bookbashuk Chapter 234: Prayer Flag Bureau vs. Mind Reading 4
Chapter 234: Prayer Flag Bureau vs. Mind Reading 4
Seeing that she couldn't force Yan Wan to speak, Hai Lan kept winking at Chun Chan, signaling her to produce the evidence to identify Yan Wan.
After all, Chunchan was the head maid of Yongshou Palace and was once the most trusted confidant of Imperial Noble Consort Ling.
With Chunchan's presence, not only can we get to the point, but the emperor will also be more likely to believe it.
But no matter how Hailan gestured, Chunchan didn't move. Hailan was so angry that she took action herself and found a ring and several letters on Chunchan.
Hai Lan held up the ring and the letter and said to Yan Wan, "If you are ruthless to Ling Yun Che, why do you still keep this ring? Although it was Jin who colluded with Grandma Tian to harm my sister's Thirteenth Prince, if you hadn't written a letter to the Imperial Observatory and asked him to report to the emperor that my sister was pregnant with an auspicious baby, how could Jin have done that to my sister?!"
Yan Wan retorted: "I have never admitted that this ring is real. If Concubine Yu thinks this ring can prove something, why not just present it to the emperor directly!"
"I have indeed summoned the Imperial Astronomical Observatory many times to inquire about celestial phenomena, but I have never written him any letters. If the Empress does not believe me, you can compare my handwriting. My handwriting was taught by the Emperor, and the Emperor will know whether it is true or false at a glance!"
It would have been fine if Ruyi had just heard Yanwan deny her guilt, but at this time, she was still showing off the emperor's favor in front of her, which made Ruyi very angry.
"Since you admit that you met with the chief envoy of the Imperial Observatory, it proves that this letter is authentic. Come, bring Imperial Concubine Ling to me!"
Yan Wan shouted, "Who dares! Since I can summon the chief envoy of the Imperial Observatory directly, why can't I say it to his face? Why bother writing a letter? Is it to deliberately leave evidence of my guilt?"
"Some time ago, I and Sister Yihuan were worried about the emperor's health, so we summoned the envoy to inquire about the celestial phenomena. The envoy said that the emperor would be able to survive this disaster and live a long life. I also reported this to the emperor, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. But the queen wants to punish me. Doesn't the queen want the emperor to be safe?!"
Ruyi said angrily, "You are making up stories and talking nonsense! Who knows whether you summoned the chief envoy of the Imperial Observatory because you were worried about the emperor's health or to inquire about the future of the fifteenth prince?"
Yan Wan said frankly: "Sister Yihuan has deep feelings for the emperor. This has not changed in the decades since she entered the palace. Naturally, she sincerely hopes that the emperor can be healthy. I was born in a humble family, and all the glory in my family is given by the emperor. It can be said that the emperor is the only support I have in the palace!"
"My children are still young, Yongyan is only six years old. Of course, I sincerely hope that the emperor can live a hundred years, so that he can protect us mother and child!"
Although Yan Wan's words were not full of affection for the emperor like those of ordinary concubines, the emperor felt that Yan Wan was speaking from the heart and was very pleased. His suspicion of Yan Wan gradually dissipated.
Ruyi pointed at Yanwan and said, "You are only doing this for yourself. You have no sincerity towards the emperor at all!"
Yan Wan asked back, "I would like to ask the Empress, what is sincerity? Sister Yihuan allowed Yongyue to be adopted for the Emperor's sake and to avoid embarrassing the Emperor. I am indeed not as good as Empress Xiaoxian and Sister Yihuan, but I will abide by my duty, bear children for the Emperor, and manage the palace affairs for the Emperor, so as not to cause trouble for the Emperor."
"The Empress has always boasted that she and the Emperor were childhood sweethearts, and the affection between them could not even be compared to that of Empress Xiaoxian. So what did the Empress do for the Emperor? The Empress knew that the Emperor was reluctant to let Princess Hejing marry far away, but in order to see Empress Xiaoxian suffer, she helped the Queen Mother persuade the court officials to let Princess Hejing marry far away in Mongolia, causing Empress Xiaoxian to fall into the water and die with hatred!"
