Entering the palace means entering a high position; I'm His Majesty's cousin, who am I afr

Should we wait for His Majesty to return before dealing with this?

I'm afraid that by then, whatever is inside the Moon Gazing Tower will be suppressed.

If we drag it out until then, it will all be meaningless.

In the end, Consort Zhu will only lose this confrontation.

Consort Li's eyes were filled with a deep, dark look, and she remained silent for a moment.

At this moment, several concubines who flattered Shen Jiayu spoke up one after another.

The first to speak was Consort Wen. "Your Highness Consort Chen is absolutely right. This matter of witchcraft is no small matter, involving the imperial heir and the imperial concubines. Currently, there is no one truly in charge in the palace. Perhaps we should wait for His Majesty to return and make a decision?"

As soon as she spoke, the other concubines also said, "Consort Chen is of noble character and would never do such a thing. If we want to thoroughly investigate Wangyue Tower, we should first summon the people from the Imperial Observatory for a rigorous interrogation."

"If His Majesty returns and learns that Consort Chen has been wronged, he will surely be furious, and we cannot bear the consequences."

These concubines, who were all in favor of Shen Jiayu, chimed in with their own opinions.

Consort Li's face turned ashen upon hearing this.

She was considering it carefully.

Should they take the risk and insist on searching the palace, or should they let this opportunity pass and give up?

Should we take a gamble?

Concerning the power of the palace, Consort Li was tormented and unable to make up her mind.

Just as she was hesitating, something unexpected happened.

With a "bang".

In the palace garden, an inconspicuous, rough-around-the-edges palace maid hurriedly retreated and bumped into the arranged green chrysanthemums.

This commotion drew the attention of all the concubines.

Seeing the concubines looking in their direction, the young palace maid panicked and immediately knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly.

Seeing this, Consort Li frowned. "So rash! Get down here!"

The young palace maid, feeling as if she had been granted a pardon, scrambled to her feet and said, "Yes."

But after taking only two steps, he twisted his ankle and fell to the ground.

Logically speaking, it's normal for young palace maids in the imperial palace to be frightened by such a scene, as they are inexperienced and naive.

It's not that bad, that he lost his composure like that.

Consort Li narrowed her long, phoenix-shaped eyes and ordered the people around her, "Drag that little palace maid over here."

Her attendant, Ci Xin, received the order and brought the young palace maid before the other concubines.

Now that they were closer, the concubines could see that the young palace maid was deathly pale, with a layer of cold sweat on her forehead and neck, and she looked terrified, trembling like a leaf.

Consort Li glanced at Shen Jiayu, seeing her calm expression, then looked away and instead questioned the young palace maid condescendingly: "You have committed a public indiscretion; do you know your crime?"

The young palace maid trembled all over, only able to beg for mercy, "This servant will never dare to do it again, please forgive this servant this time, Your Majesty."

Consort Li said imposingly, "Why are you so flustered? Tell me the truth."

The young palace maid's eyes flickered, and she stammered for a long time, "This servant...this servant is young and timid. When I see the ladies, I am inevitably afraid, which is why I want to retreat."

If she didn't look so guilty, her words might be somewhat believable.

However, her excessive panic and anxiety aroused suspicion among those present.

Seeing that she was stubborn, Consort Li angrily said, "Take her away and give her twenty strokes of the cane. If she still doesn't talk, give her another twenty strokes."

Twenty strokes of the cane is not a light punishment.

Such a thin and frail palace maid, after twenty strokes of the cane, would probably have her skin torn and her flesh ripped open, and would have to lie in bed for months.

If he were to receive forty strokes of the cane, he might never be able to walk smoothly again.

The palace maid was so frightened that she burst into tears.

Consort Li, thoroughly annoyed, snapped, "Stop her chattering! Take her away!"

Seeing that Consort Li was truly enraged, the young palace maid turned to plead with Shen Jiayu, "Your Highness, please save me! Please save me! I did this for you..."

