Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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“If the Empress is immoral and has defiled the harem, what should be done?” The Emperor asked the Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department in a deep voice.
The Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department panicked and knelt down hurriedly, saying: “According to the law, the Empress should be deposed. If the evidence is conclusive, she can be sentenced to death…”
The Empress turned pale and said: “Your Majesty, I have never…”
“Does the Empress dare to read this letter?” The Emperor said coldly.
The Empress took the letter with trembling hands and unfolded it. It was written in her own handwriting. In addition to flirting with Yun Weizhi, a love poem was also attached to Yun Weizhi at the end of the letter. It was a seven-character quatrain:
There are only Zhao family makeup in the palace,
and the rain and the remaining clouds misled the King of Han.
Only the moon knows that Feiyan once saw
Feiyan entering Zhaoyang.
This poem not only conformed to the rhythm and cleverly used allusions, but also incorporated Yun Weizhi’s name into the poem, showing that the Empress had a deep love for Yun Weizhi.
“There are only Zhao’s beauties in the palace, and the rain and the remaining clouds have misled the King of Han. Only the moon knows that…” The Empress trembled as she recited the first three sentences and finally couldn’t recite any more. She handed the letter back and defended herself in a sad voice: “This letter was definitely not written by me! This poem was not written by me either!”
“Master Yun also said that those letters were not written by him.” The emperor sighed: “You two, do you think I’m a fool?”
The emperor was furious to the extreme, but his tone had become lighter and his words gentler. Only those who knew him knew that letting the emperor say such words in such a tone would probably lead to bloodshed.
Concubine Hui was secretly proud in her heart, but she still looked at a loss.
Concubine Qian supported Concubine Hui, her hands trembling slightly.
“Your Majesty.” The Empress’s voice was extremely sad: “I know nothing about this matter. Even if I am sentenced to death, I should be allowed to defend myself. However, I really don’t know where the letter came from, so I have no way to defend myself… I can only beg Your Majesty to let Master Yun defend himself.”
The Emperor still held on to the last glimmer of hope, hoping that this matter was a misunderstanding or a frame-up, so he nodded slightly and agreed.
The Jinyiwei received the order and untied the cork and iron chain and also untied the black cloth strips covering his eyes. Li Yuebai got the opportunity to speak but remained silent.
“Host.” The system hurriedly encouraged: “Don’t you have many ways… Hurry up and tell them.”
Li Yuebai had already prepared many back roads before the incident, and each of them could prove his innocence.
He didn’t rush to speak because he wanted to give Concubine Qian a chance to let her publicly betray Concubine Hui, tell the truth, and atone for her sins. In this way, things could be explained more clearly and more convincingly, but now it seemed… Concubine Qian still didn’t have enough confidence.
Li Yuebai raised his eyes and looked at Concubine Qian and was silent for a moment.
When he regained his vision, his eyes could not adapt to the bright light. Fortunately, the weather was gloomy today and the sun was not bright. In this Qingyin Pavilion, Concubine Qian’s expression could be seen clearly soon.
Concubine Qian absentmindedly supported Concubine Hui, but her hands were trembling slightly, her eyes were drooping, looking at the ground, but her eyes were changing rapidly, and her chest was also rising and falling violently because of her breathing, as if she was having a fierce psychological struggle.
Since she met Chun Tao, she had made two sets of preparations, either to assist Concubine Hui or to betray Concubine Hui, but because of fear, she was still hesitant-Concubine Hui was so powerful, could she really be overthrown? Moreover, Concubine Hui gave verbal orders to frame the Empress and did not leave any physical evidence. Could it really prove that everything was Concubine Hui’s fault?
After a long struggle, Concubine Qian still lowered her head and said nothing.
She hated Concubine Hui and wanted to avenge Wang Yi, but it was precisely because of this that she needed to be more cautious and could not take action without certainty.
Li Yuebai sighed secretly in his heart and planned to speak up in person. He had been very nervous these days and had made many preparations. He had a lot of evidence in his hands and had already found witnesses, all of which could prove his and the Empress’s innocence.
However, just as he opened his mouth and had not said a few words, a new change happened.
An eunuch hurried in and whispered to the emperor, “His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has returned to the palace.”
“Oh?” Upon hearing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had returned, the emperor frowned even more.
The Empress was being tried here, and the crown prince was back over there. In this situation, it was really not appropriate to meet.
“Let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wait outside.” The emperor sighed and said.
Murong Nan is back?
