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nOnce Feng Jin entered the room, he swept his gaze through all the women inside. At the end, it fell upon the empress. “You may rise.”

nHe made his way to the seat of honor and sat down. Expressionless, he said, “We heard that the empress would interrogate the slaves who committed crimes today. By chance, We walked past here so decided to take a look. You may all continue.”

nThe empress stared blankly, unsure of the emperor’s intention. She did not dare to so much as glance at Zhuang Laoyan. Perhaps the emperor really cared about Zhuang Laoyan’s child?

n“Your Majesty, this concubine has already finished the investigation. Among these five people, two of them have contact with servants in Noble Consort Shu’s palace, one has contact with the servants in Consort Rou’s palace, one has contact with the servants of Zhaorong Xu’s residence, and one has contact with the servants of Noble Imperial Concubine Yan’s residence and Jieyu Zhuang’s residence. Just now there was a slave that did not admit to his crimes. This concubine already had him dragged away for punishment. That slave used to work in Consort Rou’s palace,” said the empress carefully. Every single imperial concubine that was singled out by the empress all wore wronged expressions.

nZhuang Luoyan furrowed her brows a shade. With this move, the empress dragged quite a few people under the water. Why did she do this? Although there were no true sisters in the imperial harem, they were unlikely to go as far as to make others lose face. Did the empress have another plan with this move, or was she at the end of her rope?

n“Oh?” After Feng Jin had heard the empress’ words, he looked at the singled-out imperial concubines with much interest. “So what Empress means is, these people are very suspicious?”

nThe empress curtsied half way. “This concubine thinks that all the sisters here wait upon Your Majesty wholeheartedly. So it’s better to clear them of suspicion first.”

n“Empress makes sense.” Feng Jin pointed to a random palace maid. “Say again which palaces’ servants did this palace maid have contact with?”

n“Reporting to Your Majesty, this palace maid is called Xiaoju. She works in Shangshi Bureau¹. That day, she was in charge of serving Chongyi Zhao food,” replied Ming Lu. “This palace maid has had contact with the servants of Noble Consort Shu, Noble Imperial Concubine Yan, Consort Rou, and Shurong Ye. This slave also investigated the servants that came in contact with her. She doesn’t seem suspicious.”

n“Every person is suspicious. But everyone is also not suspicious.” Feng Jin looked at the empress, a fake smile on his lips. “Then Our empress, let Us know who here exactly harmed Chongyi Zhao. Or is the person who harmed Chongyi Zhao not among these people to begin with?”

nNever had the empress imagined that the emperor would not give her any face in his words. At once, she dropped to a kneel.

nSeeing the empress kneel, the other imperial concubines also did not dare to remain seated. They all rose to their feet, too afraid to even breathe too loudly. Naturally, some laughed in their hearts.

n“We were merely just speaking casually. Empress need not be like this. We understand your intentions.” Feng Jin reached out to support the empress to her feet. He glanced at the five kneeling servants. Slowly opened his mouth to say, “Since these people do not admit their crimes, then give them death by caning.”

nIf these people were caned to death, then how could the investigation continue? The heart of the empress trembled. However, she did not dare to openly oppose that decision. She could only stare as those servants were dragged out of the room.

nGao Dezhong had led a few strong eunuchs to drag those servants away. Once they arrived at the main gates of Jingyang Palace, he caught sight of Ronghua Ye and Virtuous Imperial Concubine Jiang approaching. Ronghua Ye seemed a lot more reserved than she had in the past. No one would be able to tell that a few months ago, she had been the very favored Shuyi Ye.

n“Greetings to Virtuous Imperial Concubine Jiang and Ronghua Ye.” Before Gao Dezhong could finish paying respects, Virtuous Imperial Concubine relieved him from doing so.

n“What is Eunuch Gao doing?” Virtuous Imperial Concubine, someone who was not favored in the harem, did not dare to act like a master in front of the head supervisory eunuch of the palace. She carefully looked at the servants in custody behind him, and came to a faint conclusion.

nBefore Gao Dezhong could even respond, he heard Ronghua Ye cry out in alarm, “Huh? Aren’t you from the same hometown as Elder Sister’s first-ranked palace maid Muyue? I remember that back then, you stole Muyue’s bracelet and was caned for it. What crime did you commit this time?” Ronghua Ye pointed at Xiaoju, staring at Gao Dezhong with confusion. “Eunuch Gao, what crime did she commit?”