"In order to build up her own prestige, the Empress has repeatedly disregarded the Emperor's face and made things worse, causing the Emperor to lose face in public! The Empress herself behaved improperly, first Master Anji and then Ling Yunche, causing rumors in the palace and ruining the reputation of the royal family!"
"The Empress is not able to distinguish between rewards and punishments when it comes to eliminating dissidents, and she has allowed the likes of Rong Pei and the Balin family to stir up trouble in the palace! It was the Sixth Princess who pushed the Crown Prince Qingyou into trouble, but the Empress not only did not blame the Sixth Princess and the Balin family, but she also wanted to confine the innocent Concubine Yu, which resulted in the Mongolian tribes filing a complaint with the Emperor!"
"It was because the Queen had always indulged Balin that Balin dared to pretend to be a member of the Khorchin tribe to assassinate the twelfth prince in revenge! This led to a lot of troubles later. Queen, are you tying yourself up in knots?"
"It's ridiculous that the Queen thinks Balin is innocent in order to punish me. Do you want to avenge her?"
Ruyi said angrily, "The Emperor and I have been childhood sweethearts, and he promised me the throne in the future. If it weren't for your instigation, how could the Emperor and I have ended up like this?!"
Yan Wan said, "The Empress always puts all the faults on others. She used to think it was Empress Xiaoxian who took your position as the legitimate wife, and later she thought it was me who took away the Emperor's favor."
"The Empress always likes to say that she doesn't care about the position of Empress, and that the Emperor insisted on giving it to you. But is that really the case? When Empress Xiaoxian passed away, you and Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui were the only two candidates for the successor. Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui had the recommendation of Empress Xiaoxian and the support of the Empress Dowager, and she also had a prince and princess."
"You were flattered by Jin, which displeased the emperor. Later, at the funeral of Empress Xiaoxian, you were assassinated by Jin and Concubine Yu. Naturally, you became the only candidate for the successor."
"After that, when you gave birth to the twelfth prince, Concubine Yu could not wait to force the concubines who had given birth to princes and princesses to swear in public that they would never have the intention of usurping the throne! If you really didn't care about the position of queen, why didn't you stop it? Why did you force the concubine who had never given birth to swear an oath?"
Hai Lan spoke for Ruyi, "The Queen doesn't care whether she is the Queen or not, but after having the twelfth prince, she naturally has to make plans for him. What happened that day was my own decision, and the Queen didn't know about it beforehand!"
Yan Wan smiled and said, "Who in the palace doesn't know that Concubine Yu is loyal to the Empress? Concubine Yu dared to attack Imperial Noble Concubine Chunhui and the Third Prince to fight for the position of Empress. Naturally, she will also fight for the position of Crown Prince for the Twelfth Prince. Why does the Empress need to speak up?"
Ruyi denied it, "I have never said that! Everyone in the harem knows that the emperor values legitimate sons the most, and Yongqi is the emperor's only legitimate son. Isn't it reasonable for everyone to value Yongqi?"
Yan Wan smiled and said, "The Queen is always like this. She clearly wants it in her heart, but she says no. She has to let the Emperor and Concubine Yu force the throne of Queen on you again and again before you accept it reluctantly."
"The position of Queen was obtained too easily, so she thought that the position of Crown Prince should also be in the hands of the 12th Prince. Therefore, the Queen never taught the 12th Prince with all her heart, and waited for the day when the Emperor would write the 12th Prince's name behind the plaque of "Zhengda Guangming"."
"But unexpectedly, things didn't go as you expected. The emperor chose Yongqi, and there was a rumor that he wanted to make me the imperial concubine, so you got anxious. When you were on a tour in the south, you accidentally learned about Shui Linglong's affairs, and wanted to use this to bring me down, so you ignored any evidence and insisted on framing me!"