She strode over, picked up Jiang Xinyue's portrait on the table and looked at it again and again.
Jiang Xinyue, painted by the painter Xie, has skin as smooth as gel, waist as restrained, eyebrows as picturesque, lips red and teeth white, and those smart eyes as if injecting soul into the motionless portrait, making the whole painting come alive.
Even the smiling lips of the beautiful woman in the portrait seem to be mocking her for being ugly and causing mischief at the moment.
"Concubine Yu kept saying that I had an affair with Painter Xie, and she even produced such ridiculous so-called evidence. She brought so many concubines from the harem to arrest her. She wanted to see my joke, and wanted to execute me right next to the emperor. She even said that Wu Zhe stopped calling the sixth prince a bastard. How should the emperor punish his concubines for such crimes?"
"Empress Zhen!"
A childish voice sounded at the entrance: "Empress Zhen, I... Mingyu apologized to Empress Zhen on behalf of her mother and concubine, Empress Zhen... I'm sorry..."
The eldest princess burst into tears and fell at the feet of the emperor and Jiang Xinyue, kowtowing non-stop: "Father, Emperor Zhen, mother and concubine, she has lost her mind. She lost her mind when someone provoked her. Yu'er didn't want to Excuse the mother and concubine. The mother and concubine has always been brainless. Emperor Father and Concubine Zhen know that very well, right? Please punish the concubine mother and concubine severely...but...but please also ask the Emperor Father and Concubine Zhen to take care of it. For my sake, I will spare my mother and concubine’s life.”
"Mingyu!"
Concubine Yu was shocked, squatted down and hugged her: "What are you doing? You..."
The eldest princess shook her head, pulled Concubine Yu to kneel down together, and said to the palace servants behind her: "Bring this person up."
Soon, Painter Li was escorted in a state of embarrassment and knelt down in front of Jiang Xinyue: "Your Majesty, Imperial Concubine, have mercy on me, Imperial Concubine, have mercy on me! I... I was just jealous that Painter Xie was in the emperor's important position, so I hurt him behind his back." A few words. When I was painting the portrait of Concubine Yu, I knew that she also had a lot of complaints about Painter Xie, and also said that the Imperial Concubine and Painter Xie were a perfect match. Then I became evil-minded and instigated Concubine Yu to frame Painter Xie and the Imperial Concubine. Madam, I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong..."
He cried bitterly, but it did not make Jiang Xinyue feel sympathetic.
Just because she was jealous of Painter Xie's talent, she wanted to frame him for having an affair with the emperor's favorite concubine. Was she, an innocent person, too innocent?
If the emperor believed it, and she and Painter Xie couldn't prove their innocence, they would be the ones to die.
Maybe the emperor would implicate their family in his anger.
Do they deserve to pay such a heavy price just because of his jealousy?
Emperor Xuanwu wanted to help the eldest princess up, but when he caught a glimpse of Jiang Xinyue's face next to him, he retracted his half-stretched hand: "Yue'er..."
"Has the princess thought clearly?"
With Jiang Xinyue's character, she is definitely not someone who picks things up heavily and puts them down gently.
Anyone who wants to plot something against her must pay her back double.
Concubine Yu planned her life, and according to her rules, she would give her a life for a life.
"If the eldest princess insists on interceding for Concubine Yu today, then from today on, the friendship between me and the eldest princess will disappear. If there is another time for Concubine Yu, not only will I not let her go, but I will also let you go. Let’s settle together.”
Otherwise, Concubine Yu thought that she was really a good person and would not attack the eldest princess, so she would attack herself unscrupulously and even want to harm the sixth prince.
The eldest princess bowed deeply to the ground: "Empress Zhen, your kindness to Yu'er will be remembered in Yu'er's heart for the rest of her life. As long as Empress Zhen is willing to spare the life of my mother and concubine this time, Yu'er will definitely restrain her mother and concubine in the future. Don't let her cause trouble again. If there is a next time, Lady Zhen can take action, and Yu'er will never complain."
She knew that what Concubine Yu had done deserved death, but she was her mother-concubine!
She couldn't ignore it.
Jiang Xinyue took a deep breath, looked at Emperor Xuanwu coldly, and felt angry in her heart: "The death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be escaped. The emperor can deal with it how he wants! I am tired, so I will retire first."
She bent her knees perfunctorily, and left with a wave of sleeves under the trembling eyes of the concubines.
This time, they were all tricked by Concubine Yu.
Emperor Xuanwu wanted to catch up immediately, but there was still a lot of mess to deal with at the scene, and he couldn't just leave.
Gritting his back teeth irritably, he looked at Painter Li angrily: "Pull this man down and chop him down. Concubine Yu left the palace without permission, slandered the imperial concubine, and said evil words to the sixth prince. , punished with forty battles, she will be demoted to the remaining concubine from today, and moved to the Yanxi Palace. Jiang Zhaoyi will be named Jiang Guifei from now on, and will be granted residence in the main hall of Shun'an Palace."
Not only did he beat her, but he also demoted her from the position of concubine to the position of concubine. Even Jiang Zhaoyi, who used to be groveling to her, became a concubine one level above her. She also gave the palace where she now lives to Jiang Guifei, so By openly slapping Concubine Yu in the face, was he telling everyone that this was what would happen if he framed the imperial concubine?
The concubines present looked at each other. Except for the newcomers from Lan Yue Pavilion who were not here tonight to catch the adulterers, Jiang Zhaoyi was the only one who got the benefits.
Yu Concubine was born into a noble family and was pampered. She had never suffered any physical hardship. If she was beaten forty times, half of her life would be taken away.
After the emperor finished speaking about the punishment, he hurried away, leaving behind a large group of concubines, all of whom were complaining about Concubine Yu: "I came here because I heard she said she had irrefutable evidence of an affair between the imperial concubine and Painter Xie. Now that's it, secretly." If the chicken fails, the rice will be lost. If you lose your wife, you will lose the army."
"We shouldn't have knelt down just now to beg the emperor to punish the imperial concubine. I see the emperor's attitude. I'm afraid that even if the imperial concubine did something sorry for him, he would not be willing to punish her severely."
"Don't you want to give it a try? Fortunately, we are not the masterminds, we were just deceived by Concubine Yu... Bah! We were just deceived by Concubine Yu."
"That's right! The Imperial Concubine will not take revenge on us! The unpleasant words were all said by Concubine Yu, and we didn't say them!"
"The face of the Sixth Prince is exactly the same as that of the Emperor. Concubine Yu actually said that the Sixth Prince is... really stupid."
"Stop talking, no matter how bad the concubine is, there is still the eldest princess! The emperor loves the princess and the prince. If you continue to say this and spread it to the emperor's ears, what will happen?"
"Okay, okay, it's already so late, go back and wash up and sleep!"
"Thank you, painter! Thank you, sir!"
Painter Li was so frightened that he was about to be pulled down and beheaded that he crawled to Xie Chenghui's feet like a dog: "I was wrong, I was just having fun, I really didn't know that Concubine Yu would be so stupid to stab the emperor. Mr. Xiao Xie, please save me. As long as you beg for mercy from the Imperial Concubine, I will repay you by doing things like cows and horses for you. I..."
Xie Chenghui raised his feet and took two steps back, with a bit of anger in his clear eyes. Before the eunuch and guards rushed up, he said something in a very low voice.
Painter Li lost his voice instantly...