nGao Dezhong looked at Xiaoju. Then he paid respects again to Ronghua Ye, before say, “Thanking Ronghua Ye for calling attention to this. This slave still has matters to report to His Majesty. May Ronghua Ye allow this slave to take his leave.” Following that, the other eunuchs left behind Xiaoju, and Gao Dezhong turned around to return to Jingyang Palace.

nRonghua Ye was even more confused now, her gaze falling upon the servants being dragged away as well as the left behind Xiaoju. She turned to Virtuous Imperial Concubine Jiang. “Elder Sister, what do you suppose happened?”

nVirtuous Imperial Concubine took in Ronghua Ye’s face that was brimming with confusion. Smiling, she shook her head. “Ronghua Ye, I don’t know either.”

nBefore they could even walk a couple steps, they caught sight of an eunuch rushing out of Jingyang Palace. He said that the emperor wanted to see them.

nJust as Ronghua Ye and Virtuous Imperial Concubine Jiang stepped foot within the side hall of Jinyang Palace, they noticed that the room was full of people. In a sorry state, Xiaoju knelt in the middle of the room.

n“Paying respects to His Majesty and Her Majesty.” Ronghua Ye performed the full ceremony of paying respects in a daze. She noticed that her elder sister, Shurong Ye, was also present. In fact, her expression was unsightly to the max. Puzzled, she stared at her. Unfortunately, the other party did not return her gaze, and as such, Ronghua Ye could only look away in a helpless manner.

n“Ronghua Ye, you said earlier that Xiaoju is from the same hometown as Shurong Ye’s first-ranked palace maid. Is that the truth?” asked the empress, staring at Ronghua Ye, her gaze burning.

n“Reporting to Your Majesty, the two of them know each other. At the start, this concubine was unaware of this. But by chance, this concubine heard of this last year. At that time, Elder Sister’s personal first-ranked palace maid had complained that someone from her hometown stole her bracelet. Back then, this concubine was arrogant, and had people paddle her twenty times. This concubine still remembers that at that time, Elder Sister reproached me for making a big fuss out of nothing. She said it was only a misunderstanding. Afterward, this concubine no longer asked about that matter. Why…” Ronghua Ye seemed to have realized what the emperor and empress were investigating. Her expression changed and she no longer spoke.

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nThe empress glanced at the emperor. Noticed that he did not speak, and said, “Bring Muyue from Shurong Ye’s palace here.” After that, the empress saw Xiaoju’s expression change. And she came to a faint conclusion.

nZhuang Laoyan, wearing a face full of makeup to look sick, watched this show. She had never expected that the relationship between the Ye family sisters wasn’t as harmonious as previously imagined. She didn’t believe that Ronghua Ye was actually this stupid, only understanding what was happening before her eyes after saying things that should and should not be said.

nHowever, why would Ronghua Ye do this to her own sister? What kind of benefit would she get from this?

nNot even thirty minutes later, Muyue was escorted to the side hall. After catching sight of the kneeling Xiaoju and her pale master, she knelt without a change in expression.

n“You slave, why don’t you ask why Xiaoju is kneeling? Why His Majesty and this palace have summoned you?” The empress sent a cold gaze at Shurong Ye. “Shurong Ye, this is a palace maid that waits on you personally. So why don’t you have her speak honestly?” The empress had never imagined that this matter was related to Shurong Ye. These past few years, Shurong Ye had never received much favor. Although she had a high rank as a shurong, she did not have much reputation in the harem. Even when she had miscarried a few months ago, she did not create much of a ripple in the harem. So how was she involved in this?

nShurong Ye’s lips twitched. Yet she did not speak. In the end, she only glanced at Ronghua Ye.

nMuyue kowtowed. “Your Majesty the emperor, Your Majesty the empress, this slave admits to the crime. This matter occurred because this slave harbored hatred against Chongyi Zhao, and had Xiaoju, who is from the same hometown, help. This has nothing to do with my master.”

n“Why do you hate Chongyi Zhao so much to do such a cruel thing to her?” questioned the empress closely.

nZhuang Laoyan’s eyebrows twitched. Was the empress trying to unearth some of her dirty history? Her gaze fell upon Muyue. She didn’t have much of an impression of her. Let’s not talk about this palace maid. She didn’t even have much of an impression of Shurong Ye. No matter how she thought about it, Zhuang Laoyan couldn’t figure out why she would want to scheme against herself.

