Chapter 262 Destroying the Evidence

Chapter 262: Eliminating Evidence

Soon a crowd surged in, with Emperor Jingping and Honored Consort Yu at the center.

Emperor Jingping caught sight of Fang Rui lying on the ground having died a gruesome death, and hastily raised his sleeve to shield his eyes, his heart pounding wildly.

For this emperor who prided himself on elegance and refinement, his imperial decrees had claimed many lives, but he had rarely, if ever, witnessed such a death with his own eyes.

"Protect the Emperor! Guard His Majesty!"

The attending eunuch stepped in front of him. Emperor Jingping lowered his sleeve and frowned at Qiu Heng.

She was still sitting on the low couch, her expression dazed, her face pale, as if she still hadn't fully processed what had happened.

"How dare you, Qiu Heng! His Majesty is here, and you still haven't paid your respects!" a eunuch barked.

Qiu Heng knelt and bowed. "Your subject, Qiu Heng, pays homage to Your Majesty."

If in the past, Emperor Jingping had harbored a slight, unspeakable interest in the girl before him because of her uniqueness, now he felt only shock and disgust.

"What is the meaning of this?" Emperor Jingping demanded harshly, pointing at Fang Rui's corpse.

Honored Consort Yu stood beside Emperor Jingping, her gaze sweeping over the two palace maids at the door, and she reminded them coolly, "His Majesty is asking. Why aren't you two speaking?"

The two palace maids rushed to accuse.

"Your Majesty, it was County Princess Suiyun who killed Fang Rui!"

"Fang Rui brought County Princess Suiyun to change clothes. This maid heard them arguing. Fang Rui asked the county princess if she was afraid that she might turn things around in the future..."

"This maid heard it too. Fang Rui regretted not having taught County Princess Suiyun a lesson before and told her to wait..."

Emperor Jingping looked coldly at Qiu Heng. "Qiu Heng, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Your subject is innocent. This is Yuchen Palace, and Fang Rui is Her Highness's palace maid. Your subject is not insane; how could I kill someone in such a place?"

Honored Consort Yu smiled. "Didn't they just say that Fang Rui threatened to settle accounts with you later? You were afraid of retaliation and killed her in a moment of impulse."

"Your Highness's speculation is too far-fetched. This is the imperial palace. One misstep harms not only oneself but also one's clan. Who would kill someone outright over a few trivial threats?"

"Speculation?" Honored Consort Yu raised an eyebrow. "I am not speculating. Those two saw it with their own eyes."

The two palace maids exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Yes, this maid saw it with her own eyes."

Qiu Heng immediately asked, "You two were guarding outside the door. How could you have seen it with your own eyes?"

"We heard screams—" one palace maid blurted out, but meeting Honored Consort Yu's icy gaze, she suddenly realized she had misspoken.

Qiu Heng bowed again to Emperor Jingping. "Your Majesty, you heard it. This palace maid admitted that they only pushed the door open after hearing screams. The screams came first, so clearly Fang Rui was already in trouble before they entered. They could not have seen your subject harm Fang Rui."

The two ordinary palace maids assigned to guard the changing room faced multiple pressures: the authority of Honored Consort Yu, the corpse of Fang Rui before their eyes, and the weight of lying to the emperor.

Pressured like a mountain, people become nervous and make mistakes. Without enough time to think, it's only natural for their words to have loopholes.

Qiu Heng understood clearly that Fang Rui had used her own death to frame Qiu Heng, and Emperor Jingping blindly favored Honored Consort Yu. In this situation, it was impossible for her to walk away unscathed, but at least she could not be definitively accused with an eyewitness seeing her act.

Emperor Jingping looked at the two palace maids without expression.

The palace maid who had misspoken was terrified, trembling like a leaf. Stuttering, she said, "After we came in, we saw Fang Rui lying on the ground. Before she died, she personally accused County Princess Suiyun of killing her..."

"Yes, this maid saw it too!"

"So you only saw Fang Rui saying before she died that I killed her, but you did not actually see me commit the act," Qiu Heng said steadily and firmly.

The two palace maids involuntarily looked at Honored Consort Yu.

Honored Consort Yu laughed lightly, hooking her arm through Emperor Jingping's. "Your Majesty, listen to how glib Sixth Miss Qiu is. Qiu Heng, even if those two didn't see you commit the act, is Fang Rui's death fake? You're not going to say she killed herself to frame you, are you?"

Emperor Jingping couldn't help nodding.

Once a person dies, there's nothing left. Who would directly sacrifice their own life to frame someone else?

Qiu Heng slowly shook her head. "Your subject can only guarantee that Fang Rui's death has nothing to do with me. As to whether she committed suicide or someone else did it, that is unclear."

"Didn't she bring you to change clothes? You were in the same room. How could you not know?" Emperor Jingping stared at Qiu Heng in displeasure. "Qiu Heng, don't think I'm easy to fool."

"In response to Your Majesty, your subject does not know because shortly after entering, I fell into a drowsy sleep. When I woke up to the screams, I saw Fang Rui lying on the ground..." Qiu Heng's gaze swept over the two palace maids. "Like them, I only woke up upon hearing the screams and discovered Fang Rui's mishap. I was so shocked that I even forgot to react when Your Majesty entered."

Emperor Jingping found it absurd. "How could you fall into a drowsy sleep for no reason?"

The questioned girl knelt on the ground, quietly lowering her eyes. After a moment, she looked up. "Your subject has also been wondering why. At that time, only Fang Rui and I were in the changing room. No third person intervened, and Fang Rui didn't do anything either. Why did I fall into a drowsy sleep? Now that I think about it, perhaps the problem lies with that incense burner."

As Qiu Heng pointed, everyone's gaze fell on the incense burner placed on the high table.

The celadon incense burner had a warm glaze. The once-rich fragrance had now faded to near imperceptibility, with no smoke rising.

Although the incense was potent in the closed room, clearly not much had been placed in the burner. As the door opened and air circulation increased, the scent dissipated.

The incense had dissipated, but the ash remained.

Honored Consort Yu sneered. "Sixth Miss Qiu is really composed. To evade responsibility for murder, she blames heaven, earth, and the incense."

"Your subject has a clear conscience. Please have the imperial physicians examine this incense burner, Your Majesty."

Emperor Jingping looked at Honored Consort Yu.

Honored Consort Yu smiled charmingly. "Your concubine will follow Your Majesty's decision. Your concubine believes Your Majesty will not let someone from Yuchen Palace die in vain."

"Of course," Emperor Jingping said, wrapping his arm around Honored Consort Yu's waist.

"Your Majesty, the smell here is unpleasant. Let us move to the main hall."

At Honored Consort Yu's words, Emperor Jingping suddenly felt the smell of blood was pungent and nauseating, so he hurriedly went to the main hall.

"Your Majesty, perhaps we could send this incense burner to the Imperial Hospital of Medicine for all the physicians to examine together, so that if a designated physician examines it, Sixth Miss Qiu won't dispute the result."

"Alright," Emperor Jingping agreed to Honored Consort Yu's suggestion and immediately ordered the incense burner to be sent to the Imperial Hospital of Medicine.

Soon, a commotion came from outside. Emperor Jingping asked coldly what had happened.

The eunuch who had left carrying the incense burner returned, accompanied by an additional palace maid kneeling beside him.

"Your Majesty, just as this servant stepped out of the main hall, this palace maid collided with me head-on, and the incense burner slipped from my hand into the Auspicious Vat..." the eunuch reported with a panicked expression.

The Auspicious Vat was massive, capable of holding thousands of liters of water, hence also called a "Sea at the Door." This small incense burner fell into it and instantly vanished without a trace.