Concubine Lin was brought to the main hall, where she knelt on the ground and cried inconsolably, telling the emperor about her grievances.

The emperor sat on the majestic dragon throne, his face so gloomy that ink could drip out of it.

The palace maid knelt tremblingly beside Concubine Lin, lowering her head and not daring to look directly at the emperor.

Concubine Lin looked at the servant beside her and said angrily: "Slave, I was just punishing you, but you actually slandered me and accused me of harming Concubine Hui. You are a traitor and a heartless person."

The maid trembled and said, "Your Majesty, I dare not lie. Your Majesty has always been jealous of Concubine Hui's favor, and now that she is pregnant with the emperor's heir, she is worried that giving birth to a prince will make her even more favored. I was unwilling to do such a heinous thing, but Your Majesty threatened the lives of my entire family, so I had no choice but to obey your orders."

Linpin's eyes widened, she pointed at the maid and cursed, "You're talking nonsense! When did I ever treat you like this?"

The emperor looked at the master and servant with extreme anger and roared: "Poisonous woman, I thought you were always obedient, but I didn't expect you to be so cruel. You deserve to die for murdering the prince and princess."

Linpin kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Majesty, I am innocent. It was this servant who was instructed by others to frame me. Please investigate."

"With all the evidence and witnesses, you still want to deny it?"

"Your Majesty, I can swear on the Lin family and my life that if it was my fault, the Lin family and I will not have a good death."

The emperor looked at Concubine Lin thoughtfully for a long time, then said, "I will give you one more chance. If you confess the truth, I will show you a lighter sentence for Yue'er's sake."

Linpin looked up at the emperor, tears streaming down her face, but her eyes were firm as she said, "Your Majesty, I am truly wronged. Someone is deliberately framing me. Please investigate."

At this time, a girl of about thirteen or fourteen hurried to the door of the hall. The eunuch frowned slightly when he saw the third princess coming, and bowed, "Old slave, I pay my respects to the third princess."

"Where is this princess's mother?"

"Empress Lin is in the main hall."

She hurried in and saw Concubine Lin kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly. She fell to her knees and cried, "Father, Mother has been wronged. Please investigate."

When Concubine Lin saw her daughter coming, she was surprised and said, "Third Princess, why are you here? Go back quickly and don't make your father angry."

"Mother, if anything happens to you, I will be a child without a mother. Even if I anger Father, I will beg you to let me go."

"Xuan'er, why are you here when you're not in the Imperial College? Go back quickly."

"Father, I heard from the Imperial College that Mother was plotting to murder Empress Hui. I don't believe Mother would do such a vicious thing."

"She is usually not competitive and always reminds me that her position is not high and that all she needs to do is watch me grow up safely. How could my mother possibly frame Empress Hui and her unborn child?"

"Your Majesty, I beg you to investigate this matter."

The emperor looked at the third princess and shouted angrily, "Nonsense! This is my Lord's business and has nothing to do with you. Go back quickly and I will forgive you for what happened."

The Third Princess, however, looked up at the Emperor stubbornly and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "I know that coming to the palace will anger Father, but I must come to Mother to clarify the facts. Mother has always been kind, how could she do such a vicious thing? Someone must have slandered Mother. Please understand, Father."

At this moment, Shangguan Rui came slowly in a wheelchair, clasped his hands together and saluted, "Your Highness, your son greets you."

"Rui'er, no need to be polite."

"Thank you, Father."

"You've watched the whole process. Do you have any thoughts?"

Linpin and her daughter looked at Shangguan Rui expectantly. The Third Princess looked at Shangguan Rui with even more pity, choking up and saying, "Third brother, please be fair and say that Mother is truly wronged."

Shangguan Rui looked at the Third Princess and sighed softly, "Royal sister, Concubine Lin has done something that Father will never wrongly accuse her of."

"really?"

Shangguan Rui was furious when he thought about the man who was trying to frame Shen Xue. He had to take this opportunity to find out the mastermind behind the scenes, otherwise such a thing would happen again in the future.

He said confidently, "My dear sister, our father is a wise ruler. You must believe that he will act impartially. He will not wrongly accuse a good person, nor will he let a bad person go."

"Thank you, my Royal Brother, for your advice. I believe that Father will find the real culprit behind this and will not wrongly accuse Mother."

"Rui'er, what do you mean?"

"Father, you have a keen eye for talent, are extremely intelligent, and have a heart as clear as a mirror. I, your son, need not say more."

The emperor felt much better after hearing Shangguan Rui's flattery, and his tone softened. "Rui'er, if you have any opinions, feel free to speak up."

Shangguan Rui looked up at Shangguan with a firm gaze and said, "Father, although the palace maid pointed out Concubine Lin, and the evidence seems to be solid, I think that if it was really Concubine Lin who did it, how could it be so easy to find evidence?"

Lin Bin and her daughter looked at Shangguan Rui with gratitude.

"Rui'er means it's someone else."

"Father, the person behind the scenes is deliberately trying to harm the Princess of Ya'an County, or perhaps they want to use her to get rid of Concubine Hui and the unborn prince."

"At that time, Concubine Hui was unwell. If the Princess of Ya'an had not carried the silver needles with her and used my poison needle, she would have been the murderer who murdered Concubine Hui and the unborn prince."

"The person behind the scenes was indeed very clever in using a knife to kill someone, but she didn't expect that the Princess of Ya'an would bring a needle kit with her when she entered the palace to attend the banquet, allowing her to escape danger."

"When one plan failed, the person behind the scenes came up with another. He ordered the servants to scatter beads on the steps to make the sedan chair bearers fall. If Concubine Hui fell from such a high sedan chair, the prince in her belly would have no chance of survival."

"She knew you would order an investigation, so she ordered this servant to firmly declare that it was Concubine Lin who did it, and to take the blame for her own vicious behavior. If your father punishes Concubine Lin, the real culprit will go unpunished, and such things will happen again in the future."

The emperor was furious. "Come here, take this servant away and torture her severely. We must find out who is behind this."

"Old slave obeys the order."

"Thank you, Third Prince, for speaking a fair word for me."

"This prince is just seeking truth from facts."

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