"If Queen Mother has nothing to say, I would like to ask you something." Just when everyone's eyes were focused on Gu Linqing, a voice sounded from outside the door.
Baozhu looked over and saw that it was Qi Ye he had seen that day.
Qi Ye walked up to Qi Junce and knelt down to kowtow solemnly. Qi Junce's face softened slightly and said, "Ye'er, what are you doing?"
Qi Ye raised his head and said with tears in his eyes: "My son sued the current queen for killing my concubines and causing me to be separated from my mother."
As soon as this statement came out, the four people were in an uproar.
"It also caused my mother and concubine to go crazy for many years and alienate my father." After Qi Ye said that, he looked at Qi Junce intently.
Qi Junce's eyebrows were filled with sorrow. He looked at Qi Ye and then at Gu Linqing, who was silent, and let out a long sigh.
Liu Guiren was eager to protect the Lord and retorted anxiously: "Fourth Prince, Concubine Rong made a big mistake back then. It was the Empress who raised you up to this day regardless of past grudges. You are slandering your superior."
Gu Linqing seemed to be resigned to her fate and remained unmoved. She just closed her eyes and shed a few lines of tears.
"It seems inappropriate for the Fourth Prince to talk empty talk without any evidence." Zhencai also muttered in a low voice.
"My son dare not make false accusations against me for no reason, but I know very well that my mother and concubine back then were as innocent as today's Empress Chen, and she was framed." Qi Ye couldn't help but choked up as he talked about his sadness.
"Ye'er, what evidence do you have to prove that the queen harmed your mother and concubine?" Qi Junce asked with a gloomy face.
Qi Ye was silent, with a drowning man's pleading to climb up in his eyes, as if he expected to find some mercy from his father who was as cold as a rock.
"Ai's family is here!" A loud voice sounded from outside the door. Bao Zhu looked back and saw the Queen Mother who had not seen her for a long time. Today is really lively, Bao Zhu thought.
"Join the Queen Mother." Everyone saluted, and Qi Junce personally greeted them and asked why the Queen Mother was here.
The Queen Mother sat down calmly and powerfully, and snorted coldly with displeasure in her eyes: "If the Ai family doesn't come, the emperor will be kept in the dark and you will still be at a loss."
Qi Junce stood aside, his face full of doubts.
"Come in." The queen mother waved her hand, and the minister beside her dragged a thin woman in and threw her to the ground.
"Raise your head, Queen, and take a good look at who this is." said the Queen Mother.
The woman raised her head tremblingly, and then quickly lowered her head.
"Ai Qiu, are you Ai Qiu?" Gu Linqing looked at the woman in disbelief and said, "You're not... You're not..."
"He didn't die in a mass grave, right?" Qi Ye took over Gu Linqing's words and looked at her bitterly and said.
"Queen, my family has pitied you for many years when you lost three sons in a row and endured pain that no one else could, so I turned a blind eye to many of your actions." The Queen Mother said heartbrokenly. Gu Linqing's expression was numb. Listen.
"But you should never harm my Yinwei, she is a child that I love and care for when she grows up." The Queen Mother scolded her.
Yinwei? Baozhu thought carefully for a while, and remembered that when she first met Concubine Rong, she smiled stupidly and said her name was Shen Yinwei, but she didn't hear it clearly at that time and only heard the word "wei".
Bao Zhu silently looked at the distressed Queen Mother who didn't look like she was putting on a show. It turned out that Concubine Rong had such a connection with her.
"Grandma," Qiye interjected with tears in his eyes, while lifting up his sleeves. "My mother not only harmed my mother, she also beat me every day. My grandson is really in pain."
Everyone looked at Qi Ye's exposed skin, which was green and red. New injuries were added to the old ones, which was shocking to see.
The queen mother rushed down from the chair in distress, looked at Qi Ye's injuries with tearful eyes, and said, "You have suffered."
Gu Linqing gritted her teeth and looked at the harmonious scene between her ancestors and her grandson and said, "I just supervise your studies and hope to make progress. Yes, the method is a bit extreme, but I will never beat you severely!"
"You—!" The Queen Mother pointed at Gu Linqing, so angry that she could hardly stand.
Qi Ye quickly helped the Queen Mother sit down and patted her back. "Royal Grandmother, let us first let my father resolve the current grievances and restore the innocence of Empress Chen and my mother-in-law. We will deal with other matters later."
Qi Junce looked at the trembling woman and asked, "I remember that you were once a maid in Concubine Rong's palace, and I reported your violent death afterwards. Why did you come back to life?"
"Slave... This slave helped the Queen to hide the witchcraft doll in Concubine Rong's palace. Later, she overheard that the Queen wanted to silence her..." Ai Qiu said tremblingly.
"The slave was so frightened that he hid in the carriage transporting night fragrance and escaped from the palace overnight. Only then did he escape." After Ai Qiu said this, he lay on the ground shivering.
Qi Junce looked at Gu Linqing angrily and asked, "So the witchcraft doll found in Concubine Rong's palace that day was actually placed by you?"
Ai Qiu echoed in a low voice, "The Queen once promised to give me a large amount of money, but I was obsessed with it and harmed Concubine Rong. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"After this cheap servant escaped, she lived by begging, and was finally found by Qi Ye. If she cannot be found, she will never be able to restore Yinwei's innocence," the Queen Mother added.
Qi Junce's veins popped out on his forehead, he pinched Gu Linqing's chin and forced her to look into his angry eyes.
"You were like that that day, vomiting blood and saying that hundreds of ants were eating your heart." Qi Junce's breath was hot, and Gu Linqing's eyes were filled with tears.
