Chapter 65: Not Shedding a Tear Until Seeing the Coffin
“Mother Empress, this daughter does not know him!”
Li Qingheās voice rang out with conviction in Zhonghe Hall.
Her expression did not seem faked; she looked open and aboveboard.
However, beside her, Ruyue heard Li Qingheās sonorous voice and felt so guilty she wanted to bury her head in her stomach.
Li Xuanyueās eyes flickered slightly. “That is strange.”
She looked at Li Qinghe standing there, then at Ruyue kneeling beside her, her tone becoming peculiar. “Father Consortās side found that this man in black is one of the murderers sent by Younger Sister to kill Imperial Physician Fang.”
With every sentence Li Xuanyue spoke, Li Qingheās heart, currently suspended in mid-air, skipped a beat.
She wanted to turn her head and ask Ruyue what was going on.
However, under the gaze of the crowd, everyoneās eyes were fixed on the master and servant. Any slight movement or fidgeting would be infinitely magnified and seen clearly by all.
What Li Qinghe had to do now was deny it to the death, pretending this matter never happened.
Otherwise, if Li Xuanyue confirmed in front of everyone that she had sent someone to kill Imperial Physician Fang, what awaited her would not be as simple as eighty strokes of the heavy staff.
After weighing her options, Li Qinghe straightened her slightly bent posture.
“This daughter did not do it,” Li Qinghe stated matter-of-factly. “Sister, isn’t it excessive to forcibly pin something on me that I haven’t done?”
Li Xuanyue seemed to anticipate that Li Qinghe would not admit it.
She didn’t strike back immediately but turned her gaze to Ruyue, who was kneeling beside her sister.
“Why is Younger Sister so agitated?”
She narrowed her eyes, her tone leisurely. “Did This Palace say you definitely did it?”
“Perhaps the maid beside you acted behind your back to show loyalty, or maybe she had a personal grudge against Imperial Physician Fang and moved against him secretly?”
Li Xuanyue didn’t speak in absolutes. Nor did she insist that Li Qinghe was the perpetrator.
After all, judging from her reaction and expression just now, the matter with Imperial Physician Fang might truly have nothing to do with her.
But her maid? That was a certainty.
Li Xuanyueās gaze glanced toward Ruyue from time to time, deep and obscure.
Kneeling to the side, Ruyue panicked the moment Li Xuanyue mentioned the word “maid” to Li Qinghe.
Li Xuanyueās deduction was correct; Ruyue had indeed taken it upon herself to do this privately.
But that didn’t mean she would admit it.
Without any hard evidence, if she, a mere maid, admitted in public that she did this behind Li Qingheās back, she would surely not escape death.
So, the best method was to play the quailāto play dead!
“Mother Empress, your child requests that the guards investigate all the maids in Chaoren Hall!”
Seeing that Li Qingheās maid, Ruyue, still refused to step forward and confess, Li Xuanyue raised her hand and petitioned Li Feng.
“Especially… the girl named Ruyue kneeling beside Younger Sister!”
Li Xuanyue stopped just short of explicitly stating that Li Qingheās confidante, Ruyue, was the one who ordered the hit.
Suddenly named, Ruyueās eyes widened, and she jerked her head up.
“Princess, this servant didn’t!”
Ruyue shook her head in denial.
Although she felt guilty and lacked confidence, that didn’t mean she would be foolish enough to admit she ordered the hit.
“Sister, don’t go too far.”
Seeing Li Xuanyue cast suspicious glances at Ruyue, Li Qingheās heart skipped a beat.
Yet, she maintained a calm expression on her face.
“Ruyue is the person closest to me. If you have any dissatisfaction, speak to me directly. Why drag her into this?”
Ruyue had indeed done this. But she had already told Ruyue to clean up the aftermath. Logically, it shouldn’t have been discovered.
But now, the man in black kneeling in the hall had been traced back to Ruyue.
Li Qinghe strongly suspected this was a trap set specifically for her by Li Xuanyue!
Li Xuanyue raised an eyebrow. “Younger Sister, do you think This Palace is bored enough to open my mouth and slander people at random?”
“Men, bring the item in.”
Soon, at Li Xuanyueās summons, a maid walked in from outside the hall, head bowed respectfully, carrying a jade pendant on a tray.
Sitting on the high seat, Li Feng remained silent from beginning to end. She simply frowned and watched, wanting to see how Li Xuanyue planned to handle this.
Li Qinghe frowned, evidently not expecting Li Xuanyue to have a backup plan.
It seemed she had already planned everything in her heart, waiting for Li Qinghe to jump out in dissatisfaction so she could slap her in the face.
What a calculation.
Li Qingheās face was livid, the anger in her heart rising to the sky.
Li Xuanyue didn’t care about Li Qingheās expression. She picked up the translucent white jade pendant from the tray and waved it before everyoneās eyes.
Then, she held it still in front of Li Qinghe.
“Younger Sister, do you recognize this jade pendant?”
She spoke coolly: “The material of this jade pendant looks quite good.”
“If taken outside to exchange, it could probably fetch about three hundred gold.”
“But jade pendants of this material are ubiquitous in the Phoenix Royal Family.”
“It’s not rare at all.”
“Only maids and the like would wear such things.”
Li Qingheās eyes darkened. “What does a jade pendant prove?”
It wasn’t hers, anyway.
“Surely Sister isn’t trying to say you found this jade pendant on the murderer?”
Li Xuanyueās eyes held a faint smile. “Indeed, a jade pendant alone proves nothing. But what if this jade pendant belongs to Miss Ruyue here?”
When Ruyue saw the jade pendant brought in by the maid, her heart started beating like a drum.
Seeing Li Xuanyue bring the pendant right in front of her, her body went weak.
She had given this jade pendant to her secret lover some days ago. Otherwise, why would he have followed her orders to kill Imperial Physician Fang?
She just hadn’t expected the pendant to end up here. Now, even if she had a mouth, it would be hard to explain.
“Miss Ruyue, do you have anything to say now?”
Li Xuanyue looked at Ruyue again.
For a single maid to have the audacity to order the killing of Imperial Physician Fang behind Li Qingheās back… one could imagine how much Li Qinghe trusted her usually.
“No, it wasn’t this servant. This servant doesn’t know what’s going on.”
Ruyue still held a shred of luck, trying to defend herself. “I ask Princess Xuanyue to investigate clearly.”
Li Xuanyue sneered. “You really won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin.”
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