When Cui Baolin came back from paying his respects, he was taken away directly by the servants in the main hall.
Princess Wende was dressed in gorgeous clothes and had a furious look on her face. When she saw her come in, she threw the teacup in her hand at her.
Cui Baolin had no time to dodge, and the teacup hit her shoulder. The scalding hot tea immediately burned her and she cried out.
"Ms. Cui, do you admit your guilt?" Concubine Wende said in a low voice.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. I don't know what I have done wrong to make you so angry. Please tell me clearly!"
Cui Baolin was also confused at this moment, and he immediately knelt down to apologize.
The broken pieces of teacup were right at her feet. When she knelt down, her knees and palms were scratched. She grimaced in pain and moved away in a hurry.
Concubine Wende snorted coldly and waved her hand, "Bai Lu, you go tell her."
"Yes, Madam." Bai Lu bowed, her eyes darkened, and she stepped forward. "Baolin's personal maid stole our Madam's hairpin. That thing is made of South Pearls and silver thread, and the pistil is carved from the finest mutton-fat jade. It was given by the Emperor. Stealing something bestowed by the Emperor is a capital crime!"
Yinzhu quickly explained, "No, I didn't, I didn't steal anything, Your Majesty, please be clear, I really didn't!"
"How could I wrongly accuse a lowly servant like you? I found this thing in the box under your bed." Concubine Wende slammed the table.
Bai Shuang immediately stepped forward and said, "Yesterday, Yinzhu came to the main hall on behalf of Cui Baolin to express gratitude. The queen was coaxing the eldest prince to sleep, so she was not seen. She stayed alone in the outer room for an incense stick of time. The queen's hairpin was placed on the mirror table in the outer room. She must have stolen it at that time!"
Cui has now realized that she must have been framed.
But there was no evidence to refute it at this time. After all, Yinzhu did stay alone in the outer room of the main hall for a long time yesterday.
At this time, Bai Lu continued, "Juxiang, the cleaning girl in the west side hall, can testify that she saw Yinzhu open the box under the bed, put some things in it, and then locked it again at night."
Yinzhu cried and shook her head, saying that it was a pair of silver bracelets that Cui Baolin rewarded her with, which she put in the box. It was not Concubine Wende's hairpin.
But now there were both witnesses and evidence. When the things were found in the silver bead box, more than ten servants were present and saw it all, so they could not deny it.
"I saw that you didn't have many servants around you, so I thought of arranging some people to help you move. But when the box was accidentally broken, I discovered that your servant had committed a theft. It's really true that good intentions are not rewarded!" Concubine Wende snorted coldly.
Cui Baolin pleaded, "Your Majesty, Yinzhu has been serving me since she was a child. I know her character best. She would never steal. This... this might be someone deliberately framing her!"
"Baolin, this person's heart is hidden in his belly. How can you vouch for her? Yinzhu is just a palace maid, who would bother to frame her? Our queen is kind-hearted. Stealing the imperial gift is a capital crime, but for Baolin's sake, give her fifty strokes of the cane and send her to do odd jobs. How can such a dishonest person be kept by your side to serve you?"
After Bai Lu finished speaking, she raised her hand, and two tall eunuchs dragged the crying Yinzhu to the courtyard for execution.
Cui was also brought up in a pampered environment and had never seen such a scene before. She dared not beg for mercy or cry. She knelt on the ground with tears streaming down her face, covering her mouth and trembling.
After being beaten with thirty boards, Yinzhu didn't even have the strength to cry out.
The executioners used all their strength to beat her, leaving her skin and flesh torn. If she continued to be beaten like this, there was no way she would survive after fifty strokes of the cane.
Just at this moment, voices outside suddenly sang in support of the Emperor’s arrival.
It turned out that the Queen went to Jiuchen Palace and said that Concubine Wende might be confused due to illness, so she specially exempted her from paying her respects. But she was afraid that she would misunderstand and feel upset, so she asked the Emperor to go and see her.
Ning Chen remembered that Concubine Wende looked sad that day, so he came here. He didn't expect to see such a bloody scene as soon as he entered the yard.
Yinzhu was lying on the bench like a blood-stained rag, her face covered with tear marks, a dried bloodstain at the corner of her mouth, her eyes half-open, and her gaze already cloudy.
Concubine Wende came out of the main hall, also in a panic.
She didn't expect the emperor to come, so she hurriedly asked the eunuch executing the execution to stop.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Why is your Majesty here?"
"No need to be so polite. I heard from the Queen that you were seriously ill, so I came to see you. What are you doing?" Ning Chen frowned.
Bai Shuang stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this maid stole the gift from the Emperor. According to the Nanqi law, she should be sentenced to death, but she is Cui Baolin's personal maid, so the Empress only punished her by beating her with a few sticks and sending her to work somewhere else."
At this moment, Cui Baolin also staggered out of the hall, looking disheveled, with traces of tears on his face.
He quietly defended himself, "Your Majesty, Yinzhu would not steal. There may be a misunderstanding..."
Ning Chen took a look at her and saw that half of her clothes was wet, her neck was covered with red marks from burns, and there was blood on her hands and knees.
I suddenly had an idea in my mind.
He looked back at Concubine Wende, and she avoided his gaze somewhat unnaturally.
At this moment, Ning Chen really guessed everything.
Concubine Wende clutched her handkerchief, feeling extremely nervous. After thinking for a while, she was about to speak, but was interrupted.
"Okay, I don't think Concubine De would wrongly accuse a slave, but the eldest prince is too weak to see blood in Chuxiu Palace, so I won't beat him. After all, this maid is Cui Baolin's dowry, so this time she will remember it."
Ning Chen's voice was somewhat indifferent. He paused and waved his hand, "Cui, you should take the man back quickly and teach him a lesson. Don't do it again in the future. If you cause such trouble, move out today. There is no need to wait until tomorrow."
"But Your Majesty..." Concubine Wende's eyes widened.
Ning Chen patted her shoulder and said, "The eldest prince is weak, so please spare this servant's life. I will consider it as a blessing for the child. You should have a good rest. I still have some memorials to review, and I will come to see you another day."
Concubine Wende wanted to say something but stopped herself, and in the end she could only watch the emperor leave Chuxiu Palace.
Cui Baolin was really scared, but fortunately Yinzhu managed to survive.
She did not dare to delay for even a second and called a few people from the west hall to quickly carry away the silver beads and some simple items.
There were not many things he brought into the palace, so he moved everything in two trips and called the imperial physician to see Yinzhu's wound.
If Ning Chen hadn’t come suddenly today, the silver bead would have been gone.
From then on, Cui hated Concubine Wende.
On the other side, Ning Chen, who came out of Chuxiu Palace, remained silent.
Thinking of what he had just heard and seen, he felt that Princess Wende seemed to have become very unfamiliar, very different from her previous appearance.
In his impression, An was gentle and kind, with a noble character, and she never easily quarreled with others. She was definitely not the type of person who would beat someone to death like she did today.
Not to mention, he could tell at a glance that Yinzhu was framed.
Such a Concubine Wende really made him feel unfamiliar.
"Your Majesty, where are you going to have your lunch?" Yuan Jiu reminded in a low voice.
We were just preparing to have dinner in Chuxiu Palace.
Ning Chen's eyes darkened, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Let's go to Concubine Ming."