Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1174 Zhen Huan Enlarged to 98

In the Ministry of Punishment, Fang'er and Fei'er didn't last a single round. Concubine Qi chose them because they were once favored by Fang Chunyi and were going to be given to the Fourth Princess to serve. They were Fang Chunyi's confidants and had their parents and relatives outside the palace to restrain them, so they were easy to control.

But for Big Fat Ju, having family outside the palace also made it easier for him to pry open their mouths, so after one round, Fang'er and Yu'er confessed everything. However, it happened that the person Qipin used to bribe people was Jingtai, the palace maid she brought from outside the palace as a dowry.

With such an obvious clue, the maids in the Ministry of Punishment did not dare to accept the confession immediately. They continued to ask about various characteristics of the people who had contact with them. Only after they confirmed that it was indeed Jingtai, the first-class palace maid beside Concubine Qi, did they dare to report it.

The confession submitted by the Ministry of Punishment would first be reviewed by the chief eunuch Gao Wuyong. Gao Wuyong looked at Jingtai, the senior palace maid beside Concubine Qi who was finally dug out, and could not help but sigh secretly. He really couldn't understand what was going on in Concubine Qi's brain. Everything was going well when she was pregnant with the Seventh Prince. Although she didn't seem to be smart, she was not stupid either.

How come after she gave birth to the Seventh Prince, even her own father started making stupid moves?

Three days passed, and the rumors outside the palace had dissipated a lot. After all, Soren Zhuo was no pushover. What's more, Fu Cha, who was also implicated, had also made great efforts to clear her name. However, they had not expected that the rumors actually came from the palace, so they could only report it after finding out this much.

Big Fat Orange took a look at the testimonies and found that the case was traced back to Concubine Qi. He couldn't believe it. "Although Concubine Qi is beautiful, she is really stupid. How could she have the brains to kill someone with a borrowed knife?"

Gao Wuyong wished he could weld his chin to his chest and didn't dare to make any sound. Fortunately, Big Fat Orange just made a few casual complaints and didn't expect anyone to respond.

Big Fat Orange threw down the confession and told Gao Wuyong, "Go take it to the Queen and let her handle it. She's going to stop writing soon, so deal with it quickly."

Gao Wuyong understood that Big Fat Ju was getting impatient. This time, no matter whether Concubine Qi was framed or committed evil on her own initiative, she could not escape the reality of having completely fallen out of favor.

After getting the confession, Jiang Xinxin didn't have any thoughts. She just felt that Concubine Qi was doing something unnecessary. However, thinking of what Yixiu had said about Concubine Qi being stupid but really beautiful, she just asked Jianqiu to invite Concubine Qi and her chief maid Jingtai to Jingren Palace.

Jianqiu Tai was not so friendly, and Concubine Qi was not blind, so she could see it. So she guessed that it was probably she who asked Jingtai to spread the gossip about the Fourth Prince, and it was exposed. The master and servant did not hide their guilty conscience at all, which made Jianqiu feel speechless and funny.

Knowing that her crime had been exposed, Concubine Qi knelt down and pleaded guilty as soon as she entered Jingren Palace: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

"I just can't stand the fact that the Fourth Prince is so blind that he actually chose the princess of the Suolentzhuo clan, leaving the princesses of the Guaerjia clan and the Fucha clan in the cold, so I want to spread a few rumors to let the Fourth Prince know how powerful he is. I have no other intentions!"

Seeing that her master had confessed, Jingtai also pleaded guilty. She was the kind of person who could abandon her master and escape in a critical moment, so she also pleaded guilty: "Queen, please spare my life! I was just following the master's orders and randomly found two inconspicuous maids in the flower room, just to embarrass the Fourth Prince..."

Jingtai was clearly trying to shirk responsibility, but Concubine Qi didn't know whether she didn't hear it or the relationship between master and servant was so deep that she didn't refute it. She just kept begging: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was really just angry for a moment and wanted to embarrass the Fourth Prince. I didn't mean anything else!"