Although he was not out of danger yet, Li Yuebai’s heart was still unconsciously filled with joy like a tide. Murong Nan returned safely, so good, so good, and at the same time, this also meant that…
At the same time, the sound of a messenger announcing good news came from outside the window.
“Long live His Majesty! The troops led by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have won a great victory over the rebels! The rebel leader Shan Hengxin was captured alive!”
The emperor nodded slightly.
The eunuchs heard the good news, although they didn’t quite understand what had happened, they all knelt down and congratulated the emperor in unison on eradicating the rebel leader.
“Ding.” The system prompted: “Host, congratulations, you have completed 1/3 of the task of defeating the villain!”
This 1, of course, referred to Shan Hengxin.
“System, thank you.” Li Yuebai smiled.
“Host, why not seize the opportunity to pursue the victory?” The system reminded: “Now that Shan Hengxin has fallen, you only need to speak up and expose Concubine Hui, and you can win in one go.”
“Oh.” Li Yuebai smiled: “I don’t need to speak now.”
The atmosphere in Qingxin Pavilion had changed.
The news of Shan Hengxin’s fall completely crushed Concubine Hui.
Concubine Hui had just looked confident and calm, but when she heard that her brother was branded a traitor by the crown prince and had been arrested, she seemed to have lost her backbone in an instant, her face turned pale, and she was speechless.
She stood up and knelt to plead guilty, saying, “I know nothing about what my brother did…”
The emperor did not immediately pursue her intention but just nodded slightly and asked her to stand up.
Concubine Qian’s expression changed much more dramatically than Concubine Hui’s. She was still trembling, dodging, and escaping in hesitation… But after hearing the news of Shan Hengxin’s downfall, she immediately raised her face, her eyes full of spirit, her chest heaving violently, as if she couldn’t suppress the urge to speak.
“The news of the Crown Prince is good news, but this matter still needs to be investigated clearly.” The emperor looked at the Empress, his face becoming gloomy again, and he waved his hand.
“Yes.” The chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department hurriedly accepted the order and turned to Li Yuebai and said, “Master Yun, please explain yourself.”
“I have nothing wrong with the Empress.” Li Yuebai said, “As for why I was framed today, Concubine Qian knows it well.”
After hearing his words, everyone was confused for a moment. What does this have to do with Concubine Qian? Is it because of Shan Hengxin’s downfall that Concubine Qian will be implicated?
The emperor frowned, his eyes became deeper, he already felt that there was something fishy about this matter.
“…” Concubine Hui was already at a loss, and now when she heard Concubine Qian’s name, her heart sank even more. She couldn’t help but glance at Concubine Qian, her eyes like a hook, full of threats, different from the strong in the past, but with a hint of fear and guilt.
Concubine Qian couldn’t help but tremble when Concubine Hui glanced at her.
But now, she was not afraid.
Even Shan Hengxin had fallen, what should Concubine Qian be afraid of?
Concubine Qian gritted her teeth, shook off the hand that was supporting Concubine Hui, strode forward, knelt down, and said: “Your Majesty, I do know about this matter, but I dare not say it…”
“If you conceal anything, it will be a crime of deceiving the emperor.” The emperor said in a deep voice: “Just say it, don’t miss a word.”
“What if I am silenced halfway through my words?” Concubine Qian looked at the Jinyiwei full of the room with a worried expression.
The emperor immediately waved his hand and ordered the Jinyiwei to retreat for the time being. He also found another team of guards to come and protect Concubine Qian.
Concubine Qian breathed a sigh of relief and said, “What the Empress and Master Yun said is true. Those letters were not written by them, but by the handwriting of the concubine alone.”
As soon as the words came out, Zhao Ne and Concubine Hui immediately turned pale, and the others were also shocked.
Concubine Qian asked for paper and pen, ordered someone to grind ink, and wrote two pieces of paper on the spot, so the facts were clearly revealed to everyone-Concubine Qian could indeed imitate the handwriting of the Empress and Yun Weizhi.
“If your majesty doesn’t believe it, I can still recite those letters completely.” Concubine Qian showed a bitter smile and recited a love letter on the spot, and it was indeed word for word.
After this series of on-site proofs, the emperor and everyone had to believe that these letters were indeed written by Concubine Qian.
“Why did the letter you wrote end up in the rooms of Master Yun and the Empress?” The emperor still frowned.
“Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I hid it myself.” Concubine Qian said, “In the past year, I have often paid respects to the Empress, so I naturally had the opportunity to touch the items in Yuanheng Palace. A few days ago, I secretly stuffed the letter into the screen interlayer of Yuanheng Palace.”
