Chapter 412: Very calm in face-to-face confrontation
"Empress, are you guilty?" Ma Cairen said with a cold face and a stubborn tone. Her eyes were like deep ancient wells in the dark night, faintly filled with hatred, "You are so afraid of mentioning Rui'er."
"Who has bad intentions?" The queen looked directly at Ma Cairen, "Then you might as well tell me what's going on? I want to hear it too."
The Queen guessed that Ma Chunping must have found out the truth about the Eighth Prince's murder that year, but so what?
This matter probably came from Liang Jing's mouth, but Liang Jing is now a suspect wanted by the court. Ma Cairen may believe what he said, but the emperor may not believe it.
Even if Liang Jing comes forward to testify in person now, he can definitely say that Liang Jing is framing him.
It would be too ridiculous to try to convict the empress based on this alone.
Ma Cai and the Queen looked at each other for a moment. Although there was a brief silence, they already regarded each other as a mortal enemy.
"Your Majesty, I beg you to make the decision for me!" Ma Cairen turned around and knelt in front of the emperor, his voice trembling like a fallen leaf in autumn, "Rui'er was killed by Yao Ziyun himself back then, I beg the emperor to avenge him!
"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was frightened and took a breath of cold air. Even the torches around them seemed to stop shaking.
"Do you have any evidence for what you say? Murdering the emperor's heir is a serious crime, and framing the queen is the same." The emperor looked down at Ma Chunping.
Today's events, no, to be precise, all the recent events, one after another, each one gave him a headache.
It seemed as if he had touched some mechanism, and all the open and hidden arrows were coming towards him, making it impossible for him to dodge.
"I have a witness," Ma Chunping tried her best to hold back her grief and anger, "I have been kept in the dark for so many years, and I regard the queen as my closest sister. I have suspected many people, but I have never doubted her.
Fortunately, God does not hide the traitor. Even though more than ten years have passed, there are still witnesses."
"Who is the witness you are talking about?" the emperor asked.
"Qiong Ying, come forward." Ma Chunping turned back to her daughter and said, "Tell me truthfully what you saw and heard back then."
Hearing what he said, the emperor couldn't help but frown, and other people also had doubtful looks on their faces.
Everyone knows that the tenth princess has been mute for a long time, so how can she still speak?
Isn’t Ma Cairen suffering from hysteria?
The tenth princess faced everyone's doubtful gazes and stepped forward, kneeling upright in front of the emperor. She was very nervous, her hands trembled unconsciously, and her lips trembled a little.
Ma Cairen held her hand and comforted her softly: "Good boy, don't be afraid. Your Majesty and the Concubine will make the decision for us."
The tenth princess looked at Ma Cairen, nodded slightly, and mustered up the courage to call out "Father".
As soon as the father said this, except for a few people who had known about it beforehand, everyone else was startled, and the queen almost stood up.
But she still calmed down in the shortest time. After so many years in the palace, everyone has to develop the ability to not be surprised at all times.
"Qiong Ying, when will you be able to speak?!" The emperor stretched out his hand to help her up, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"Go back to my father, because my daughter witnessed with her own eyes how the Eighth Emperor's younger brother was killed, and then she also fell seriously ill.
From then on, everyone thought I had become mute, including myself. It was not until this year that I was gibbering in my sleep and was overheard by the palace maid at night, so I told my mother about it.
Only then did I realize that I can speak." Princess Ten said with slightly choked up sobs.
"So that's it!" Over the years, the emperor has spent a lot of effort to make his daughter speak.
But both the palace doctors and private doctors said that the tenth princess could not recover.
"Your Majesty, please allow me to interrupt. It's a cold night at this time. Why don't we go into the inner hall first?" Concubine Fu stood up and interjected, "The health of the concubine and your majesty is very important."
"Concubine Fu really reminded me that there were too many things that happened today, and every one of them was unexpected. At first, I just wanted to see if there was really a forbidden object buried in front of your palace, but I didn't expect that it would be delayed until now.
