binnovel Chapter 272 Questioning
Chapter 272 Questioning
"Empress, Ye Shixin, the eunuch of the palace, requests to see you." Shen Ningyue put down the cup she had just picked up and raised her head.
"Your humble servant Ye Shixin pays his respects to Her Majesty the Empress. May Her Majesty be blessed with good health and longevity." Ye Shixin, the eunuch in charge of the palace, bowed and saluted.
Shen Ningyue nodded slightly and signaled Ye Shixin, the eunuch, to stand up.
"Let's talk about it one by one. Let's start with the story about the female doctor having a stomachache."
"Reporting to the Queen, I have questioned the female doctor of Lanlin Palace. According to her, this morning's meal had an extra plate of cakes compared to usual. The small kitchen said that the female doctor's meals are fixed. Without the order of the beauty and the prince, they would not increase or decrease the female doctor's portion on their own initiative. They have not received any order to give the female doctor an extra plate of cakes.
I asked someone to check the plate of cakes. There were three cakes on the plate. The female doctor said that only two were eaten, so there should have been one left. But when I asked someone to check, the leftover cake was gone. Only the plate was left. I asked someone to check the plate again, but nothing was found.
"What kind of cake is this? Where did it come from?"
"Your Majesty, it's yam cake. The small kitchen in Lanlin Palace hasn't made yam cake in the past few days, and the palace servants haven't gone to the Shangshi Bureau to get yam cake. The yam cake that was sent to the female doctor may not be fresh."
"Yam cake nourishes the spleen and stomach. If someone gave her a laxative, how could the female doctor not smell it? Or not taste it? It's fine if she's so derelict in her duty, but the laxative must have come from somewhere."
"Forget it. I won't ask any more questions. Just tell me what you found out and what you speculated."
"I beg you to first arrest the head maid Sui Wan of Lanlin Palace and let me confront her. There are too many suspicious points about her. If I have wronged her, it will not be too late for me to apologize to her."
Shen Ningyue nodded.
"Empress, I am innocent." Sui Wan, who was acting as a backdrop at the side, was stunned for a moment, then knelt down with a bang, but her eyes were cast on Shi Qingzhang who was half lying down.
Sui Wan's eyes were red and watery as she begged Shi Qingzhang to help her again.
Shi Qingzhang turned his head away and didn't look at her.
"You don't need to read the Qingzhang. Since the E-Ting Ling suspects you, she must have her reasons. Let's listen to them together first. After you have cleared your suspicion and proved your innocence, we can discuss other matters."
Ye Shixin turned and looked at Sui Wan.
"Aunt Suiwan, can you tell me why you went to the kitchen this morning? I heard that you don't like to go to the kitchen and always order your subordinates to go there. What did you do in the kitchen alone this morning? Can you let me smell your clothes?"
"Is it strange for me to go to the small kitchen to see the breakfast that the beauty and the eldest prince are going to have? Although I seldom go to the small kitchen, it is not that I never go. You can smell it if you want."
At the end of the year, I feel justified and confident with a clear conscience.
Ye Shixin did not move at all. "Aunt Suiwan, did you not change your clothes this morning?"
Sui Wan's heart was a little flustered, but her face remained calm. She curled her lips and said frankly:
"I knocked over some lard in the kitchen, and it spilled on my clothes. I quickly went back to my room and changed my clothes before serving the beauty and the eldest prince their meals."
"Please forgive my rudeness. I have already searched your aunt's room last year. Can you tell me why there is the smell and crumbs of yam cake in your clothes?"
"I have changed several sets of clothes these days but have not had time to wash them. They are piled together. Where did you find the clothes with cake crumbs? Is there any lard on the clothes you found? If not, then they are not the clothes I changed this morning."
"Aunt Suiwan is the head maid of Lanlin Palace, how can her living habits be so sloppy? Don't your subordinates have any idea about this?" Ye Shixin said sarcastically with a smile.
"I don't like others to touch my underwear, so I always wash it myself after I have accumulated a lot of it."
Ye Shixin shook his head indifferently, and Shi Qingzhang's eyes dimmed as well.
She knew Sui Wan best. She could hide Sui Wan's habits and preferences from outsiders, but not from Shi Qingzhang.
What is this doing?
Shi Qingzhang cast a questioning and disappointed look at Sui Wan.
"Then let's talk about how you didn't send an eunuch to fetch the imperial physician right after Lady Shi fell."
"I was at a loss at the time and could only think of the female doctor stationed in Lanlin Palace. Relying on the female doctor, I sent people to look for her but to no avail. Then I hurriedly sent the eunuch to invite the imperial physician. It delayed me for a while, but fortunately the beauty is fine."
Sui Wan shed tears as she spoke, lowered her head, wiped her tears with her hands, and no longer looked at Shi Qingzhang's eyes. It seemed that she felt guilty, and as if she was hurt by her suspicion, which made Ye Shixin seem a bit unreasonable and aggressive.
"What about the pearls? The string seems to have been soaked and dried in the sun. If there is a little weight, it will break easily. As for the pearls, I looked again and again and did not find any yellowing or dull ones. They are all new.
Several palace maids and eunuchs in the palace picked it up and later gave it to you, Aunt Sui Wan, for safekeeping. I want to know if Lady Shi made a mistake, or if the pearl was replaced by someone else?"
"I don't understand what you mean, Ye Ting Ling. You want to put the blame on me based on your wild suspicions without any evidence. I doubt your intentions. Do you know that I will leave the palace next month? I am like a sister to Lady Shi. Why do you want to harm her before leaving?"
Ye Shixin clapped his hands, "If Auntie had not left the palace at the end of the year, and if she had not committed any crime, perhaps one day she would have been able to become a Shang Gong! I admire you, but it's a pity that there is always a loophole in a hundred precautions."
Sui Wan looked directly into Ye Shixin's determined eyes, her heart beating like a drum. Sweat beads flowed down her forehead to the corners of her eyes, and the back of her inner garment was already soaked.