I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 294 Bestowing Wine
Hearing the commotion behind her, Consort Shen felt a surge of heat on her cheeks. She felt as if every question Chu Liuzheng asked was a slap in the face, burning with pain.

Consort Xie felt a sense of satisfaction and was about to add insult to injury when she suddenly remembered that the emperor forbade her to speak. She swallowed her words in frustration and sulked, clutching the hem of her clothes.

Chu Liuzheng ignored Wen Meng, who was on the verge of tears, and stood up to face the emperor: "Your Majesty, I have finished asking my questions."

Xiao Jingfan composed himself, then frowned and said angrily, "Shen family, how dare you!"

Consort Shen's face turned pale from the drinking. Just as she was thinking of a solution, Wen Meng suddenly crawled forward on her knees: "Your Majesty, it has nothing to do with the Empress. It was all done by this servant and Wen Xiang. This servant couldn't stand Xiao Fuzi's frequent visits to Yihe Palace to curry favor with Consort Xie. I wanted to vent my anger on behalf of my master, so I poisoned the sweet soup that my master gave him."

She kowtowed twice with a "thump, thump": "Little Fuzi was poisoned by this servant, it has nothing to do with Your Majesty, please beg Your Majesty to see the truth."

Consort Shen was so angry that she almost died.

Everyone was also speechless.

While his loyalty to his mistress is commendable, forging a will could be used as an excuse, but to directly admit to poisoning her is as if he wanted Consort Shen to die quickly enough.

Chu Liuzheng was also stunned by this divine intervention.

[No, I haven't even mentioned poisoning yet, how come you've already admitted it?]

[So, is it unnecessary for me to prepare the witness statements?]

She thought about it and felt that she couldn't waste her witness testimony and couldn't give Consort Shen a chance to turn things around.

She said, "Your Majesty, a palace maid who sweeps the Zhaiyue Hall witnessed Xiao Fuzi's death. Please summon her to the palace."

Upon hearing this, Consort Shen and Wen Meng were both shocked. Hadn't they all sent everyone away? How could someone have seen them!

Xiao Jingfan said, "Send it."

A short while later, a thin palace maid was brought in and knelt down to pay her respects: "This servant, Lotus, greets Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be well."

When Wen dreamt it was her, he was so angry that he wanted to rush over and hit her, but Xiao Anzi and his men restrained him, gagged him, and pinned him to the ground.

Xiao Jingfan glanced at Hehua and asked, "Did you witness Xiao Fuzi being poisoned to death?"

Lotus nodded: "Yes."

Xiao Jingfan said, "Tell me everything you saw."

"I saw Miss Wenxiang call Eunuch Fu into the house, and not long after, I heard a 'crack' sound, like a bowl breaking." Lotus's voice was very soft, but her words were clear. "I took a broom and wanted to go in to sweep, but Miss Wenmeng stood guard at the door and wouldn't let me in. She told me to sweep the yard instead."

"The courtyard wasn't dirty, but some weeds had grown in the flowerbeds. I squatted down to pull them out, and suddenly I heard the door open, so I looked up. I saw..."

She pursed her lips tightly and raised her voice a little, "I saw Miss Wenxiang and Granny Liu carrying Eunuch Fu out together. Eunuch Fu's eyes were wide open and his chin was covered in blood."

"They moved Eunuch Fu's body into the side room. I heard some noises inside, but I didn't dare to go closer. Just as I was about to leave, I heard Miss Wenmeng call me to go in and clean, so I took a broom and went."

"My lady was doing her hair when the bowl of sweet soup in the room broke and spilled all over the floor. Miss Wenmeng told me to sweep it up and take it out to throw away. I was just about to throw it away when Miss Liuzheng and Eunuch An arrived."

Everyone looked at Consort Shen, thinking to themselves that she had no chance of escaping this time.

Consort Shen's face was ugly, and she wished she could turn around and strangle Lotus.

She believed she treated her subordinates well, so why would this lowly maid betray her?!
"Your Majesty, please do not believe this servant." She looked up at the emperor, her eyes brimming with tears. "I did not poison him, I am innocent."

Xiao Jingfan remained silent with a cold expression.

