ebookland Chapter 94 Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace 21
Chapter 94 Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace 21
Gao Xiyue paused for a few moments, her gaze sweeping across everyone's faces. When she saw Ruyi, she paused for a moment, but before Ruyi could probe the deeper meaning in her gaze, she immediately looked away.
“When I first arrived at Changchun Palace, I asked Her Majesty the Empress to issue an order to search the six palaces. Whoever's palace is found to be the murderer. To ensure fairness, I asked Eunuch Zhao Yitai from the Empress's side, as well as Shuangxi from my side, to go with me to search the palaces.”
As Hongli watched Gao Xiyue speak eloquently, he secretly marveled. This Consort Hui was surprisingly articulate and logical today, her intelligence seemingly taking over the high ground.
Then look at Jin Yuyan, who seems unaffected; Ruyi, who remains as serene as a chrysanthemum, fiddling with her nail guards; Su Luyun, whose eyes hold a hint of unease; and Fucha Langhua, who sits gracefully beside her.
Go ahead and make a scene! Make as much noise as you want! You won't have this chance again!
Gao Xiyue was giving it her all, and the exhilarating feeling was simply unbearable, especially the thought of bringing Ruyi to the brink of utter ruin.
Jin Yuyan chimed in, "I never imagined there would be such a vicious person in the palace, resorting to such wicked schemes to harm others. If we don't find this person and punish them severely this time, won't we never be able to sleep or eat in peace in the palace?"
Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Yitai hurried in with a small box of cinnabar and two eunuchs. He bowed and said, "This servant greets His Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress, and all the masters."
"No need for formalities!"
Hongli was incredibly grateful that he had transmigrated into the body of an emperor. If he had been a eunuch, he wouldn't have been able to keep up with paying his respects to all his masters all day long: "How's the investigation going?"
"Your Majesty, I was ordered to search the six palaces, and finally found a box of cinnabar under the dressing table drawer in the main hall of Yanxi Palace." Zhao Yitai didn't keep anyone in suspense and directly stated the information found during the search, while presenting a square silver box in his hand.
Hongli naturally wouldn't examine such a thing himself, but instead waved for Qi Ru, who was waiting to the side, to come forward and take a look.
Qi Ru opened the box, carefully shook the red powder inside, and after examining it carefully, said, "Your Majesty, this box does indeed contain cinnabar, and it is also tinged with the scent of agarwood."
"Agarwood?"
Fucha Langhua was surprised, and everyone else was shocked and changed color. They all looked at Ruyi with suspicious eyes, like vicious whips lashing her. Only Hailan, who lived in the same palace as her, clenched her hands tightly and looked at her with worried eyes.
Fucha Langhua took the cinnabar, poked it around in the cinnabar a couple of times with her nail guard, and finally sniffed it. Her pupils suddenly contracted, and then she handed it to Hongli: "Your Majesty, please smell it. It does indeed have the scent of agarwood on it."
Hongli looked at Fucha Langhua with a complicated expression.
What does the Empress take him for? She even dares to smell him! Isn't she afraid there might be something else hidden inside, just putting it right under her nose to smell?
They refused!
The rejection in her eyes made Fucha Langhua realize the inappropriateness of her action. She quickly withdrew the cinnabar, turned to Ruyi, looked at her sharply, and said, "Nala Consort, you are the only one in this palace who uses agarwood incense. What excuse do you have?"
Hongli raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding the sentence.
What's so complicated about agarwood? It's not some precious thing; there's plenty of it in the palace. It's not evidence! Shouldn't we be questioning Ruyi about why there's cinnabar in her drawer?
However, he did not speak, but quietly watched how things unfolded.
Ruyi's face turned deathly pale, her hands and feet were ice-cold, and she felt as if she had been frozen in place, the coldness spreading from her heels to the tips of her hair. She couldn't help but slide off the chair and kneel down: "Your Majesty and Empress, please see the truth. I really didn't know anything about it, and I have no idea how the cinnabar ended up in my dressing table box."
Her words were so pale and powerless, utterly unconvincing.
Xiao Luzi and Xiao Anzi, who were kneeling on the ground, successively accused Ruyi of poisoning Consort Jing.
Xiao Anzi cried, "Not long after Consort Jing's pregnancy, Consort Nala asked me for cinnabar. I thought she wanted cinnabar to copy scriptures, but I didn't know she was going to use it to harm people!"
Xiao Luzi also said with a bitter face: "My younger brother is Xiao Fuzi of Yanxi Palace. Consort Nara threatened my brother's life. In order to protect my own and my brother's lives, I really dared not disobey Consort Nara and put cinnabar in the fish and shrimp that Consort Jing ate."
And A'Ruo, who appeared last and was Ruyi's confidante, dealt Ruyi a heavy blow.
“The master got cinnabar from Xiao Anzi, and then used Xiao Fuzi to threaten Xiao Luzi to put cinnabar in the fish and shrimp, causing Consort Jing to miscarry her dragon fetus.”
"Because she didn't become the primary consort back then, she harbored resentment and cursed the Empress and the Second Prince day and night, which caused the Second Prince to be weak and sickly every day."
"The mistress hates the Emperor even more for ignoring her since his ascension to the throne, so she vowed to kill all of the Emperor's children, and Consort Jing's unborn child was the first one."
All three crimes warrant execution!
A'Ruo made a solemn vow, and every word she uttered struck a nerve with people.
The hall erupted in uproar. Compared to the unknown Xiao Anzi and Xiao Luzi, A'Ruo's words were naturally more credible. After all, she was Ruyi's dowry maid; how could she betray her mistress? It could only be that Ruyi's actions were outrageous and infuriating, so even the loyal A'Ruo couldn't stand it anymore.
Empress Fucha Langhua's face turned extremely ugly, with veins bulging on her forehead. She couldn't hold back any longer and stood up to slap Ruyi: "You poisonous woman! If you have any grievances, you can come at me. Why do you have to involve Yonglian?"
Ruyi was slapped so hard she fell to the ground. Two bloody marks appeared on her fair and delicate cheek from her nail guard, and her lip was also cut open, drawing bright red blood.
Gao Xiyue also stepped forward and stood beside Fucha Langhua, looking down at the disheveled Ruyi, and snorted coldly:
"Nara Consort truly lives up to her reputation as a woman of the Ulanara clan. Back then, your aunt stirred up trouble in the late emperor's harem, and her hands were stained with the blood of countless innocent concubines and imperial heirs. You are even more ruthless and cunning than your aunt. If it weren't for Physician Qi's superb medical skills, who would have known that the imperial heir's death in the womb was actually a man-made disaster?"
Upon hearing this, Ruyi looked up at the exquisite, flawless, and charming beauty in front of her. With such a beautiful appearance, why would she have such a vicious mind?
But when she met Gao Xiyue's gaze, the doubts in her mind were instantly resolved, and she suddenly realized that Consort Hui not only wanted to harm Consort Jing, but also wanted to harm herself.