"Oh, you mean, I just believed it? This is a maid from my palace. I gave it to you because you served the emperor well. Now you dare to question even a maid from my palace? Who gave you such courage!"
The maid next to her wanted to pass tea to Xiao Shushen, but Xiao Shushen took the teacup and threw it under her bed. The blue and white porcelain cup shattered into pieces with a "bang", scaring everyone in the room.
First, Xianglian's words made many uninformed people directly portray Zhao Yuanrong as a cruel and unreasonable person who took out his anger on the servants in the palace.
The Empress was also furious. Li Ruotong felt that she had to help her. After all, this was a life! She lifted her skirt and knelt down. "Empress, I dare to say that Sister Defei is definitely not someone who would murder the heir to the throne! Sister Defei has always been dignified and kind. Everyone in the harem knows that how could she do such a treasonous thing as murdering the heir to the throne! I dare to ask you to be careful with your words."
"If people were innocent in the past, they would not do bad things. How many heinous people are imprisoned across our country? They used to be farmers working in the fields, but they were the ones who did bad things later?" Xiao Shushen looked at her with disdain.
"Then in other words, if this child was born by someone else, I would have nothing to say if Your Majesty was so suspicious. But this little prince was conceived by Sister Defei herself, so how could she be willing to murder him? I know that Sister Defei heard from the imperial physician that more walking would be good for the heir, so she went to the Imperial Garden. Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, let alone Sister Defei, who has always been kind-hearted. Your Majesty, you will see clearly!"
Li Ruotong kowtowed three times when she said this, which made Xiao Shushen even more angry. "Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, but her plot to murder the heir to the throne is even more outrageous. Concubine Qi, you dare to question my words now? It seems that I failed in my duty and didn't teach you the virtues of a woman, which is why you are so presumptuous in front of me! Someone, send Li Ruotong back to the palace and have someone watch her copy the virtues of a woman three hundred times! You are not allowed to come out until she finishes copying!"
The guards outside came in in time. Li Ruotong was a little unwilling when she was taken away, but she could only give Zhao Yuanrong a look and left obediently.
They had discussed before that if they had any dispute with Xiao Shushen during the time when Shen Qingwan was not in the palace, they must not confront it head-on and should avoid it as much as possible. Everything would be fine when the emperor returned.
Seeing Li Ruotong being taken away, Xiao Shushen held her forehead and said, "De Fei Zhao Yuanrong deliberately plotted to murder the heir to the throne. Someone, take De Fei to the clan residence and torture her severely. You must find out who is the mastermind behind this!"
Zhao Yuanrong closed her eyes silently, knowing that the Queen would find any excuse to accuse her of a crime and it would be useless for her to defend herself.
When two strong guards came up to carry her away, a small figure who had been hiding behind the screen suddenly jumped out and bit Xiao Shushen's wrist fiercely. Xiao Shushen was so scared that she pushed her away. When she looked carefully and found Fu Lingling, she couldn't help but get angry, "Defei Zhao Yuanrong, you don't teach your daughter well. From now on, the third princess Fu Lingling will be under the care of her foster aunt and is not allowed to step out of the palace!" Xiao Shushen said this, glared at Fu Lingling fiercely, and left in a huff.
Fu Lingling seemed to be dazed and fell to the ground with her eyes closed. After Xiao Shushen left, the palace servants rushed over and lifted her onto the bed.
The results from the clan affairs office came out very quickly. In less than half a day, they said that Zhao Yuanrong had confessed. She had deliberately murdered the heir to the throne under the instigation of Xiao Shushen. When the report was brought to Xiao Shushen, she just nodded slightly and continued to turn the rosary beads. "She has confessed everything, so I will grant her the wish, put her in the Heavenly Prison, and give her a prison sentence."
The person who came to report was shocked. He had always heard that the Queen was kind to others, so why was she so drastic today? However, this was also the masters' thoughts, and he had no right to interfere. After the person responded, he withdrew.
Hearing footsteps coming from the corridor, Zhao Yuanrong smiled miserably, not knowing which lowly servant was going to continue to abuse her. She had thought that she would be able to clear her name after entering the clan house, but she didn't expect that group of lowly servants would actually torture her!
Under the severe punishment, she naturally signed and sealed everything. It seemed that everything that happened today was a setup. She had been plotted against and didn't even realize it.
There were whip marks on his body, blood seeped out from his inner clothes, his hair stuck to his face, and his hands were tied tightly. When Hua Xiangwei arrived, she saw Zhao Yuanrong in such a miserable state.
The eunuch shouted shrilly: "Hua Zhaoyi is here..."
Zhao Yuanrong curled his lips and laughed angrily. In the past, when they were in their prime, none of these minions dared to jump up and down in front of them. Now that the emperor has temporarily lost contact, are these people so eager to replace him
"My dear sister, I am here to see you off. Please don't blame me."
Hua Xiangwei put the food box aside, slowly opened it, took out the wine pot and wine glass, and filled the table with the food in the box before sitting down. "Sister, you just can't get over it. Why are you plotting to murder the heir? We are living well in the harem, enjoying endless wealth and glory. You say, now that it has come to this, I can't help you, I can only send you off."
Zhao Yuanrong just looked up at her coldly. She was Xiao Shushen's person, how could she not know that she was framed? Why was she pretending to be so hypocritical here? It made her want to vomit.
"Tsk, sister, don't glare at me like that? There's no use glaring at me. I'm just a Zhaoyi and don't have much status. Otherwise, I would have released you with just one word. If you want to glare at me, don't glare at me. It has nothing to do with me." Hua Xiangwei said this with a gentle smile, as if she just came to Zhao Yuanrong to reminisce about the past and drink tea, and had no other thoughts.
However, after being in the palace for so long, Zhao Yuanrong could guess that this wine must have been given to him by Xiao Shushen.
"I only ask two questions, and you answer them truthfully."
Hua Xiangwei covered her lips and smiled, "Your Majesty, please speak. I will tell you everything I know."
"Your Majesty and Concubine Xian, what is going on..."
"If nothing unexpected happened, he has already entered the reincarnation cycle in some deep forest in the south of the Yangtze River. If his body wasn't carried away by a wild wolf, it should have been washed away by a flood."
She had no need to lie to herself. If she could hold on until the emperor came back, and she lied to herself, then she would be guilty of making false comments about the emperor, and she should be killed. She had always been a careful person and would not be careless about this matter.
Zhao Yuanrong closed his eyes, his mouth was dry, and he swallowed his saliva, "Then, Lingling?"
"Don't worry, sister. After you pass away, I will take good care of you and will not let anyone bully her."
"Empress Defei, it's time." The jailer outside opened the cell door, made a gesture of invitation, and then dragged Zhao Yuanrong out.
Hua Xiangwei nodded at her as a farewell.
I don't know how long the painful howling lasted, but it finally stopped, and Hua Xiangwei finally breathed a sigh of relief. Her scalp was tingling and she felt uncomfortable.
Zhao Yuanrong seemed to have lost all feeling. His entire body was bruised by the whip. He looked at the cup of poisoned wine and smiled brightly.
She will remember all these people, and if there is a next life, she will not let any of them go!
Raising his hand to pick up the wine glass, Zhao Yuanrong drank it all in one gulp. Then his legs went limp and he fell to the ground without a sound.