." The emperor said and stood up, "Mother, concubine, let's go inside and talk! It seems that we will be delayed for a long time."
"Ha, we are all fooled by the Queen." Li Fei tightened the cloak around her body and said with a pun, "You can't even distinguish between hot and cold."
Everyone came indoors, and Concubine Fu's men quickly prepared hot tea and snacks, and made a pot of silver frost charcoal.
After everyone calmed down, the emperor said: "Qiong Ying, what is going on? Please tell me in detail!"
The tenth princess then told everything about her experiences that year.
"My daughter was hiding under the bed. The queen thought the maid was too talkative, so she ordered someone to give her a mute medicine.
If it hadn't been for the black cat, I would have been unable to escape.
Later, when no one was in the house, I sneaked out. When I returned to Mulan Palace, the Eighth Emperor Brother was... gone...
I didn't dare to tell the truth, I was afraid and in pain, so I fell ill. I was in a daze for several months before I got better, but I found that I couldn't speak no matter what." The tenth princess said with tears, "
Father, my daughter never tells a lie, Rui'er is really pitiful."
After everyone heard her tell what happened, it was completely consistent with what happened back then, including the palace maid in Qiongzhi Palace who had become mute inexplicably.
I couldn't help but cast my eyes on Queen Yao Ziyun.
"If I don't really have a clear conscience, I would have to believe your cries to be true." The queen looked at the tenth princess and sneered, "How old were you at that time? Can the things that a five- or six-year-old child remember be trusted?"
"Queen, I will never forget this matter until I die." The tenth princess said, "I have indeed forgotten a lot of things when I was a child, but this matter is like a scar that will never heal. It is a scar that will never be healed."
In my heart."
"You said that you have been dizzy and sick for several months. When you were sick, wouldn't your memory be confused and wrong?" The queen asked, "It's like you think you can't speak, but in fact you can.
Yes, it can be seen that memory can also make mistakes.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! I don’t believe that after so many years, you have the courage to say this now. What’s more, even if you can’t speak, can’t you also write? At this juncture
You came out to testify against me, who instigated you?!"
"In the past, I was too young, and I was afraid that no one would believe what I said, and I was also afraid that you would kill me and silence me.
Now that I have grown up, I understand that what is true cannot be false, what is false cannot be true, and we should not hide the truth out of fear." The tenth princess said, "I only hate that I was too cowardly before, knowing that my brother was harmed by you.
, but dare not tell anyone."
"Qiongying, I know that you can speak, and I'm really happy for you. After all, whether it's Rui'er or you, I treat you both as my own." The queen's tone was helpless and gentle, "But you shouldn't be manipulated by others.
Just because you came to frame me, just because you can speak doesn't mean that what you say is true. In the end, your words are just one-sided words. Even in court, your words alone cannot prove my guilt."
The queen looked at the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, you know what Qiong Ying has been like to me all these years. If she had witnessed me harming Ruier, how could she be so close to me? Even if she didn't show it in person.
If you are afraid and disgusted, you will always stay away from me, right?"
Yao Ziyun is not an easy person, she quickly grasped the details of getting along with the tenth princess in the past.
She is very affectionate to the tenth princess in front of others, and the tenth princess is also very close to her.
At least no one can see any grudge between them.
"I am too cowardly," the tenth princess said painfully, "I despise myself in my heart because you have become the queen, and because we, mother and daughter, have to rely on you.
I even naively thought that since the death of the Eighth Emperor Brother was irreversible, then we should not get involved in it anymore.
I'm afraid that even if I tell others, no one will believe it. Just like what you said has been more than ten years ago, and you handled the matter very cleanly, leaving no trace at all.
Ultimately, I'm afraid that we, mother and daughter, can't fight you.
Of course, these ideas of mine are all wrong, and I have always had uneasy conscience over the years.
I owe this to Ruier and my mother. I admit that I am a sinner.
But now I have to atone for my sins, and the most important thing is to tell the truth. I have been mute for ten years, but from then on I only tell the truth."