Concubine Shu was obviously shocked by Qin'er's move. When faced with the Queen's questioning, she was stunned for a while. After a long pause, she regained her composure and said, "I, my concubine, have been wrongly accused."
Hiss, as expected, being stabbed by the person you trust most hurts the most. Concubine Shu is no longer as calm as she was at first.
Li Guiren raised his sharp eyebrows and immediately asked: "Concubine Shu said she was framed, where is the evidence?"
"You are here to collect evidence. It is supposed that the queen is trying to prove whether the evidence you have collected is really from Concubine Shu. How can you let Concubine Shu prove it herself? Why is Guiren Li so aggressive?"
"I have met the emperor."
Zhu Ruiying turned around slightly and saw the emperor striding in, picking up Xie Yuan and walking to Concubine Shu.
Zhu Ruiying frowned slightly, whether this emperor favored Concubine Shu or harmed Concubine Shu.
Such partial remarks can be said blatantly without any cover-up. It is unreasonable for Concubine Shu to become an enemy of the harem if he behaves like this. It is not allowed by heaven.
As soon as the emperor came, Li Guiren's arrogance was slightly extinguished.
"Your Majesty, someone came to Concubine Shu and personally pointed out that Concubine Shu was practicing witchcraft in the palace. It was a very important matter. Concubine Shu led people to search and found this in Concubine Shu's palace. Immediately afterwards, Qin The son then came out and confessed his crime, confessing Concubine Shu's crime."
After the queen finished speaking, the entire Shuyang Palace fell into silence, just waiting for the emperor to speak.
The same goes for Zhu Ruiying. Concubine Shu is very good to her, so she is really worried about Concubine Shu now, because she is afraid that the emperor will play his cards randomly and say something like "Oh, aren't they just two dolls? What are these?" "The art of witchcraft" or "It's just the art of witchcraft, it doesn't matter" and other similar words, if he really said this. Concubine Shu's life and death were already known, and her life was basically only a small difference between losing it quickly and losing it slowly.
The emperor pondered for a moment: "Where is the person who identified Concubine Shu now?"
Zhu Ruiying breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was a normal person's reaction.
The queen said: "He is the eunuch who sprinkles water in Concubine Shu's palace. He came with my concubine. Bring him here."
The emperor looked at the little eunuch kneeling in front of him. When he spoke, his tone was calm, but not angry: "I am really curious, how did you, a eunuch, get in front of the queen?"
"Your Majesty, it was Li Guiren who brought him to find my concubine."
The little eunuch trembled and knelt there: "Back to the emperor, I am really not ashamed of Concubine Shu's behavior. This matter is of great importance. I thought that I must ask the Empress to decide, but I am in a humble position. There was no chance to meet the Queen. Fortunately, the slave recognized the personal eunuch beside Li Guiren. He met Li Guiren several times, and Li Guiren brought the slave to the Queen. Only then could the slave reveal the sins committed by Concubine Shu. Tell them all.”
This sounds reasonable, but...
The emperor asked: "How did you know that Concubine Shu did such a thing? Did you see it with your own eyes?"
"Back to the Emperor, this servant is the one who saw it with his own eyes by accident."
"Why did you fall into this trap unintentionally? You shouldn't be responsible for the cleaning in Concubine Shu's palace. Could it be that Concubine Shu did this kind of thing openly and openly in front of all of you?"
The emperor's question was obviously biased towards Concubine Shu. With the evidence conclusive, Li Guiren could no longer hold it in any longer.
"Your Majesty, the evidence has been put in front of us. This matter is serious. Your Majesty, please stop favoring Concubine Shu. No matter what, please handle this matter impartially."
Zhu Ruiying couldn't help but frowned. This man... Even if the emperor has everything wrong with him, he is still the emperor. Li Guiren's behavior of openly mocking the emperor's favoritism with a bit of resentment is really not advisable. .
If there was no one behind this Li Guiren who could make the emperor indulge, then according to Emperor Xie's character, he probably wouldn't be merciful to her.
As expected, Li Guiren's words had already made Emperor Xie, who was teasing Xie Yuan, look slightly serious.
"Your Majesty, don't be surprised. Li Gui is used to being outspoken. However, there is some truth in what he said. Your Majesty, I feel that the art of witchcraft and Gu cannot be promoted, and it will be harmful to Dachang. No matter what the truth of the matter is, , please your Majesty, deal with it impartially."
"What the Queen said is that this matter must be handled properly," the Emperor looked at the man kneeling on the ground, "You haven't answered my question yet."
Suddenly being called, the little eunuch was obviously panicked: "Slave, this slave is here..."
"You have to tell me clearly, at what time, where, and why. If there is any falsehood, I will never forgive you lightly."
"The slave is here, the slave..."
The young eunuch was frightened to death by the emperor's words. He did not expect that he would be questioned about this small detail when the evidence was solid.
Seeing the little eunuch hesitating, Li Guiren couldn't help but feel a little anxious. She urged, "You should hurry up and say it!"
