Shen Huan put Tong Shi aside and stood up from the top of the cave. Her long skirt with red dark patterns embroidered with hundreds of silk phoenixes meandered to the pole, trailing on the soft multicolored plush Persian carpet, making it even more dazzling.
"The storm is about to come, and I will hold a court hearing at Gongzhengsi tonight to investigate the case. Teacher, please arrange everything!" Shen Huan said slowly.
"Yes" Cui Shanggong bowed his head and stepped back.
Xiang Ming asked worriedly: "Empress, is Xia Guiren's side prepared? The King's Court has already..."
Shen Huan smiled slightly and said: "Perhaps she was dazzled by the emperor's personal inquiry last night, and is dreaming of her spring and autumn dream at this time!"
Xiangming asked in surprise: "Did the empress deliberately get angry with the emperor last night? So that Mr. Xia could relax his vigilance?"
Shen Wen smiled and shook his head and said: "How could I have had the forethought to know that the emperor would be angry with me? He and I were really angry, but even though I was so angry, I did not forget to provoke him to the noble Xia."
Because of Xia Guiren's pregnancy, the two of them had a knot in their hearts. Xichen thought that Shen Huan was still caring about her, but Shen Huan knew that Xichen went to Yongning Palace on purpose to be angry with her, so everything became her plan.
This morning, when Imperial Physician Sun checked her Ping'an pulse, Shen Huan had already asked him to record it in the book, saying that she occasionally felt cold and needed to rest for a few days. Therefore, her time was free tonight and she did not have to go to bed. According to the emperor's rules, she did not You can come over here to avoid getting over your illness, so you can use tonight to deal with some things.
Although she has not been the queen for too long, she has already paved the way when her sister became the queen. Now, some things and some people do not depend on who becomes the queen, but on who is the queen!
No matter who the queen is, she can already do things that others cannot do.
Deeper and more exposed, Shen Huan was playing with an ivory comb in his hand. Two strings of jade were strung on the handle of the comb. When he moved it, it made a tinkling sound, which was very pleasant.
Cui Shanggong came in, bowed his head and bowed, and whispered: "Everything is ready, the emperor has rested in Qian Palace."
Shen Wen stood up with a smile. Chun'er put a black velvet cloak on her and put a lantern in front of her. Shen Wen supported Xiang Ming's hand. Cui Shanggong walked on the side. The four of them walked out of Chen Palace and slowly walked towards Gong Zhengsi walked away
Gong Zhengsi was in a corner of the harem. It was a bit far away. It took the four of them some time to get here.
Two people were standing at the door. When they saw the word "chen" on the lantern, they knelt down to say hello.
Shen Huan raised his hand slightly and asked in a low voice: "Where is the person?"
One person replied: "I have been locked in the darkroom for a while, and I must be almost unable to hold it in anymore."
Shen Huan nodded and followed the man in.
There is no particularly wide hall in the palace. It is like a deep alley. Go down the stairs, and the colder you go down. The stone steps are too narrow to allow two people to pass side by side. One of them needs to walk sideways carefully.
There are no bright palace lanterns, just flickering torches burning
Shen Huan twitched the corners of his lips. This place was very similar to the prison he had stayed in. It was indeed a purgatory on earth.
A eunuch brought Shen Huan and others to a secret room. Through a palm-sized window, he saw a palace maid tied inside. The palace maid's head was covered, her hands were tied behind her, and she was sitting motionless on the ground. Pay special attention to occasional noises
Shen Huan nodded, and the eunuch opened the door. Shen Huan went in and saw the palace maid shrinking towards the corner with all her strength.
The eunuch stepped forward and took off her hood, untying the cloth from her mouth, but her eyes were still covered.
Shen Huan sat on the chair, stared at her quietly for a while, and lowered her voice: "Jin'er, really? Tell me everything you know."
Her voice sounded a little weird in this secret room, and even she was a little surprised
Jin'er couldn't see who she was and asked tremblingly: "Who are you?"
"Presumptuous!" the eunuch shouted sternly, and Jin'er's body started to tremble again.
Cui Shanggong said slowly from the side: "Jin'er, you are sixteen years old. You entered the palace in the 23rd year of Chenghua. You have been washing clothes in the Huanyi Bureau. You entered Yongning Palace during the first year of the draft. You are Xia. The nobleman’s confidant naturally knows about nobleman Xia, don’t you know what the queen wants you to say?”
"Queen... Queen..." Jin'er's voice was full of fear, "Slave, I don't know anything! Queen, please spare me! I really don't know anything..."
Shen Huan said: "You can say nothing now and know nothing. After you have tasted Gong Zhengsi's two hundred criminal methods, you will know everything and be able to say anything."
Jin'er shook her head desperately and shed tears: "Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Majesty, please forgive me. Whatever I want to ask, I will say whatever you want. But what should I say to you if I don't know something..."
"Well, I'm here to ask you what you know." Shen Huan started, but then paused and said, "Has Mr. Xia had menstruation before?"
Including Jin'er, everyone present was stunned. Of course, except Cui Shanggong
It is impossible for a woman to have menstruation after she is pregnant, but the queen actually asked this... Could it be?
Jin'er's face changed drastically, she shrank and shook her head, and said tremblingly: "Xia Guiren is pregnant, naturally... naturally there will be no menstruation..."
Shen Huan quickly cut off her words and simply said: "Take her down and torture her."
"No, no, no, ma'am, I said, I said..." Jin'er burst into tears and said intermittently, "Actually, I really don't know if Mr. Xia has had menstruation since she became pregnant, but... ...The strange thing is that before, the servants were responsible for cleaning Xia Guiren's intimate clothes, but since Xia Guiren became pregnant, she stopped letting her slaves take care of them and handed them over to the first-class palace maid Dongxue instead."
The concubines in the harem each have maids of different ranks around them. Except for the noble concubines and above, the concubines who occupy the main position have steward aunts and mistresses. There is one first-class maid, one second-class maid, and so on. This Jin'er is the second-class maid. There is also a first-class palace maid above, and the first-class palace maids do not have to do these cleaning tasks. They are only responsible for light tasks such as serving tea and water.
It is indeed unreasonable for Xia Guiren not to use Jin'er to do her duties, but to ask a first-class palace maid to do it. Unless it is something shameful that Jin'er cannot know, why bother?
Shen Huan was silent, and no one else said a word. Everyone was deep in thought.
When Xue Ling died, Shen Huan was about to execute Xia Guiren, but she happened to be pregnant at this time.
It's just that the king's court sent pills to Concubine Qing and accidentally diagnosed her pulse, and from the beginning to the end, it never passed through the hands of another imperial physician.
Not long after she was pregnant, Xia Guiren had a miscarriage, and the murderer pointed directly at Hua Zhi!
Shen Huan spread the word that he would use the painting to get rid of Concubine Qing, but at this time the court judge was kidnapped by strong men.
Everything is indeed too coincidental!
Then...maybe it is as Cui Shanggong guessed: Xia Guiren, she was not pregnant at all from the beginning to the end!