After the words fell, the palace suddenly became quiet.
"After the New Year's Eve banquet, Concubine De didn't feel very comfortable, and she didn't care much about what was going on next."
Before Concubine De opened her mouth, He Jieyu beside her sighed and slowly explained.
"I can't take care of all the big and small things in the De Palace, let alone the whereabouts of a piece of mutton? If you ask Concubine De, it would be better to ask the people in the kitchen."
Following her words, everyone's eyes fell on the trembling palace man on the ground.
"Zhou Zhong." Xie Jie said with a cold look in his eyes and a gloomy tone with murderous intent, "Judge."
"No! Your Majesty! Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty!"
Everyone in the palace is aware of Zhou Zhong's methods. Falling into his hands would be a hundred times more uncomfortable than death.
The short man collapsed on the ground, kowtowing desperately and begging for mercy, while shouting desperately: "It was the slave who was ordered by the Yun family!"
"She said that she had offended Qiongzhi Palace and wanted to make amends by asking us to deliver the mutton. She also wanted to keep it secret so as not to let Empress Dowager De know... Nudang really didn't know that such a thing would happen!"
"Yun is already a commoner in the cold palace, why don't you just do whatever she says?" Aheya frowned and shouted coldly.
"I went to Jinde Palace and asked, and it was Sister Zhenzhu who said that Concubine De was thinking about her old friendship and had no intention of taking back this reward!"
"Yun Meiren has served me by my side, but now I'm down and out. I didn't offer to help her, and I didn't add insult to injury. It's not a mistake, right?" Concubine De snorted, looking very confident.
At this point, this matter can only point to Yun Meiren, not Concubine De.
Ahaya's eyes flickered, and she subconsciously raised her eyes to look at Concubine De. When she saw the smile on her lips, she subconsciously clenched her fingertips.
Sure enough, it is different from the previous life.
She let out a long breath, pulled Xie Jie's sleeves, and looked into his eyes.
No matter how extravagant it is, no one in the palace will believe it.
She and Yun Meiren had an almost life-and-death feud. With that person's temperament, she would never be able to give him any mutton. The poisoning was somewhat true.
If the culprit is Yun Meiren...
How could a commoner in a cold palace know clearly that she was sick and find out that there was pinellia in her medicine?
All the piles and piles pointed towards Concubine De, clearly and subtly.
As long as Xie Jie is willing to investigate, what clues can Jin Wuwei not catch?
Concubine De's handle has been put before her eyes, it's up to her to see if he will take it or not.
Xie Jie's eyes were dark, like an abyss, with all kinds of emotions converging and hiding, and he couldn't see the bottom.
After a while, he withdrew his gaze and spoke coldly to Zhou Zhong.
"Go to the cold palace and bring the Yun family here."
Ahya's heart suddenly sank.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and her mind was racing with thoughts.
Xie Jie didn't want to check.
Why?
She only discovered the conflict between pinellia and mutton because of the drink stall. Xie Jie was by her side at the time. Even if she didn't expect it at the moment, he would definitely notice something strange about her when the incident happened.
On the one hand, she wanted to use a trick to lure out the concubine, but on the other hand, she wanted to use this scene to increase the tyrant's trust in her. Naturally, she couldn't act too realistically, but the clumsier the better.
The tyrant must be able to see that this scene is for him, but not be able to remember the other scenes she did in front of him in the past...
But why didn't Xie Jie lock up Concubine De as he did in his previous life, thereby reaching an exchange of interests with He Xiang?
Ahaya tried hard to recall everything about this matter in her previous life.
In her previous life, she was not poisoned at this time, but half a year later, when she was awarded the title of Concubine Mei, she was in the prime of favor——
She suddenly opened her eyes and her pupils shrank.
Another thing happened at that time, that is, there were rebels in the south, and it was Concubine Shu's mother's family, the Shen family, who went to put them down.
In that battle, Xie Jie used the excuse of harassment by the Northern Rong and only sent out the Shen family's army without reinforcements. The Shen family's power was bound to suffer in this battle.
So at the same time, the Prime Minister's office of Concubine De's mother's family should also be injured, so that they can be honest for a period of time and the court can be balanced.
But at this time...the rebellion in the south has not yet started, and the Shen family has not gone to war.
The He family can be suppressed, but it cannot be severely damaged immediately.
She took a breath and immediately understood that Xie Jie would never blatantly help her in this matter.
Her hands under the quilt gradually clenched into fists, and there was a strange color in her eyes.
But if she was really injured like this in vain, then the banner of tyrant she originally raised would become a false pretense, and the favor she had given her would immediately become a castle in the air.
Even if you can't bring down Concubine De, there must at least be a step for Xie Jie to use the topic to his advantage.
"See Your Majesty."
A hoarse voice sounded, and Aheya looked over and saw Yun walking in slowly, following Zhou Zhong.
She was dressed in plain clothes, her face was visibly older, with a sickly white color, and there was a faint resentment in her eyes. She was completely different from the arrogant and domineering Yun Meiren in the past.
Concubine De only glanced at him and then withdrew her gaze in disgust, obviously losing patience with this waste.
It was He Jieyu who took a step forward and asked.
"Mr. Yun, the people in the dining room said that you gave the mutton portion that was rewarded by Concubine De to Qiongzhi Palace. Is this true?"
"mutton?"
Yunshi laughed sadly, not hiding her hatred at all: "Don't talk about meat, these days in the cold palace, I can't even see a fresh vegetable."
The person in the dining room immediately widened his eyes and looked defeated.
He stared at Yunshi and almost shouted: "It's obviously you! This is what Miss Du Juan next to you asked us to do! And we also sent twenty taels of silver——"
As soon as he said this, Xie Jie knuckled and looked at Zhou Zhong.
Zhou Zhong understood and quickly retreated.
"Pooh!"
Mrs. Yun spat at the person in the dining room, her eyes were bloodshot, and she grinned a little crazy: "Can there be a brand on the silver? Why do you say that?"
"Although I am down and out, not everyone can step on me!"
In fact, she didn't need to have a conflict with the people in the dining room. As long as she was bitten to death out of kindness, no one would be able to fault her.
But she insisted on this man dying.
How could she not hate a beautiful woman who was so high above her when she fell into the mud and was bullied by the palace people who looked down on her in the past?
Concubine De promised her that after this incident, she would send her to fake her death and leave the palace. Before leaving, how could she not take revenge?
It's a pity that the damn bitch survived!
"It's nothing new in the palace to hold someone high and downplay someone low. It's obvious that you saw her gain the upper hand, and eagerly sent me my example to please others! You still want to blame me?"
Yun laughed loudly, pointed at the palace man's nose and cursed.
"The cuckoo has committed suicide."
Zhou Zhong ran back panting and held his hands towards Xie Jie.
No matter how fast he is, he can't compare to someone silencing him.
Ahaya exhaled slowly and frowned.
At this point, things have reached a dead end.
If you can crucify Yun Meiren, you will still be considered worthy, but a palace man...
She looked at the man shaking like chaff on the ground, closed her eyes, and was about to take the initiative to give in, when she heard a soft female voice.
"His Majesty."
"Is there more than just a cuckoo serving Yunshi?"
Lin Meiren walked slowly from outside the palace and showed a reassuring smile to Ahaya.
Behind her, followed a woman with her head lowered, who turned out to be a disfigured magpie.