Upon hearing this, Consort Li's expression changed drastically.

She originally only wanted to use palace rules to punish the little palace maid of Wangyue Tower and save face a little.

But unexpectedly, this little palace maid...

Consort Li, her face cold, stepped forward and interrogated, "What did you say? For Consort Chen? You wretched servant, explain yourself clearly!"

The young palace maid continued to sob, her eyes filled with sorrow as she looked at Shen Jiayu's taut, cold face. After a long while, she stopped crying and slowly said, "Since Your Highness doesn't care about my life or death at all, then I don't need to care about Your Highness anymore."

After the initial uproar among the concubines, they all stared at the little palace maid kneeling on the ground.

The young palace maid, her eyes red, said, "Today, when the ladies came to Wangyue Tower, they discussed matters of witchcraft. I was terrified, and then I remembered the strange things that happened at Wangyue Tower a few nights ago."

Consort Li quickly pressed, "What's wrong?"

The young palace maid glanced at the expressionless Shen Jiayu and said timidly, "That night it was already past midnight when I happened to see Consort Chen leading Sister Hongling and the others under the banyan tree in the courtyard, doing something strange. It was too dark at night, and I really couldn't see clearly..."

"Slap—" Before the little palace maid could finish speaking, Hongling stepped forward and slapped her across the face. "How dare you! You dare to spout nonsense out of thin air!"

The young palace maid, her face bearing clear finger marks from the beating, whispered, "Sister Hongling, how could I dare lie? If Her Majesty hadn't shown me no mercy, I would have been beaten to death rather than utter a single word about Wangyue Tower. But Her Majesty is too cruel; I was forced into this situation."

The young palace maid had tears in her eyes, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Hongling was about to step forward when Shen Jiayu said coldly, "Hongling, come back."

Hongling's eyes were filled with resentment, but she still obeyed the order, suppressing her anger, and stood behind Shen Jiayu again.

Consort Li raised her eyelids, her gaze icy: "Consort Chen, now that things have come to this, what do you have to say?"

Shen Jiayu did not answer her, but instead focused her gaze on the large banyan tree in the courtyard, her eyes dark and brooding.

Consort Li swept her gaze over the various expressions of the concubines in the six palaces, her voice icy: "Did you all hear what that little palace maid said just now? Now that another witness has been added, this matter cannot be left ambiguous. It must be thoroughly investigated and an explanation given to the harem!"

The concubines in the harem looked at each other in disbelief, never expecting the situation to reverse so quickly.

At this point, no one dared to say anything more.

Amidst the crowd, Consort Zhu silently curled into a cold smile.

She had arranged for this little palace maid, all for this very moment.

Today, whether Consort Chen likes it or not, we're determined to search this Moon Gazing Tower!

Shen Jiayu showed no panic as expected of someone convicted; she simply walked up to the young palace maid with a cold expression.

When the young palace maid saw her coming, she swallowed hard and dared not look directly at her.

Shen Jiayu squatted down, reached out and forcefully pinched her chin, making her look at her. She sighed softly, "You used to work in the palace, so you probably didn't know my nature. Driven by self-interest, you chose to betray me. It's alright, I will give you a lesson you'll never forget and regret."

The young palace maid felt a pang of panic when she saw her cold and stern expression.

Fear rose from the depths of my heart and spread throughout my body.

For a moment, she regretted doing it.

Shen Jiayu quickly released her, stood up, and said in a calm tone, as if she were talking about something trivial: "Zhao Bingzhong, drag him away and beat him to death."

These words shocked everyone present.

The young palace maid was filled with terror. She looked up abruptly and cried out, "Your Majesty, you..."

However, before she could finish speaking, Zhao Linzhong stepped forward, covered her mouth, and forcibly dragged her away.

Seeing this, Consort Li raised her voice, "Consort Chen, have you gone mad?"