Chapter 164: Others Take the Blame 02

Chapter 164

Upon entering the main hall, Concubine Liu knelt down below the hall after exchanging a glance with Xiao Jingheng.

The powerful aura of the emperor oppressed her invisibly,

she no longer smiled,

Endless fear welled up, swallowing her and forcing her to tremble.

Xiao Jingheng only asked her one question, and she shuddered and confessed everything,

“This concubine was muddled for a moment and made a big mistake. I hope Your Majesty can forgive this concubine and give me a chance to redeem myself.”

Xiao Jingheng frowned, full of puzzlement, and asked in a deep voice, “Why?”

Concubine Liu cried and said, “Li used to be favored and would often beat and scold me, treating me like a servant. I couldn't stand the humiliation and was really driven desperate by her, which led me to think of that scheme to frame her!

At that time, I didn't consider anything, I just thought that if she could be relegated to the Cold Palace, then no one would bully me anymore in the future. I didn't mean to harm her...”

Faced with her confession, Xiao Jingheng still maintained a skeptical attitude.

He asked in a deep voice, "Could someone have instigated you to do this? Or... did someone threaten you to come before Us and say these things?"

Concubine Liu immediately shook her head and denied, "No, this was entirely my idea."

Later, she argued more, but because her crying made her words indistinguishable, Xiao Jingheng stopped listening.

Until a moment ago, he had actually suspected Song Zhao.

He wondered if Song Zhao had pushed Concubine Liu out to take the blame in order to exonerate herself.

But when he thought about it, this was completely impossible.

Song Zhao's maternal family had all gone to the underworld, and there was no one behind her to rely on. Who could still help her use Concubine Liu's family as a threat? Visitt novelbin(.)co/m for the latest updates

It seemed that this time, he had really wrongly accused Song Zhao, and hurt Song Zhao's heart.

Xiao Jingheng's thoughts were in turmoil, and Concubine Liu kept crying endlessly below, making him even more annoyed,

So he said, "Since you have pleaded guilty, Li was killed by Us in the past, so We will also grant you an intact corpse."

Concubine Liu turned pale with fright. She cried and begged Xiao Jingheng to spare her life, and said, "I did serve His Majesty once, how can His Majesty be so ruthless? I didn't mean to harm Li, I really didn't mean to!"

She thought that because she had served Xiao Jingheng once, it would make Xiao Jingheng remember her a little bit of goodness.

Xiaofuzi said all this in one breath, just wanting to comfort Song Zhao.

Song Zhao also knew that Concubine Liu was not a good person,

But not being a good person, was that enough reason to be denied the right to even live in the palace?

After a long silence, Song Zhao waved her hand and said,

"I'm tired, I want to rest first. You go down for now."

Xiaofuzi said, "This... My Lady is suffering injustice and it should be redressed. His Majesty's imperial carriage must be on the way to Changle Palace now. My Lady..."

Song Zhao cut him off, "If he comes, just say I'm asleep. Don't worry about anything else, let him do as he pleases."

Xiaofuzi obeyed and exited the inner chamber.

After he left, Song Zhao added a cup of clear water to the teacup by herself, took a pinch of salt and put it in, stirred it with a hairpin until it completely dissolved in the water.

After doing this, she got up and went to the edge of the bed, and poured all the water onto the pillow in one go.

Then she tidyed up the teacup, lay down on the damp pillow, and closed her eyes.

She listened quietly,

listening to the noise outside, listening to the eunuchs respectfully saying "Long live the Emperor",

listening to the door of the bedroom being pushed open,

listening to those familiar footsteps getting closer and closer to her bed.

The tear contained in her eyes finally slid precisely from the corner of her eye at this moment,

falling onto the pillow, blending seamlessly into the water stains.

At this moment,

Xiao Jingheng stood in front of the bed,

looking at Song Zhao's flawless sleeping face, looking at her still tightly knitted brows even in sleep, and the tears wetting the pillow,

his heart felt as if it had been hit hard by a blunt object.

It was heartache, and remorse.