Chapter 45: Promoted to Jieyu

“This concubine has nothing to say.” Ning Wanyin looked at Helian Qi with a wronged expression, as if she was completely innocent, “But this concubine was truly framed, please believe this concubine.”

Helian Qi: ???

I need evidence, what good is it for me to believe you?

The evidence is conclusive, the Emperor can’t condone injustice, he can only spare her life at most and send her to the Cold Palace.

Helian Qi felt a surge of annoyance, he said with a gloomy face, “Bring the eunuch in charge of punishment here, carefully examine their testimonies. Don’t miss any trace of evidence!”

“Yes!” Wang Degui accepted the order.

Wu Mi, the eunuch in charge of the Department of Punishment, was skilled in interrogation.

The Emperor could only check if there were any loopholes in their testimonies.

He could only try.

Soon, the people from the Department of Punishment arrived, they interrogated them separately and verified their testimonies with each other.

But these people had already colluded, they insisted that Ning Wanyin was the culprit even when facing punishment…

“Your Majesty, the testimonies have been checked and there are no inconsistencies.” Wu Mi stepped forward to report.

Helian Qi’s expression was impassive, he couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Lady Xue had already known this would be the result, she glanced at Ning Wanyin, whose face was ashen, with disdain.

Wu Mi continued, “Only one thing doesn’t match up, this servant searched Caiye’s room and found five hundred taels of silver notes hidden in the crack of her bed, she refused to admit that the silver notes were hers.”

When a criminal is interrogated, their residence is always searched to see if there are any suspicious items.

“This silver note must be the reward Lady Ning gave her, right?” Lady Fang sneered.

But Lady Xue felt something was wrong. Where did this silver note come from?

“After this servant carefully examined it, the silver note was stained with the scent of Ruyi incense.” Wu Mi presented a silver note wrapped in cloth, “According to this servant’s investigation, only Qionghua Garden in the entire palace has Ruyi incense.”

As soon as he said this, the entire palace fell silent.

Everyone’s eyes turned to Lady Xue.

As a daughter of a Duke’s Mansion, Lady Xue naturally wouldn’t use the incense provided by the Internal Affairs Department for a concubine of her rank, she used precious incense that she had made since she was young.

This Ruyi incense was brought from her home by Lady Xue.

Lady Xue’s face changed slightly, “Nonsense! This concubine has never seen her, and I have never given her any money.”

Wang Degui quickly stepped forward and presented the key piece of evidence, the silver note, to Helian Qi.

The faint scent of Ruyi incense lingered.

Helian Qi glanced at the silver note, he knew what was going on, he said in a deep voice, “Wang Degui, show the silver note to Lady Xue.”

“Yes.”

Wang Degui presented the silver note to Lady Xue.

Lady Xue picked up the silver note, the fragrance was intoxicating, it was indeed the scent of Ruyi incense!

How could this be?

Lady Xue looked at Ning Wanyin in disbelief:

“You’re framing me!”

She had been hunting all day, and now she was being pecked by the goose.

She couldn’t even hide evidence in Caiye’s residence. The only one who could have hidden the silver note was Ning Wanyin!

But she couldn’t understand, where did this Ruyi incense come from?

“The incense used in Lingsxue Pavilion is all provided by the Internal Affairs Department. This concubine doesn’t have Ruyi incense, could I possibly conjure it out of thin air?” Ning Wanyin clarified calmly, she looked at Helian Qi with tearful eyes, “Your Majesty, please be aware! This concubine was almost wrongly convicted today. Fortunately, Your Majesty is wise and powerful, the Department of Punishment is brilliant in solving cases, they found these silver notes and cleared this concubine’s name.”

“Lady Xue tried to harm Consort Zhuang and framed this concubine, please, Your Majesty, avenge this concubine and Consort Zhuang! Give us justice!”

Consort Zhuang was stunned since she arrived at Tinglan Palace.

First, it was Lady Xue who instructed her, then it was Lady Ning.

Now it was Lady Xue again, she was completely confused.

