Wei Shuxuan was extremely indignant. She felt she had done nothing wrong. She angrily raised her head and looked at the empress sitting in the main seat. "I, a commoner, am not convinced. Please, Your Majesty the Empress, conduct another thorough investigation!"
"Guards, drag him out and execute him immediately!" The empress didn't care.
"Wait a moment!" Just then, a familiar voice came from the door. That voice was like heavenly music to Wei Shuxuan. Her savior had come!
The empress smiled faintly. "I was wondering who it was. It's Zizhao. May I ask what important matter brings you to my Palace of Peace and Longevity?"
"Zizhao pays respects to Your Majesty the Empress."
Xin Zizhao still didn't forget to salute the empress. "Your Majesty the Empress, I wonder what crime my friend Wei Luo has committed that you want to sentence him to death?"
"Of course, it's the crime of defiling the harem. Defiling the harem is a capital offense. Zizhao, do you want to speak up for this lecher?" The empress retorted.
"Zizhao believes in Wei Luo's character. He would never defile the harem. Moreover, Wei Luo was ordered by our father - the emperor to investigate the case. If Your Majesty the Empress skips over our father and directly executes Wei Luo, wouldn't Your Majesty be committing the crime of deceiving the emperor? Zizhao suggests that it's best to let our father make the decision on this matter."
Xin Zizhao spoke reasonably and the empress had no way to refute. Even Lady Tong, who was waiting on the side, didn't dare to oppose his words because of Xin Zizhao's imposing manner.
"Since Your Majesty the Empress has no objections, Zizhao will take the person to the Hall of Cloud - Piercing for our father to judge." Xin Zizhao put his hands behind his back. "Guards, take Wei Luo and Lady Tong to the Hall of Cloud - Piercing together. Your Majesty the Empress, please."
Now that the situation was like this, the empress had no choice but to go along.
In the Hall of Cloud - Piercing, Emperor Jinzheng was sitting on the edge of the bed in his outer robe. He listened as Xin Zizhao told him the whole story in detail. He nodded. "I understand."
Emperor Jinzheng sat on the main seat in the main hall of the Hall of Cloud - Piercing. Looking at Wei Shuxuan kneeling on the ground, he said, "Wei Luo, I'll give you a chance to defend yourself now. I'd like to hear your testimony."
"Your Majesty! He clearly tried to molest me. Why do you still want to hear his testimony? Don't you trust me anymore?" Lady Tong looked at Emperor Jinzheng with a pitiful look on her face.
However, Emperor Jinzheng remained unmoved. "You shut up. Don't I know what kind of person you are?"
Hearing Emperor Jinzheng say this, Lady Tong angrily turned her face away and stopped talking.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Wei Shuxuan was extremely grateful that Emperor Jinzheng was so perceptive. She glanced at Lady Tong and then began her defense.
"Recently, I've been investigating the mysterious deaths in the palace and found some doubts. The deceased were all people close to Your Majesty. So I thought I should start with those closest to Your Majesty. After my investigation, I found that the concubines closest to Your Majesty were the empress, Lady Tong, and Concubine Jie. I started by investigating Lady Tong."
Wei Shuxuan looked at Emperor Jinzheng and found that he was listening attentively, so she continued. "I thought only by investigating secretly could I get completely accurate information. So I secretly sneaked into Lady Tong's palace to investigate. Then Lady Tong found me hiding in the flower bushes. She caught me with a fishing net and then told the guards to throw me on her bed. After that, she shouted outside and framed me for defiling the harem. She tied me up tightly and took me to the Palace of Peace and Longevity to see the empress."
"What evidence do you have to prove your innocence, Wei Luo?"
"I left something in Lady Tong's flower bushes. Your Majesty can send someone to look for it."
"What did you leave behind?"
"Just a jade pendant in the shape of a carp."
"Where exactly?"
"Just due north of the main gate of the main hall. I still remember there was a small tree where I was hiding."
So Emperor Jinzheng sent someone to look for the carp - shaped jade pendant in the flower bushes of Lady Tong's palace. According to the location Wei Shuxuan described, the imperial guards found a carp - shaped jade pendant there.
They brought the carp jade pendant back to the Hall of Cloud - Piercing. "Your Majesty, I did find the carp jade pendant at the location Mr. Wei described."
"Bring it here for me to take a look."
Emperor Jinzheng took the carp jade pendant and examined it carefully. It was indeed in the shape of a carp, white with an orange tint. The luster was not bad, but the texture was rough. It was obviously bought from a street vendor.
"Where did you buy this, Wei Luo?"
"Your Majesty, I bought it from a street vendor in the night market in the capital. It looked unique. Although the texture was a bit rough, it was good - looking."
Emperor Jinzheng had heard Lady Tong's account of what happened. Lady Tong said she found Wei Shuxuan on her bed. If Wei Shuxuan wanted to enter Lady Tong's palace, he would surely not be able to escape the sharp eyes of the guards. So there was a doubt here. And Wei Shuxuan must have passed through the flower bushes for the carp jade pendant to fall there.
From the flower bushes to the palace, there were imperial guards everywhere. How could it be that only Lady Tong found him and the imperial guards didn't?
"How did you get into the flower bushes?"
"Your Majesty, there's a dog - hole there. I crawled in through it. I just wanted to investigate at that time. I had no intention of defiling the harem. Please, Your Majesty, see clearly."
"I think what Wei Luo said makes sense. Tong'er, what do you think?" Emperor Jinzheng deliberately asked Lady Tong.
"… Your Majesty says so, so it must be right. I have no objections."
"What about the empress?"
"I have no objections either."
"Good. Since both of my beloved concubines have no objections to my opinion, I hereby declare that Wei Luo is innocent and can be released. Wei Luo, you may leave."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your perceptive judgment!" The guards untied Wei Shuxuan. Wei Shuxuan stood up and gave Lady Tong a proud look, which almost made Lady Tong furious.
On the way back to the Hall of Gentle Breeze with Xin Zizhao, Wei Shuxuan kept sighing about how excellent she was. Xin Zizhao gave her a calm look. Looking at her proud little face, he couldn't help but find it a bit funny.
"What are you smiling secretly about?" Wei Shuxuan obviously saw the smile on Xin Zizhao's face.
"Nothing. You just look a bit funny."
Xin Zizhao, this venom - tongued guy!
Wei Shuxuan gritted her teeth and silently cursed him in her heart, but still pretended to be very happy on her face. "Really? I'm just sighing about how excellent I am."
As soon as they got back to the Hall of Gentle Breeze, as soon as Ge Zian saw Wei Shuxuan come back safely, he rushed forward anxiously. "Xuan... Mr. Wei, are you okay? I heard that Lady Tong caught you in the Palace of Peace and Longevity of the empress and said she wanted to punish you."