The Queen Mother seemed to be shocked by what happened to the Prince, her face was no longer radiant, and she was looking at people with a gloomy look.
"The Ai family only knows that the prince is dead!"
"So the Queen Mother is going to bury an innocent person with you for a prince you don't love, regardless of the reason or right or wrong?!"
Tang Ning almost fell out with the Queen Mother with just one sentence, and everyone else present also gasped.
Is Princess Xiangning crazy? !
Everyone in the capital knew that the Crown Prince was at odds with His Majesty, and that the relationship with the Queen Mother was not harmonious, but after all, this was all a secret matter. On the surface, no one was a loving father, son, filial piety, elder, and harmonious, but Tang Ning revealed their relationship with one word. He also questioned the Queen Mother's act of seeking justice for the Crown Prince, so she simply said that the Queen Mother's accusation of Qian Qiyue was not for the Crown Prince at all.
"You..." The Queen Mother was so angry that she almost staggered.
Aunt Ran shouted sharply: "You are so presumptuous that you dare to slander the Queen Mother like this!"
Concubine Zhaogui saw that the atmosphere was not right and she quickly spoke: "Princess Xiangning, please don't speak nonsense!"
Tang Ning took a deep breath and raised her chin slightly while protecting Qian Qiyue behind her: "I'm offended, but I really don't want the Queen Mother to indulge the real murderer out of anger and cause innocent people to be wronged. Moreover, the Queen Mother is heartbroken for the Crown Prince." Even if you think about it, you don’t want the prince to be harmed and die in peace?”
The Queen Mother had long known that the girl in front of her was very articulate and aggressive towards her. She held her breath in her chest and said, "You said Qian Qiyue was unjust. Where is the evidence? In full view of everyone, she injured the prince and pursued him and seriously injured him. How dare you say that it was not the case? ?”
"Of course I don't dare, but in full view of the public..."
Tang Ning's eyes were cold: "The Queen Mother held a banquet in the front hall. It's just that Sister Qian went out to wander and took the wrong route. How could Mrs. Wen Xinhou and the others also go to the back to hold the mansion? There are also the Queen Mother and Xian Fei. How come the palace maid next to me met the suspicious eunuch by chance and followed him to Baoxia?"
She looked at Zhou Yuchang:
"Sister Zhou, why did you and Mrs. Wenxinhou go there?"
"I……"
Zhou Yuchang's face turned pale.
Tang Ning said: "You don't have to be afraid, just tell the truth, whether you go by yourself or someone will lure you."
Zhou Yuchang looked stunned for a moment, then raised her head to meet Tang Ning's eyes, which were calm and comforting, as if she knew everything.
Zhou Yuchang became clear for a moment, lowered her head and tried her best to calm down:
"My mother and I didn't go there by ourselves, but we were led over by someone when we heard the woman's cry. My mother didn't want to get involved, but she was worried that something might happen to an innocent person, so she took me with her to check."
"We originally wanted to take a look from a distance and look for the palace attendants from Shoukang Palace, but when we arrived outside Baoxia, we heard a cry for help coming from inside. I recognized the voice of Sister Fu and felt anxious. It was me Gu Nian I wanted to force my relationship with Sister Fu, so my mother had to protect me against the two eunuchs, and Sister Qian came over not long after."
When Fu Jinrou heard those words about caring about each other's friendship, her face twisted, but she just continued to cry and did not dare to say a word.
Mrs. Cui Shao said: "Many people can prove that Mrs. Zhou and Mrs. Fu's relationship are indeed very good. They were very close when they entered the palace a few days ago."
Madam Cao, who had been silent for a long time, also spoke up: "I can also testify that during the previous banquet in the mansion, Mrs. Fu, Mrs. Zhou and Mrs. Qian all went in and out together. The three of them are very close. All we need to do is send someone to do this. A quick search will reveal whether it is true or false.”
Tang Ning said softly: "In other words, Sister Zhou and Mrs. Wenxinhou were lured to Baoxia, and the two palace residents of Shoukang Palace and Cuiwei Palace..."
Yun'er knelt on the ground and said anxiously: "I don't dare to lie. I and Sister Cai'an were really hit by someone. When I saw the man acting sneaky, I became suspicious and went to check. That's when I accidentally bumped into His Highness the Crown Prince and the others."
"Really? Where were you hit by someone? What did that person look like?"
"On the other side of the verandah of the apse, the man was wearing the clothes of a palace servant. He lowered his head so he couldn't see clearly."
"How far is it from the verandah to Baosha where the accident happened?"
Yun'er's face panicked for a moment, and Cai'an next to her said in a low voice: "The verandah is connected to the front and back halls, and all the way to the end is Baosha, where the accident happened. Today, there are palace officials everywhere at the front hall banquet, but the guards in the back hall are lax. The eunuch behaved in a sneaky and flustered manner, so I realized something was wrong, so I went with Yun'er to have a look."
Seeing her calm expression, Tang Ning suddenly changed the subject: "May I ask Miss Cai'an, where are you on duty in Shoukang Palace?"
Before she could speak, Tang Ning said:
"I remember that there was a girl Cailing in Shoukang Palace who was always with Grandma Ran. Even when I came to serve the Queen Mother, she was the one who brought soup, medicine and tea. She was very close to Grandma Ran."
"Although the palace is different from the outside world, palace maids also care about class. Your name is so similar to Cailing's, so you must be the one who lived before the Queen Mother, right?"
Cai'an didn't understand why Tang Ning asked this, and there was a look of hesitation on his face: "Why does Princess Xiangning ask this?"
Tang Ning said quietly: "I'm just curious. What grade of palace maid is Miss Cai'an?"
Cai'an glanced at Aunt Ran, feeling vaguely uneasy, but her identity in the palace was known to everyone, and her rank was listed in the imperial prison book, so she couldn't help lying. She could only whisper: "I am a first-class slave." A palace maid, but a servant is not as popular as Empress Dowager Cailing."
Tang Ning smiled: "No matter how much you dislike me, being a first-class palace maid is also someone the Queen Mother relies on."
"I'm curious. If you are of your rank, even if you don't serve the Queen Mother, you should stay in the front hall during the Shoukang Palace banquet to supervise the palace to prevent trouble. Why would you personally lead Yun'er to replace the Queen Mother? Concubine Xian’s hand-burning charcoal cake?”
"Is it because there are no other palace maids in Shoukang Palace, or is it that the Concubine Xian is more important to you than serving the Queen Mother? You, a dignified female official serving the Queen Mother, have the leisure to do the lowest thing for a palace concubine who has fallen out of favor for a long time. It’s something the palace people can do.”
Cai'an's face turned pale instantly, and Granny Ran's expression changed even more.
Concubine Xian said: "Song Tangning, you are so presumptuous, how dare you humiliate me!"
Tang Ning tilted her head and looked at Concubine Xian with cold eyes: "Since the front hall just now, you have been in trouble many times. After the prince's death, you even tried to encourage the queen mother to directly convict Sister Qian several times, and you kept talking about Qian. What my sister said is false."
"After I heard about the incident in the Cui family, Concubine Xian has been silent for a long time and has not asked about the affairs of the harem. Moreover, I have never heard of Concubine Xian being on good terms with the prince. You have repeatedly stood up for the prince, which really makes people doubt that you are. It’s not like I already knew anything.”
Concubine Xian suddenly said: "You are talking nonsense, I don't know anything..."
"I don't know if I should just shut up and talk less, or if the Concubine Xian wants to make the decision for the Queen Mother?" Tang Ning said coldly.
