The Poisonous Consort, the Regent's Beloved

Chapter 136 Ate Shit

"Your Majesty, even if this was not done by me, it could never have been done by Su Fuying!"

Seeing that her plan had been exposed, Su Wan'er decided to go all out and stood up, pointing at Su Fuying and saying fiercely.

Anyway, she can't escape the law today, and Su Fuying won't have an easy time either.

"Does Miss Su know the consequences of repeatedly slandering this princess?"

A smile played at the corners of Su Fuying's eyes, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Su Wan'er felt her head buzzing, but she still couldn't believe that Su Fuying could write such verses.

She probably bought it; it's just a coincidence that the font is similar to the seller's.

"This is not slander, Your Majesty. These poems were purchased by me from a scholar; they are not plagiarism!"

Su Wan'er spoke with righteous indignation, after all, the difference in reputation between having someone else write for you and stealing someone else's poems is enormous.

Now that it has been confirmed that she did not do these things, she has no choice but to tell the truth. She certainly cannot let Su Fuying take advantage of this.

"Oh? Is that so? But I seem to remember Miss Su saying just now that you did this yourself?" The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone carrying a hint of displeasure.

"This..." Su Wan'er was speechless, not knowing how to answer.

"Hmph, Su Wan'er, you have some nerve to deceive me!" The emperor slammed his fist on the table and roared.

Su Wan'er was so frightened that she immediately knelt down and kept kowtowing, begging for mercy: "Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, please calm down!"

"Your Majesty, it's not too late to find out the truth before taking any action."

The Empress, standing to the side, patted the Emperor on the back and said in a low voice, "The imperial examinations are coming up soon, and such a thing has actually happened in the capital. It's not too late to deal with Su Wan'er after we've found out the truth."

"Then tell me, who gave you this painting? I'd like to know if such a talented person will appear in next year's imperial examination."

The emperor took a deep breath, his face revealing neither joy nor sorrow, but his tone suggested a genuine desire to understand this person.

"This..." Su Wan'er fell silent again. She had no idea who that person was. She had only met him once. How could she possibly start a conversation?

"Let me speak for Miss Su." The woman's voice was calm. After exchanging a glance with Su Wan'er, the latter felt a sudden sinking feeling in the latter's heart. It's all over!

“Su Fu…” However, before she could finish her sentence, she heard Su Fuying begin to recount the whole story.

"A few days ago, Miss Su learned that a banquet was being held in the palace today and wanted to shine in front of the Empress. Knowing that there was an osmanthus grove in the palace, she specially wanted to learn some poems about osmanthus."

Unfortunately, he lacked literary talent and had to find another way. So, he sought out some talented scholars to buy his poems.

Finally, they took a liking to the poems written by a scholar from Jiangnan. The two agreed to meet at Yichunlou on the evening of the second day, where they would exchange money for goods.

"Is that right, Su Wan'er?"

"!wrong!"

Before he could finish speaking, Su Wan'er hurriedly interrupted Su Fuying.

"No, why would I go to a filthy place like Yichun Tower?"

Su Wan'er's face paled even more. The reason she couldn't say was because they had made the deal inside Yichun Pavilion.

The capital was under curfew. Yichunlou was owned by the Ren family, and the Crown Prince's cronies frequented it at night. Everyone knew this, but no one dared to do anything about it.

Upon hearing Su Wan'er's denial, Su Fuying smiled slightly: "Oh? If Miss Su isn't going to Yichun Pavilion, then where did you make your deal with that scholar from Jiangnan?"

Su Wan'er's eyes flickered, and she stammered, "I...I forgot."

Su Fuying chuckled lightly: "It seems Miss Su has a bad memory. But it's alright, I remember."

"You should have made a deal with a man dressed in a blue robe, who was no more than five feet tall and had a black mole on his chin."

The sky was gloomy and covered with dark clouds, as if a heavy lead plate was pressing down on one's head, making it hard to breathe.

The trees in the garden are bare, and the fallen leaves dance in the wind, like a group of lonely dancers fluttering in the cold wind.

Su Wan'er stood there, her body trembling, her feet feeling as if they were on cotton, soft and powerless.

"Good sister, am I right?" These words were like a thunderclap, shattering her already turbulent inner world.

Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of her throat.

