The Apo Master dressed up as Concubine Ling and killed the Ruyi sisters

After Empress Fucha died, the emperor asked many people what they thought of her, and everyone had a positive attitude towards her.

In order to find out the truth about the incident in the cold palace that day, the emperor and Ruyi summoned Lianxin for questioning.

"Lianxin, what kind of person do you think Empress Fucha is? When Concubine Xian was banished to the cold palace, did the Empress ever send anyone to harm her?"

Lian Xin replied, "Your Majesty, I think the Queen is a qualified harem master. The Queen does hate Concubine Xian and is afraid that Concubine Xian will shake her position as Queen because of your favor. But I think the Queen will not do something that would harm someone's life."

Ruyi was dissatisfied with Lianxin's answer and reminded herself of her kindness to Lianxin. She said, "Lianxin, although you serve the Queen, Sulian is the Queen's maidservant and the Queen's most trusted confidant. Otherwise, why would the Queen agree to marry you to Wang Qin?"

"Your Majesty also knows that the Empress had promised me to be Wang Qin's wife. After Wang Qin died, although I returned to Changchun Palace to serve him, it was not as good as before. The Empress would not tell me many things."

Lian Xin knew what Concubine Xian wanted to do by bringing up the matter of eating together again, and she continued, "But based on my understanding of the Empress, I think the things that the Emperor and Concubine Xian suspected were not done by the Empress."

"Why are you so sure? Isn't the Linglingxiang that the Empress gave to me and Imperial Noble Consort Huixian real? Isn't the difficulty that the Empress made towards me in the past real?" Ruyi asked dissatisfiedly.

Lian Xin replied calmly and without arrogance, "The Empress did give you the bracelet with Linglingxiang, but that was Madam Fucha's intention. She didn't want you and Imperial Noble Consort Huixian to have children before her. But Linglingxiang doesn't do any major harm to your body."

"Your Majesty knows that the Empress has always valued the honor of the Fucha family. Even if she wants to do those evil things in her heart, there is no need to do them. Doing so will only damage the reputation of the Fucha family and be detrimental to the Empress! In fact, there are many things that the Empress may not know, or she may have received advice from others."

"In the palace, the only people who have close contacts with the Empress are Consort Chun and Consort Jia!"

Ruyi recalled that Yanwan had advised Empress Fucha to propose to the Emperor that Princess Jingse live in the capital for a long time after marriage, and asked, "You said that these things might be the intention of Concubine Chun or Concubine Jia. Concubine Ling was taught by the Empress herself, why didn't you mention her?"

Lian Xin explained, "It's been less than a year since Concubine Ling came to Changchun Palace, and it's been several years since you came out of the cold palace. How can you be related to Concubine Ling? Besides, Concubine Ling is just learning the rules in Changchun Palace and doesn't talk much."

"Empress Ling has always gotten along well with the other ladies in the palace. I have never heard of Empress Ling quarreling with any other lady except Empress Jia. Your Majesty, Imperial Concubine Xian, this is all I know."

Ruyi wanted to ask more questions, but the emperor felt that Ruyi's words were misleading, and frowned and said, "Ruyi, no matter how eager you are, you shouldn't drag innocent people into this. Lingpin has only served me for a few months, how could she be related to these things? Well, let's stop here!"

After listening to so many people, the emperor's perception that Empress Fucha was a vicious woman began to waver again, but the emperor didn't know what to do for a moment, so he said to Lianxin.

"Lianxin, I am very happy that you told me this. Empress Fucha has passed away, so you can leave the palace and live a good life."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty! I'll take my leave!" Lianxin bid farewell to the emperor.

Ruyi was dissatisfied with Lianxin's words, and was also dissatisfied with the fact that the emperor and Lianxin both spoke for Lingpin, a snobbish villain who was only interested in climbing up the social ladder. Ruyi privately looked for Lianxin several times, hoping to persuade Lianxin to testify against Empress Fucha for her, but Lianxin always refused.

One evening, Lian Xin stood by the water away from everyone, muttering to herself, "Empress, you have caused me to suffer too much humiliation and harm from Wang Qin. I also pretended to be deaf and dumb when you fell into the water, causing you to suddenly die. You have wronged me, and I have wronged you too. Let me go to the underworld to personally apologize to you!"

Lianxin was about to die for her master when suddenly a man jumped out from the darkness and pulled her back!

"Why is Miss Lianxin so depressed?"

"Empress Lingpin? Why are you here? What do you want to ask me? I really don't know anything!" Lianxin was already very annoyed after being interrogated and forced by Ruyi for several days in a row. She thought it was not a coincidence that she saw Yanwan here, so she asked in a restless and unhappily manner.

Yan Wan did not care about Lian Xin's disrespect and smiled lightly: "The emperor has already allowed you to leave the palace, why are you so depressed? I am not looking for you to ask you something, but to tell you that nothing is better than being alive!"

