Who is the real culprit?
Naturally, it's whoever the Emperor suspects or guesses it to be.
Even if every woman in the harem were to be suspected, it would have nothing to do with Concubine Zhen.
She is the biggest victim, nearly losing her life!
Yan the Imperial Physician, who had just put his heart back in his chest, felt it leap again: "Con-Concubine Zhen, this humble servant is too stupid... I truly don't understand Your Highness's meaning. Please enlighten me."
Jiang Xinyue used both carrot and stick, seeing that Yan the Imperial Physician was nearly at his breaking point. Judging the time was right, she sighed and said: "Uncle Yan, Xinyue's entry into the palace was not by choice. My father sent me here for wealth and glory. You've witnessed all the schemes and harm I've faced along the way. If I don't know how to protect myself, I'm afraid there will soon be no such person as Concubine Zhen in the palace."
Her gaze was sorrowful, with tears glimmering: "Uncle Yan, our two families are old friends, and Xinyi was my closest friend before I entered the palace. My hardships are untold; I can only share a bit with you. Will you help me, Uncle Yan?"
Yan Xinyi is Yan the Imperial Physician's only daughter, truly innocent and kind-hearted, without any guile.
Before entering the palace, the original owner of this body knew Yan Xinyi's identity and deliberately befriended her, thinking that after entering the palace, she could use Yan the Imperial Physician to gain the Emperor's favor.
Now it benefited Jiang Xinyue, who had crossed over from another world. It was perhaps the only good deed the original owner had done.
If the original owner hadn't made so many enemies everywhere, Jiang Xinyue wouldn't have to be schemed against by so many people. So she felt no guilt in using the original owner's connections.
Moreover, in this palace, whether you fight for favor or not, those who aren't smart enough are doomed.
That person impersonating Consort Shu's maid did exist and was indeed the Dowager Empress's person. Shuang Jiang twisted her ankle because they had applied oil to the cobblestones in advance.
The Dowager Empress, as the highest-ranking figure in the harem, far above Empress Zhu, had countless spies reporting Jiang Xinyue's movements to her.
If the Xuanwu Emperor investigated this point, the Dowager Empress couldn't escape being the mastermind behind the scenes.
But after sending away Xi Que and Shuang Jiang, that maid only had someone catch her, slap her face, and tell her to behave and not covet things she shouldn't, such as the Emperor's favor.
The Dowager Empress must have been angry that she had snatched the Emperor away from Consort Shu, thinking she intentionally opposed Consort Shu.
She probably wanted to teach her a lesson but didn't want to strain the fragile mother-son relationship with the Emperor further, so she could only intimidate Jiang Xinyue this way.
But her tactics were clearly not enough against Jiang Xinyue, a top scholar of "Empresses in the Palace."
So she turned the tables, using what she had learned from her psychology doctorate to hypnotize herself on the spot.
Consort Zhang, passing by the lake, only saw the maid push Jiang Xinyue into the water. She didn't see that Jiang Xinyue had deliberately provoked a conflict with the maid, and in the scuffle, even the maid couldn't remember if she had pushed Jiang Xinyue in or if Jiang Xinyue had lost her balance and fallen in.
As for the guard pulling at her foot underwater, that was a character she had fabricated.
However, the water weeds at the bottom were real and had been deliberately tied into knots.
If someone fell in accidentally, they would certainly get tangled in panic, unable to untie them, and eventually die at the bottom.
But fortunately, she wasn't pushed in unprepared. As soon as she hit the water, she changed her posture, diving headfirst. When she felt the knotted weeds, she immediately swam to a safe place.
She held her breath underwater for a full three minutes, deliberately swallowed some water to appear as if she was choking, and then surfaced to call for help.
When the Xuanwu Emperor questioned her, including her dizziness upon waking, it was because she was still under hypnosis, truly believing someone had been pulling at her foot underwater, and that she had barely escaped with her life after stabbing the attacker with her hairpin.
When people lie, some subconscious expressions, movements, and eye movements can't deceive others.
The Xuanwu Emperor is a shrewd person who is very good at observing micro-expressions. If such a person were to study psychology in the modern world, he would likely become a master in academia.
Jiang Xinyue dared not underestimate him.
Lying might be seen through, but if even she herself was deceived by her own lie, how could it be considered lying?
What she said was all true!
She was certain that even if she hadn't fallen into the water this time, someone would have pushed her in eventually. Those knotted water weeds at the bottom were specifically prepared for her.
But that person probably wasn't the Dowager Empress. This time, the Dowager Empress was destined to take the blame for someone else behind the scenes.
Jiang Xinyue had, by chance, avoided a fatal fall into the water that would have come to her not long after.
As Yan the Imperial Physician left Hexi Palace carrying his medicine box, he looked up at the square blue sky and truly felt for the first time that the imperial palace was a cage that devoured people without spitting out bones.
It could turn an innocent, unworldly young girl into someone so deeply scheming and terrifyingly cunning.
But Concubine Zhen was right. He was getting old and had no heir to inherit his skills. The head of the Imperial Hospital had always been someone from Empress Zhu's faction. No matter how skilled his apprentices were, they had no hope of promotion.
After he passed away, there would likely be no one to take care of his only daughter.
Without the support of her maternal family, her future husband's family would bully her and look down on her.
But what if his daughter was friends with a favored concubine in the palace?
Which official's family wouldn't treat his daughter like a treasure then?
Ordinary families wouldn't dare to make his daughter unhappy in the slightest.
Concubine Zhen...
Concubine Zhen had indeed fallen into the water and was seriously injured. He couldn't let the Emperor easily forgive those who had harmed Concubine Zhen!
Xi Que patted her chest: "When did the mistress discover something was wrong with that maid?"
If she hadn't discovered it early, she might have lost her life.
Jiang Xinyue looked at Shuang Jiang's swollen ankle and said: "I knew something was wrong when Shuang Jiang twisted her ankle. How could a cobblestone path be so oily that it covered the soles of Shuang Jiang's shoes?"
And it was such a coincidence that just as Shuang Jiang twisted her ankle, Consort Shu's maid came to invite her to Jingren Palace?
Too many coincidences are not coincidences, but deliberate actions.
Look at how the Xuanwu Emperor is turning the palace upside down for her sake. Consort Shu has fallen out of favor, and even the Dowager Empress is furious. Who knows what the outcome of the investigation will be!
The biggest winner is her!
Not only did she get a promise from the Xuanwu Emperor, but she was also granted the title of Concubine Zhen.
Although the Emperor's promises can change as quickly as the wind and aren't worth much, it proves that her status in the Emperor's heart is already different from ordinary concubines.
The Emperor's promises were worthless, but he himself didn't realize this. Any woman worthy of his promise was, at that moment, the one he loved most.
Consort Shu and Concubine Li were both too foolish. They failed to secure more benefits for themselves within the Xuanwu Emperor's limited affection.
She was different. She wanted everything except the Emperor's love.
"But..." Xi Que looked at Jiang Xinyue with concern. "If His Majesty can't find a guard with a chest wound, wouldn't that prove that you, my lady, are lying?"
