Children of Loulan

Chapter 283: Your Majesty's Loyalty

At this moment, the imperial study seemed to have turned into a battlefield of fierce confrontation. The usually dignified and quiet face of Concubine Xian was distorted by anger. Like an enraged lioness, she pointed at the maid fiercely and shouted at the top of her lungs: "How dare you frame me like this? Tell me, who is behind you to do such a cruel and evil thing! Tell me the truth!"

The maid was still unhurried, as if she was not frightened by Concubine Xian's anger at all. She raised her chin slightly, a trace of disdain flashed in her eyes, and slowly said: "Now that the evidence is all here and complete, Your Majesty, you actually want to bite back. It's really chilling. Do you think that you can wrongly accuse other innocent people in the harem with these so-called "evidence"?"

Upon hearing this, Concubine Xian was furious. Her originally ruddy face now flushed red like a ripe apple. She roared, "What do you mean by complete evidence? These things were clearly stolen by a lowly servant like you. You stole my precious things, and now you want to slander me? Don't think you can escape punishment like this!"

After hearing this, the maid sneered. She retorted fearlessly, "Stealing? Your Majesty, don't forget that there are many maids and eunuchs in your Summer Palace. They are in the palace every day. Don't they see me stealing openly? Besides, I am just a low-level maid responsible for sweeping the Imperial Garden. I have to go to the Imperial Garden every day to be busy. If I suddenly disappear one day, the head maid will definitely know it first. Your Majesty, don't you want to summon the head maid to ask about it immediately? It will also make the truth known to the world, so that everyone can see who is lying and framing!"

When Concubine Xian heard the maid's rebuttal, a trace of panic flashed in her eyes, but she still held back her anger. She was about to open her mouth to refute again, but the king's face was already full of frost. He slapped the dragon table again, and the objects on the dragon table trembled slightly, as if to show the king's majesty and anger at the moment. The king shouted in a deep voice: "You said that Concubine Xian came to you, then besides these pieces of evidence, is there anything else that can prove that you are not lying, such as where did you meet Concubine Xian, and whether there was anything special when you met!"

The maidservant was not frightened by the king's anger. She kowtowed immediately and continued, "Your Majesty, I went to the palace of the virtuous concubine late that night with fear. When I stepped into the bedroom, a faint fragrance hit my face. It was the smell of incense that the queen usually used. With the faint candlelight, I clearly saw that the queen had changed into pajamas. Although the candlelight was a little dim at the time, I noticed at a glance that the comb used by the queen was clearly an exquisite ox horn comb, and the texture was clearly visible. Moreover, I carefully observed the appearance of the comb. Judging from the degree of wear and tear and the unique luster, it must be the one that the queen has been using for many years. There is no mistake!" After that, the maid kowtowed again and again to show that she was absolutely not lying!

The king asked again: "This ox-horn comb is not a common item, so how do you know it is a ox-horn comb?"

The maid replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, I remember that two years ago, several ox-horn combs came from the Tang Dynasty and were delivered to several masters in the harem. Because there were many things to do in the palace at that time and there was a shortage of manpower, I was temporarily pulled to deliver them to Madam Lan, who was still Lady Lan at the time. So I also saw the appearance of ox-horn combs at that time!"

Concubine Xian disagreed and retorted: "You said you knew that the ox-horn comb was sent to the harem, so it's not surprising that you knew I have a ox-horn comb here!"

The maid said slowly and unhurriedly: "I do know which masters in the harem have ox-horn combs, but I don't know which master can use it, and which master has never used it. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, how could I be so sure and certain?"

Listening to the palace maid's firm and powerful words, Concubine Xian was completely confused at this moment. She hurriedly explained to the king in a panic, "My king, I was really wronged. She is clearly framing me!"

However, the maid seemed to pay no attention to her cry of injustice, and continued to speak calmly: "I heard that you, Your Majesty, had recommended many new masters to serve the king before, and under your careful support, they all suffered the unfortunate incident of miscarriage without exception. The most strange thing is that after these miscarriages, Your Majesty, you never asked about or cared for them again!"

The virtuous concubine widened her eyes, her eyes full of anger, and asked, "What nonsense are you trying to tell to deceive the king?"

At this moment, the maid's crystal tears quietly fell, and she choked up a little and said, "There are a few masters who have suffered such heartbreaking accidents in the imperial garden, leading to miscarriages. But every time a master accidentally suffered an accidental miscarriage in the imperial garden, the maid who was usually responsible for sweeping the entire imperial garden would mysteriously disappear without anyone noticing! Is there no connection between them? Is all this just pure coincidence?"

The virtuous concubine was already burning with rage at this time, her eyes seemed to be burning with raging flames, wishing to burn the maidservant in front of her into ashes immediately. She shouted angrily: "You little maidservant, you dare to slander me. Today I will let you know how powerful I am!" After that, she took a step forward like an angry lioness, and then kicked the maidservant hard, knocking her to the ground. The maidservant lay on the ground in a mess, her eyes full of fear and grievance.

The king saw that she had no intention of stopping, and he could not help but feel angry. He shouted, "How dare you! Are you going to commit a crime in front of me? If you think she has wronged you, then you should produce evidence to prove your innocence instead of acting recklessly in front of me!"

When Concubine Xian heard the word "murder", it was as if a bucket of cold water was poured over her head. She sobered up instantly. She realized that her behavior was a bit extreme, so she knelt on the ground, tears falling down her cheeks like beads from a broken string. She cried and said, "Your Majesty, I am innocent. I really did not do these things. It was this lowly maid who deliberately framed me! I am loyal to Your Majesty, how could I do anything to harm the heir."

The king ignored her cry of injustice. His face was still gloomy as he continued to ask the maid in a serious tone, "Are you saying that those who had miscarriages before were also related to Concubine Xian? Do you have any solid evidence? If it's just groundless speculation, don't make random accusations."

The maid was so scared that she was shaking all over. She trembled and replied, "Your Majesty, I have no evidence. It's just that those scenes suddenly appeared in my mind for a moment. Thinking of what happened to me today and my wife's accident, and thinking of those masters who had miscarriages, I couldn't help but connect them together, so I said that. I hope your Majesty will be discerning and don't believe my one-sided words."