NCCnovel Chapter 270: Uprooting
Chapter 270: Uprooting
The news soon reached the ears of Empress Dowager Li. She was having breakfast when she heard the palace maid's report and her chopsticks fell to the ground with a "snap".
"How dare you play tricks in the harem! How dare you play tricks in the harem? How disrespectful!" Empress Dowager Li was furious, her face ashen.
"Go! Investigate this matter thoroughly for me! Make sure to find out who is playing tricks and punish them severely!" She gave the order sternly, her tone full of unquestionable majesty.
The guards immediately rushed to Concubine Shu's bedroom and launched a carpet search. They searched every corner of the bedroom, under the bed, in the cabinets, and even the beams, but they still couldn't find anything suspicious.
"Your Majesty, there is nothing unusual in the bedroom." A captain of the guards knelt on one knee and reported to Empress Dowager Li.
Empress Dowager Li frowned, her mind filled with doubt. Could it be true, as the rumors said, that a wronged spirit was haunting her?
Just when the guards were about to give up, a young guard accidentally opened Concubine Shu's dressing box. Inside the box, besides rouge and powder, there were also some letters and parcels. He curiously opened it and his face suddenly changed.
"Empress Dowager! Look!" He hurriedly presented the letter and package to Empress Dowager Li.
Empress Dowager Li took a look at the letter, and her expression instantly turned from confusion to anger. The letter contained evidence of Concubine Shu colluding with merchants outside the palace to secretly sell palace treasures and medicinal herbs, while the package contained the stolen goods of Cui'er.
"You are so audacious, Concubine Shu! You actually did such a brazen thing behind my back!" Empress Dowager Li was furious, and the letter in her hand was deformed by her crush. She had never expected that Concubine Shu would be so foolish as to do such a shameful thing and even leave such obvious evidence behind!
"Someone come! Bring Concubine Shu to me!" Empress Dowager Li suppressed her anger and ordered with gritted teeth.
Soon, the terrified Concubine Shu was brought before Empress Dowager Li. "Empress Dowager, spare me! I am innocent!" Shufei cried, but she was unable to defend herself.
Empress Dowager Li angrily rebuked, "The evidence is irrefutable, yet you still dare to quibble! Come! Take Concubine Shu back to the palace and confine her to her quarters for a month. No one is allowed to visit her!"
Two guards, one on each side, carried Concubine Shu and dragged her from the Empress Dowager's chambers. Concubine Shu's cries echoed through the palace, each one a pale, powerless cry of "unjust." She struggled desperately, but her efforts were futile, like a trapped animal. She could only watch helplessly as she was taken away and imprisoned in her own chambers, the magnificent palace now a prisoner. Meanwhile, Cui'er was also escorted by the guards and thrown into a cold, damp prison, charged with theft and colluding with merchants to profit illegally.
When the news reached Cen Jiexiao, she was leisurely sipping tea and listening to the birdsong outside the window. Upon hearing that Concubine Shu was under house arrest and Cui'er was imprisoned, she showed no surprise. Instead, a subtle sneer curled up at the corner of her mouth, as if she had expected everything. "The fish has taken the bait," she thought to herself, her slender fingers gently tapping the tabletop. Once, twice, three times, the rhythmic tapping seemed to be the beat of her mental calculations.
A plan gradually took shape in her mind. She called Ying from the Qiming Group and whispered, "Go spread a message..." She leaned close to Ying's ear and told him the details of the plan. Ying listened and nodded, with excitement flashing in his eyes.
"Remember, do it cleanly and neatly, leaving no traces behind," Cen Jiexiao warned. Ying followed her orders and disappeared silently into the night, like a ghost.
Soon after, a rumor began to spread quietly in the palace and prison: Cui Er committed suicide out of fear of punishment. This news spread like wings, from the whispers of palace maids and eunuchs to the whispers of guards, and finally reached Cui Er's ears.
When Cui Er heard the news from the prison, she was shocked and terrified. She curled up in a cold and damp corner, shivering and pale as paper, thinking that Concubine Shu was trying to silence her.
"No, I can't die! I still have family!" Her heart was filled with fear and despair, as if she was in an endless abyss.
In the darkness, her mind wandered. Concubine Shu's sinister, venomous eyes flashed before her eyes, and her threats echoed in her ears: "If you dare betray me, I will make your entire family suffer!" Concubine Shu's voice seemed to be right beside her, sharp and piercing, like the whisper of a demon, chilling her to the bone. She seemed to see her own parents, brothers, and sisters brutally murdered by Concubine Shu's men, their blood staining the ground red...
Fear and despair overwhelmed her like a tide, and she collapsed. She cried heart-wrenchingly, begging the jailer to let her see Cen Jiexiao.
"I want to see Dean Cen! I have something important to tell her!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice filled with despair and pleading. She wanted to confess, she wanted to confess everything, in exchange for a glimmer of hope.
Cen Jiexiao seemed to have anticipated Cui'er's request for help, and she agreed to Cui'er's request. In the dim cell, filled with the smell of dampness and decay, only a dim oil lamp emitted a weak light.
Cui'er knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face, and confessed everything, including how Concubine Shu had instructed her to steal treasures, how she had colluded with merchants outside the palace, how she had framed other palace servants, and even some of Concubine Shu's unknown secrets, such as how she had secretly colluded with the remnants of the previous dynasty and intended to target the Queen.
Cen Jiexiao listened attentively, holding a pen in her hand, and wrote down Cui'er's confession on a piece of white paper, forming a complete testimony. She took this heavy testimony, the dense words on it, like the mark of Concubine Shu's guilt, and went to Chai Zhen's bedroom.
Chai Zhen took the confession handed over by Cen Jiexiao and read it quickly. His expression gradually changed from initial shock to anger. Finally, his face was covered with gloom and his eyes flashed with anger.
"This bitch!" Chai Zhen roared, slamming the testimony in his hand onto the table. The heavy sandalwood table made a dull thud. The testimony scattered, falling like snowflakes on the polished floor, each page filled with the guilt of Concubine Shu.
His eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead bulged like twisted earthworms. He gritted his teeth, squeezing every word out between his teeth. "I dote on her so much, and she actually did this!"
He abruptly stood up and paced back and forth across the room. His heavy footsteps echoed in the silent chamber, like the beating of a drum, hammering at Cen Jiexiao's heart. His chest heaved violently, as if it would burst at any moment. Rage surged like a surging tide, threatening to engulf him.