Traveling through the Tang Dynasty: The Concubine Goes to War

The eunuch in charge of the palace demanded to see the emperor in person before he would tell him why he let Concubine Zhu go.

So one afternoon, the emperor's guards brought up the eunuch from the palace.

"Your Majesty, please spare my life!" At this moment, the steward of the palace had none of the prestige he had when he was working in the palace.

The emperor looked at the person who kept begging for mercy, and a trace of disgust flashed in his eyes.

He slammed the table hard and shouted, "How dare you let Zhu Cairen go without permission! Tell me, who told you to do this?"

The eunuch trembled all over and said with his head down: "Your Majesty, it is...it is Concubine Ye Shufei."

The emperor was shocked when he heard this, but he remained calm on the surface. He knew Ye Ling'er's methods very well. If this was really done by her, there must be a bigger conspiracy behind it. "Concubine Ye Shu? Why did she do this?" the emperor asked.

The eunuch stammered, "Your Majesty, it was Concubine Ye who asked me to release Concubine Zhu."

The emperor frowned and sneered, "Ye Ling'er? How could she do such a thing? Are you lying?"

The eunuch was so frightened that he kowtowed and cried, "I dare not lie! It was indeed Concubine Ye Shufei who asked me to do it. She said that Concubine Zhu was pregnant and if she continued to stay in the palace, it might affect her status. So, she decided to send Concubine Zhu out of the palace."

After hearing this, the emperor's face turned gloomy. He had never expected that his harem would be so chaotic. These women would do anything to win favor, even hurting others. As the king of a country, he knew nothing about this.

"Well! You women really disappoint me!" the emperor roared angrily.

Upon seeing this, the eunuch knelt down and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, please calm down! I am also forced to do this! Concubine Ye Shu threatened me that if I don't do as she asked, she will kill my whole family. I really have no choice!"

The emperor looked at the eunuch coldly and asked, "Then why are you telling me the truth now? Aren't you afraid of Concubine Ye's revenge?"

The eunuch raised his head and said with tears in his eyes: "Your Majesty, I know that I have made a big mistake. However, I really can't bear to see Concubine Zhu being wronged like this. Moreover, I don't want to be controlled by Concubine Ye Shufei anymore. I hope Your Majesty can give me a chance to make a new start."

The emperor was silent for a moment, but finally nodded: "Okay! Since you took the initiative to confess to me, I will be lenient with you. However, from now on, you are not allowed to set foot in the palace again. Otherwise, I will not let you off easily."

The eunuch in the palace expressed his gratitude with tears in his eyes: "Thank you very much, Your Majesty, for your kindness! I will definitely remember it in my heart."

Afterwards, the emperor ordered the guards to take the eunuch out of the palace and ordered a thorough investigation of the matter. He was determined to find out who was behind all this and what their purpose was.

The emperor was silent for a moment, then waved his hand and asked the guards to take the eunuch away. "Come here, go to Xiuzhen Palace." He decided to go to Ye Ling'er in person to ask for clarification.

The emperor came to Xiuzhen Palace, and Ye Ling'er was dressing up. She saw the emperor coming and hurriedly stood up to salute. The emperor looked at her coldly, "The eunuch has confessed everything, what else do you have to say?"

Ye Ling'er pretended to be surprised, "I am innocent, Your Majesty, how could I do such a thing?" The emperor snorted, "How dare you quibble! The eunuch said that you instructed him to let Concubine Zhu go."

Ye Ling'er burst into tears, "Your Majesty, I have no grudge against Concubine Zhu, why did you instruct the eunuch to let her go? There must be a misunderstanding." The emperor frowned, "Then tell me, what's going on?" Ye Ling'er rolled her eyes, "I guess someone must be jealous of my favor and deliberately framed me. Please investigate!"

The emperor thought for a moment, "I will check it out. If I find out that you are lying, you will bear the consequences!" After that, the emperor turned and left. Ye Ling'er looked at the emperor's back and swore in her heart that she must find a way to get rid of Zhu Cairen. Ye Ling'er knew that the emperor would not easily believe her words, and she had to find evidence to prove her innocence.

She sent her trusted palace maid to investigate the matter, and also spread the news in the palace, saying that someone deliberately framed her.

Not long after, the palace maid brought back some clues. It turned out that the palace manager had received favors from Zhu Cairen, so he took the risk of letting her out of the palace.

Ye Ling'er presented the evidence to the emperor. After the emperor read it, his expression gradually relaxed.

"It seems that there is indeed another hidden story behind this matter. My beloved concubine has been wronged." The emperor comforted.

Ye Ling'er took the opportunity to act coquettishly and said, "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will be extra careful and not let this happen again."

However, only Ye Ling'er herself knew that all this was just a play she had carefully planned. She successfully deceived the emperor and eliminated her own suspicion. Next, what she had to do was to find out who really wanted to frame her as soon as possible and eliminate him. "However, Your Majesty." Ye Ling'er suddenly knelt down, "I think that the matter of Zhu Cairen leaving the palace is of great importance. If we don't investigate it thoroughly, I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince the public."

"My beloved concubine is absolutely right." The emperor helped Ye Ling'er up. "Then according to my beloved concubine, how should we conduct a thorough investigation?"

"I think we should start with the people around Zhu Cairen." Ye Ling'er paused, "As far as I know, Zhu Cairen doesn't have many friends in the palace. There is only one person who has a close relationship with him."

"Who is this person?" The emperor asked with a frown, looking at the woman kneeling on the ground.

"Your Majesty, this is Zhu Cairen's personal maid Hui'er." Ye Ling'er replied softly, "I heard that Hui'er has been behaving strangely recently and often goes to places she shouldn't go."

"Hmm..." The emperor thought for a moment, and a serious expression appeared on his face: "Send the order to bring Hui'er here for interrogation."

Soon, Hui'er was brought before the emperor by the guards. She was pale and trembling all over, obviously very scared.

"Hui'er, I want to ask you, do you know that Concubine Zhu has left the palace?" The emperor asked majestically, his eyes so sharp that they seemed to be able to penetrate people's hearts.

"Your Majesty, I...I don't know." Hui'er lowered her head, not daring to look directly into the emperor's eyes, her voice trembling slightly.

"How dare you, my daring servant, to deceive me!" The emperor shouted angrily and slammed the table, frightening Hui'er so much that she almost collapsed to the ground. "I have solid evidence to prove that you are involved in Concubine Zhu's departure from the palace! If you don't confess, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

"Your Majesty, calm down!" Seeing this, Ye Ling'er knelt down and begged, "Hui'er is just a servant after all, I'm afraid she might have some concerns. Why don't you put her in jail first, and then deal with her after I find out the truth."

"Okay, I'll do as my beloved concubine says." The emperor nodded and signaled the guards to take Hui'er away. "Take Hui'er to the prison and keep her under strict watch! If there is any disturbance, report it to me immediately."