A scumbag husband fakes his death to escape his marriage? I'll burn down his funeral hall and s

Chapter 545 The Scapegoat

"Speak! Who is it?!" Zhao Yunci's roar almost lifted the roof of the palace.

The young eunuch was already terrified, and now he was in tears, his forehead bruised from banging his head against the ground.

"This servant...this servant says! It was the third son of the Imperial Kitchen! It was him! He gave this servant the medicine powder!"

"Little Sanzi?" Zhao Yunci frowned.

Consort Hui seemed to be startled by the name and asked in surprise, "Little Third Son? Is that the servant I punished a few days ago for stealing some bird's nest and making him clean the toilets?"

She covered her mouth, her eyes filled with disbelief, and then turned to the emperor.

"Your Majesty! He must be holding a grudge! This man is a gambler and has a dirty hand. I punished him for his own good, but who knew he would be so vicious, not only trying to harm the Empress but also trying to drag me down with him!"

As she spoke, she pointed to the pastries in her palace: "The pastries here are from the same batch sent to Kunning Palace. I used them too. If he hadn't only tampered with the portion for the Empress, wouldn't I have used them as well..."

Chu Ruohan stood to the side, her gaze fixed on Consort Hui's face.

When she saw Consort Hui mention Zhang San, beneath her grief-stricken expression, a barely perceptible hint of relief flashed across the depths of her eyes, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

This sense of relief was so quick it was like an illusion, yet Chu Ruohan caught it perfectly.

Just then, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy rushed in, covered in sweat, and knelt down with a thud.

"Your Majesty! The Empress...her pulse is weak and unstable, the pregnancy is precarious, the imperial fetus...the imperial fetus is in grave danger!"

"He needs to rest immediately, supplemented with ancient ginseng to prolong his life, and must not be disturbed in any way, otherwise... otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Zhao Yunci was already furious, and upon hearing this, his face turned even more ashen. He slammed his fist on the table and yelled, "You bastard!"

He glared at the young eunuch: "Bring that little bastard here! I want to interrogate him myself!"

Before long, a hunched-over eunuch was roughly escorted in by the guards; it was none other than Xiao Sanzi.

Upon seeing this scene, his legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, trembling like a leaf: "Your Majesty, spare my life! This servant is innocent!"

The young eunuch immediately pointed out, "It's him! Your Majesty, it was him who gave me the powder and promised me a large sum of money after the deed was done!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Xiao Sanzi cried out in terror. "When did I give you any medicine powder? I have never had anything to do with you!"

"Still dare to argue!" Zhao Yunci roared. "Search for me!"

The guards immediately stepped forward and began to roughly search Xiao Sanzi's body.

Soon, a guard announced loudly, "Your Majesty, we've found it!"

He held in his hand a small oil paper packet containing some white powder, along with a fifty-tael silver note.

"This...this isn't mine!" The mistress's face turned ashen, and she shook her head desperately. "Your Majesty, this isn't my property! It's a frame-up! It must be a frame-up!"

Upon seeing this, Consort Hui burst into tears, swaying precariously as she held onto the hand of a palace maid.

"Your Majesty, look, the evidence is overwhelming! I... I was truly blind to human nature, and was almost implicated by such a heartless servant, harming the Empress and myself!"

Tears streaming down her face, she turned to Zhao Yunci and said, "I have just lost my child. I will never forget the heart-wrenching pain I felt."

"Your Majesty the Empress is carrying the Emperor's child. How could I be so foolish as to do such a heinous thing?"

"It must be that wicked servant who killed two birds with one stone, both to take revenge on me and to stir up trouble in the harem through the Empress's affair!"

Looking at Consort Hui's appearance and then at the "evidence" on the ground, Zhao Yunci's judgment seemed to shift.

Seeing that the time was right, Chu Ruohan stepped forward and said softly, "Your Majesty, this humble woman dares to ask."

Zhao Yunci nodded, signaling her to speak.

"Xiao Sanzi usually works in the Imperial Kitchen and has no opportunity to come into contact with the Empress, and has no connection with her whatsoever."

"He dared to commit this heinous crime, risking the extermination of his entire family, just because he was punished by Consort Hui. He even went so far as to bribe the eunuchs. His mind is so meticulous and his methods so skillful. Is there something else going on here?"

"Or perhaps he was just being used as a pawn?"

Zhao Yunci was already suspicious, and after being pointed out by Chu Ruohan, the anger in her eyes subsided slightly, replaced by a more scrutinizing look.

He pondered for a moment and said coldly, "Take these two men to the Censorate and interrogate them thoroughly! Make sure you get to the bottom of this!"

"Also, send someone to investigate this mistress's background and see who he's been associating with lately!"

"Yes!" The guards obeyed and dragged away the crying and protesting Xiao Sanzi and the limp eunuch.

Consort Hui felt resentful in her heart when she saw that the Emperor did not fully believe her, but she dared not say anything more and just lowered her head and shed tears.

As night deepened, in a corner of the palace, the cell where Xiao Sanzi was imprisoned suddenly caught fire.

Flames shot into the sky, illuminating half the night sky.

When the fire was extinguished, Xiao Sanzi had already been burned to a crisp and was unrecognizable.

Death has no evidence.

When the news reached Consort Hui's palace, she was fiddling with her prayer beads with a troubled expression.

"Amitabha, the justice of Heaven is clear, and retribution is inevitable," she murmured, a slight smile playing on her lips.

Chu Ruohan received the news almost simultaneously.

She stood by the window, gazing at the dark red remnants of the fire in the distance after it had died down, her eyes deep and thoughtful.

This fire was started at just the right time.

This method is too ruthless; it doesn't seem like a simple frame-up, but more like... murder to silence a witness.

The Department of Cautious Punishment.

At dawn, they pulled a charred corpse from the ashes, burned beyond recognition. It was said to be Xiao Sanzi, a handyman in the imperial kitchen.

Upon hearing the report, Zhao Yunci's face darkened to the point of being sullen.

"Fine, very well! Dead men tell no tales!" He laughed in fury. "You think a fire can erase all traces? Do you really think I'm a fool!"

He slammed his hand on the imperial desk, causing the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to jump.

"To kill someone right under my nose! To lay a hand on my empress and my own son! This harem needs a good cleaning!"

Even the scent of ambergris could not suppress the malevolent energy within the hall.

Inside Kunning Palace, the smell of medicine dissipated, replaced by a faint, calming fragrance.

Su Wan leaned against the bed, holding a medical book in her hands, her expression calm, showing no sign of being poisoned and on the verge of death.

Chu Ruohan sat beside her, peeling an apple for her with practiced ease.

"Your Majesty, your 'luring the snake out of its hole' tactic has truly fooled everyone," Chu Ruohan said softly, handing her a slice of peeled apple.

Su Wan took it, but didn't eat it. She simply placed it aside, a cool smile playing on her lips.

"If we don't do this, how can we let that venomous snake give itself away?"