"You heard what I said and knew that I betrayed the Queen, so why bother to persuade me? I don't have what you want and can't help you!" Lian Xin said.

Yan Wan sincerely advised: "Lian Xin, I know you have had a hard time these past few years. Wang Qin has caused you great harm. It is understandable that you blame the Empress in your heart. Wang Qin has trapped himself, and the Empress has also passed away. Now that things have passed, why do you have to dwell on the pain of the past?"

"I have been in Changchun Palace for half a year. Although we don't have much contact, we are both born as palace maids and have both been hurt in the past. I was able to escape from the sea of ​​suffering and regain my strength, and I hope you can do the same!"

Yan Wan's words were sincere, and Lian Xin was touched, but she still had some doubts, and said, "I am just an insignificant little palace maid, and I can't help Lady Lingpin in any way. Lady Lingpin should not waste her energy on me!"

Yan Wan smiled and said, "You know that I have a grudge against Concubine Jia. I think the Queen's death from falling into the water was no accident and I suspect it was Concubine Jia's doing! I'm telling you this not to ask you to help me, but really just to hope that you can leave the palace and live a good life, so that you can have a different life."

"It's hard to investigate the Queen's drowning. Concubine Jia is a scheming woman with a prince by her side, so she's even harder to deal with. I need to think long and hard. You just need to keep in touch with me. If the Queen comes to you one day, you can say a few words for me if you're willing. If not, I won't disturb your life! How do you think?"

Lian Xin was persuaded by Yan Wan and nodded to her. Yan Wan signaled Chun Chan to give Lian Xin two hundred taels of silver notes and said, "Take this money and live a good life, and forget everything in the palace."

Seeing Yan Wan's sincerity, Lian Xin hesitated for a while and said to Yan Wan: "Lady Lingpin, Concubine Xian seems to have a prejudice against you, you must be careful!"

Apart from a pearl flower, the emperor had no clues. Thinking back to the day when Empress Fucha fell into the water, the first person to discover something unusual was Concubine Ling. Ruyi brought up Concubine Ling when she was interrogating Lianxin, so the emperor wanted to start with Concubine Ling.

"Your Majesty, your servant pays respect to you!" Yan Wan and the palace maids went to Yongshou Palace to welcome the emperor.

The emperor said, "Everyone, get up, Lingpin, when the queen fell into the water that day, did you find anything wrong?"

Yan Wan recalled carefully: "After I left that day, the emperor sent Eunuch Jinzhong to take me back. I thought the moonlight was bright and wanted to enjoy it on the way. But when I got to the corridor, there was not even a guard or a palace maid. I was very surprised."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I said at that time that I was afraid that the guards and palace maids on duty were lazy, otherwise how could they not have discovered that the Queen fell into the water!" Jinzhong also said.

Yan Wan continued, "I heard a woman crying for help, so I rushed over to check. I walked too fast and my foot slipped. If Chunchan and the others hadn't been smart, I would have fallen into the water!"

The emperor noticed something suspicious and asked hurriedly, "Are you saying that the ground is slippery? Is there something on the ground that caused the queen to fall into the water?"

"I dare not speak nonsense. Perhaps I was anxious when I heard the cry for help and did not pay attention to the road under my feet, so this happened. Your Majesty asked this, have you discovered something?" Yan Wan asked.

"Did you see anyone else besides the queen?" the emperor asked.

"Others?" Yan Wan recalled, "I didn't seem to see them. I only saw the guard who rushed over after hearing the news when Eunuch Jinzhong was about to jump into the water to save the Queen. He was the guard Ling who was commended by the Emperor."

Suddenly Jinzhong said, "The boat closest to the corridor was the one carrying the concubines. The Empress shouted for help. They were so close, there's no reason why she couldn't hear it!"

"When I came to pay my respects to the Emperor, I happened to see Sister Meipin going to talk to Concubine Chun and Concubine Yu. The Empress Dowager ordered me, Concubine Chun and Concubine Xian to take care of the Empress. Concubine Chun seemed a little uneasy." Yan Wan also said.

Could it be that the Queen heard the words of tit-for-tat from Meipin and the other two? Was it their words that irritated the Queen? Then what did they say to make the Queen so angry? What else did they say that made them so engrossed that no one heard the Queen's cry for help!

The emperor was already suspicious and continued to ask indirectly, "Lingpin, when you were serving the queen, do you remember what jewelry Concubine Chun wore on her bun?"

Yan Wan thought about it carefully again and said uncertainly: "The Queen was seriously ill at that time, and my mind was on taking care of her. I really didn't care about anything else. It seems that Concubine Chun didn't bring any jewelry such as hairpins and pearls. Your Majesty, please forgive me, I really can't remember."

The emperor knew that it was normal for Concubine Ling to not remember after such a long time, but after hearing what Concubine Ling said, his suspicion towards Concubine Chun deepened a little.

The emperor nodded and said, "I understand. You should have a good rest."

"Your Majesty is respectfully seen off!" said Yan Wan.