I just want to live a happy life

Fangcao knelt tremblingly beside Xiao Fuzi.

The queen looked at her and said, "You are Concubine Xian's maid. You should know what Concubine Xian did in the palace. Tell me what you know."

Fangcao didn't say anything at first, but just secretly looked at Ruyi like Xiao Luzi did before.

After a while, he acted as if he was determined to give it a try.

"I am a maid in the Yanxi Palace, responsible for cleaning Concubine Xian's room. I discovered it when I was cleaning the day before, but I didn't expect that Concubine Xian was using cinnabar to harm people."

"I only found out later when I accidentally heard her instructing Xiao Fuzi to put the cinnabar into Concubine Yi's charcoal basin."

Ruyi abandoned her ladylike dignity and pointed at her angrily, "You are talking nonsense. I didn't do it at all. Whose orders did you follow to frame me?"

Fang Cao: "Empress Xian, I didn't follow anyone's orders. I just couldn't bear to see Empress Xian hurting people so much that I told her everything I knew."

Fang Cao: "I know that if I tell Empress Xian about the harm she did to others, she will definitely not let me go, I..."

Before she finished speaking, Fangcao immediately crashed into the copper furnace behind her without hesitation. The force of the crash was so great that before anyone could react, she was already lying on the ground with blood all over her face.

Xiao Luzi was the same, saying, "I know that Empress Xian is dissatisfied with what I said today. I also know that I will not live long, so I will die here like Fangcao today."

After saying that, he bumped into the copper furnace.

Everyone screamed in shock and turned their heads away, unwilling to watch the scene.

Xiao Fuzi watched her brother die miserably, and looked at Concubine Xian with resentment: "Empress Xian, how could you be so cruel? In order to protect yourself, you forced my brother to death. I am loyal to you, but you still won't let us go."

Xiao Fuzi's face turned red and there was hatred in his eyes.

Mei Changzai originally didn't believe that Ruyi would harm her child, but when she saw that these people would rather die than change their words, she completely believed that it was Ruyi who harmed her child.

So she took advantage of the chaos to run to Ruyi and slapped her hard, causing her face to swell up and blood to come out of the corners of her mouth.

It can be seen how hard Mei Chang hits.

Behind Ruyi, Suo Xin knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I follow Empress Xian every day. I know everything Empress Xian does. Our master has never harmed the children of Concubine Yi and Concubine Mei."

Jin Yuyan sneered: "惢心, I know you are loyal to Concubine Xian, but there will always be times when you are not around. How can you possibly know everything Concubine Xian does?"

Ruyi's hair was all disheveled after being slapped by Mei Changzai. She knelt in front of Hongli, her eyes red as she stared at him. She opened her lips several times but didn't know how to defend herself.

She really didn't expect that in order to frame her and prove that she did it, she would have to pay with two lives.

She didn't even know who had gone to the trouble of harming him like this.

She didn't know whether it was the queen, Gao Xiyue or Chen Wanyin.

She didn't have any evidence, and now she realized how miserable she was in the harem. No one was on good terms with her, and now she didn't have any help.

In the end, she could only place all her hopes on Hongli, hoping that he could clear her name.

"Your Majesty, I don't know why the cinnabar was under my dressing table. I did not harm Concubine Yi and Concubine Mei."

Hongli had a complicated expression on his face. He didn't know whether he should believe Ruyi, but all the evidence pointed to Ruyi, and he couldn't help but doubt it.

He remembered again that Ruyi had instructed the Ulanara family to harm Concubine Yu, and he believed a little more about what had happened today.

The Queen Mother could see that this was a setup against Ruyi, but what good did it matter? She would not help Ruyi, and she was too late to be happy.

"Emperor, the evidence is so clear, why haven't you punished Concubine Xian yet?"

Hongli: "Madam, there are still doubts about this matter. I will order someone to investigate it thoroughly before making a decision."

The Queen was dissatisfied. She had finally found Ruyi's fault and she was unwilling to let it end like this.

"emperor..."

Hongli stopped her and ordered that Ruyi be locked up in the Yanx Palace first, and no one was allowed to visit her until the matter was fully investigated before taking further action.

. . . .

Hongli returned to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity and asked Yu Hu to investigate the matter.

After hearing Hongli's instructions, Yu Hu locked Xiao Fuzi up in the Shenxingsi and tortured him severely, but Xiao Fuzi never gave in and insisted that everything he did was ordered by Concubine Xian.

Helplessly, Yu Hu could not find a breakthrough on Xiao Fuzi and could only look for evidence on their families.

In the end, it was discovered that Xiao Luzi, Xiao Fuzi, and Fangcao's family had received a large sum of silver some time ago, and the source of the silver was directly pointed to the Ulanara Mansion.

After listening to Yu Hu's investigation, Hongli's eyes were gloomy. The children of Concubine Yi and Concubine Mei were killed, so he was somewhat suspicious of Ruyi.

But he did not completely believe the testimony of that day. He just had a thought at that time that everything pointed directly to Ruyi. It was too obvious, as if it was directed at Ruyi.

That's why he privately ordered Yu Hu to investigate, but he didn't expect that no one else found anything except Ruyi.

Yu Hu stood beside Hongli and asked, "Your Majesty, do we need to continue investigating this matter?"

Hongli stood by the bookshelf, holding a portrait of him and Ruyi.

"Let me think about it first."

Before Hongli could figure out what to do with Ruyi, Mei Changzai broke into the Yanx Palace late at night and whipped Ruyi until she was covered in wounds. But that was not the end yet.

Following Jin Yuyan's instigation, Concubine Yi also went to the Yanx Palace and cut a deep cut on Ruyi's arm with a hairpin.

Hongli sighed, but did not blame Concubine Yi and Concubine Mei for their extraordinary behavior. He just thought that they loved their son too much. However, he did not allow Ruyi to be harmed. He asked some guards to guard the gate of Yanx Palace and not allow anyone to enter.

Concubine Yi's health had never been good. She drank several bowls of safflower and lacquer soup, but still couldn't conceive. She then went to the Yanxi Palace alone. Due to her fluctuating emotions, she couldn't hold on and died.

Hongli promoted Concubine Yi to Concubine Yi and buried her according to her rank as a concubine.

On this day, the Empress Dowager went to the Yangxin Palace to test how Hongli would deal with Ruyi.

Hongli did not immediately agree to the Empress Dowager's suggestion to abolish Ruyi's title, demote her to a commoner, and lock her up in the cold palace.

The Queen Mother looked at Hongli who was still hesitating and said, "Emperor, I know you have Ruyi in your heart, but if you don't give me a result on this matter, how can you stop her from talking? The longer you delay, the more unpeaceful the harem will be. Aren't you afraid that there will be more powerful tricks to deal with Ruyi?"