Children of Loulan

Chapter 277 Who instigated

When Aishan heard this, he was immediately furious and immediately shouted: "How dare you! You can't just see the king whenever you want. Who do you think you are? How dare a mere maid be so bold and presumptuous? You really don't know your place!"

The maid responded in a sonorous and powerful voice, neither servile nor arrogant: "In short, I won't say anything unless I see the king. Even if you kill me, I won't say a word!"

Aisan was so angry that his face turned blue, but he could do nothing. He knew that this maid seemed to have extraordinary courage and determination. If he forced her to question, he would probably not get any useful information. So he had to release the other people under guard and only detained her. Then, he hurried to the king's bedroom to report the matter to the king.

The king was sitting by the bed, watching over Dalan. Seeing her sleeping peacefully, the king finally relaxed a little.

At this time, Aishan came in a hurry and breathlessly reported what happened in the palace. After hearing this, the king was furious and cursed: "How dare she, a little palace maid, commit such a capital crime, not only slandering the queen, but also threatening to see me, where does she get the guts to do that!"

After hearing this, Aishan hurriedly stepped forward, bowed and advised: "Your Majesty, calm down. In my opinion, this maid is so determined to see you, she must have something important to report. And she mentioned the queen as soon as she opened her mouth, I think the people behind her must have intended for her to bite the queen."

The king sat behind his desk, tapping the table lightly with his right index finger. After thinking for a moment, he said majestically: "Okay, then call her in." After hearing this, Aisan immediately responded respectfully: "Yes, Your Majesty!" Then he turned and left.

The king got up and went to the inner room. He sat quietly beside the bed, looking at the sleeping Dalan, her brows slightly wrinkled, as if she was having a nightmare. He felt distressed, reached out and gently stroked Dalan's forehead, and said gently: "Lan'er, don't worry, I will definitely punish those who tried to harm you. When this matter is settled, I will accompany you well and will not let you suffer any grievances." After that, the king slowly leaned over and kissed Dalan's cheek.

The king sat there with a gloomy face, staring coldly at the kneeling person below. His gaze was as cold as a cold pond, which made people shudder. The king slowly said: "I heard that you insisted on seeing me. Now that I have taken a seat here, what do you want to say?"

The maid trembled, kowtowed tremblingly, and said in a weak voice: "I beg the king to save my life!"

The king was furious after hearing this. He slammed the table and shouted, "How dare you! You have committed such a heinous crime, and yet you dare to ask me to save your life! Who gave you the courage to be so arrogant and rude? Tell me the truth, who ordered you to do this!"

The maid was frightened and her face turned pale. A thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead and her body began to tremble uncontrollably. She quickly pressed her forehead to the ground, not daring to look up at the king, and replied tremblingly: "My king, this matter was all ordered by the Concubine Xian. She ordered me to watch out for Madam He in the Imperial Garden. Once she found Madam He, she would do everything she could to make her fall accidentally!"

The king was silent for a moment, then asked in a low voice: "Then why did you say before that it was the queen's order? Slandering the queen and the concubines is a capital crime!"

The maid explained earnestly, "Your Majesty, that's because Concubine Xian captured my family and threatened them with their lives, forcing me to kill Madam He and pinning the blame on the queen. When Eunuch Aishan was interrogating me, there were many people around, so I couldn't say it clearly, but I was afraid that my family would meet with an accident, so I said loudly that it was the queen who ordered it, just to confuse Concubine Xian!"

The king looked at the maid with a serious face, as if trying to tell the truth from her expression. He asked coldly, "What is your relationship with the queen? You even disregarded the safety of your family for her!"

After hearing this, the maid kowtowed and explained: "No, I am not exposing the virtuous concubine for the queen's sake, but for my family's sake!"

The king frowned and asked questioningly, "Oh, really?"

The maid nodded and said, "I have been in the palace for many years, and I have heard about how the Concubine Xian behaves. She is ruthless and has killed countless people. Therefore, I know very well that if this incident eventually leads to the Queen being convicted and the Concubine Xian gets what she wants, the first thing she will do is to kill me and my family to avoid any hidden dangers. She will never let us live to threaten her position!"

Having said this, the palace maid burst into tears and continued with a choked voice: "I know that I have committed serious sins, and even if I die, I deserve it. But my family is really innocent. I beg the king to have mercy and save my family. They should not suffer such a disaster!" After saying that, she kowtowed several times, leaving blood marks on her forehead.

The king frowned slightly and asked gloomily, "Do you have any solid evidence to accuse Concubine Xian?"

The maid trembled as she took out a handkerchief and a hairpin from her bosom and handed them to the king. She then replied in a panic, "These are the hairpin and handkerchief that the virtuous concubine often uses, as well as the five hundred taels of silver that she gave me. They are in my residence. She said that as long as I succeed in framing the queen, she will let me leave the palace."

The king stared at the maid with sharp eyes, looked at the things in her hand, and asked doubtfully: "She handed over her evidence to you so easily? Isn't she afraid that you will report her?"

The maid naturally understood the king's suspicion, and immediately knelt down and kowtowed, explaining: "Your Majesty, please understand! Because the virtuous concubine never thought of letting me leave alive, she was so confident and bold to hand these things to me. And she gave these things to me in order to make me trust her wholeheartedly and bite the queen for her, so she easily handed these things to me!"

The king frowned and asked again, "Didn't Concubine Xian only ask you to attack Madam He, but not Lady Lan?"

The maid replied tremblingly: "Replying to the king, the virtuous concubine only asked me to pay attention to the lady and did not mention Lady Lan!"

The king nodded and continued to ask: "Where are your family members?"

The maid said respectfully, "They are just outside the capital. I saw them when I left the palace a few days ago!"

At this time, Concubine Xian was still anxiously waiting for news in the Summer Palace. Not long after, Yumei walked in happily, with an irrepressible smile on her face: "Your Majesty, the murderer has been caught!"

Seeing Yumei so excited, Concubine Xian couldn't help but feel very confused and asked quickly: "Who is the murderer? Is it worth it for you to be so happy?"

Yumei replied triumphantly: "Your Majesty, the murderer was a maid who was responsible for cleaning the imperial garden. However, according to her confession, she claimed that she committed this crime at the instigation of the queen!"

Upon hearing this answer, Concubine Xian opened her mouth in surprise and repeated in disbelief: "What? Queen?" She seemed to have never expected that it was the Queen who ordered it.