Marrying the Crown Prince

Zhou Zhou raised her hand, and the eunuch released her. The little palace maid scrambled back, pleading, "Your Majesty, please spare me! I've been bewitched and blinded by greed!"

"Pah!" Jufang spat. "You black-hearted bastard, how could you be innocent of the lard?!"

Zhou Zhou: "..."

No, we need to be serious at this moment, we can't laugh.

Zhou Zhou asked, "Since you want to talk about it, then tell me, who instructed you to put laxatives in today's food?"

"This..." the young palace maid hesitated, speaking timidly, "If I confess, Your Highness, could you spare my life?"

Zhou Zhou raised an eyebrow: Oh my, you can even bargain like this?!

At this point, someone needs to step forward and play the villain.

"Who do you think you are, daring to make demands?" Dong He rebuked angrily, her face turning red with rage. She turned to Zhou Zhou and said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, we should just drag her away, gag her, and pull out her fingernails one by one. I don't believe that she'll still refuse to say anything after that."

The little palace maid trembled like a sieve. "You...you've been tortured into confessing."

"Forced confession?" Dong Heqi laughed. "What? Caught red-handed, and still claiming innocence?"

“You have already been convicted, so there is no need for you to confess. Where did this forced confession come from?”

"Even if I beat you to death, let alone beat you up, you'd still deserve it!"

Far away.

Zhou Zhou coughed lightly and looked at the little girl below, "Considering this is your first offense, if you tell the truth, I don't mind sparing your life."

The young palace maid's eyes lit up, and she quickly said, "It's Consort Shu, it's Her Highness Consort Shu."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhou immediately sat up straight. "What did you say?"

Zhou Zhou's sudden aura startled the young palace maid, who timidly stammered, "It was...it was Consort Shu who instructed me."

"Take the man away."

After saying that, Zhou Zhou stood up.

"Your Majesty, this servant... Waaah..."

The palace maid's mouth was gagged again.

This matter involves Emperor Chenze's harem, so it's beyond Zhou Zhou's control. Therefore, she doesn't care whether this guy is telling the truth or not; someone else will judge for themselves.

Zhou Zhou walked into the house, not forgetting to instruct Dong He, "Go to Changding Palace and invite His Highness the Crown Prince over."

Today is Zhou Zhou's birthday, and Li Ziyan also got a day off. Before lunch, he was entertaining male guests at the East Palace. After lunch, he rushed to Changding Hall to handle some urgent official business.

Donghe, who was by the Crown Princess's side, came over, and Changyi hurriedly went in to report. Soon, Li Ziyan learned the whole story.

It turned out that a young palace maid had taken advantage of the chaos today to sneak into the kitchen; in the past, the kitchen was a very important place in the East Palace, and no one who was not from the kitchen was allowed to enter or leave.

But today, in order to prepare a birthday banquet for Zhou Zhou, the kitchen was short-handed, so they borrowed two chefs from the imperial kitchen.

In this way, the young palace maid was able to sneak in.

After she infiltrated the kitchen, she was very cautious and capable, quick and efficient. Washing vegetables, chopping vegetables, and tending the fire were all easy for her. When the people in the kitchen saw her, they all thought she was a temporary worker from the Imperial Kitchen; when the people in the Imperial Kitchen saw her, they thought she was a former cook from the Eastern Palace's small kitchen.

So, this guy actually succeeded, managing to put the laxative into the pot.

However, after Zhou Zhou took office, he added a new rule: dishes must be tasted before serving.

It would have been better if they hadn't tried it; the moment they did, they were shocked. The palace servant who was tasting the food covered his buttocks and ran into the outhouse.

When the incident occurred, the head chef of the small kitchen reacted quickly, immediately closing and locking the door, and calling over the eunuchs who had been guarding the door, asking them to invite Donghe over.

Donghe took out his notebook and matched each person's identity with the one listed, directly exposing the traitor who was taking advantage of the situation.

After Donghe finished speaking, she cautiously looked up at Li Ziyan. Seeing that he looked normal, her heart pounded even harder.

It's not the master's anger that's scary, but the master's suppressed anger that's truly frightening, which eventually boils over and takes one's own life.

"Go back and tell your mother that I have a few more memorials left, and I'll come over as soon as I've finished reading them," Li Ziyan said calmly and composedly.

"Yes."

Dong He bowed and withdrew.

What happened next was quite simple: Li Ziyan took the little palace maid away and threw her in front of Emperor Chenze.

Of course, logically speaking, this is a matter of the inner palace, and it would be best to leave it to Fengyi Palace. However, such a big matter should have been informed to Emperor Chenze, so Li Ziyan bypassed Empress Chu.

Seeing his son dump the task on him, Emperor Chenze was somewhat displeased, but he still gave him face and summoned Weiyi, "Go and invite the Empress and Consort Shu over."

Empress Chu, as the head of the harem, should be present for this matter; Consort Shu, being the one being implicated, should be called over to defend herself, rather than being directly convicted.

Of course, most importantly, Emperor Chenze's heart was tipped in favor of Consort Shu.

First, Consort Shu and Zhou Zhou had a good relationship, so she had no motive to harm anyone; second, he felt that Consort Shu was not so stupid as to use such a simple trick; and finally, a smart person would not do something that harms others without benefiting themselves.

Inside the Imperial Study, upon hearing the maid's words, Consort Shu's eyes widened, and her usually serene face revealed displeasure. "You claim that I instructed you, but do you have any proof?"

"Yes!" the little palace maid answered stiffly, "Your Highness, the fifty taels of silver you sent to me, I haven't spent it yet, I've hidden it under the bed."

Emperor Chenze looked at Wei Yi, who understood and bowed before leaving.

"Huh?" Consort Shu scoffed. "It's just fifty taels of silver from an unknown source. Who knows who gave it to you? You just open your mouth and say it's mine, so it's mine?"

After speaking, Consort Shu knelt before Emperor Chenze, "Your Majesty, this palace maid not only betrayed her master but also made baseless accusations. Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

In the end, Consort Shu was overwhelmed with grief and heartbroken. She clutched her chest, picked up a handkerchief, and gently wiped away her tears, looking utterly pitiful.

Emperor Chenze's heart softened, and he said gently, "Alright, I didn't say you did it. Get up now. What would it look like if others saw this?"

After Emperor Chenze finished speaking, he gave Empress Chu a wink.

Empress Chu was puzzled—why was he twitching at me like that?

Emperor Chenze: "..."

I'm calling you to go up and comfort her!

Finally, Empress Chu stepped forward and helped the person up.

"Consort Shu, don't be anxious. Besides, there's no use in being anxious. Just wait patiently," she comforted gently.

Emperor Chenze: "..."

I told you to go up and comfort her, not to go up and hurt her.