But when she heard her name mentioned, she immediately looked at the Emperor, “Please, Your Majesty, avenge this concubine!”

Lady Xue was furious with Ning Wanyin.

But the silver note was there, today’s matter couldn’t be settled peacefully.

She could only sacrifice a pawn to save the king.

Lady Xue immediately knelt down, “Your Majesty, please be aware, this concubine has never seen Caiye, and I don’t know anything about this silver note…”

Her senior palace maid, Yinzhu, reacted quickly and immediately kowtowed, taking over the conversation, “It was this servant who bribed Caiye, it was all this servant’s doing, my mistress knows nothing about it.”

“This servant is jealous of Consort Zhuang and Lady Ning’s favor, because this servant admires Your Majesty, I was blinded by jealousy for a moment…”

Lady Xue looked at her in shock, “Yinzhu, how could you do such a thing?”

“This servant is ashamed of my mistress…” The palace maid, Yinzhu, continued to kowtow.

Helian Qi was disgusted by this palace maid.

It was obvious that she was taking the blame for Lady Xue, and she even used him as an excuse.

“Drag her away and execute her with a hundred lashes!” Helian Qi didn’t want to listen to her nonsense.

There was no need for an interrogation, the Xue family’s mouths were indeed tight.

He had seen it for himself just now.

“Yes.” Two eunuchs stepped forward and dragged Yinzhu away.

Helian Qi looked at Lady Xue and said coldly, “You failed to manage your palace maids, you are demoted to Noble Lady.”

Lady Xue entered the palace as a Jieyu, being demoted to Noble Lady was a real humiliation.

“Your Majesty, Lady Xue was also deceived, please show mercy.” A beauty from the Xue faction knelt down to plead.

Several concubines from the Xue faction were also eager to speak.

“I have already demoted her to Noble Lady, and you still call her Lady Xue. Disobeying the imperial decree, you are to be sent to the Cold Palace.” Helian Qi said coldly.

The beauty who was pleading was stunned, she quickly begged for mercy, “Your Majesty, please forgive this concubine, this concubine knows her mistake…”

“Who else doesn’t want to obey the decree? Come out now, I’ll send you to the Cold Palace to keep each other company.” Helian Qi’s cold gaze swept over the concubines.

Everyone was silent, they all bowed and said, “We obey Your Majesty’s decree! Your Majesty is wise!”

Helian Qi’s gaze finally fell on Ning Wanyin:

“If it weren’t for you discovering Caiye’s suspicious behavior and reporting it to me in time, Linlang Palace would have been lost. Pass my decree, promote Lady Ning to Jieyu.”

“Thank you for Your Majesty’s grace!” Ning Wanyin knelt down to receive the decree.

Everyone’s eyes fell on Ning Wanyin.

No one expected that she was almost put to death, and then she was promoted to Jieyu.

But she stopped the fire in Linlang Palace and saved the Empress and the princess, it was a great achievement, her promotion was only natural.

It was truly a rollercoaster ride.

Consort Zhuang’s eyes also fell on Ning Wanyin, she didn’t expect that Ning Wanyin had accidentally saved her…

For a moment, her expression was a little complicated.

“It’s getting late, you all disperse.” Helian Qi withdrew his gaze and looked at Consort Zhuang beside him, “I’ll go to Linlang Palace with you to see the princess.”

“Yes!” Although Consort Zhuang was unhappy that he said he was going to see the princess, Linlang Palace almost caught fire tonight…

She was also very happy that the Emperor stayed with her tonight.

“We respectfully see Your Majesty off.” Everyone bowed.

The Emperor left with Consort Zhuang.

The concubines had different expressions, many of them kept looking back and forth between Ning Wanyin and Xue Jinyan, who had been demoted to Noble Lady.

“Ning Wanyin, you wait for me.” Xue Jinyan was furious.

She thought her plan was flawless, but it was overturned by someone.

She had lost so much face, she was ashamed.

“Slap!”

The next moment, to everyone’s surprise, Ning Wanyin raised her hand and slapped Xue Jinyan across the face.

Everyone in the palace looked at her in shock.

Everyone was stunned.