Wen Meng tried to speak, making "mmm" sounds, but Xiao Anzi pulled the cloth out of her mouth and heard her shout, "I poisoned her! Master didn't know! Don't talk nonsense!"

Her face was contorted with rage, which startled Lotus. She stammered, "I...I'm not lying. Her Majesty was in the room at the time."

Wenmeng wanted to scold her again, but Xiao Anzi stuffed the cloth back into her hands.

Chu Liuzheng watched coldly and silently gave Xiao Anzi a thumbs up.

She said, "This servant has brought back all the broken porcelain pieces. Please have the imperial physician examine them, Your Majesty."

"I'll do it." Feng Jing, who had been listening behind the screen, jumped out and examined the broken porcelain shards in front of everyone, and also performed an autopsy on Xiao Fuzi. After a moment, he said, "It is undoubtedly the Cold Marrow Powder."

Xiao Jingfan immediately looked at Consort Shen: "Now that we have both witnesses and physical evidence, what else do you have to say?"

"Your Majesty does not believe me, so what use is it for me to say anything more?" Consort Shen smiled sadly. "Both thunder and rain are blessings from Heaven, and I am willing to accept the punishment."

Seeing that she was still acting, Chu Liuzheng secretly rolled his eyes.

[Ha! Having the evidence and then bringing up trust? Are they trying to arouse the tyrant's suspicion, buy time, and save themselves?]

[In other words, Xiao Fuzi saved Hehua's life, and Hehua dared to risk offending the Shen family to tell the truth because she couldn't bear to see him die unjustly. Otherwise, this man-eating flower would have been truly difficult to kill.]

Xiao Jingfan's voice was icy: "Consort Shen is vicious and malicious. She plotted against Consort Shu and the princess, and poisoned palace servants. Her crimes are unforgivable. Give her wine. As for the others involved, kill them!"

The emperor was indeed ruthless.

Shen Zhiyi swayed twice, but under everyone's gaze, she managed to maintain the last shred of dignity.

Consort Xie was somewhat alarmed. Although she did want Consort Shen to die, the fact that the Emperor showed no mercy and actually ordered her to drink poison made her tremble with fear.

Xiao Jingfan waved his hand: "Take him away."

"Wait!" Feng Jing said, "Your Majesty, since Consort Shen was the one who administered the poison, she might have the antidote for the Cold Marrow Powder."

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope rekindled in Shen Zhiyi's heart.

Perhaps His Majesty could spare her life because she provided the antidote?

Xiao Jingfan also remembered that Chu Liuzheng had mentioned in his thoughts that Consort Shen was preparing a doctor to cure the poison, so maybe there really was one.

But before he could ask, he heard a voice from his heart.

The antidote is fake.

Chu Liuzheng quickly finished reading the gossip in front of him.

[Well, it's not entirely fake, but the antidote doesn't neutralize the poison; instead, it forces all the poison to a specific part of the body. If it gets into the brain, it makes you stupid; if it gets into your legs, it makes you lame. It's completely uncontrollable.]

[Tsk tsk, this Thousand-Handed Scholar is a real swindler. He only guarantees the antidote won't kill him, but he didn't guarantee a full recovery.]

Xiao Jingfan: "..."

so close.

He thought for a moment, then went through the motions and asked, "Do you have the antidote?"

"Yes." Shen Zhiyi nodded without hesitation.

Xiao Jingfan: "As expected, it was you who poisoned me."

Shen Zhiyi: ? ? ?

Wait, was that last sentence a trap?
No, if you're going to give me poisoned wine, why are you setting a trap for me?
If the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, Hsieh Chieh-yu would have almost burst out laughing.

This woman surnamed Shen prides herself on being clever, but she's actually even more foolish than her. Tomorrow, she'll tell the Empress Dowager about this as a joke.

Xiao Jingfan said, "Take him away."

Feng Jing reminded him, "Your Majesty, she has the antidote." So decisive, are they not going to take the antidote?

“The words of that poisonous woman cannot be trusted.” Xiao Jingfan reached out and patted Feng Jing on the shoulder. “I believe you.”

It felt good to be trusted by the emperor, but Feng Jing looked at the hand on his shoulder and said with a complicated expression, "Your Majesty, I was just bored and put some poison on my shoulder."

Xiao Jingfan: "..."

Everyone:! ! !