Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 121

Chapter 121: Investigation

The hall was filled with kneeling people. Tan Yuanchu, expressionless, looked at Su Jieyu and asked calmly,

“Chilled to the heart?”

His gaze shifted to Xu Shunfu. “Are you chilled to the heart?”

Xu Shunfu was horrified and quickly shook his head.

Tan Yuanchu then looked at the kneeling palace attendants.
The lot of them shook their heads like rattles. Finally, his gaze landed on the gathered concubines.

“Then it’s you who are chilled to the heart.”

The concubines hastily shook their heads, eager to disassociate themselves.

An Cairen shivered in fright, her instincts telling her that agreeing to such a statement would bring trouble.
True to her usual quick tongue, she blurted out,

“Your Majesty’s discernment is clear, Her Ladyship Xi Xiurong is kindhearted. We all believe this matter has nothing to do with her and that she must have been framed. Your Majesty judges right from wrong with clarity; this concubine feels only that Your Majesty is wise and brilliant. How could I possibly feel chilled to the heart?”

Su Jieyu had never expected everyone to react this way. She suddenly lifted her head to stare directly at An Cairen.

An Cairen gave a startled jump.

The next moment, she realized what was happening and shot her a covert glare in return. Still daring to look at me?
Su Jieyu had nearly dragged them all to their deaths!

Seeing the situation turning against them, Qi Guipin’s face took on a trace of hesitation. After a pause, she said,

“Your Majesty, Su Jieyu’s words were indeed improper, but based on the clues found by the imperial physicians, Xi Xiurong is indeed suspicious.”

Unexpectedly, Qi Guipin spoke up as well, and the hall instantly fell into dead silence.

An Cairen, watching warily, was tugged back by Gui Chun and didn’t dare make another peep.

Tan Yuanchu looked at Su Jieyu and Qi Guipin. Though his eyes appeared calm, the atmosphere was so heavy no one dared to breathe. Suddenly, he let out a short, faintly cold laugh.

A ripple of unease surged in Qi Guipin’s heart.

Tan Yuanchu commanded: “Su Jieyu and Qi Guipin, your words before the throne were disrespectful and insulting. Effective immediately, you are both stripped to the status of commoners.”

Su Jieyu and Qi Guipin stared up at him in shock, their voices trembling in disbelief: “Your Majesty?!”

Everyone fell utterly silent; the hall was so still one could hear a pin drop.
No one had expected Tan Yuanchu to act like this. Even Yun Si was stunned.

Tan Yuanchu merely looked at Su Jieyu and Qi Guipin with an even expression. His lips curved slightly, his tone tinged with a trace of mockery.

“Will my two beloved consorts not offer thanks for the decree?”

He stood calmly in the hall, not on a raised dais, yet his gaze was lofty and condescending.

Yun Si slowly tightened her grip on her handkerchief, emotions surging within her.
Her eyelids trembled faintly.

There wasn’t even anger visible on Tan Yuanchu’s face; he had simply, lightly, passed down punishment and demanded their thanks.

Chilled to the heart?

Thunder and dew alike are the Emperor’s grace, how dare they claim to be chilled?

The hall was hushed in fear. Su Jieyu recovered her wits before Qi Guipin, crying out, “Your Majesty is unjust!”

Qi Guipin looked up at the Emperor in a daze. Meeting the coldness in his eyes, she shivered violently, as though seeing him for the first time.

A sudden thought rose in her heart, he knows!

He knows it was her and Su Jieyu who tampered with things!

Qi Guipin’s whole body went limp as she collapsed to the ground, but she couldn’t understand, she had never shown her face in this matter, so how could the Emperor have detected her?

She recalled Consort De’s plan. From the very start, Consort De had realized that the Emperor would protect Chu’an Palace with utmost vigilance, so she had never considered making a move there.

Consort De’s scheme had always been to use Su Jieyu to get close to the Empress, and thereby frame Yun Si.

To harm the Empress, even if Yun Si was pregnant, was still a capital crime that could not be escaped.

With Consort De gone from the palace, the one most likely to take that position was Yun Si. She had favor, she had a child, and if she also had ambition, it would be only natural, wouldn’t it?

As the greatest beneficiary, no one would have any reason not to suspect Yun Si.

