20demayo Chapter 154
Chapter 154
why did consort de ask her that question just now?
could it be that everything she had done was seen through by consort de?
but why... if she had already seen through it, why didn't she expose her in front of the emperor?
what was she waiting for?
jiang xinyue stood beside the emperor, observing everyone's movements and subtle expressions.
when she looked at concubine li, she clearly noticed something was amiss.
her eyes frequently darted towards consort de, but upon meeting consort de's ambiguous smile, she hurriedly lowered her head, taking quite a while to regain her composure.
consort de and concubine li?
what had happened between them that she didn't know about?
jiang xinyue withdrew her gaze, thinking that concubine li must be involved either with releasing the snakes or with witchcraft.
as for consort de...nôv(el)b\\jnn
she didn't believe consort de was foolish enough to pull the whiskers of this fierce dragon, the xuanwu emperor, especially during the new year.
this time, the emperor would certainly not let go of anyone who challenged his imperial authority, and would investigate thoroughly.
"this person died in shunan palace, yet consort liang claims to know nothing about it. that's rather hard to believe. who knows if you're not the thief crying 'stop thief'?"
concubine li wasn't entirely hopeless. realizing that among the four consorts, empress zhu favored consort liang the most, she understood why consort de hadn't exposed her.
she also understood consort de's purpose in moving the corpse to shunan palace.
she didn't want to become a tool in someone else's hands, but with evidence against her, she had no choice but to comply.
concubine li snorted with a laugh, reverting to her previous indifferent attitude of watching the drama unfold: "wasn't concubine zhen almost bitten by snakes last night? perhaps it was this palace maid who released the snakes. maybe consort liang is silencing a witness!"
this statement caused an uproar.
it wasn't entirely impossible. everyone knew that in the past, consort liang had been at odds with concubine zhen due to jealousy over the emperor's favor.
"so, you admit that you and lady pei conspired to release snakes into concubine zhen's chambers?" the emperor interjected.
concubine li wanted to deny it, to say it wasn't her.
but as she looked into the emperor's questioning, cold, and distrustful eyes, her heart gradually turned cold.
so, the emperor no longer loved her. she had been deluding herself, thinking that with her grandfather dead and no longer able to influence the emperor's authority in court, he would forgive past grievances and return to how they were before.
or perhaps...
the emperor had never loved her at all!
all that talk of enduring favor was just to deceive the pei and song families, to make them lower their guard so he could catch them all at once?
her grandfather was even older than her maternal grandfather. in his youth, he had indeed been ambitious, aspiring to be the first man in the court of the great yan dynasty.
and he had achieved it.
but as he grew older, he became increasingly weary of court struggles. in his later years, he only wanted peace and comfort, no longer having the will to fight, which was why the song family had rotted from its roots.
fortunately, her maternal grandfather had maintained his clarity of mind and always disciplined himself strictly, which was why the pei family hadn't followed in the song family's footsteps.
"your majesty..." concubine li began, but was interrupted.
wang dequan handed over a tray held by a guard, on which lay a pair of jade earrings: "the earring xiao xuanzi picked up matches the one on the unknown female corpse's ear, forming a pair. moreover... there are traces of a special powder on the corpse's fingers. the imperial physician from the imperial hospital says it's a secret formula used to lure snakes out of hiding. this woman must be what common people call a 'snake charmer.'"
the xuanwu emperor angrily knocked over the tray: "concubine li, what else do you have to say for yourself?"
concubine li closed her eyes briefly, two clear tears sliding down her cheeks. she raised her hand to flick them away: "i... have nothing more to say."
with her heart already dead, what else was there to say?
"guards, take concubine li..."
"your majesty!"
"your majesty! minister pei of the privy council has bound his daughter pei rongyan and is kneeling outside the hall, saying he's here to beg for your majesty's forgiveness."
how timely indeed.