Chapter 552 - All Dead, Who the Evidence Pointed at (2/2)

With her dead, there was no evidence at all. The man said that he had seen her body. She could say that he learned it from Yan Miao. Anyway, it was certain that the man wanted to harm her. The Empress had tried to harm her twice, so she pushed them both on her. After all, it was the Empress who thought of such a vicious idea.

The Empress’ hands and feet were cold and weak. There was a wave of blood in her throat and she almost could not suppress it and spat out a mouthful of blood. However, she knew that she could not show it now. She held it back, held Ling Rui’er’s hand, and comforted her, “Rui’er, I know it’s not you. It’s this lowly maid. Now that she dared to collude with an outsider and harm the people of Ding General Manor, I will not let her off. Don’t worry, Rui’er. I will do you justice.”

She had to take a clear-cut stand and appease Ling Rui’er. She especially brought Ling Rui’er and herself in the same camp. Both of them were from Ding General Manor. It meant that she was not the one who had plotted the whole thing.

This matter could not be explained clearly now, but it made the Empress even more anxious. When she found out that Yan Miao was dead, she was happy at first. But after hearing what the crowd said, she realized that she had fallen into an inexplainable and dangerous situation.

All the evidence led to her, but she didn’t know how to make it clear. Now she would rather Yan Miao was still alive. As long as Yan Miao pointed out that another consort asked her to do it, even if she died at that time, she could divert everyone’s attention. But now, she died before she made it clear, and it all fell on her master, the Empress.

After all, no one would believe that a palace maid would dare to frame a prince’s wife.

“Your Majesty, you do have to look into this matter. Xuan’er’s wife is very obedient. She seldom offends others. Why was she framed like this? I heard that she was scolded by the Emperor in the palace last time because of some trivial things. She was even removed from the position of the first consort. She got into trouble in the palace over and over again. Rui’er, come here and let me have a look.”

Consort Su said, pretending to be gentle. She reached out to hold Ling Rui’er’s hand and gestured for her to go over. She accused as she described the facts. Her words pointed at the Empress and even mentioned the fact that the Empress had schemed in secret last time and caused the Emperor to fly into a rage. Ling Rui’er immediately grew angry after hearing her words.

Ling Rui’er pushed the Empress and rushed to Consort Su, crying aggrievedly, “Mother, I really don’t know what’s wrong. Why did I get into trouble as soon as I entered the palace? I’m fine in King Chu’s Manor. Is it possible that I don’t fit in the palace so that I got into trouble again and again here?”

The womenfolk in the imperial harem were led by the Empress. Since Ling Rui’er often got into trouble in the palace, it was probably because of the Empress!

She only wanted to put all the blame on the Empress. Furthermore, Consort Su was Feng Yuxuan’s birth mother. Feng Yuxuan must have been angry at what happened today. She had to ask Consort Su to put in a good word for her. Therefore, she would listen to what Consort Su had said and didn’t have time to care what the Empress was thinking.

The Empress wanted to ruin her reputation. At the thought of it, Ling Rui’er was both angry and hateful. Since the Empress dared to plot against her, she would not let her off the hook easily. She would return all the humiliation she had suffered to the Empress. So she put all the blame on the Empress. Now that the Empress was cruel to Ling Rui’er, then she should not blame her for being unjust.

“Somebody, investigate it thoroughly. We must find out what happened. I don’t believe anyone would dare to do such a thing under my nose. How dare someone put a hand in front of me?” The Empress was furious, resentful, and fearful. All sorts of emotions poured into her. This made her face turn pale and the Empress slammed heavily on the table as she scolded.

“Your Majesty, this is such a big matter. How could a man enter the palace? The security of the palace will be worrying. We have to find out the truth. Just investigate carefully and don’t let anything else happen. It concerns Xuan’er’s manor again. Matters have not been settled these days,” Consort Su mocked coldly. She had already slapped in the Empress’ face mercilessly. She leaned back and tapped her fingers on the table, putting on a mocking smile at the corners of her mouth.

Everyone could hear her aimed at the Empress. The Empress was the most powerful person in the imperial harem. Other than the Empress, it was difficult to find anyone to send someone else into the palace without others’ noticing. Besides, incidents happened to King Chu’s manor, and Consort Chu had been framed again and again today.

Everyone would only think that it was the Empress who had done this. As for the reason, it must have been King Chu was not the prince that the Empress thought highly of. It was sufficient.

Being ridiculed by Consort Su like that, the Empress would have rebuked her in the past, but she didn’t have adequate reasons to do it today. All the evidence pointed at her. Then, she noticed everyone’s doubtful eyes, Feng Yuxuan’s cold face, and Ling Rui’er’s undisguised anger…

All these people were forcing her, pus.h.i.+ng her. She felt that they would not spare her until she died! Her hands trembled slightly. She wanted to speak, but she found that she couldn’t. There was a sharp pain on her head, and she was almost breathless. She only felt that every expression of these people seemed to be cutting her flesh.

“Your Majesty, don’t worry. Perhaps someone is plotting against you behind your back. If you really fall, you might fall into someone else’s trap.” A gentle voice sounded in her ear. Someone reached out to support her. The Empress immediately came to her senses from the suffocating sense of despair.

Yes, she couldn’t fall down. It was a trick, a trick against her. She turned her head and looked at the gentle smile on Imperial n.o.ble Consort Wen’s face. She calmed down a little. Not everyone didn’t believe her; there was still someone believing her.

It was good that someone believed her. Now that there was a person who believed her, the Emperor would believe her as well as long as she did it cleanly. Yes, she still had a chance. And…

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