But what Consort De hadn’t counted on was that even with evidence pointing to Yun Si, the Emperor still did not believe she had harmed the Empress.

That trust chilled Qi Guipin to the bone.

She couldn’t even tell if Tan Yuanchu truly trusted Yun Si, or if, even if this matter was Yun Si’s doing, he would still cover it up for her.

Unable to tell, for the first time, she truly felt fear.

After being demoted in rank and witnessing Conslrt De’s death, Qi Guipin had long understood that having an imperial heir was no guarantee of survival. If she ever truly touched the Emperor’s bottom line, he would never tolerate her.

Yun Si swept her gaze around the hall. Su Jieyu was crying and screaming, unable to accept the truth, while Qi Guipin’s body had gone limp, her face ashen.

Their reactions could not have been more different, a stark contrast.

Bai Shao, terrified, clutched her mistress’s arm, crying as she shook her head, pleading for her mistress not to say more, afraid that if she kept shouting she would implicate the entire household.

But Su Jieyu pushed her away. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she no longer cared about anything. Raising her voice, she accused Tan Yuanchu,

“The Empress is your properly wedded wife! She lies within, her life or death uncertain, yet Your Majesty shields the murderer and refuses to seek justice for Her Highness, can Your Majesty truly feel at ease?”

“Even if you execute this concubine today to silence all tongues in the palace, can you stifle the suspicion in their hearts?!”

A cold sweat broke out down the backs of everyone present. An Cairen and the others cursed Su Jieyu to the depths of their hearts, was this woman determined to drag them all down to their deaths?

Tan Yuanchu lowered his gaze to look at Su Jieyu.

This was the second time he had truly looked at her.
The first was when she had miscarried, dressed in white, kneeling before Kunning Palace.

For a moment, he had indeed considered killing her, just as she wished.

If he were truly determined to act as a foolish tyrant, why would he care about the suspicions in people’s hearts?

But Tan Yuanchu did not. He had to consider the woman’s situation, he could not place her over the flames to be roasted again. The people dared not speak against him, but that did not mean they would easily spare her.

Yun Si also furrowed her brows.

If Su Jieyu truly no longer feared death, she could indeed leave behind trouble.

Yun Si still hadn’t pieced together the full picture. She glanced at Xu Shunfu, who quietly explained to her:

As soon as the Emperor had arrived and learned that the Empress was unconscious from poisoning, he had immediately ordered the imperial physicians to examine the palace’s items. They had found something amiss on the agate bead bracelet worn close to the Empress’s person. Su Jieyu had immediately declared that she was the one who had given it, and had begged the Emperor to punish her.

What followed was exactly what Yun Si had just witnessed.

Supporting herself against the table, Yun Si tried to rise, and Qiu Yuan and Qu Mama quickly rushed to help her. She walked to Tan Yuanchu’s side, tugged on him lightly, and said in a low voice,

“Your Majesty…”

Tan Yuanchu turned his head to look at her.

Her face was still pale, but her brows and eyes were lowered.
Her voice was soft. “If you do not investigate this concubine today, I fear it will be hard to convince the masses. Since I have not done this thing, I have no fear of an inquiry. I ask Your Majesty to issue a decree, and let Eunuch Xu search Chu’an Palace from top to bottom.”

Chu’an Palace was examined by imperial physicians every day; nothing harmful to her body would ever appear there. Song Fu watched over the hall day and night, terrified of any slip.

Since Su Jieyu and Qi Guipin had made their move, and even against the Empress, there was no way they wouldn’t have a backup plan.

What unsettled Yun Si was, if there were no flaws to be found in Chu’an Palace, then what exactly were Su Jieyu and Qi Guipin trying to achieve by making such a scene?

But Su Jieyu suddenly spoke up,

“Since Xi Xiurong dared to plot against the Empress, she naturally wouldn’t leave any traces in Chu’an Palace!”

Yun Si met Su Jieyu’s gaze and saw the cold glint in her eyes.
Something flashed in her mind, but before she could grasp it, Su Jieyu cut in,

“Since Her Highness was poisoned, there must be a source of the poison in the palace. Once we trace the poison’s origin, it will be clear at a glance who plotted against the Empress!”