My breathing became rapid and erratic, my mind went completely blank, and all reason and logic were overwhelmed by endless fear.

Su Wan'er felt as if she were trapped in a nightmare from which she could not escape. No matter how hard she struggled, she could not get out of this terrible nightmare.

She tried to shout, but her throat felt like it was blocked by something, and she couldn't make a sound.

"Su Wan'er, Princess Yongle is right!" The emperor's angry shout was like a heavy hammer, striking her heart hard.

Her body began to tremble involuntarily, and her lips trembled slightly, but she couldn't utter a complete sentence.

"Your Majesty, Miss Su must have been framed. How could a young lady like her know so much?"

Consort Li had now pieced together the general course of events and inwardly cursed Su Wan'er for being utterly foolish, as this would now drag her down with her.

But Su Wan'er was, after all, her own sister's daughter. How could she bear to watch her niece be punished without doing anything about it?

So she quickly stood up to defend Su Wan'er, saying, "It must be Princess Yongle who wanted to frame Wan'er. If she hadn't orchestrated it, how could she have known so much?"

Upon hearing this, Su Fuying couldn't help but sneer, glancing sarcastically at the two people on the ground, and said in a nonchalant tone, "What, you also want to slander this princess?"

Upon hearing this, Consort Li was immediately enraged and retorted loudly, "What slander! It was you who were unhappy that Wan'er stole your fiancé from the Crown Prince, so you plotted revenge."

Upon hearing this, Su Fuying almost lost her composure.

She couldn't hold back any longer and was about to speak.

At this moment, Madam Pei suddenly spoke up, "Consort Li, what did you eat today? Your breath smells so bad."

Madam Pei's voice was neither humble nor arrogant, as if she were simply asking a very ordinary question, without the slightest hint of sarcasm.

Consort Li was not in a hurry to realize that she had been scolded until she heard snickers around her, at which point she realized something was wrong.

"Madam Pei, what do you mean by that!"

She has been frustrated all day. Even a minister's wife dares to speak to her like that. She is, after all, a concubine!

"Alright, Princess Yongle, tell me yourself why you know so much?"

The emperor interrupted somewhat displeasedly, saying, "I should have known better than to come. A bunch of women, making a racket like this is giving me a headache."

Su Fuying winked at Madam Pei, giving her a reassuring look, before beginning her explanation.

"Your Majesty, these verses were written by me some time ago when I had nothing to do. On the day I went out, thieves broke into my house and stole things from the house."

Su Fuying spoke with great grievance, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Then why did it end up in Su Wan'er's hands?"

The emperor continued to ask questions, but he was becoming somewhat impatient.

"Your Majesty is wise. I only learned about this after I got home. The thief stole the box I used to store my poems. However, the thief was later caught. He had many paintings and calligraphy that he hadn't had time to sell. I suppose he sold them to Miss Su."

Su Fuying explained, a look of innocence on her face.

That's a clever way of putting it. For a woman, the arrival of a thief in her household would be a disgrace.

However, Su Fuying said that she happened to be out of the mansion when the thieves came.

In this way, she not only found a reasonable explanation for herself, but also appeared innocent.

Even Eunuch Gao couldn't help but cast an admiring glance at Su Fuying.

However, the Queen's attitude was completely different.

She squinted at Su Fuying, her coldness undisguised: "If that's the case, why didn't you say anything when Miss Su recited Princess Yongle's poem? Why did you only say it now? Isn't it to deliberately ruin Miss Su's reputation?"

Clearly, the Empress did not intend to let Su Fuying off so quickly.

Faced with the Empress's questioning, Su Fuying remained calm. She replied composedly, "Your Majesty has misunderstood me. Originally, out of consideration for our past sisterhood with Princess Yongle, I did not want to expose this matter and save her face."

But I never expected Miss Su to turn around and slander my innocence. To protect myself, I had no choice but to tell the truth. Her tone was firm and confident, which made people look at her with new respect.

"Su Fuying, how could you frame me like this!" Su Wan'er said through gritted teeth.

At this moment, she finally understood the truth—it turned out that Su Fuying had orchestrated everything! She couldn't help but regret why she hadn't seen through the trap back then.

She recalled those poems. Some of the earlier ones were so obscure that she had to guess what they were about to say, but this time the poems were written so neatly and precisely. The person had even said it was to make them easier for her to read. How could she not have thought of that?