Lying in front of the emperor will easily reveal flaws if you are not mentally competent.
Obviously, this is what this little eunuch is like.
The emperor chuckled softly: "How can you tell the specific details of things that are completely fabricated and made up at random? Am I right?"
The little eunuch was sweating profusely, and tremblingly, he bravely raised his head. Unfortunately, he met the emperor's cold eyes. That look seemed to have seen through his heart. The little eunuch was frightened again. Lowering his head, his whole body was trembling.
In this situation, except Concubine Shu and the Emperor, everyone else including the Queen showed surprise.
Emperor: "Do you know what crime you committed? Who instigated you?"
"Slave, slave..."
"Since you don't want to say anything, let's lock him up in Dali Temple. Someone comes."
"Your Majesty, please spare my life, slave. Mr. Li, Mr. Li, please save my slave. Please save your slave!"
The little eunuch cried and knelt down under Li Guiren's legs, grabbed the corner of her clothes, as if grasping a life-saving straw, and looked at Li Guiren in fear.
Li Guiren obviously did not expect the direction of this matter, and kept retreating in panic.
"You bitch slave, you, what on earth are you talking about!"
Li Guiren's sharp voice made Xie Yuan cry, and the scene became a bit chaotic for a while.
It all developed so fast that many people failed to keep up, including Zhu Ruiying, who was watching from the sidelines and was present throughout the whole process of how this matter developed and how it turned around.
But why did she always feel like she was missing something?
"It seems that the investigation should not be carried out. Li Guiren, you are playing your cards well."
Li Guiren naturally didn't react when he suddenly got angry. When he heard this, he looked blankly at the speaker. It took him a while to realize what the emperor meant. He immediately widened his eyes and shook his head.
"Your Majesty, I am not a concubine. Please understand clearly. This has absolutely nothing to do with my concubine, Your Majesty!"
The emperor ignored her and instead looked at Concubine Shu's personal maid who was kneeling aside: "Qin'er, what else do you have to say now?"
Qin'er's face was ashen now, and she had collapsed on the ground.
"Now that the matter has come to this, do you still think that Concubine Shu did this?"
Mei Bin slowly spoke: "The eunuch identified is obviously problematic, and Qin'er's appearance is also obvious... It seems that someone is really framed by Concubine Shu."
When Mei Bin said this, her eyes inadvertently glanced at Li Guiren, and Li Guiren happened to look at her.
"What do you think I'm doing? You bitch, this matter clearly has nothing to do with me!"
Li Guiren was full of injustice. The young eunuch came to him and kept saying that Concubine Shu was practicing witchcraft in the palace and that he wanted to report it to the queen. When she heard this, she thought it was a great opportunity to take down Concubine Shu, so she took the eunuch there. In front of the Queen.
She was just setting up a line, why did she get herself involved now?
Li Guiren was really unable to defend herself. She couldn't resist the dog slave's constant biting.
"Li Guiren, in the name of witchcraft, designed to slander the imperial concubine, confuse the harem, deceive the emperor and commit crimes, demote her to a commoner, and kill her with a stick."
Li Guiren lost his voice and said: "Your Majesty!"
The little eunuch was punished by nine tribesmen, and Qin'er was beaten twenty times because of Concubine Shu's intercession.
The Queen, who was watching and listening from the side, also understood at this moment. She lowered her eyes to hide the complicated emotions in her eyes.
At the same time, Zhu Ruiying also understood what this scene was like. She looked at the emperor not far away and felt that he must have been a woman in his previous life, and she was the winner who had the deepest conspiracy in the harem, lived the best, and lived to the end.
This situation was really unexpected. Not to mention the queen was confused, Li Guiren had ruined herself without knowing it, and even Zhu Ruiying almost fell into his enchantment.
After the queen left, Concubine Shu looked at the emperor who was still teasing Xie Yuan.
"My Yuan'er really knows how to cry, and she cries just right. He is indeed my son."
Xie Yuan blinked and smiled softly.
Even if he cries twice, he will be praised. His father is so kind to him.
"Your Majesty, what is going on? Why did Qin'er say that? Why did Qing'er find you?"
The emperor put down Xie Yuan: "It's already this time, but you still don't believe that Qin'er will betray you?"
Concubine Shu's eyes were full of determination: "Qin'er can't."
"So it seems that she has taken the trouble for you and relieved your worries, which can be regarded as her blessing. At least the queen will not cause you any more trouble for a short time."
"Is it arranged by the emperor for Qin'er to do that?"
The emperor said to himself: "Li Guiren has always caused some trouble for you over the years. This woman has no power, but she always behaves randomly and causes trouble. I have long been tired of her, so I can just deal with it. "
Combined with what the emperor said, the thoughts in Concubine Shu's mind gradually became clear.
"That little eunuch was also arranged by the emperor?"
"He himself accepted bribes from the queen to frame you. I just used the trick. He himself would not live long, so I asked him to do me a favor. He deserves to die."
