The eighteen-year-old empress, wasn’t she easily brought to tears with just a few words?
Jiang Xinyue glanced at her expressionlessly, her eyes filled with annoyance: “On the day Consort Liang was poisoned, who saw Consort Ru or her maid Hui Yuan?”
“Your Majesty, what are you implying? Are you suspecting that I poisoned Consort Liang?”
Jiang Xinyue remained silent, her dark eyes scrutinizing Consort Ru with suspicion.
“How ridiculous! I am a princess of Goguryeo. I came here for a marriage alliance to ensure peace between our nations. How could I possibly…”
*Slap!*
Xi Que stepped forward and struck Consort Ru’s face so hard that her head snapped to the side. Consort Ru, recovering from the shock, immediately tried to retaliate, but Xi Que, with her immense strength, grabbed her wrist and flung her aside, causing her to stagger and nearly fall.
“Consort Ru, you should address Her Majesty with the respectful ‘Your Majesty’ and refer to yourself as ‘this humble consort,’ not ‘I.’ You’ve shown disrespect to Her Majesty. I trust you have no objections to being disciplined?”
“You!”
“And one more thing…”
Xi Que’s tone was firm: “I don’t care if you’re a princess of Goguryeo or anywhere else. Now that you’ve entered the harem of Great Yan, you are but one of the Emperor’s consorts. Her Majesty is the mistress of the inner palace. Anyone who dares to challenge her authority will be taught a lesson by the palace rules. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the harem’s regulations soon, or next time, it’ll be the rod that disciplines you.”
People tend to bully the weak and fear the strong. Xi Que’s reputation among the palace servants was well-known, and Consort Ru had heard of it.
Swallowing her anger, Consort Ru said, “Be that as it may, Your Majesty has no evidence to suspect me. This is an insult to my character, and I cannot accept it. I will have the Emperor judge this matter.”
“No evidence, you say?”
Jiang Xinyue sneered: “You claim you came to visit Consort Liang, but from the moment you entered Shunan Palace, you’ve stood here without moving. Moreover, you deliberately made comments about me interrogating people like a criminal, trying to turn the palace servants against me and make them uncooperative. Such behavior makes it impossible not to suspect that you poisoned Consort Liang. Now, you’re here causing trouble to cover up the truth.”
“I suspect you, and I’m searching for evidence. If you’re innocent, why fear my investigation?”
If you’ve done nothing wrong, why be nervous?
Consort Ru was left speechless by Jiang Xinyue’s sharp retort, only now realizing how cutting her words could be.
The servants below whispered among themselves. Consort Ru’s schemes had been exposed, and they felt a sense of anger at being used as pawns.
Their gazes toward Consort Ru turned sharp, like daggers.
“I… I think I saw Consort Ru’s maid that day.”
A timid voice spoke up, filled with uncertainty: “The weather was nice that day, and Shu Xiang mentioned that we should take everything from the consort’s storeroom out to air, to prevent mold. Since our consort had been demoted and moved, some items were missing from the storeroom. Shu Xiang asked us to reorganize and re-catalog everything…”
The maid glanced nervously at Huang Yanyu: “Yanyu was in charge of the new catalog. I was carrying some paintings and calligraphy to air when Yanyu said she needed to use the restroom. But she didn’t return for a long time. Shu Xiang even commented that she was lazy and always slacking off. I also needed to use the restroom, but when I went, Yanyu wasn’t there.”
So, the little maid had already felt some resentment. Everyone was so busy, and Huang Yanyu, a new maid, had abandoned her tasks and disappeared somewhere.
She had wanted to find her.
While looking around, she saw Huang Yanyu passing by Hui Yuan in a pavilion not far from Shunan Palace.
She hadn’t mentioned it earlier because she didn’t know what it had to do with Consort Liang’s poisoning.
Besides, Huang Yanyu herself had been poisoned after stealing some of the consort’s chicken soup, so she hadn’t connected the dots.
But now that Her Majesty was asking, she told the truth.
Shu Xiang frowned and added: “I remember now. On the day we were organizing the storeroom, Huang Yanyu asked me if all the gifts were from the consorts in the harem.”
Every gift, every social exchange, was meticulously recorded.
Which palace sent it? What was sent? Why was it sent?
The old catalog had all the details.
In other words, Huang Yanyu knew that the two lingzhi mushrooms were a gift from the Empress.
Jiang Xinyue’s gaze turned to Huang Yanyu, whose face was pale, whether from the poisoning or something else.
Taking a deep breath, Huang Yanyu said weakly: “I came out of the restroom that day and just took a break in the pavilion. How was I to know Consort Ru’s maid would pass by? If I had known the chicken soup was poisoned, would I have stolen it? I nearly lost my life. Does Her Majesty still suspect me?”
“But you didn’t die, did you?”
Jiang Xinyue’s words were piercing: “Yet Consort Liang is on the brink of death, her life hanging by a thread.”
The tactic of tasting poison was something she had used herself back in the cold palace.
If the poison had been carefully chosen, like the one the former Empress had used on her in the cold palace, and the dosage controlled, it wouldn’t be fatal.
Huang Yanyu had claimed she stole the chicken soup to escape suspicion.
The Jiang family was a prominent local family, not exactly wealthy enough to rival a nation, but certainly affluent.
As relatives of the Jiang family, the Huang family was equally prosperous.
In Great Yan, marriages were based on social status, and the Huang family was also a wealthy and influential household.
As the eldest daughter of the Huang family, Huang Yanyu had seen and tasted all the finest things.
She wasn’t from a poor background. How could she be tempted by a bowl of chicken soup?
Huang Yanyu swallowed nervously and averted her gaze. That single action confirmed to Jiang Xinyue that she was involved in Consort Liang’s poisoning.
Jiang Xinyue raised her hand: “Take Huang Yanyu to the Investigative Bureau. If she doesn’t reveal the mastermind behind this, throw her into the fish tank to feed the piranha.”
The two-hundred-kilogram piranha in the Investigative Bureau was feared by everyone in the palace. Tales of how many people it had devoured were still circulating, striking terror into all who heard them.
Huang Yanyu hadn’t been in the palace long, but she had already heard of the piranha’s fearsome reputation.
Her breathing quickened, and she grabbed the sleeve of the person beside her: “It was Consort Ru! It was Consort Ru! She gave me the poison and told me to sprinkle it on the lingzhi mushrooms, then hint to the kitchen staff that the mushrooms could soothe coughs and nourish the lungs, so they’d cook them for Consort Liang. Cousin… cousin, I was wrong. I’ll never do it again. It was Consort Ru who forced me. She forced me!”
Jiang Xinyue glanced at Consort Ru, whose face was a mix of shock and fury. Consort Ru stepped forward and kicked Huang Yanyu to the ground: “You little maid, how dare you slander me! I don’t even know you, and you’re already throwing dirt on me. You’ve gone too far!”
She had intended to harm the Empress, but she hadn’t even had the chance to act yet!
