bookcurios Chapter 169: Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace: Call me Empress Dowager! (19)
Chapter 169: Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace: Call me Empress Dowager! (19)
"I haven't seen the murderer." Xia He shook her head slightly.
The clue ended here.
The Queen Mother sat on the chair, her brows slightly furrowed, her eyes revealing a hint of displeasure. She said to Hongli with a serious tone: "Your Majesty, why don't you call all the servants in the Qianqing Palace. The murderer must be among them."
After the young palace maid drank the almond dew and became poisoned, the Qianqing Palace was surrounded by guards in three layers.
The emperor looked at the empress dowager with a slightly gloomy expression. He nodded and said, "Call over all the people who were just in the Qianqing Palace, especially those who passed by the pond."
At this time, the Third Prince, who was lying on the bed with a tired look on his face, suddenly said, "Father, the one who pushed me into the water just now must have been a eunuch."
Now that he has calmed down and thought about it carefully, he was just passing by the pond when someone pushed him from behind. Although his reflection in the water was not very clear, he could vaguely make out that the man was a eunuch from his attire.
When Hongli heard what the Third Prince said, he thought it made sense, and the scope of searching for the murderer was narrowed again.
After a while, a group of eunuchs serving in the Qianqing Palace hurried over, knelt on the ground, and looked at the emperor and the empress dowager in panic.
Lin Qinghe glanced down and suddenly frowned. The reason was simple: none of these eunuchs was the murderer who pushed the Third Prince into the water.
Her powerful spiritual sense once again probed into the Qianqing Palace, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.
Things are getting interesting.
"Your Majesty, I think it's unlikely that there is a murderer who pushed the Third Prince into the water among the people below." Lin Qinghe glanced at the soles of the eunuchs kneeling below and found that the soles of their shoes were clean. "Look, their soles are clean."
Although it is the first month of the lunar year and the weather is dry and cold, there was a light snow a few days ago. The melted snow has now merged into the soil. The soil over there in the Qianqing Palace pond should be somewhat sticky, so you will definitely get some of it stuck to you when you pass by.
The soles of the shoes of the little eunuchs below were clean.
When the Queen Mother heard Lin Qinghe say this, she understood.
After all, not long after the incident, Hongli ordered his men to surround the Qianqing Palace. Under the emergency situation, the person who pushed Yonghuang into the water must have had no time to change his shoes.
Hongli also pondered for a moment. He naturally knew what it meant that there was no murderer among these eunuchs. How could someone dare to protect that person?
His expression became even darker, and his already tight lips were pursed into a straight line. "Investigate further. Anyone who dares to cover up will be sentenced to death."
"The criminal might be hiding in a corner of a room, so we have to search carefully." Lin Qinghe raised a small arc at the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were fixed on Haipin who was obviously a little restless.
"What's wrong with Haipin? Are you not feeling well?" Seeing that Hailan's face was getting paler and paler, Lin Qinghe naturally wanted to show some concern and consideration.
"I'm fine. Thank you, Concubine Ling, for reminding me." Hai Lan said through gritted teeth. She looked at Lin Qinghe with a poisonous gaze.
Doctors Zhang and Qi, who were checking the almond juice, looked at each other and stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this almond juice is mixed with a large amount of oleander powder. It will cause poisoning within a quarter of an hour after consumption. The palace maid who tried the almond juice for Concubine Chun died because of this. There is no hope for her."
Su Lujun was standing beside Yonghuang, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. When she heard what the imperial physician said, her legs went weak and she fell to the ground.
Someone actually wanted to harm her son!
The almond milk was not what Su Lujun wanted to drink, but was food for the Third Prince and the First Prince.
Su Lujun's face was pale and her heart was beating rapidly. She covered her chest tightly with both hands, looking frightened.
Fortunately, she followed Concubine Ling's advice and took precautions in advance.
Neither the eldest prince nor the third prince drank that fatal cup of almond milk.
Although Yong Zhang encountered an accident, he was rescued in time by Xia He, a maid in Concubine Ling's palace.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but cast a grateful look towards Lin Qinghe.
Lin Qinghe also nodded slightly at her in response.
The palace guards finally caught the little eunuch hiding in the corner. Just as Lin Qinghe said, he was hiding in a room.
Coincidentally, Ye Xin, the maid beside Concubine Hai, was actually with the young eunuch. It was she who concealed him at the beginning that prevented the guards from catching him for a while.
Looking at Ye Xin kneeling below and the eunuch who harmed the Third Prince, Hongli's expression was uncertain, "Ye Xin? You are the head maid beside Hai Lan, right?"
Ye Xin, who was kneeling on the ground, trembled. She wanted to look up at Hai Bin, but she suppressed the desire and remained silent.
Seeing that Ye Xin didn't reply, Hongli was furious, with veins bulging on his forehead, "Why aren't you talking? Are you mute?"
"Who gave you the courage to murder the prince right under my nose?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down! This was my idea alone. I saw that Concubine Chun was about to become the queen, and I was afraid that you would slowly forget about your master, so I did this." Ye Xin knelt on the ground and kowtowed continuously.
Hai Lan wanted to get up when she saw this, but she stopped herself. If Ye Xin took on all the sins, she would be safe...
"Your Majesty, I don't think so. Ye Xin is actually a loyal servant." As the champion of the previous palace fight, the empress dowager has seen all kinds of big scenes.
Seeing Ye Xin defending Hai Lan like this, she chuckled in surprise. Ye Xin was Hai Lan's personal maid. Wasn't what she did equivalent to what Hai Lan did?
It's just that it's difficult to convict.
Jiapin's previous mistake of harming the Seventh Prince was also caused by Zhenshu, a loyal servant, who wanted to take the blame. Didn't she get demoted and punished?
"I think, since the people below don't want to tell the truth about this matter of murdering the prince, I have a way to make them tell the truth." The empress dowager glanced majestically at Ye Xin who was kneeling below, her eyes sharp.
"Then we will follow the Empress Dowager's wishes and take Ye Xin to the Ministry of Punishment for severe torture. I want to hear the truth." Hongli nodded slightly, agreeing with the Empress Dowager's decision.
The people in the harem are truly lawless. How dare they murder the prince?
This phenomenon seemed to have existed before Fu Cha Langya's death, and it has become increasingly serious. They must be taught a severe lesson to warn those with evil intentions not to reach too far.
The Queen Mother frowned slightly and pursed her lips, obviously not satisfied with the situation. Hai Lan, who was standing by, lowered her head slightly, not daring to look at the Queen Mother.
Hailan was finished. Lin Qinghe looked at her pale and miserable appearance leisurely.
How dare you use such a trick full of loopholes to murder the prince in the harem?
That is to say, when Ruyi was alive, she was surrounded by a halo, and everyone suffered from Ruyi syndrome without any prior agreement.
Now Lin Qinghe has taken action to eliminate the root cause of the Ruyi syndrome in the harem, and directly eliminated Ruyi and gave her a hell parade gift package.
Everyone in the harem has regained their sanity. If Hailan tries to use tricks to harm others again, she will only suffer the consequences.
Jiapin is much smarter than Hailan. All her actions this time were done in secret, and Lin Qinghe will have to work hard to bring her down.
Everyone sat here waiting for the results of the interrogation.
The young eunuch who was trying to implicate the Third Prince Yongzhang confessed very quickly and did not last more than three quarters of an hour.