C51

Just as Hua Mu Jin's head was about to hit the pillar, a figure suddenly flashed and appeared in front of her. The flower hibiscus also fell into a warm embrace.

"What are you doing?"

A stern and reprimanding voice came from above her. Hua Mujiao raised her head with a frown, and her expression changed to one of extreme grievance.

"Your Majesty, please let this servant die. They all say that this servant lured you in order to protect your innocence. This servant … this servant will not live …"

In ancient times, a woman's innocence was more important than her life.

Hua Mujiao had taken advantage of this opportunity. Originally, she wanted to use the death-faking drug after knocking her head against the wall to make people think that she was already dead. Then, she would seize the opportunity to retrieve her zither and escape from the palace.

But who would have thought that the critical moment would actually come?

Seeing that Hua Mujiao was wronged, Bai Zhan's face darkened. He turned his head to face the empress dowager's gaze and asked, "Imperial Mother, is there such a thing?"

When questioned, the empress dowager glared at Hibiscus in her arms as she spoke in a cold voice. "This Dowager only asked a few questions, how could I accuse you unjustly?" She was the one who couldn't bear it. What did it have to do with my family? Is the emperor blaming This Dowager? "

Let go of the flower hibiscus, Bai Zhan Zhangra took her hand, the eunuch saw for him to move the chair.

Sitting on the chair, Bai Zhan Ke looked at the empress dowager and said, "Imperial Mother misunderstood. I came to the Dew Palace because I wanted to talk to Imperial Mother about what happened last night. Hua Mujiao didn't seduce me."

"If she didn't seduce us, then why did the emperor go to the laundry last night and run into her?"

The empress dowager spoke angrily, but she still used the word 'seduce' to make her conclusion.

"Since Imperial Mother wants to know, then let us first pass on the information of everyone at the banquet last night to the Dew Palace. I also want to investigate why I would be so dazed as to go to the laundry office."

With that, Bai Zhan Ke turned and shouted towards the outside of the Dew Palace, "Men, bring over Xia Shuyi, Lin Shuyi, Ning Fei Xuan Fei, as well as the prince and the general."

"Yes sir!"

Outside the hall, the person receiving the order was Luo Chen.

The empress dowager seemed to sense that something was amiss and frowned. "What does the emperor mean by this?"

"Imperial Mother, don't worry. When everyone gathers, I will invite Imperial Mother to watch a play." Smiling lightly, Bai Zhan Ke sipped a mouthful of tea and didn't speak again.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Hua Mujiao standing at the side. From her expression, she could only see boredom, as if this matter had nothing to do with her.

After a short while, everyone had arrived at the Dew Palace except for Prince Bai Lingyu.

"Your Majesty, why are you in such a hurry to summon me?" This official was just about to fall asleep when he was dragged into the palace.

Shangguan Yi's brisk words had lightened the atmosphere in the Dew Palace.

But when Shangguan Yi looked at the hibiscus flower next to Bai Zhan, she was shocked and almost stood up from her chair.

"Your Majesty, the court lady by your side is …"

He rolled his eyes at Shangguan Yi, but she didn't answer.

And Shangguan Yi's eyes also did not look away from the flower hibiscus. Sensing Shangguan Yi's burning gaze, Hua Mujiao looked at him suspiciously. Seeing that he was still staring at her, she couldn't help but glare at him in displeasure as a warning.

Shangguan Yi snapped back to reality after being stared at by Hua Mu Jin, but couldn't help laughing after thinking about it.

"Your majesty, since everyone is here, let's begin."

He swept a glance at the four women, curled his lips, and said, "Imperial Mother, the reason why I left the Dew Palace last night and disappeared without a trace was indeed to go to the laundry room. However, I am not stupid or drunk. Someone had placed some aphrodisiac in my wine to make me favor her! "

Everyone was shocked by Bai Zhan Ke's words.

Of course, this didn't include Hibiscus vulgaris.

And among them, the one with the biggest reaction was Xia Ha Xue. Her body was trembling slightly and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Naturally, the empress dowager could tell that something was wrong. Her brows furrowed as she clutched the armrest of the imperial concubine's chair tightly. "Your majesty, even though you are the Son of Heaven, you still have to give evidence when you speak. Furthermore, last night was the Dew Palace of This Dowager. Who dares to poison your wine? "

As if expecting the empress dowager to say so, Bai Zhan Ke didn't refute her, and only replied, "Of course, mother's words are extremely true. "Therefore, in order to investigate this matter, I've had someone investigate this matter since a long time ago."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, who is this? How dare he? "He actually dares to seduce His Majesty. He really doesn't want to live anymore."

Suddenly, Shangguan Yi interrupted.

And these words of his caused Xia Ha Xue to be frightened even more, causing her to become restless and pale.

Some people noticed her strangeness and instantly thought of something. The way they looked at Xia Ha Xue also became different.

The empress dowager asked, "I wonder what did Your Majesty find out?"

Laughing lightly and putting down the tea in his hand, Bai Zhan Yun looked directly at Xia Haxue and asked, "Xia Shuyi, why did you appear in the Imperial Garden last night? Why don't you tell the empress dowager?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he saw Xia Ha Xue rise from the stool and kneel before the Empress Dowager.

"Reporting to the emperor, the empress dowager, chenqie drank two cups last night, but chenqie couldn't keep up with the wine, so she went to the imperial garden to wake up. That's why we ran into the emperor."

