Rumor Has It That I'm Pregnant with His Highness' Child

327 Suicide

Xiao Juan still looked cold and indifferent, with no intention of wavering.

Shen Rui was asking for a rebuff. In the end, he could only walk out of Mirror House with a stomach full of anger.

As soon as they left, Yu Niaoniao immediately put down the Fat Otaku Joy Water and asked, “If you reject the Sixth Prince so directly, he will definitely hate you, right?”

Xiao Juan said calmly, “He was raised by Noble Consort Shu to be arrogant, but in terms of literary and military strategies, he’s really not a match for the other princes. The person who can ascend the throne, in the end, might not be him.”

!!

Yu Niaoniao recalled Noble Consort Shu’s hostility towards her and could not help but whisper, “It’s best not to let the Sixth Prince ascend the throne. Otherwise, I’ll definitely not have a good life in the future.”

Xiao Juan asked, “Do you have a grudge against the Sixth Prince too?”

“I have no grudge against the Sixth Prince, but I have a grudge against Noble Consort Shu.”

“That’s not right. To be precise, she hates me unilaterally. I don’t even know how I provoked her.”

“On the day I entered the palace to pay her New Year greetings, she put a poisonous snake in my sedan chair. Fortunately, I was not afraid of snakes. If it were anyone else, they would have been frightened to death on the spot.”

“After that, she even wanted to frame me and insisted that I had brought the poisonous snake into the palace. If not for Empress Wen speaking up for me, I would have had to kneel on the palace path for hours.”

“She is just a noble consort now, but she is already so unreasonable. If she really becomes the Empress Dowager in the future, won’t my life be even harder?”

Xiao Juan frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me these things before?”

Yu Niaoniao scratched her head. “So much happened that day that I didn’t have time to tell you this. Later on, I forgot about it.”

She had once suspected that the fake palace maid who wanted to harm her was arranged by Noble Consort Shu.

But on second thought, she thought that was unlikely.

When Noble Consort Shu released a poisonous snake to bite her, the former could still deny that it was an accident. But if she was killed in the palace, the nature of the matter would be completely different. In the end, Noble Consort Shu might suffer great losses if the truth came to light.

It made no logical sense to take such a huge risk to target a county princess who was no threat to her.

Xiao Juan looked helpless.

“How can you forget such an important thing?”

Yu Niaoniao smiled shyly. “I was wrong. It won’t happen again.”

Xiao Juan rubbed her little head.

“There’s something you might not know yet. Noble Consort Shu and Madam Shu are cousins. Madam Shu is Lu Yaoguang’s wife. After Lu Yaoguang was demoted, their family was not doing well. Noble Consort Shu even pleaded with the emperor regarding this matter, but unfortunately, it didn’t succeed.”

Realization dawned on Yu Niaoniao. “So she hates us?”

Xiao Juan nodded slightly. “Yes.”

Yu Niaoniao felt very wronged.

“Noble Consort Shu is too unreasonable! Lu Yaoguang deserved it. What did it have to do with us?”

“Besides, you even pleaded for mercy for him. If not for your pleading, Lu Yaoguang might have lost his head long ago. Why did she only remember the bad and not the good?”

“Besides, the person who gave the order to demote Lu Yaoguang was the emperor. Noble Consort Shu should blame the emperor. Why did she implicate me?”

Xiao Juan said, “She doesn’t dare to blame the emperor or attack me, so she can only bully you.”

Yu Niaoniao pouted. “Hmph, to put it bluntly, she bullies the weak and fears the strong!”

Meng Xizhou knocked on the door and reminded him, “The people from the palace are still waiting outside.”

Yu Niaoniao pushed Xiao Juan out.

“Leave quickly. Come back early.”

After Xiao Juan left the Justice Department, he rode straight to the palace.

When he arrived at Zhengde Hall, the group of people kneeling at the door had already left.

This time, not only did the old emperor summon Xiao Juan, but he also summoned Wei Liao.

“I called you over today to let you continue investigating Imperial Concubine Yue’s case.”

Wei Liao was puzzled. “Hasn’t the real culprit been identified?”

Even if Empress Wen died to prove her innocence, it did not prove that she was really innocent.

The old emperor said, “I understand what you mean, but there’s no evidence to prove the Empress’s guilt.”

“But Wang Xue will testify.”

The old emperor said, “Wang Xue is dead.”

Xiao Juan and Wei Liao were stunned.

“Dead?”

Wei Huai’en, who was standing at the side, took the initiative to explain to them.

“Last night, Wang Xue died in the cell of the Punishment Division. No one realized until this morning that she had hit her head against the wall and died. It looked like a suicide.”

Wei Liao couldn’t understand. “Why did she suddenly commit suicide? Could it be that someone killed her to silence her and deliberately created the false impression of suicide?”

Wei Huai’en shook his head. “I don’t think so. The Criminal Prosecution Division is very tightly managed. In addition, the emperor especially emphasized yesterday that we have to take good care of Wang Xue. No one has seen her since she was locked up until her body was discovered. No one has sent anything to the cell. There’s not even food or water.”

“Then why did she kill herself?”

The old emperor spoke slowly. “Could it be that she felt guilty and was too ashamed to live that she chose to commit suicide?”

Xiao Juan quickly understood what he meant and asked, “Do you think there’s something wrong with Wang Xue’s confession?”

Wei Liao quickly retorted, “She voluntarily accused Empress Wen of murdering Imperial Concubine Yue. She doesn’t have to lie!”

Xiao Juan asked, “Since she wasn’t lying, why did she commit suicide?”

Wei Liao was speechless.

...

The old emperor said, “No matter what, Wang Xue is already dead. There’s no evidence to convict the empress now. The investigations have to continue. I called you over to ask for your opinion.”

Wei Liao reacted quickly and spoke first.

“Although Wang Xue is dead, there are still many palace maids and eunuchs in the Fengyi Palace. I suggest that we capture all of them and interrogate them severely. As long as one of them is willing to tell the truth, the truth of the case will be revealed.”

The old emperor asked, “But what if the empress is really innocent? How will you explain it to her later?”

Wei Liao was neither servile nor overbearing.

“If the Empress is innocent, I’m willing to accept any punishment! As long as I can help the emperor resolve his worries, I’m willing to do anything!”

The old emperor inclined his head slightly. “Your loyalty is indeed commendable.”

Then, he looked at Xiao Juan.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Don’t you have any thoughts?”

Xiao Juan spoke slowly.

“This case began with the remains of the baby dug out of the Glazed Jade Palace. All of us suspected that the baby was Imperial Concubine Yue’s child.”

...

“However, suspicion could only remain as suspicion. If we want to know the truth, we have to dig up the tomb and take a look.”

“If Imperial Concubine Yue’s child is still in the coffin. This meant that the remains of the baby in the Glazed Jade Palace were not those of Imperial Concubine Yue’s child at all.”

“Our investigation has been going in the wrong direction from the beginning.”

Wei Liao looked at him in disbelief, as if he were listening to a fantasy.

“Are you crazy? You want to dig up Imperial Concubine Yue’s grave?!”

Back then, Imperial Concubine Yue died in childbirth, and the little prince she gave birth to was also stillborn.

Such a young prince could not stand alone, so the Ministry of Rites buried him with Imperial Concubine Yue.

This way, not only could the little prince have a place to stay, but they could also keep the mother and son together after they died.