novelraw Chapter 592 - 4: Empress Dowager, Peace Be Upon You (Part 4)
Chapter 592 - 4: Empress Dowager, Peace Be Upon You (Part 4)
The Emperor thought that the Empress’s incident must have been orchestrated by outsiders, but surely someone close to the Empress was also involved; after all, no one else could get close to her. It must have been a collusion inside and outside to bring the Empress to such a state, right?
Yet, some of those close to the Empress have been with her for a long time.
Thus, the Emperor had everyone detained and instructed Wang Yin to slowly investigate who might be suspicious.
And now, those serving the Empress are all the Emperor’s own people.
The Emperor ordered someone to summon Jie Geng, while he had prepared a warm towel to apply to Li Shuning’s eyes.
After all, she had been crying for three days, which made the Emperor somewhat curious; can a person cry for three days?
He even thought it was a miracle that the Empress’s eyes were fine.
Jie Geng, upon entering, was quite agitated, especially seeing the Empress sitting there with a gentle smile, her voice choked with emotion.
She knelt down immediately, her forehead hitting the ground hard, her voice altered: "Greetings to Your Majesty, greetings to Your Highness."
"Rise."
"Jie Geng, as the chief Palace Maid beside the Empress, recount what happened before and after the Empress returned that day."
Prior to the Empress’s incident, the Emperor had tasked Wang Yin with investigating the people around her, while he focused on external affairs.
Wang Yin, however, was cautious not to overstep with these individuals due to considerations for the Empress, strictly monitoring them to prevent any contact with the outside and restricting their movements.
"Your Majesty, when Her Highness came back from the Minghe Hall, it was only myself and Hai Tang attending to her. Upon returning to the bedchamber, Tao Hua had already prepared the tea. Not long after Her Highness drank it, she fainted."
"Later, while Her Highness was sleeping, I noticed something was amiss. I bravely called her several times, but there was no response."
"Wang Yin, bring Tao Hua and Hai Tang here."
"Yes." Wang Yin hurriedly left.
The Emperor had suspicions about Tao Hua, closely questioning Jie Geng if anything else had occurred at the time. After a long pause, Jie Geng suddenly said, "When Her Highness fainted, there was some chaos, and Tao Hua dropped the teapot on the ground, shattering it. At that time Du Juan scolded Tao Hua, but I was concerned about Her Highness and paid no attention to the situation concerning Tao Hua."
The Emperor then summoned Du Juan.
Du Juan recalled, "Everyone was quite flustered at the time, with shards on the floor. Fearing they would hurt Her Highness, I asked Tao Hua and Han Shao to clean them up together."
Seeing Li Shuning appearing a bit fatigued, leaning on the soft couch, seemingly lacking energy, the Emperor thought for a moment and decided to let Li Shuning rest, while he went to the outer room.
All the Palace Maids who attended to the Empress that day had gathered.
After questioning each one, the Emperor had a clearer picture of what happened that day.
It appeared that Tao Hua was indeed a problem.
The tea was likely tainted, and Tao Hua had taken advantage of the Empress’s fainting and the ensuing chaos to break the teapot, destroying evidence, leaving no trace behind.
Han Shao, who helped Tao Hua clean the shards, naturally knew where the fragments were disposed of.
Tao Hua consistently claimed her innocence, asserting that the tea was just ordinary and she had not tampered with it.
Yet Wang Yin’s people, upon searching the area where the shards should have been, found nothing.
Typically, such broken porcelain pieces are stored in a special place.
During these days, since the Empress’s incident, nothing in the Empress Palace had been moved.
Even the medicinal dregs were disposed of only after thorough inspections.
A Palace Maid in the Empress Palace stated that before the Empress returned, a vase had broken in the side hall of the Phoenix Palace. The shards were disposed of there, and according to that maid’s testimony, the vase pieces were still there; so where had the teapot shards gone?
Wang Yin presented the investigation results to the Emperor.
The Emperor was furious, who could possess such capability—not just bribing those around the Empress, but also discreetly removing things from the Empress Palace—it was truly detestable.
Those traitorous servants were even more contemptible.
In retrospect, Tao Hua indeed seemed somewhat wronged; she hadn’t tampered with the tea.
Under Wang Yin’s severe interrogation, Tao Hua couldn’t withstand it and did reveal some information.
When she first entered the palace, she had worked as a cleaning maid in the Princess Consort Xian’s palace.
Later, she drifted to the Empress’s palace, with the Princess Consort Xian helping her from the background, gradually rising to her current position. There were only eight palace maids named after flowers by the Empress, indicating the Empress’s trust in Tao Hua.
Tao Hua, subjected to severe punishment, confessed only to being the Princess Consort Xian’s person, but insisted she never poisoned the tea, nor harmed the Empress, claiming she merely conveyed more important information about the Empress to the Princess Consort Xian, without ever doing anything to hurt the Empress.
Subsequently, no matter how Wang Yin interrogated her, Tao Hua never changed her statement.
The Emperor reviewed this testimony, naturally displeased.
He believed Tao Hua was lying; her being associated with the Princess Consort Xian was undoubtedly accurate, as Wang Yin had confirmed it, along with all connections as Tao Hua described.
No wonder the Princess Consort Xian was the first to arrive at the Phoenix Palace—likely to see her handiwork?
Tao Hua’s denial of poisoning—how could it be possible? Could the Empress possibly have feigned illness?
The Imperial Physicians had examined her.
Besides, no ordinary person can keep crying for three days, right?
Handling Tao Hua was a mere word from the Emperor, yet since she belonged to the Empress, he informed Li Shuning of the situation.
Li Shuning remained silent for a long moment before saying, "Your Majesty, let Tao Hua leave. I do not believe she’d want my life. I’m fine now, and the timing of the Princess Consort Xian’s actions against me is evidently wrong. I entreat Your Majesty to discern carefully, not to anger the Princess Consort Xian and the Third Prince over my matter."
The Emperor sighed, knowing that it was unwise for the Princess Consort Xian to act against the Empress at this time.
Having managed to uncover these matters today, if anything had truly happened to the Empress, he would have found out anyway. The fate awaiting the Princess Consort Xian and the Third Prince would be predictable.
With a son, the Princess Consort Xian would not rush—the Emperor understood clearly what the consequences would be if he disposed of the Princess Consort Xian at this time.
This was not a situation he wished to see.
He was pleased that the Empress considered the bigger picture, yet precisely because of her understanding, he felt increasingly angry inside, noting the Princess Consort Xian, indeed he wrote it down in his heart.
Tao Hua was secretly executed, and her body was sent to the Princess Consort Xian’s palace.
PS: Xiao Qing saw that the monthly ticket count has reached 150, but won’t be able to add more updates tonight; otherwise, there won’t be any time to sleep. Xiao Qing will check the situation since things are really busy at the end of the year, and will add more updates either tomorrow or the day after. Sorry, babies~