Xia Ha Xue forced herself to remain calm. She had told the maid to go out in the morning and never come back, so she knew something must have happened. When the call came, she had already come up with an excuse.

"At this season of the year, we should have gone to the imperial garden to admire the flowers and smell their fragrance. This one understands, so you should get up first." The empress dowager's words contained the meaning of 'smell the fragrance of the flowers'. These words were precisely used to find an excuse for Xia Ha Xue.

"Since the alcohol is insufficient, we should return to the palace early to rest. This general really doesn't agree with Xia Shuyi's hobby of admiring flowers and smelling their fragrance at night."

There were only two people in the Dew Palace who dared to contradict the empress dowager, and Shangguan Yi was one of them.

"General Shangguan, please be careful when you speak."

Hearing this, the empress dowager scolded her in a low voice while Shangguan Yi merely shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips, "Please calm your anger empress dowager. This subject is getting better."

"Mother, let's not talk about this for now. Since Hua Mujiao's innocence was destroyed by my hands, then I will naturally give her a name. Putting aside the fact that she had not committed any crimes before, she was still a direct descendant of the Shang clan. "I think that since she has served me, it's only right that she should be made an imperial concubine. Imperial Mother, what do you think?"

Bai Zhan Ke suddenly changed the topic, which surprised everyone, especially Hua Mu Jin.

"Hey, when will I …"

"Shut up!"

Hua Mujiao was about to say something, but was cut off by Bai Zhan Ke.

This made her feel a little wronged, and she couldn't understand why Bai Zhan Ke would suddenly change the topic when he was investigating the matter of the aphrodisiac.

"Your majesty, This Dowager said that Hua Mu Jin can only bestow a reward after she has cleansed the imperial concubine's possession. Let alone that she hasn't washed it yet, even if it's a reward, it can't be an imperial concubine."

The empress dowager's hatred for the flower, hibiscus, far surpassed her imagination. She could never remember offending the empress dowager, and this person had never appeared in her memories.

Therefore, she was also very curious about why she was being hated so much.

"Mother is right, I was inconsiderate. Just regarding the matter of our being drugged, we have already sent people to apprehend a palace maid and she has confessed everything. " Bai Zhan Ke spoke in a relaxed manner, then turned his head and ordered, "Men, bring that palace maid here!"

A moment later, Luo Chen and Nan Ge brought in a man covered in blood whose clothes were tattered by the whip.

The moment she knelt down, she knelt down while crying when she saw Xia Ha Xue.

"Empress, esteemed Empress saved me …"

As if grabbing onto her lifesaver, the servant girl hugged Xia Ha Xue's leg, not willing to let go.

The hem of her skirt was stained with blood. Xia Ha Xue extremely disdainfully kicked the maid away.

"If I remember correctly, this person should be Xia Shuyi's personal servant, right? According to her, the matter of the bewitching medicine was your order, I wonder how Xia Shuyi will explain it? "

Bai Zhan Ke looked at the two of them and asked coldly.

In an instant, Xia Ha Xue once again knelt before the empress dowager. "Empress Dowager, this maidservant disappeared last night. Chenqie thought that she couldn't stand the palace rules and escaped, but she didn't expect her to appear here. Asking the empress dowager to clearly investigate, this maidservant was obviously slandering chenqie. "Even if chenqie was given a hundred guts, chenqie still wouldn't dare to drug the emperor, empress dowager …"

Xia Ha Xue knew that only the Empress Dowager could save her, so the only person she begged was the Empress Dowager.

The empress dowager narrowed her eyes as she looked a little tired, but she still spoke up to defend Xia Ha Xue. "Your majesty, looking at the maid's body full of wounds, it's inevitable that people will think that she's condescending. If there's no other evidence, it'll be hard to convince them that Xia Shuyi is the culprit."

"Of course, when Xia Shuyi left Zhaohe Palace, in order not to wrongly accuse Xia Shuyi, I sent people to search the entire Zhaohe Palace," he said. Luo Chen, have you found anything suspicious? "

At these words, Luo Chen half-knelt on the ground and replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, your subordinate found a bag of white powder at Zhao He Palace, but I don't know what it is."

"Pass on the imperial physician!"

Before anyone could react, Bai Zhan Ke spoke coldly.

The entire Dew Palace was deathly quiet. Even the sound of breathing and heartbeats could be heard. Until the imperial physician arrived and kowtowed to Bai Zhan Ke and the empress dowager.

"Exempt from formalities, go and take a look at what the white object in the Fallen Protector's hands is."

Receiving the order, the imperial physician stood up and walked over to Luochen's side. He carefully smelled the powder on his hand, and after a while, he reported to Bai Zhan Ke and the empress dowager, "Reporting to Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, this white powder contains a variety of aphrodisiacs, such as the rose stone, Nine Fragrance Worm, Snake Dowager, and Late Silkworm. In other words, this white powder is a bewitching medicine."

"This bewitching medicine, it was found by Luo Chen in Zhao Wen's palace, right? Since that's the case, and the witness and evidence are all here, Xia Shuyi, do you have anything else to say? "

Shangguan Yi, who had been watching the show, spoke up. Once again, his words scared Xia Ha Xue witless.

"No, impossible. This … this must be her. She was the one who hid in Zhao He Palace. She was the one who wanted to frame me. "Esteemed Empress Dowager, you have to believe me. I …"

She frantically hugged the empress dowager's feet while pointing at the maidservant, pouring dirty water on her.

In a split-second, the servant girl looked at her in fear before laughing out loud.