The source?

Realization struck Yun Si, and her heart gave a sudden jolt.

The Central Province Hall!

Chu’an Palace was guarded with the utmost vigilance, Su Jieyu and Qi Guipin had no way to strike there. Their target from the very beginning had never been Chu’an Palace!

A sudden chill swept through Yun Si’s gaze.

Noticing the change in her expression, the suffocating frustration in Su Jieyu’s heart finally loosened a little, and she let out a smooth, delighted laugh:

“Xi Xiurong, are you feeling flustered?”

Yun Si looked at Su Jieyu with disgust. Such sudden, vicious, and calculated methods instantly brought one person to mind, Consort De.

Su Jieyu was utterly insane, she had actually joined hands with Consort De?!

Tan Yuanchu lowered his gaze toward the woman beside him and noticed that the hand clutching his robe was trembling slightly.
She was afraid.

He couldn’t help but frown.

What is she afraid of?

Su Jieyu, seeing that the Emperor still made no move, gritted her teeth.

“Is Your Majesty afraid to investigate? Afraid that when the truth comes out, you won’t be able to protect your Xi Xiurong?”

Yun Si abruptly released his sleeve and stepped forward.

Everyone was caught off guard—

A sharp, resounding slap echoed through the hall.

All eyes turned to Yun Si in shock.

Su Jieyu, having been struck across the face, broke down into tears and cries, but Yun Si showed not the slightest flicker of emotion.
A thin anger clouded her face as her voice rang cold, “Su-shi, if it turns out today that this palace is innocent, before you die, I will personally have His Majesty tear out your tongue!”

Her voice was icy, and no one could fail to see that she meant every word.

When Su Jieyu met her gaze, her body suddenly froze, as if even the root of her tongue ached faintly. The next moment, she came back to her senses, covered her burning cheek, and looked up to ask,

“Xi Xiurong, are you feeling guilty?”

Yun Si gave a cold laugh. “According to you, His Majesty is partial toward me, so if Xu Shunfu goes to investigate, will he also be biased in my favor?”

Su Jieyu had indeed been startled by that earlier threat of having her tongue torn out. She merely cast a glance at Xu Shunfu and said,

“This concubine wouldn’t dare.”

Yun Si’s lips curved in a smile, her words laced with unspeakable irony.

“What is it that you wouldn’t dare?”

Turning away, she ignored Su Jieyu entirely. Suddenly, she bent her knees and knelt before Tan Yuanchu.
Her movement was so swift that he had no time to stop her. He watched her kneel with difficulty, one hand protectively covering her belly.

The dull sound of her knees hitting the floor made his gaze turn cold in an instant.

A vision of her lying unconscious in pain, teeth chattering from the agony, suddenly flashed through his mind.

Tan Yuanchu felt ever more keenly a single truth, everyone saw her as a thorn in their side; none could tolerate her existence.

Kneeling on the ground, she lifted her head and said hoarsely,

“Your Majesty, if the truth is not uncovered today, I fear I will bear the crime of plotting against the Empress for the rest of my life. I beg Your Majesty to give the order for the Imperial Guards to investigate this matter and return my innocence to me.”

An Cairen inwardly shook her head.
Is Xi Xiurong a fool?
Why go head-to-head with Su Jieyu over this?

Everyone else thought Xi Xiurong should not be letting her anger carry her away. Qi Guipin was so quiet she might as well not exist.

Only Su Jieyu said, “Your Majesty, since Xi Xiurong has said so, do you still have reservations?”

Tan Yuanchu’s voice turned cold, as if laced with shards of ice.

“Shut. Up!”

“Stand up.”
He grasped the woman’s hand and forcibly pulled her to her feet. Yun Si’s body tilted and fell into his arms. Looking at Su Jieyu, his gaze was so indifferent it bordered on detached, “You had better pray something truly is found.”

The Imperial Guards took their orders and withdrew.

Bai Shao, limp all over, knelt behind her mistress, head lowered, tears falling uncontrollably.

In this world, who dared to force the Emperor’s hand?

What exactly is Mistress doing?!

Leaning in Tan Yuanchu’s arms, Yun Si’s gaze passed over his shoulder and fell upon a certain person among the Imperial Guards.