He Chang'an was busy with political affairs, and went to the Ministry of Punishment when he received the news.
As soon as Wan was imprisoned, someone was about to torture him, so he was stopped by He Chang'an and Lu Sanbian and brought to the interrogation room.
"How did it become like this?" Frowning tightly, He Changan looked at her and said, "Just because of an inexplicable wooden sign?"
Taking a deep breath, seeing that there were only two people here, Wan Shi finally cried out with red eyes: "I didn't carve that sign, so there is nothing wrong with it if you want to commit a crime. The Queen Mother just doesn't like me."
He Chang'an was taken aback for a moment: "The Queen Mother is always kind, so how could she get along with you? She liked Prime Minister Hua very much before."
"I like my son because my son is helpful to the emperor, but she hates me since I became the main wife of the Hua family." Wan Shi choked up: "You don't know, you don't know anything."
Lu Sanbian raised his eyebrows: "According to what I know, before entering the palace, the Empress Dowager made a promise to a family, but she was forcibly sent to the draft. The family that the queen mother made a promise to was the Hua family?"
Wan looked at him in shock: "I didn't say anything, how did you know?"
"To be Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, you still need to have this ability." Lu Sanbian looked at her seriously and said, "According to what you said, the Empress Dowager has a personal grievance with you, which is why she is so strict this time and sends you here The Ministry of Criminal Justice wants you to confess to cursing Concubine Wu Gui before tomorrow, right?"
Wan Shi nodded.
"The people in the Ministry of Punishment will definitely listen to what the queen mother says. Even if I am a minister, I can't stop them from punishing you. Otherwise, the queen mother will be held accountable, and everyone in the Ministry of punishment will suffer." Lu Sanbian said: "Now we are the only one What can be done is to find evidence to refute the empress dowager before you are sentenced, proving that the sign was not carved by you."
"You can ask their so-called witnesses to see when they said I carved it, and then you can ask the slaves in the place where I live to see if the time is correct. If not, the slaves are My witness." Wan Shi calmed down, his mind still clear.
He Changan nodded, and ordered someone to tidy up a clean cell and spread it with thick cotton wool: "You should rest first, we will leave the rest to us."
"In case..." Wan Shi gritted her teeth, "in case I can't get through this, Master Hou will help me take care of her more."
"I know." He Changan lowered his eyes: "Whether you are here or not, I will take good care of her."
I don't know who this "she" is talking about, so Lu Sanbian pretended not to hear it, but Hou Ye has the kindness to know him, so he will try to help as much as possible.
When Hua Chun woke up, she felt a little cold, but seeing that it was getting late, she immediately put on her clothes and got up, and went to pay her respects to the Queen Mother.
Concubine Wu Gui was relieved for the time being, but she hadn't passed the critical period yet, her stomach was hurting all the time, and the signs of miscarriage hadn't subsided.
The imperial doctor was exhausted, so he came out and said to the queen mother, "I can only obey the destiny."
The Empress Dowager was furious and said nothing in a muffled voice. When Hua Chun entered, a group of concubines all looked over.
"Empress Concubine De must be more careful." Xu Guifei said eccentrically, "Wu Guifei has suffered, but you are the only one in this palace who is safe."
Concubine Shu scolded her lightly: "How do you say it? Auspicious people from Wugui have their own auspiciousness, and they will surely ensure the safety of mother and child."
"The concubine pays homage to the queen mother." Ignoring their words, Hua Chun came up and bowed first.
The queen mother waved her hand without saying a word, signaling her to sit beside her.
"Did anything else happen to Concubine Wu Gui before she became like this?" Looking at the kneeling maid, the Queen Mother asked.
The little palace maid shivered, shook her head and said: "No, the empress has been doing well in the side hall, but she didn't sleep well at night and said she had a nightmare, so she searched for the root cause and found Empress Defei."
After taking a look at Hua Chun, the Queen Mother shook her head: "The master has already said that it has nothing to do with that paper bird."
"It has nothing to do with the paper bird, but maybe... maybe it has something to do with something else?" the maid whispered.
The Empress Dowager frowned: "They are all people with bodies. Concubine De should be the most sympathetic to Concubine Wu's mood. How could she harm her? Besides, Ai's family has always been in the Huiming Palace. What's the matter with De Concubine? Very clear."
The maid knelt down and stopped talking, Concubine Shu said softly: "Seeing that the emperor is coming back soon, we can't use these things to hinder him. The concubine feels that it is better to quickly find a way to cure Concubine Wu Gui, who should be punished." Those who are in trouble, let's deal with it before the emperor comes back."
Hua Chun glanced at her: "According to the distance, the emperor should arrive in Yanjing in two or three days. Don't you think it's too hasty to decide a life in these two or three days?"
"Look, the concubine knows that the Concubine De will speak for the Wan family." Hua Xunyue said: "The concubine was not sure before, but now it is confirmed, Concubine De, you are the biological daughter of the Wan family, right? "
Everyone present was taken aback for a moment, and the queen mother stared at Hua Xunyue in astonishment: "How did you say that?"
