The Rebirth of Li Fei: The Strongest Palace Fighting System

The Queen's words were like sharp blades, echoing in the hall, and every word seemed to push me into an abyss from which there was no escape.

She said coldly:

"Now it's confirmed that this puppet was created by Concubine An! Concubine An, how many lives do you have? How dare you curse Concubine Hua? According to palace rules, the punishment for practicing witchcraft is, do you know?"

My face was as calm as water, my eyes were firm, I said nothing and did not refute.

I waited quietly because I knew that things were far from settled and a reversal was just around the corner.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Concubine Hua's reaction. She stared at me with a half-believing and very surprised look, as if trying to read the answer from my face.

But all I offer is peace, as calm as water, without any ripples.

At this time, Concubine Qi's voice was like adding fuel to the fire, pushing the atmosphere in the hall to a climax again:

"For a concubine in the palace to practice witchcraft is a serious crime. According to the law, she will be demoted to a commoner and sent to the Ministry of Punishment!"

I lowered my eyes slightly, but my mind was as clear as a mirror.

I knew full well that this was just a trap set by the Queen to put me to death.

I took a deep breath, and when I raised my eyes again, they were clear and resolute. I spoke slowly, my voice soft but powerful:

"Your Highness, Sister Qipin, I know I am innocent and there is no need to say more. There must be something fishy going on here. I beg Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate this matter and give me justice."

Upon hearing this, the queen curled her lips into a sneer, as if she had already anticipated my reaction.

At this moment, Su Peisheng's voice was like a thunderclap, breaking the dullness and tension in the hall.

He said respectfully to the Emperor and the Empress:

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, there is one more thing I have noticed that seems a little strange during my investigation."

Upon hearing this, the emperor raised his eyebrows and looked at Su Peisheng with a sharp gaze:

"speak."

Su Peisheng bowed slightly and continued:

"To be on the safe side, I asked the embroiderer to take the doll apart and examine it, but I found a foreign object inside."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and looked at him with curiosity and doubt.

Su Peisheng slowly took out a piece of furry, broken silk flower from his sleeve. Although the petals on the silk flower were broken, one could still vaguely recognize its former beauty.

The emperor's eyes were sharp and he said in a deep voice:

"Bring it up and let me see it."

Su Peisheng hurriedly stepped forward, holding the silk flower in both hands, and carefully presented it to the emperor.

Everyone's eyes followed, wanting to see what on earth this thing could appear in the doll.

The emperor took the silk flower, looked at it carefully, and his brows furrowed more and more.

He looked up at me, a complicated light flashing in his eyes:

"Princess An, do you recognize this silk flower?"

I crawled forward on my knees, gently touching the silk flower left on the ground with my fingers, frowning slightly, pretending to recall something.

Then he slowly raised his head, with a hint of uncertainty and surprise in his tone:

"I dare say this silk flower... I seem to have seen it somewhere before. On closer inspection, isn't this the one my personal maid Baojuan always wears in her hair? The color and style are exactly the same."

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall suddenly fell silent, and everyone's eyes were focused on Baojuan.

Baojuan's face turned pale as paper in an instant, a hint of incredible fear flashed in her eyes, her lips trembled, as if she wanted to explain but didn't know where to start. Her eyes wavered between curiosity and doubt, as if she was trying to find a reasonable explanation from this sudden change.

Concubine Duan gently put down the teacup in her hand, her eyes sharp as an eagle, her voice calm and steady:

"This silk flower is of a rough texture, clearly a common item, hastily made from spun silk from cloth. It is definitely not something a concubine in the palace could use. It is indeed something commonly worn by palace maids."

I nodded slightly, with a look of determination:

"Your Highness, it is indeed Baojuan's, as you can see. However, I am puzzled as to why it appears inside this doll."

Concubine Cao gently waved her round fan, a meaningful smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and her words revealed a hint of temptation:

"If this doll was truly made by Concubine An herself, how could she be so careless as to leave such a personal item inside? This is quite strange."

Concubine Li sneered unabashedly, her tone full of obvious sarcasm and disdain:

"Hmph, need I even explain this? Baojuan must have secretly made this doll and accidentally left her silk flower inside. With such a clumsy trick, how could she possibly get away with it?"

I turned to Baojuan, with a tone of sternness and expectation:

"Baojuan, tell me, why did this silk flower appear here? Do you have anything to explain?"

Baojuan's voice was filled with tears, and she squeezed out words intermittently. Her eyes flickered, and it was obvious that she was going through a fierce struggle in her heart:

"This... this is indeed my silk flower, but I know nothing about that doll! I dare to guess that perhaps it was Concubine An... Your Majesty, you inadvertently slipped this silk flower into it, perhaps thinking that if anything unexpected happened in the future, you would have an excuse to shirk responsibility... I am innocent. Please, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please see clearly and help me!"

After saying that, Baojuan kowtowed several times, and her forehead was already red and swollen.

"Hahaha......"

Concubine Hua's laughter rang out like a silver bell, but it was also sharp and mocking. She gently covered the corners of her mouth, and her eyes flashed with a playful light:

"Hahahaha... This plot is even more exciting than the script on the stage! How dare a little palace maid come up with such a well-reasoned lie in front of so many eyes?"

The Queen gently stroked the pattern on her sleeve, her eyes cold and her tone filled with unquestionable majesty:

"Noble Concubine Hua, today's matter concerns the peace of the harem and is of no small importance. It is inappropriate for you to act so rashly and lose your composure."

Concubine Hua's smile froze for a moment, then returned to normal. She bowed slightly, her tone filled with perfunctory and unwillingness:

"Yes, I know I was wrong, and I will be careful with my words and actions. However, Baojuan's excuse is really hard to believe."

Concubine Hua raised her eyebrows slightly, a sneer appeared on the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were full of disdain for Baojuan:

"I think Baojuan failed to think quickly enough and instead lost her mind, unable to even hold up a lie. Just now, when we were comparing the stitching, I told you that if Concubine An really wanted to modify the stitching so that no one could see the flaw, then she might as well not have made the doll at all. Isn't the same logic true of this silk flower incident? If Concubine An really was that cunning and wanted to use a piece of silk flower to frame her personal maid in the future, then she might as well not have made the doll at all. Wouldn't that have been much easier?"