The Empress Arrives: Rebirth of Concubine Hua

Chapter 111 Se-ran Confession
Hanlu, who was kneeling on the ground, raised her head and kowtowed to Yinzhen.

"My Lord, please understand me! I did not frame the concubine! I really did not do that!"

Yinzhen frowned and looked at Ulanara.

"Fujin, didn't you just say that this servant was ordered by Shilan? Why is she denying it now?"

Ulanara's expression remained unchanged and she bowed deeply.

"Master, please allow me to report. I am not making up stories out of nothing. Xiao Hezi, a servant of Qiong Yu Garden, can prove that what I said is true. Hanlu was sneaking around outside Qiong Yu Garden. Qiong Yu Garden is not accessible to ordinary people, but this servant was able to get close to it, which shows that she had bad intentions. It's just unfortunate that she was seen by Xiao Hezi, otherwise, wouldn't your beloved things be destroyed in vain? I just don't know who is behind this servant."

Nian Shilan sneered but said nothing.

Ulanara turned and looked at Nian Shilan.

"Sister Nian, this is your servant, do you have anything to say?"

At this moment, Yinzhen was also thinking in his mind, what reason does a slave have to specifically destroy Yunxi's relics, especially the jade hairpin that he made with his own hands.

Nian Shilan took over Ulanara's words.

"Since Fu Jin has already determined Han Lu's guilt, why are you asking me what to do? It's up to Fu Jin to beat or kill me."

Ulanara's face was calm, but her tone was stern.

"Sister Nian, you are the master's concubine, and you are the sister who serves the master together with me. Now that the people in Cheng'en Garden have committed a crime, I am afraid that I cannot escape the responsibility. Even if it is the fault of not governing strictly, I should reflect on it instead of crossing the line and talking back to me."

Nian Shilan asked about Hanlu.

"Hanlu, did you hear that? Fu Jin said that you are my servant. If you make a mistake, I will also bear the blame for not governing you strictly. I am just wondering why I didn't see you when I woke up this morning. When Xiao Linzi found you, you were sleeping in the back of the house. Were you on duty when the incident happened a few days ago?"

Hanlu was stunned, and thought about it carefully. On the day when the incident that Fu Jin mentioned happened, he was not on duty, which means that he was resting in the servants' residence that night. Then... could it be that he really sleepwalked to the outside of Qiong Yuyuan?
Hanlu looks to Mangzhong for help.

"Mangzhong, tell the masters that it was the two of us who were on duty that day, right?"

Mangzhong lowered her head and refused to look at Hanlu. A few days ago, she accidentally discovered that Hanlu always went out in the middle of the night. She got up early the next day and asked Hanlu about it, but Hanlu always said that he was going out to get up at night.

Mangzhong just wanted to serve Nian Shilan peacefully, she knelt down and said.

"My Lords, I was in a deep sleep and didn't know anything. As for whether I was on duty that day, I don't remember clearly. It would be better to check the duty list of Cheng'en Garden."

Xiao Linzi, who had been behind Nian Shilan, suddenly spoke.

"My Lords, there is no need to check the night duty list. I remember clearly that it was Guyu and Xiaoman who were on duty in the concubine's room that day."

After Xiao Linzi finished speaking, he stood quietly behind Nian Shilan.

Nian Shilan looked at Yinzhen, then at Ulanara, stood up and bowed.

"Master, I am not strict enough in my management, but I only found out this morning that Hanlu suffers from sleepwalking. I think that night, Hanlu had a sleepwalking attack and wandered around Qiongyu Garden, where she was seen by Xiao Hezi. But the jade hairpin is in the house, and I am afraid that I cannot get it without any skills. Otherwise, it is possible that someone who can touch it accidentally broke it. Whatever the possibility, I don't want Hanlu, a servant who causes trouble, now. I will let my master deal with me." Hanlu's eyes were filled with despair after hearing what Nian Shilan said. She didn't know that the concubine handed her over with just a few words. She herself didn't even know whether she went to Qiongyu Garden that day. But she has sleepwalking, and she is a servant in Cheng'en Garden today. Everyone knows it, including herself. Now she can't wash herself clean.

Yinzhen looked at Hanlu with disgust and signaled to Su Peisheng.

"Drag down."

Su Peisheng understood what he meant and immediately covered Hanlu's mouth, blocking her cries of injustice in her throat. He dragged her out and handed her over to the guards, then whispered a few words into the guards' ears.

Ulanara was stunned that Yinzhen had dealt with Hanlu in this way. She calmed herself down and said to Yinzhen.

"Master, although Han Lu has been executed, she has not yet confessed the person behind the scenes. If we allow this person to stir up trouble in the backyard, I'm afraid there will be no peace in the mansion."

Yinzhen looked at Ulanara.

"I've already said it was a case of sleepwalking, so let's leave it at that. Later, I'll find a craftsman to repair the jade hairpin. The servants in Qiong Yu Garden are not doing a good job of guarding it, so I'll replace them with another group of servants. But Fu Jin always said that the legitimate Fu Jin was her biological sister, and she missed her very much, so I let Fu Jin keep her belongings. Now it's been inexplicably damaged, and so many things have been involved. I don't know if I can still trust you to keep her belongings."

Ulanara was silent for a moment and lowered her head.

"It was my fault. I will be more careful in taking care of my sister's belongings in the future. It will never happen again, like what happened yesterday."

Yinzhen said nothing more, stood up and left Xingfuyuan.

Nian Shilan smiled softly at Ulanara and spoke respectfully.

"I will take my leave now. I think the wife is fine now. I have not been strict in my management, so I will go back to Cheng'en Garden to reflect on myself."

After leaving Cheng'en Garden, Nian Shilan sent Mangzhong back first and took Xiao Linzi to the front yard.

Yinzhen was about to leave the house when the eunuch came in to report that the concubine wanted to see him.

Nian Shilan wanted to bow to Yinzhen, but Yinzhen waved his hand.

"No need to be polite, go on."

Nian Shilan said with a smile.

"My master is in such a hurry, so I will make it short. I deliberately sent Hanlu away today through the hand of the concubine. I thought that as a servant, there was really no reason for her to have any connection with the deceased wife. I'm afraid that the jade hairpin belonged to someone else. But today, since the concubine said that it was the eunuch guarding the Qiongyu Garden who pointed out Hanlu, it must be Hanlu who did it. I am willing to admit the crime of not governing strictly, because compared with Hanlu's disloyalty, I would rather accept a little punishment."

Yinzhen's heart moved. He didn't expect that Nian Shilan would discover Hanlu. He just didn't know how much she knew about Hanlu.

"You are honest. Then tell me when you discovered that the servant was unfaithful and how he was unfaithful."

Nian Shilan looked at Su Peisheng, who immediately left and took Xiao Linzi with him. Only Yinzhen and Nian Shilan were left in the room.

"Master, you are asking knowingly. Master has long known that the servant was unfaithful, but he did not warn me, and allowed the servant to snoop around me. If it were not for the fact that I was deceived by the eunuch Xiao Changzi in the palace during the last Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, and if Eunuch Su had not knocked Xiao Changzi unconscious and dragged him away, and I had seen the marks on his elbows, which were the same as Han Lu's elbows, I would not have doubted Han Lu. Han Lu was the servant that Master gave to me when I entered the mansion."

(End of this chapter)