sbdcsierra Chapter 144 Is it related to Xuepin?
Chapter 144 Is it related to Xuepin?
Little Zhouzi brought someone in, and it was the little eunuch who led Shen Zhinian to Jingye Pool today!
Coming with him was Yu Mei, Xuepin's personal maid.
"My lord, I have accomplished my mission and captured this fellow!"
Yu Mei also bowed and said, "This servant greets the noble lady Rou. May the noble lady be blessed!"
Concubine Xue had a cold personality and didn't get close to anyone in the harem. Shen Zhinian met her several times, and her attitude was always cold and distant.
This was the first time that Concubine Xue sent someone to Tingyu Pavilion. Shen Zhinian asked curiously, "It's getting late. Why did Miss Yu Mei come here at this time? What instructions does Concubine Xue have?"
Yu Mei bowed again and said apologetically, "Please forgive me, Concubine Rou. This man... is Xiao Beizi, a eunuch who works in the Yanxi Palace. He usually only does some cleaning work in the yard. Our queen is not familiar with him, and she did not instruct him to frame you."
"In case you misunderstood, Concubine Xue specially asked me to come here to explain the matter, and said that Xiao Beizi will be fully handed over to you for disposal. I hope Concubine Rou will understand!"
A hint of contemplation flashed across Shen Zhinian's eyes.
It is normal for women in the harem to plant spies in other people's palaces. It is possible that things are really as Yu Mei said, and Concubine Xue is not aware of it; but it is also possible that Concubine Xue treated Xiao Beizi as a pawn in exchange for her trust and clear herself of suspicion.
If one takes a wrong step in the deep palace, one may be doomed forever. Until the matter is clarified, Shen Zhinian will not completely trust anyone.
Of course, she still had a friendly look on her face: "Empress Xuepin is thoughtful."
"Please ask Miss Yu Mei to tell Her Majesty that I believe the people from the Ministry of Punishment will investigate this matter thoroughly and prove Her Majesty's innocence."
Seeing that Shen Zhinian's attitude towards Concubine Xue was the same as before, Yu Mei breathed a sigh of relief: "I will definitely convey your words. It's getting late, I won't disturb you to rest, I'll take my leave first."
Regardless of whether Concubine Rou believes in the Empress in her heart, at least she has not yet determined that the Empress is the murderer, so the Empress will be less involved in gossip.
She also didn't expect that Xiao Beizi, who had always been honest and well-behaved in the Yanxi Palace, was actually a thorn planted by others!
Who exactly wants to frame the Empress?
After Yu Mei left, Handan became even more confused: "My lady, how much do you think Yu Mei said was true and how much was false?"
Shen Zhinian did not answer, but looked at Xiao Beizi and asked with a smile: "What do you think? Was it Concubine Xue who ordered you to lead me to the Jingye Pond?"
Xiao Beizi knelt on the ground, looking ready to die: "I won't say anything, no need to waste your words, Lady Rou. You can kill me or chop me up, it's all up to you."
Little Zhouzi kicked him and scolded him, "How dare you talk to our young master like that!"
Xiao Beizi groaned, lowered his head and knelt without saying a word.
Shen Zhinian's slender fingers tapped on the table intermittently, giving people an invisible sense of oppression.
If Xiao Beizi admitted right away that it was Concubine Xue who ordered him to do so, people would think he was deliberately making accusations. Keeping his mouth shut like this only added to Concubine Xue's suspicion.
However, Shen Zhinian combined the memories of his previous life with his interactions with Xuepin in this life, and was inclined to believe the other party.
However, the palace is dangerous, and sometimes acting on your feelings may kill you. It is more reliable to find out the truth rationally based on clues and logic.
"Xiao Zhouzi, tell me what happened."
Xiao Zhouzi replied "Yes" and said respectfully: "After I separated from my mistress today, I followed the clues on the ground and finally found the Yanxi Palace..."
"At that time, Concubine Xue had just returned to the palace. When she heard the purpose of my visit, she did not make things difficult for me and directly let me go in to find someone."
"Finally, I found that Xiao Beizi had hanged himself in his room, intending to commit suicide out of fear of punishment. Fortunately, I arrived in time and stopped him, otherwise he would have died without any evidence."
After hearing this, Shen Zhinian's doubts were mostly gone.
If this matter was really instigated by Concubine Xue, she could have stopped Xiao Zhouzi outside the palace, and wait for Xiao Beizi to die, so that no one would be able to trace her.
It seems that the person behind the scenes wants to kill two birds with one stone. If he fails to frame me, he will let Concubine Xue take the blame.
But that person probably didn't expect that the usually aloof Concubine Xue would be so easy to talk to and didn't even stop Xiao Zhouzi.
Xiao Zhouzi asked, "My lord, this dog slave is really stubborn. How do you plan to deal with him?"
If a concubine beats or scolds a palace maid in private, as long as it doesn't cause too much noise, generally no one will pursue it. However, they are not allowed to torture a palace maid without permission.
Shen Zhinian still wanted to maintain his innocent and kind persona in front of the emperor, so he naturally wouldn't do anything to Xiao Beizi: "Send him to the Ministry of Punishment and hand him over to Eunuch Su Ye."
"Slave, you obey!"
Fuqiu smiled and said, "No matter what, if we catch Xiao Beizi, the suspicion on the young master will be completely cleared!"
Handan looked in the direction they left and snorted coldly: "He who dares to frame the young master should be subjected to the eighteen kinds of torture by the Ministry of Punishment! I don't believe that he won't confess the mastermind behind the heavy punishment!"
A dark light flashed in Shen Zhinian's eyes: "After entering the Ministry of Punishment, most people will indeed confess all the evil deeds they have done; but there are also a very small number of people who would rather die than confess. We can't rely on the Ministry of Punishment for everything."
"Xiao Mingzi, go check where Xiao Beizi is from, who else is in his family, when he entered the palace, where he worked after entering the palace, etc. Not only the things that are public, but also who he is friends with and who he has interacted with in private, we need to dig deep."
Xiao Mingzi cupped his hands and said, "I'll go right away!"
……
Yilan Pavilion.
Fortunately, people wear more clothes in winter, and when Liu Ruyan went out, she was wrapped in a large cloak.
After Xunyou killed Chen Da Ying, he was able to put on the cloak to cover the bloodstains on his clothes.
The master and servant had never been so cautious before. They avoided people along the way and took many long and remote routes to return.
The first thing Xunyou did when he entered Yilan Pavilion was to burn all the blood-stained clothes and cloak!
Fortunately, Liu Ruyan fell out of favor and Jingyang Palace became a place that everyone avoided. Only she lived in the left hall, so burning these things did not attract other people's attention.
After cleaning up all the traces, Xunyou went out to investigate and came back with a gloomy face: "The people from the Ministry of Punishment are investigating this matter vigorously. Fortunately, the young lady was cautious and asked me to burn all the clothes, otherwise it would be ironclad evidence."
"Lady Rou is so lucky that she can't be brought down even with this!"
Liu Ruyan sat on the chair, her heart sinking uncontrollably.
It was just a coincidence that I met Chen Da Ying today and asked Xun You to kill him.
Liu Ruyan understood that this impromptu plan had many loopholes and might not be able to kill Shen Zhinian.
But the emperor was suspicious, and sometimes he didn't need solid evidence, just a seed of doubt in his heart would be enough.