residence, and don't let any corner be left out."
Yuan Jiu responded and went there in person.
At this point, Ye Jun clearly felt a hint of cowardice in Liu Zhi's eyes. His heart tensed, and he calmed himself down and continued to ask.
"After I gave you the musk, on which day did you give it to Qionghua?"
"I remember that it was on the day of Concubine Jie's birthday. I received a reward and secretly kept two pieces of glutinous rice cakes for Qionghua to eat."
"Oh, that's a coincidence. On that day, someone close to Fang Xiuyi came to give her a gift. Originally, Luhe went to see her off, but later you went. You haven't been back for a long time. You said you went to the Imperial Hospital and got some medicine for a cold. Is that true?"
"Yes... that is what happened, but I did not go to the Imperial Hospital. Yes, I went to Yingyan Pavilion and gave the musk to Qionghua, and also gave her some cakes. Because I was on duty and could not just leave, I took the opportunity to see someone off and go out..."
"Okay, that day was October 18th, and today is October 24th, a full six days. Am I not afraid of the long night and many dreams? I just want Concubine Yi to smell the musk for such a long time and still not have a miscarriage, but just feel unwell?"
Ye Jun stared at her, his eyes as sharp as an eagle.
Liu Zhi was already feeling guilty, and being suppressed by such a powerful aura, she became even more flustered, "Maybe, maybe the quantity is not enough..."
"I've always been decisive in my actions. If I really wanted to make Concubine Yi have a miscarriage, would I not give you enough musk? Are you just joking?"
"No, no, it's that musk must be used continuously. If you use it too long, you will have miscarriage..." Liuzhi swallowed.
"How long will it take? I didn't even tell you this, did I? I only asked you to give the medicine but not to deal with it afterwards?"
"I...I, Jieyu did say so. I remember, it was about a month..."
Ye Jun raised her eyebrows and said quickly, "This dosage is obviously enough for twenty days!"
Liu Zhi was slightly stunned, her lips trembling, and she nodded quickly, "Yes, it's twenty days, that's right, Jieyu, you said we should take it slowly..."
"It takes more than a month for this musk to take effect after being mixed into the spices. I think you are just talking nonsense!"
"I just said it was one month. How could you lie to me, Concubine?" Liu Zhi was at a loss.
Ye Jun stared at her for a long while and sneered.
She turned around calmly and bowed to Ning Chen, "Your Majesty, this girl's words are totally inconsistent, and she also involved people from Fang Xiuyi Palace. Her words are really unbelievable. I have never done anything to murder the heir to the throne. Please be careful."
"Please sit down." Ning Chen waved his hand.
Liu Zhi, who was kneeling on the ground, started shaking all over when she heard these words, as if her soul had been taken away from her.
This sentence means that Ning Chen believed Ye Jun did not drug Yi Jieyu.
Since you believe Ye Jun, you can't believe a word Liu Zhi says. Murdering the royal heir and slandering the master are both capital crimes.
At this moment, Yuan Jiu brought new news.
The musk found in the residence of the palace maid Qionghua was only worth half a penny. The imperial physician examined it and found that it was not a very good musk. If all the remaining musk was used up, it would not cause Concubine Yi, who was four months pregnant and had a stable pregnancy, to have a miscarriage.
However, if it is in the first three months, when the fetus is not yet stable, this amount is just enough.
"Your Majesty, look, I wanted to harm someone, but I didn't even calculate the dosage correctly." Ye Jun sneered, "I was still under house arrest during Concubine Yi's first three months. It seemed like someone wanted to frame me and waited until I was released from house arrest before taking action. I never thought that they forgot to calculate the dosage."
Ning Chen's eyes were frighteningly dark.
He spoke in a cold voice, "Since this maid refuses to tell the truth, then take her away and torture her. She will not be allowed to die. When she is willing to tell the truth, she can come to see me again."
"Your Majesty, I'm wondering if this palace maid has anyone at home. If she refuses to tell, you can ask her family," said the queen.
At this point, it was a foregone conclusion that Ye Jun was innocent, so she simply decided to be a good person to the end.
But she never thought that by saying this, she would get herself into trouble.
Liu Zhi suddenly went crazy, crawling forward on her knees, "Your Majesty, you promised me that you would not kill my brothers and sisters. You can't break your promise, Your Majesty!"
"Bitch, what nonsense are you talking about!" Nanny Ding, who was following the queen, turned pale and immediately scolded.
"No, Queen, I am willing to die. You will be relieved after I die. Please don't hurt my family... Um... Um..."
As Liuzhi spoke, blood gushed out from the corners of his mouth, and he fell heavily to the ground with a thud.
"Your Majesty, she bit her tongue and committed suicide!" Concubine Shu was closest to Liuzhi at the moment, and she was so frightened that she fell down on the chair.