n“A few months ago, because this slave accidentally bumped into Chongyi Zhao, Chongyi Zhao punished me to slaps for one hour and to kneel for six hours. That day was the day that relatives of servants of the palace could visit the servants at the palace gate. This day comes every two years. But because Chongyi Zhao was easily angered, this slave was unable to see my relatives. How could this slave not hate her?” Muyue glared at Zhuang Laoyan hatefully. “Just because this slave’s identity is humble, this slave could be trampled by anyone?”

n“The palace has its rules. Servants who bump into the masters ought to be punished! Even if Chongyi Zhao gave a harsher punishment than usual, you should not injure the imperial princes!” said the empress, rage seeping from each word. “Could it be that you’re not afraid His Majesty and this palace will slaughter your family and eight others associated with yours?”

n“This slave and Mother only rely on each other, and Mother has already passed away a few days ago. This slave is alone and is not afraid of anything.” All of a sudden, Muyue kowtowed in Shurong Ye’s direction. The empress sensed something was wrong. But before she could stop Muyue, she witnessed black blood flowing from her nostrils and ears. Then her body grew soft and she collapsed onto the ground.

nA few eunuchs rushed forward and dragged her corpse away, and some palace maids hurried to clean the ground. In a blink of an eye, a life was disposed of.

nShurong Ye shook, before falling against her seat with no energy. Face completely lifeless.

nIn a flash, the room grew deafening quiet. Each and every one of the imperial concubines lowered their heads, too scared to look at the spot where Muyue once knelt.

n“Enough. Since things are like this, then that’s that.” Feng Jin rose to his feet. Expressionless, he continued to say, “Shurong Ye is incompetent in managing her subordinates and will be stripped of her rank of shurong. She will be demoted to a seventh-rank noble lady² and moved to the side hall of Jingqiu Pavilion. Chongyi Zhao achieved the meritorious deed of conceiving, yet miscarried due to a villain harming her. She will be promoted from a lesser third-rank chongyi to a proper third-rank xiuyi.”

nOnce those words had left his lips, Feng Jin turned to face the empress again. “At present, there are many matters in the harem to manage. We are concerned about the empress’ health and whether she will have proper rest. As such, Noble Consort Shu, Consort Ning, and Consort Xian will help her supervise the harem.” Then he did not even glance at the empress’ expression as he said, “It’s getting late. We ought to handle government affairs now.”

n“Respectfully sending off Your Majesty.”

nAfter sending off the emperor, the empress was still able to maintain a dignified appearance. However, her countenance carried a trace of darkness.

n“This palace is tired. You’re all dismissed.”

nThe imperial concubines tactfully took their leave. The empress was in a bad mood, so they would not be so stupid to offend her during this time.

nAs she was paying respects before leaving, Zhuang Laoyan seemed to catch Ronghua Ye flash an ambiguous smile at Shurong Ye. However, when she went to take a closer look, she could only see Ronghua Ye’s confused and anxious-looking face.

nZhuang Laoyan averted her gaze. There truly wasn’t anyone in the imperial harem that didn’t know how to act.

nAlthough this time, the emperor did not place the full blame on Shurong Ye, it was already evident what he thought by her demotion to a seventh-rank noble lady from a second-rank shurong.

nShurong Ye’s demotion didn’t give Ronghua Ye any advantages. So why did she do what she had done?

nPower Ranks and Character Page

nAYYY ANOTHER PROMOTION. Now, our girl ZL is a proper third-ranked xiuyi. And because she has a title (Zhao), she has a higher status than Xiuyu Su, the cousin of Noble Consort Shu. I wonder how that would go…

nAnyway, was anyone just as surprised the culprit was Shurong Ye?

nEdit: I AM SO EFFIN SORRY! I’ve been spelling Zhuang Laoyan’s name wrong for fifty odd chapters holy crap. It’s Laoyan not Luoyan. Fk… Okay learn from my mistake guys. Don’t ever abbreviate your characters’ names and then copy and paste names from another document. Because if you ever mispelled one name, it’ll be wrong from now on. AHHHH (is having a breakdown) ….I’ll be spending a lot of time fixing the names of past chapters. Please let me hide in a hole now…

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