The Devious First Daughter

611 - 620

This time Ning Xueyan accompanied Ao Chenyi to the emperor’s study, where there were many people. Not only the emperor but also the empress, Honored Consort Ya, and Honored Consort Shu were there.

Ning Xueyan went in after Ao Chenyi. The latter didn’t kowtow to the emperor, and she didn’t do it, either, because her hand had been in Ao Chenyi’s hand. Fortunately, the emperor didn’t seem to have the mood to care about it. On his right side, the empress, Honored Consort Ya, and Honored Consort Shu sat according to their status.

Ao Chenyi sat down at his left side, and Ning Xueyan took the seat at the right side of Ao Chenyi. She sat there quietly with her eyelids slightly lowered, looking like a tamed newly married wife.

“Emperor, Prince Yi is already here. Please let Prince Yi help us with the trial. This case can’t be delayed like this. A normal person died, and we should give an explanation to the others in the palace.”

Now, the empress, Honored Consort Ya, and Honored Consort Shu were in charge of the affairs in the inner palace, so it was normal for the three of them to appear here after this incident happened.

Honored Consort Ya looked a little pale. In comparison, Honored Consort Shu looked quite fresh and energetic. What happened in the palace didn’t affect her at all. As for Honored Consort Ya, she was like this probably because what happened outside the palace had something to do with Prince Xiang.

Ning Xueyan glanced at the crowd quietly and then kept drooping her eyelids, but her ears were still working.

“Nonsense! How can we leave it all to Prince Yi? Anyway, this is the affair of the inner palace, and the empress should be the chief judge.” The emperor shook his head and vetoed the proposal directly.

“I’m the chief judge? Your Majesty, the problem is that I haven’t seen Honored Consort Xia yet, so I don’t know how to inquire about it. And I even don’t know whether the maid came out with the order of Honored Consort Xia or not? How can I deal with this matter, Your Majesty?” The empress looked a little aggrieved as if she was really helpless.

“Right, Your Majesty. Sister Xia has not come forward to clarify, and this is really hard to explain. Now all the other sisters in the palace are saying that there’s no need to investigate because there’s no way to do it!”

Honored Consort Shu supported her with an explanation.

“Your Majesty, no matter who comes to investigate this case, the empress or Prince Yi, the most important thing is that Sister Xia can come out to testify and say a few words, making everyone know where the maid was going and what she wanted to do. Only in this way can we continue the investigation. Many people know about the matter that happened that day, and they all say that those who will come to live in the palace in the future should be really careful.”

Honored Consort Ya looked up, frowned, and spoke worriedly. Rarely, the three of them had one voice: they wanted Honored Consort Xia to come forward and make it clear. These words were not offensive. Anyway, the speaker was not saying that Honored Consort Xia was the murderer, but that she should be summoned and asked. However, Honored Consort Xia was mysterious. Then, the small matter had become the focus of the entire imperial palace and made the three women in the palace stand on the same side.

“Your Majesty, your attitude is…” Finally, the case came back to the empress’s hands.

“I’ll ask someone to go to Honored Consort Xia’s palace in a while and bring her senior maid. If you have anything to ask, just ask her. As the senior maid of Honored Consort Xia, she knows everything about Honored Consort Xia’s affairs. It should be her who sent the maid, so it’s better to ask her.”