"Then the same trick was used to find witchcraft dolls in Concubine Rong's palace. Concubine Rong was found guilty and banished to the palace." There was a trace of regret in Qi Junce's tone, but more of the shame of being deceived.
"Queen, you are such a good queen." After Qi Junce said this, he threw Gu Linqing away. Gu Linqing fell to the ground, losing the majesty of a queen.
When Baozhu saw that the time had come, he walked forward and knelt down to speak: "Your Majesty, I have another way to prove my innocence."
Qi Junce seemed to be angry, he put his hand on his forehead and let out a dull sigh.
Baozhu's eyes signaled that Yue Nu brought the witchcraft doll found in Yunli Courtyard. He picked up the orb, pointed to the birth date of Gu Linqing engraved on it, and said, "Although Mi Gen and Li are neighboring countries, their humanities are completely different. Please take a look."
Bao Zhu looked around the doll, and everyone was staring at her actions.
"How can I, a Mi Gen country person, know about the heavenly branches and earth stems of Li country? If I want to write about it, I will also write about the counting method of Mi Gen country." Baozhu said calmly.
"Queen, please be careful." Baozhu threw the doll in front of Gu Linqing, with a victor's look on his face.
At this time, Jiang Heng also stood up from his seat and said, "Your Majesty, the real great wizard Bai Lan outside the palace can also prove that the queen has instructed the fake wizard to run rampant among the people and collect money."
When Qi Junce heard this, he raised his head and almost forgot about Bai Lan.
"But Bai Shuang has pretended to be a great wizard for many years and distorted the fate of our country in order to deceive the emperor. He helped others do evil and his crimes are countless. He should be punished according to law!" Jiang Heng said.
Gu Linqing slowly sat up on her feet and smiled self-deprecatingly: "I know you have disliked me for many years, but do you really have to embarrass me in front of so many people?"
Qi Junce looked at Gu Linqing, his cold eyes were not looking at his wife of many years. "It is your own fault and you will not survive. Don't blame anyone for what you are today."
Things are about to get out of hand. If we continue to dig deeper, I'm afraid the scandal in the royal family will escalate.
"Queen Gu is staying in the cold palace, waiting for everything to be found out, and then she will be punished." Qi Junce left after leaving these words.
The concubines all returned to their respective palaces as they saw fit. Qi Ye helped the Queen Mother leave. Before leaving, the Queen Mother murmured that she was going to take Concubine Rong back to the palace.
As autumn approached, this happened again. Qi Junce ordered to return to the palace quickly, but within one day, the orb returned to Weiyang Palace.
Under the seemingly calm lake in the palace, there are undercurrents. Baozhu could feel that Qi Junce was not very determined towards Gu Linqing, and there was still a hint of affection.
Gu Linqing's brother has now inherited the family business and interceded for her in the previous court, which might give Gu Linqing a chance to survive.
At nightfall, Jiang Heng hurriedly came to visit the treasure. Even Baozhu has lost a lot of weight. Looking at their almost big bellies, Baozhu must make a plan at this moment.
"Baozhu, Gu Linqing has fallen now. Even if he is not executed, he will not be able to escape from being deposed. What should we do next?" Jiang Heng asked curiously.
Bao Zhu touched her belly, feeling the slight fetal movement and said, "Of course my sister gave birth safely and became the most noble concubine in the palace."
Jiang Heng couldn't help but touch Baozhu's belly, and said with expectation in his eyes: "But, I still think this is a bit too selfish."
Baozhu shook his head, "No, you are helping me."
"Concubine Rong, the Queen Mother personally took her back to the palace. But she was so crazy that no one could recognize her. I heard that the Queen Mother cried hard, Your Majesty..." Jiang Heng said softly.
"Your Majesty, he has restored Concubine Rong's identity, but for some reason, he has never seen her." Jiang Heng said doubtfully.
Baozhu smiled calmly, Qi Junce was certainly a sentimental person. But the feelings of a cold person are really too light.
What he didn't dare to face was not the young and affectionate Concubine Rong, but himself who had made mistakes.
Jiang Heng chattered to Baozhu about how she followed the clues given by Baozhu and found Bai Lan in the Bai family dungeon.
And how they used the power of the Jiang family to collect evidence of Gu Linqing's crime bit by bit, talking about it with joy and excitement, like a heroic heroine.
Suddenly Jiang Heng stopped and asked with surprise on his face: "But Baozhu, since Concubine Rong has clues to investigate, why doesn't she investigate herself and still keep herself innocent?"
Bao Zhu leaned back on the soft pillow, recalling every moment of getting along with Concubine Rong, and said, "Perhaps, my heart has died."
Jiang Heng let out a confused sound and leaned a little closer to Baozhu.
"Although Concubine Rong is the adopted daughter of the Queen Mother and is loved by all, she is raised in a deep palace without a family to rely on." Baozhu said carefully.
"And she may have overestimated Qi Junce's love for her. Just a witchcraft game with many flaws caused her to lose everything. How could she not be disheartened when she grew up so proud and loved by so many people? It's cold." Baozhu sighed after saying that.
Bao Zhu pitied Concubine Rong, but Concubine Rong at least had a brief love with Qi Junce. But Baozhu has never had even a trace of love. I don’t know who is more pitiful.
Gu Linqing's case was shelved as Baozhu expected, and there has been no conclusion yet.
After Concubine Rong was taken back to the palace, she slowly got better.
Baozhu still felt uneasy in his heart, looking for an opportunity to completely overthrow Gu Linqing.
