vstars Chapter 240: Catching the Escaped Palace Maid
Chapter 240: Catching the Escaped Palace Maid
"I'm not asking about that, but about the fact that the cakes Cang Yue sent to the Queen Mother were tainted with arsenic. Does it have anything to do with you, Concubine Xiao?"
The old emperor looked at the woman in front of him with dignity, with doubt and anger flashing in his eyes.
Concubine Xiao's heart tightened, and she knelt down and kowtowed, tears welling up in her eyes: "Your Majesty, I am innocent! How dare I poison the Queen Mother? This must be a deliberate frame-up, please investigate!"
The old emperor snorted coldly, "You didn't poison the Queen Mother yourself, but this matter is closely related to the servants in your palace. How can it be that you have nothing to do with it?"
Concubine Xiao burst into tears, "Your Majesty, I have always been a womanizer since I entered the palace, and I have shown great respect to the Queen Mother. This incident must have been done by a traitor. I beg Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate the truth and clear my name!"
The old emperor frowned and fell into deep thought. He knew that Concubine Xiao was usually cautious and would not do such a bold thing.
But according to the interrogation just now, the arsenic in the pastry was related to the palace maids in Concubine Xiao's palace. How can this be explained?
At this moment, a guard came running and knelt down hurriedly to report: "Your Majesty, when I was patrolling in the palace just now, I was shocked to see a palace maid acting suspiciously, as if she wanted to escape from the palace, and she claimed that she was someone from Concubine Xiao's palace..."
The old emperor's face became even darker when he heard this, and he said sternly, "Where is the person? Bring him in immediately!"
The young guard took the order and left. In a moment, he escorted the palace maid who had just attempted to escape back into the palace.
This young palace maid had just entered the palace and had never seen the world. Seeing the people kneeling on the ground, the old emperor with a furious face in the hall, the empress dowager, King You, King Sui, King Kang, King Xie and other dignitaries all gathered there, she couldn't help but feel terrified.
When the little palace maid was pushed into the hall, she looked around tremblingly, and everywhere she looked was solemnity and depression.
This kind of situation was beyond the ability of a young girl like her to bear.
Faced with such a solemn atmosphere, the little palace maid was already frightened and at a loss as to what to do.
"Your servant...your servant greets the Emperor and the Empress Dowager!" The little palace maid knelt on the ground tremblingly, not daring to raise her head.
"Which palace are you from, and why did you want to escape from the palace?" The old emperor sitting above confirmed again with full dignity.
Hearing this, the little palace maid couldn't help but glance at Concubine Xiao beside her, but Concubine Xiao seemed to have heard nothing and didn't even look at her.
"Reply...reply...your Majesty, I am Xitang, a maid in Concubine Xiao's palace. I did not escape, but was misunderstood by the patrolling guards."
The little maid stammered, her voice full of fear and nervousness.
However, before the old emperor could expose her lie, the guard who had just escorted her into the palace immediately stood up and refuted: "You little palace maid are so bold that you dare to deceive the emperor! Have you forgotten that the robe you were carrying when you escaped is still in my hand?"
Before he finished speaking, the young guard threw the robe in his hand in front of the young palace maid. The bundle fell apart, revealing some gold, silver, jewelry and clothes inside.
This mysterious bag seemed to have endless magic power, and it instantly attracted the attention of everyone in the hall.
"How do you explain this?" The emperor's voice sounded with majesty, like an invisible pressure covering the entire hall.
The young palace maid Xitang couldn't help but tremble all over. Her already nervous mood became even more panicked. She stammered, "Your servant... Your servant..."
Her mind kept recalling the previous scene. Sister Xiangye had clearly told her that there were only a few pieces of clothes and two silver ingots in the robe, and she had asked her to quietly deliver the things to the palace gate, and someone would naturally come to pick them up.
But now, the robe filled with expensive jewelry in front of her made her dumbfounded.
She really couldn't figure out where these expensive jewels came from.
Moreover, I had been carrying it for such a long time, and accidentally bumped it several times, but I didn't even realize that there were so many treasures hidden in the bag!
Xitang's heart was filled with confusion and fear. She stared at the bulging bag with wide eyes, at a loss for a moment.
"Tell me the truth, was it you who put the arsenic in the pastries that Princess Cangyue had people prepare for the Queen Mother this morning?" The old emperor asked with a gloomy face and an impatient tone.
"I don't know! Your Majesty, please understand. It's really none of my business!" Xitang knelt down hurriedly and shook his head vigorously, his eyes full of fear and grievance.
"Don't know? Then why did you escape from the palace? Isn't it because you are guilty as a thief?" Upon hearing this, the old emperor frowned and stared at Xitang with sharp eyes.
Xitang shuddered, her lips trembling slightly, she wanted to explain but didn't know where to start. She looked down at the ground, secretly complaining in her heart.
At this moment, Xitang's eyes involuntarily glanced at Xiangye who was standing beside her. However, Xiangye seemed not to notice, lowered her head and dared not look at her, her eyes flickered, as if she was deliberately avoiding something.
This subtle movement did not escape the eyes of others present, especially Jiang Yimo and Feng Wuhen who were standing nearby. They saw it all.
"Let's get this straight. What's going on with this robe?" Feng Wuhen suddenly interrupted, his voice icy and chilling, with an unquestionable majesty.
Xitang's body trembled, and cold sweat dripped down her forehead. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down, but her voice was still a little stammering: "This, this robe... is, is..."
As she spoke, she secretly glanced at Xiangye, hoping to get some hints or support. Unfortunately, Xiangye remained indifferent, as if she had turned into a wooden man.
Faced with everyone's questioning, Xitang fell into a desperate situation. She knew that if she couldn't give a reasonable explanation, it would be difficult to get out of this situation today.
"Sister Xiangye asked me to secretly deliver this robe to the palace gate. She said that as long as I delivered it outside the palace gate, someone would come to meet me. But I waited for a long time and didn't see the person she said. Then, I was discovered and caught by the patrolling guards."
Everyone couldn't help laughing when they heard this, and they secretly laughed in their hearts: It turns out that this little palace maid named Xitang was a scapegoat.
But as soon as Xitang said that, Xiangye refuted, "Nonsense, don't wrongly accuse me, I didn't ask you to send any robes."
After that, Xiangye explained to the emperor and everyone present: "Your Majesty, this bundle was definitely not made by me! This Xitang is a young palace maid who has been in the palace for less than a few months."
"At the beginning, the queen saw that she was smart and agile, so she kept her by her side to serve her."
"Who would have thought that from the moment she stepped into the palace, she had been thinking about how to escape from this palace!"