Seeing the look on the face of Concubine Qi and Jingtai, the master and servant, Jiang Xinxin had never expected that there was someone among them who had taken advantage of the situation. She sighed secretly in her heart and asked Jianqiu to take Concubine Qi to wait in the side hall first.

Concubine Qi didn't want to leave Jingtai alone. After all, Jingtai had done a lot of other things, and some of them were life-threatening.

Jingtai didn't dare to look up, and Concubine Qi had no choice but to follow Jianqiu out reluctantly.

After Concubine Qi left, Huichun scolded Jingtai sternly, "Tell us the truth about what happened!"

Jingtai shuddered when he heard that, and without any threats, he revealed everything he knew: "Empress, our young master heard that the Fourth Prince had lost face to the princesses of the Guaerjia clan and the Fucha clan, and chose a princess from outside the Great Wall, Suolunzhuo, so she thought of using a little trick to vent the anger of our Guaerjia princess. It would be best if she could ruin the Fourth Prince's reputation at the same time."

Seeing Jingtai had listened, Huichun snorted coldly, "Keep talking! If you dare to be perfunctory again, be careful of being beaten with chopsticks!"

"There is a kind of punishment in this palace called Yizhanghong. It sounds nice, but it is actually quite severe. A two-inch thick and five-foot long wooden board is used to beat the person below the waist until the tendons and bones are broken and the flesh is blurred. From a distance, it looks bloody red, hence the name Yizhanghong."

"The most important thing is that this one foot of red can't kill people. Most of the people being punished can't stand the pain and just wail, or they have a high fever that can't be cured and can only die with hatred."

Jingtai was trembling all over. He no longer dared to be perfunctory and shouted: "Queen, please spare me! Queen, please spare me!"

Seeing that Jingtai was only concerned with begging for mercy and didn't explain anything crucial, Huichun said unhappily, "Hurry up and tell me!"

Jingtai shuddered again, but his still confused mind began to think simply following Huichun's reminder, "I followed the young lady's instructions to spread rumors about the Fourth Prince, so I found the palace maids Fang'er and Fei'er who worked in the flower room..."

Huichun interrupted Jingtai and asked, "How did you go directly to the maid in the flower room?"

Jingtai was a little slow to react. He looked so confused that he couldn't help but look up at Huichun. Huichun patiently asked again: "Did you find Fang'er and Fei'er directly in the flower room, or did someone mention them to you?"

Jingtai finally reacted after being stunned, and quickly seized this glimmer of hope: "It was a maid in our palace, her name was Xiaojing!"

"She said that it would be better to find the maid who used to serve Concubine Chun. That way, even if they want to investigate, they will only find Fang Jia, a commoner in the cold palace!"

"It's her, that Xiao Jing!"

"She must be someone's spy, deliberately framing our young master!"

"Empress, please make the decision for our young master!"

Jiang Xinxin said that it was really unbearable to watch Jingtai crying so hard. Jianqiu had also asked Concubine Qi carefully. She just told Jingtai to spread some rumors about the Fourth Prince. It would be best if the Fourth Prince left an impression in the minds of court officials that he "loved beauty but not the country". In this way, the Seventh Prince would have a better chance to come to the fore. It was a pity that she didn't get any evidence against Concubine Shun, otherwise it would have been good for Concubine Shun to frame her.

So Fang Jia, a commoner in the cold palace, really suffered an unprovoked disaster. But maybe she didn't really suffer an unprovoked disaster. After all, when returning to the palace from the Old Summer Palace, Fang Chunyi really had someone tamper with Ningpin's carriage. Although she didn't instruct Fang Jia's nails to give Ningpin cold medicine, but wanted to scare Ningpin's horse, the nature of the matter was to murder the royal heir and concubines, and it was not unfair to depose her as a commoner and send her to the cold palace.