latelenovela Chapter 78 Witness
Chapter 78 Witness
The emperor was not stupid, so he naturally noticed that Xiao Shunzi's words and deeds were inconsistent, and his statements were confusing. There must be someone behind the scenes.
"This wicked slave is full of lies. Beat him! Beat him until he tells the truth!"
The emperor's face was filled with sarcasm. It was ridiculous that such a fool could come out to harm others. But it was such a fool who murdered the queen and the dragon fetus in her belly. It was obvious that the Yikun Palace, and even the entire imperial palace, was completely leaky.
She hadn't expected her true identity to be exposed so easily. If she had known, Lan Cui wouldn't have needed to call for help. She could have escaped alone. Yan Wan was helped to sit aside. After arguing for a long time, her mouth was dry and she lowered her head to take a sip of tea to moisten her throat.
Hearing that he was going to be beaten, Xiao Shunzi became excited. What kind of place is the Ministry of Punishment? Those 108 tortures, one after another, would probably make his life worse than death.
"Everyone has to take responsibility for his own actions. Everything is my fault. I will die to apologize for my crime. I hope the emperor will spare my family!" Xiao Shunzi showed determination on his face.
After saying that, he staggered and struggled to stand up, and tried to crash into the wall at the side with lightning speed.
It’s a pity that Li Xin’s move that day had already taught her a lesson.
Seeing him stand up, Chunchan, who was closest to him, quickly stretched out her foot to stop him, tripping him hard to the ground. For a moment, people and horses fell to the ground in the hall, and the eunuch who was about to take him away hurried forward and restrained him tightly.
"Empress Jia is truly a master of her craft. Last time, she used Li Xin to murder me. Are you planning to do the same again this time?"
Concubine Mei pushed aside the curtain and rushed in, followed by a familiar little palace maid.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Your Majesty, I can prove Concubine Ling's innocence, and the real culprit behind this is Concubine Jia!"
Bai Ruiji was furious and spoke excitedly. She immediately ignored all rules of hierarchy and pointed directly at Jin Yuyan, who was one level higher than her.
"Princess Mei! What nonsense are you talking about? What does this have to do with me? If you want to excuse Concubine Ling, then do so. If you're being rude, forget it, but don't throw dirty water on me!"
Seeing that she brought the conversation to herself, Jin Yuyan's heart tightened, but she knew that she couldn't reveal her true identity, so she forced herself to remain calm and retorted.
"Since you don't admit it, that's fine. I will naturally convince you! Your Majesty! I have brought a witness! This is Caiyun, the former second-class maid of Qixiang Palace. She personally found me and said she can prove Concubine Ling's innocence."
Bai Ruiji took a step to the left and knelt down, revealing the little palace maid who had been hiding behind her.
"Caiyun? I've seen you before beside Concubine Jia. Concubine Mei said you could prove Concubine Ling's innocence? Why is that?"
Seeing that Jin Yuyan was involved again, the emperor's face was full of impatience and even disgust.
She has done such vicious things time and again. If this matter is related to her, I will never forgive her even if she is pregnant with a dragon heir!
"I was originally a maidservant serving Imperial Concubine Jia. After Sister Li Xin got into trouble, I was beaten with 20 sticks and then sent to the Sizhiku. It was the kindness of Empress Lingfei that allowed the manager of the Sizhiku to assign us servants light work and even sent medicine for our injuries, which is how we barely survived. I have always been grateful to Empress Lingfei for showing me kindness despite past grudges..."
After saying this, Caiyun turned sideways and bowed deeply to Yanwan before continuing.
"I am the same age as Empress Ling Fei, both twenty-five. The palace will allow maids who are twenty-five to leave the palace, but after being punished and imprisoned in the Four Depots, I thought there was no hope. Unexpectedly, I saw my name on the list of people to be released from the palace in February. I am grateful to Empress Ling Fei and have come here to testify!"
"Bitch! I treated you well in Qixiang Palace in the past. It's just that you are in trouble for a while and have received small favors from others. Now you help outsiders to slander me?" Jin Yuyan looked at her in disbelief.
Unexpectedly, she would be stabbed in the back by her former subordinate. She was immediately furious and casually picked up a teacup and threw it at Caiyun. Perhaps because the teacup was filled with tea, it had some weight, so it fell to the ground before it hit Caiyun, and the spilled tea splashed all over Caiyun.
Fortunately, the tea had been there for quite some time, and after the commotion, it had already cooled down, only soaking her clothes, and there was no serious problem.
"Let her say it!"
The emperor looked at Jin Yuyan, her expression of panic and fear evidently betraying something. His rage surged. Why was it her again? She had repeatedly challenged his boundaries.
"emperor!"
Jin Yuyan hurriedly spoke out to stop him, but when she met the emperor's cold eyes, she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave and was immediately silent.
"A few days ago, I saw with my own eyes that Yue'er, who was beside Concubine Jia, was handed over to Xiao Shunzi in a corner of the Imperial Garden. She instructed him to put all the blame on Concubine Ling if the matter was exposed, and even threatened his family outside the palace..."
"Yue'er said this at the time: 'If you work hard for the Empress, you will surely receive benefits. If you dare to confess, your parents, who live in the suburbs of the capital, will be in danger...' Your Majesty, every word I say is true. If I lied in even one instance, I will die a miserable death!"
Caiyun was ready to die. After saying this, she kowtowed heavily, her face looking even more resolute, without a trace of guilt.
"Your Majesty! I am innocent. It was Concubine Ling who bribed her to slander me. I did not do it! I have been staying in Qixiang Palace since I was confined to my room. How could I possibly think of a way to murder the Queen? I am innocent!"
Upon hearing the sound, Jin Yuyan quickly knelt down, holding her belly and pretending to be weak, hoping that the emperor would have some compassion for the sake of the child.
"Noble Concubine Jia, your former maid in the palace has personally identified you, what else is there to say? Concubine Ling can prove her innocence. If you are innocent, you can just produce evidence to prove that someone else framed you!" Hai Lan, who was standing aside, saw that she was just crying out for injustice and couldn't help but ridicule her.
Innocent? How could she be innocent? She had the people responsible for everything, and now the truth had finally been revealed. What kind of evidence did Jin Yuyan have? If she had any evidence, it could only be evidence that incriminated her.
Seeing that she was still struggling, Yan Wan looked at Xiao Shunzi, who was standing there dumbfounded, and said slowly, "Xiao Shunzi, now that things have come to this, are you still trying to make excuses for Concubine Jia? Concubine Jia wouldn't go around your family, so how could the Emperor do the same? You fool, you're so confused."
Yanwan shook her head, her face full of sighs.
Xiao Shunzi then realized that if he didn't tell the truth, it would not be as simple as death.
"Empress Jia, I'm sorry, I can't hide it any longer..." Xiao Shunzi suddenly realized. He hesitated for a long time and finally made a choice.
He knelt on the ground, gave up struggling, and told everything that had happened.
"As Caiyun said, it was Yue'er, who was beside Concubine Jia, who bribed me. I was terminally ill and had only a few days left to live, so I wanted to take a gamble and earn a way out for my family. Yue'er promised to send another 500 taels to my family after the deal was done. This... this is why I was confused for a moment..."