The maidservant beside the Empress immediately confirmed this.
Every time Concubine Qian went to pay respects to the Empress, she would stand in front of the screen for a long time. As long as she quietly put her hands behind her back, aimed at the gap in the screen interlayer, and stuffed the letter in… it was easy.
As for Qingxin Pavilion, it was even easier.
Yesterday, Concubine Qian helped Concubine Hui to Qingxin Pavilion to listen to the qin. When Yun Weizhi turned around to get the qin in the inner room, Concubine Qian took the opportunity to turn over the floor tiles and put the wooden box in – the entire wooden box, including the puppets and letters inside, were all written by Concubine Qian.
Everything that Concubine Qian said was confirmed, one by one. The emperor’s anger towards the Empress gradually dissipated, and he finally sighed and felt relieved.
Fortunately, the Empress was innocent.
However, Concubine Qian framed the Empress, which was also a serious matter.
The emperor said in a deep voice: “Concubine Qian, you framed the Empress for no reason, and your means were sophisticated and vicious… Why? Were you instructed by others?”
Concubine Qian’s words were not taken seriously, and she must have been instructed by others to frame the Empress, but who was the person who instructed her?
Concubine Qian closed her eyes, and two lines of tears flowed down her cheeks. She said in a sad voice: “Your Majesty, I have always respected the Empress, how dare I frame her? It’s all… It’s all Concubine Hui, Concubine Hui forced me to do it!”
When she said the word Concubine Hui, she cried blood and tore her heart.
Concubine Hui’s face was pale and livid, and she had already knelt on the ground.
“Concubine Qian… How dare you… How dare you slander me!” Concubine Hui’s face was filled with despair and madness, her eyes wide open, her right hand with nail covers pointed directly at Concubine Qian, she was so angry that she couldn’t stop coughing.
Concubine Qian didn’t stop and turned all of Concubine Hui’s plans upside down.
Concubine Hui knew that she was favored by the emperor, and her family had General Shan Hengxin guarding the border, and Jinyiwei Commander Zhao Ne was the emperor’s right-hand man. The whole family was a new military family supported by the emperor himself. So she had always colluded with Shan Hengxin, falsely claimed credit, did all kinds of bad things, and deceived the emperor. Concubine Hui also knew that the emperor no longer favored the Empress, so she wanted to suppress the power of the aristocratic family that the Empress came from. She did this because she believed that the emperor would definitely make her the Empress after abolishing the current Empress, so she was always planning to frame the Empress and create opportunities for it to happen. Seeing that Yun Leshi had a close relationship with the Crown Prince, she could not help but come up with the idea of accusing the Empress of having an affair with Yun Leshi, so she secretly ordered Concubine Qian to imitate their handwriting. After imitating it well, she secretly hid the letter… In the end, Concubine Hui pretended to be sick herself and used the emperor’s favor for her to make a big deal out of it and lead to everything.
Seeing that Concubine Qian was so bold, everyone was secretly impressed and thought that what she said was very reasonable and suddenly realized it.
In this way, everything could be explained.
Every time Concubine Qian said something, Concubine Hui’s face became uglier.
In the end, everyone’s eyes were focused on Concubine Hui.
Concubine Hui was at her wit’s end, but she sneered instead. She trembled all over and pointed at Concubine Qian and said, “Does Concubine Qian have any evidence for what you said?”
Concubine Qian also sneered, “Sister is so forgetful. Didn’t you force me to do all this? Even that poem was written by you… Sister, as the culprit, can’t you recognize a single word?”
“Hahahahahaha… What a joke, what a joke!” Concubine Hui was emotionally unstable and said angrily, “I am not good at writing, how could I write poems to slander the Empress? [There are only Zhao family makeup in the palace, the rain and the remaining clouds misled the King of Han. Only the moon knows the truth, and it has seen Feiyan entering Zhaoyang]… Such a flowery poem is definitely not the handwriting of this palace!”
The Qingxin Pavilion fell into deathly silence again.
Concubine Hui and Concubine Qian had different expressions, and they were trying their best to suppress their uncontrolled emotions. The emperor’s face was ashen, and he seemed to be hesitating about how to judge.
“Host.” The system reminded: “The emperor’s trust in Concubine Hui has dropped to 30%!”
After Concubine Qian’s accusation, the trust naturally dropped.
However, it was not low enough, there was still 30%… This showed that the emperor still favored Concubine Hui in his heart and still trusted her in the absence of decisive evidence.
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