The person didn't show up when she bought the poems last time, but suddenly revealed their true colors this time. It turns out they had set a trap for her all along!

At this moment, Consort Li reached out and tugged at Su Wan'er. The two exchanged a glance, and Su Wan'er gradually calmed down. After all, with the Emperor sitting to the side, if she continued to make a scene, it would only make her punishment heavier.

“Princess Yongle, what you’ve said is only one side of the story. Is there anyone else who can testify?” Consort Li took a deep breath, trying to grasp at the last glimmer of hope.

She could hardly believe that Su Fuying, a woman from the countryside, could handle things so flawlessly.

“Witnesses? Everyone in my household can serve as a witness.” Su Fuying frowned slightly, but her expression remained calm.

The Empress seemed to have discovered some important clue, and her expression became somewhat agitated: "The people in the Princess's residence are all your own people, how can they be used as witnesses?"

She had just caught a fleeting change in Su Fuying's expression.

If something is unusual, it means there's a flaw in the plan. If she can find just one flaw, she can put Su Fuying in a hopeless situation!

"What? Princess Yongle, are you speechless now? Is all of this a lie you made up? Do you know that this is a capital offense of deceiving the emperor!"

The Empress regained her usual dignified and composed demeanor, sitting upright on her high seat with a smile on her face, displaying the posture of a victor.

However, Su Fuying's expression did not change at all, and her light blue silk dress swayed gently in the wind.

Despite the pressure from the Empress and the gaze of the crowd, she remained calm and composed.

"Your Majesty, I am but a woman. It is not a big deal for my family to be robbed. We can handle it at home. Is there any need to publicize it?" Su Fuying said calmly and without changing her expression.

“Even if you handle it yourself, you should still report it to the government office. Does Princess Yongle intend to use torture on her own?” Consort Li frowned slightly, her face darkening with displeasure.

"Using vigilante justice?"

The empress looked surprised and pretended to be scared, leaning closer to the emperor. The emperor then put his arm around her shoulder.

The emperor gently patted her to appease her, then turned his head with a solemn expression and said in a stern tone, "Princess Yongle, using torture without authorization is a capital offense!"

Su Fuying did not speak, and no one noticed that the woman's fingers were clenched so tightly in her sleeve that they turned white.

"Su Fuying, I knew you had no right to have such literary talent, it turns out you used underhanded means." Su Wan'er laughed smugly from the side, a hint of pleasure flashing in her eyes.

Today, with Su Fuying to be buried with her, she is willing to endure whatever punishment is imposed upon her.

"Princess Yongle, you were able to describe the thief's appearance so accurately. Did you kill and rob him and then deal with him?" Su Wan'er sneered, her eyes flashing with mockery.

Consort Li chimed in, and suddenly, the courtyard fell into a deathly silence.

The person at the center of the controversy, however, stood upright in place, completely unaffected.

“Princess Yongle, you actually wrote this poem yourself, didn’t you? I believe you have the talent.”

A clear voice rang out from the crowd, and everyone looked to see an unexpected person standing at the head of the crowd.

"Xue'er."

The Empress was surprised that Ren Yinxue would speak up for Su Fuying, and she frowned, her face showing displeasure.

"Your Majesty, I was just telling the truth," Ren Yinxue said.

Su Fuying looked at them coldly, their eyes met, and the air was thick with tension.

She didn't want Ren Yinxue to be so kind, unaware of what kind of bad intentions she was harboring.

"only."

The woman then changed the subject, looking at Su Fuying with a smile, "This poem was written by yourself, but why does Princess Yongle know about Yichun Tower?"

"Could it be that you saw Su Wan'er making a deal with that thief at Yichun Tower at night?"

With a sarcastic smile, the woman's few words instantly thrust Su Fuying into the eye of the storm.

"So that's it."

"Someone so good-looking, I never expected her to do such despicable things."

"Exactly, pshaw."

The crowd was filled with murmurs and discussions.

Su Fuying was expelled from the Minister's Mansion, and the Princess's Mansion had no money. Perhaps she was struggling financially, which is why she sought other ways to make a living.

Otherwise, where did she get all those expensive jewelry pieces and the fabric that looked like brocade?

"Miss Ren, could it be that you've been there yourself, which is why you know so much about it?"