Chapter 85
This was clearly a mere fledgling who was barely dry behind the ears. How did Lin Feilu somehow manage to wreck her plans and also turn it against the mastermind? If so, how could this be a child? Obviously she was an evil spirit!
Yes, everything started from that day when Lin Xi pushed her into the water.
Of course Imperial Concubine Jing knew that her daughter had nearly killed Lin Feilu. She also knew that the girl was unconscious for some time with a burning fever. When this girl woke again, Lin Xi encountered a ghost. When this girl visited her palace, evil spirits were sighted. Imperial Concubine Jing herself fell out of favor, and her daughter was placed under house arrest, and even today's frame-up — do all these events not look like an evil spirit's revenge?
Imperial Concubine Jing was already at a loss at this moment. Even as Lin Xi rushed to her, crying and calling out to her, she did not respond. While Imperial Concubine Jing was still in a daze, the palace servants announced they had just found the palace maid who was knocked out further inside the flower garden.
This palace maid had always been serving Imperial Concubine Jing in Zhaoyang Palace. As she awakened and saw the scene in front of her, her face turned pale and she knelt down immediately.
The empress asked sternly, "I order you to speak the truth: what happened just now and how did you faint? Start from the very beginning!"
The palace maid was not fully aware of what had happened. She trembled as recounted her experience, "This lowly servant...This lowly one was rushing towards the Stargazing Court with Imperial Concubine Jing just now. When we passed by here, I suddenly heard someone... Someone was calling out for My Lady. My Lady ordered this lowly one to wait, so this one just stood there when suddenly this one was knocked out for some reason."
Noble Consort Ruan interjected and asked, "By your words, it seems Imperial Concubine Jing walked ahead by herself? Did you see who was calling out to her?"
This palace maid's principle was to always look after herself first. She had never been in this kind of sticky situation before, so she dared not lie and spoke honestly as she cried, "This lowly one did not see who, only it was the voice of a man..."
This was different from what Imperial Concubine Jing had just said.
Far from being held captive against her will, it was clear that she willingly walked up to the man.
The empress was furious. Such an obscene incident had happened in the harem under her watch. Furthermore, they were caught in the act by so many people. Such a shameful incident was a disgrace to the imperial family.
At this moment, Imperial Concubine Jing finally recovered from Lin Feilu's frightful smile. When she heard the palace maid recounting her version of the truth, she screamed in a shrill voice and beat her like a madwoman, "You b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲! You're lying! You're framing me! You're all framing me! "
When Imperial Concubine Jing first realized the palace guard was not where she had intended him to be, she was shocked, so she approached him to ask why he left without her authorization. Unexpectedly, the palace guard suddenly knocked out the palace maid. He then grabbed her and covered her mouth as he dragged her further into the flower garden.
But how could she tell this to the empress? Should she say this was all originally a ruse to frame Xiao Lan instead?
The palace maid was desperately wailing and kowtow-ing. The entire spectacle was a chaos.
The empress ordered the palace servants to restrain Imperial Concubine Jing. She calmed herself, then sternly asked the palace guard who had been silent this whole time, "Where is your post? And what is your relationship with Imperial Concubine Jing?"