Hua Xunyue stood up and knelt down, and said in a serious manner: "The concubine thought that the Concubine De was very familiar, and the Queen Mother should also feel familiar. Her appearance is exactly the same as Prime Minister Hua, and maybe even the birthmark on her body is the same."
"I originally thought that there are so many people in the world, it is inevitable that there are similarities. But even more coincidentally, when the concubine came out of the palace this time, she found that Wan Shi also lived in Gongyuhou's mansion. Obstruction. It stands to reason that there is no blood relationship. How could the Empress Dowager care about a civilian woman? But the Queen Mother also saw that from yesterday to today, the Empress Dowager has been speaking for the Wan family. Concubine, it must be Prime Minister Hua."
The queen mother was startled, and looked at Hua Chun in disbelief.
Taking a deep breath, Hua Chun felt that Hua Jinghua might have owed the Hua family sisters in her previous life, and was stabbed by her own people for nothing.
"What Concubine Hua said is quite interesting." She laughed and said, "Prime Minister Hua is a man, but I am a woman. How can he be alone?"
"This is to praise Wan's skillful methods." Hua Concubine said: "Earlier, Prince Xi went to find a nanny to prove that the concubine De is a daughter, but was interrupted by the pregnant Qing. Now that I think about it, Qing The child she conceived back then may not have been Prime Minister Hua's child. And when the prime minister was born in Huafu, there were many doubts, almost no one, including his father, had checked his gender, and it was all covered by Wan Shi and the nanny."
"The nanny is still there. If the Queen Mother doesn't believe it, you can ask to see if Prime Minister Hua is a man or a woman."
The people around began to discuss, Hua Chun was not in a hurry, staring at the scrutiny from everywhere, and calmly said: "Prime Minister Hua has already been beheaded, and the concubine entered the palace before he was beheaded. Whether it is the same person or not, the emperor should know better than anyone else, what do you think, Empress Dowager, do you believe in the emperor, or this concubine who would rather put her family on the charge of bullying the emperor than frame her concubine?"
The queen mother hesitated and doubted, after all, Hua Chun and Hua Jinghua were exactly the same, except for their different temperaments.
But occasionally, she would really see Hua Jinghua's shadow on Hua Chun, and suddenly felt that it was a person.
She once made a wish, saying that it would be great if Prime Minister Hua was a woman, and she would be able to stabilize the harem and assist the emperor. Unexpectedly, one day, a woman exactly like Prime Minister Hua really appeared, but Prime Minister Hua died.
Is there really nothing strange here
Seeing the Empress Dowager's eyes, Hua Chun felt a little flustered, but her expression remained calm, and she hypnotized herself that she was not Hua Jinghua, and she must lie to herself before she can convince others.
The question is, how did Hua Xunyue find out about this
"Although the Ai family also thinks that Concubine De and Prime Minister Hua are very similar, but based on what you said and that unreliable nanny, the Ai family does not think the case can be settled." The Queen Mother said: "Besides, Concubine De is still pregnant with the emperor's heir. .”
Someone next to him murmured in a low voice: "I don't know if it's the heir of the emperor."
Huachun gritted her teeth.
"The concubine has a good way. I can do multiple things with one stroke." Concubine Shu opened her mouth, looked at Hua Chun and said, "If the empress is not Hua Jinghua, she should not care about Wan's life or death. After all, there is no blood relationship. Bar?"
"Then let the Ministry of Criminal Justice send Wan Shi over for torture. On the one hand, she can quickly admit to the matter of the wooden sign, and on the other hand, she can see the reaction of Empress Defei. If it is her own child, it is impossible to watch her mother suffer."
With a curse in his heart, Hua Chun looked up at Concubine Shu, chuckled and sang: "I will remember your face firmly."
Because it was the tune of a modern song, everyone didn't realize what she was talking about for a while, only saw her smiling and very calm.
The Empress Dowager nodded: "Concubine Shu's idea is not bad, and for Concubine Wu Gui to keep the emperor's heir, let the Ministry of Punishment take him to the courtyard of Huiming Palace."
really? Hua Chun clenched her hands tightly, praying in her heart that He Chang'an would come and stop it, but He Chang'an and Lu Sanbian took the lead to find evidence and had no time to enter the palace.
So Wan Shi was dragged up and tortured with a stick.
"It's all right." Wan smiled and lay down on the wooden stool: "My body has been beaten, so it's nothing."
"Are you sick?" Xu Guipin twitched her lips: "I've never seen someone so calm and confident before being tortured."
Hua Chun's throat felt a little sore, and his face turned pale.
She is not so confident, she is obviously worried that she is too worried, so she said it to comfort her. Where is Wan's body? Just recovering from a serious illness, and still have old illnesses, in case something unexpected happens...
Clenching her hands tightly, Hua Chun was extremely anxious, but she didn't know what to do. A group of people stared at her. If she stepped forward to save her, the two of them would suffer together. Suffer the torment of the heart here.
"Get ready, execution!"