Chapter 108: Conspiracy (2)
"Since she does not know her crime, then Your Majesty should just state it plainly!" The old woman's voice suddenly came from behind the curtain.
The Emperor on the dragon throne, who had just been furious, now seemed like a gentle lamb after hearing her words. He respectfully said, "Yes, Mother Empress."
Sun Jiaojiao instantly understood what this drama was.
So, this was "ruling from behind the curtain"!
She had seen this plenty of times in TV dramas. In ancient times, it was very difficult for a woman to take power openly. The most common way was to rule from behind a curtain.
This Emperor was already so old, yet the old Empress Dowager still wanted to play this "ruling from behind the curtain" game. How lamentable... No wonder her cheap dad said the court relationships were complex and the rear palace's influence stretched far.
Tch!
This Emperor, his face changed so quickly. He was so timid in front of this old woman, the Empress Dowager. He must be a paper tiger—fierce on the outside, cowardly on the inside!
But before Sun Jiaojiao could finish her wild thoughts, she heard the Emperor give a stern command: "Bring the man in!"
Soon, two guards escorted a black-clothed man in, forcing him to kneel in the court.
That black-clothed man just kneeled there, not daring to even lift his head.
"What have you done? Confess the truth!"
The black-clothed man nodded his head like he was pounding garlic. "This criminal coveted the Young Miss Sun's beauty. I and several brothers broke into the Minister's Residence in the middle of the night and defiled Young Miss Sun's body. Your Majesty, forgive me! Your Majesty, forgive me!"
"Is this true?"
"Truer than a needle! Even if you lent this commoner courage, this commoner wouldn't dare lie in front of Your Majesty."
"Then look clearly. Was it her?"
The black-clothed man didn't even look up clearly, just continued pounding his head. "Your Majesty, spare my life! This commoner was truly muddle-headed for a moment, that's why I defiled Young Miss Sun's body..."
These words were tantamount to pushing Sun Jiaojiao into the abyss of impurity.
Sun Jiaojiao immediately reacted. He dared to be so bold, to sling mud at her without even looking. He must have someone backing him up, acting under instructions.
Back then, Xiao Er had forced a confession, making him admit he was sent by the Empress Dowager to come to the Minister's Residence and do this dirty deed.
Now, he had miraculously "escaped" from the Minister's Residence and could be directly brought to the imperial court by the Empress Dowager to confess his crime of defiling the future Crown Princess, directly putting a bright green hat on the Crown Prince in front of everyone. Heh, things were getting more and more interesting.
Of course, Sun Jiaojiao couldn't say that the Minister's Residence had interrogated this assassin and point the conflict back at the Empress Dowager.
She knew very well. First, if she brought up the Empress Dowager, not many in the court would believe her. Second, if the mastermind really was the Empress Dowager, then she would be guilty even if she was innocent. Deceiving a superior was also a capital offense!
Sun Jiaojiao calmly kowtowed heavily on the floor, meeting all changes by remaining unchanged. She would see how the assassin and the Empress Dowager planned to play this out, and quickly calculated in her mind how she should respond.
"Sun Jiaojiao, do you confess your crime?" The Empress Dowager, seeing Sun Jiaojiao was not panicking at all, shouted heavily.
"This subject is terrified. This subject still has the same thing to say: This subject does not know what crime she has committed."
"What crime?" The Empress Dowager snorted coldly. "According to our dynasty's customs, any woman who marries into the imperial family must be of clean family background and body. As the future Crown Princess, you failed to protect your purity, and you still say you are innocent?"
Sun Jiaojiao understood.
So, they sent people into the Minister's Residence, not to steal or kill, but to boldly commit rape, and even deliberately left a survivor to testify. This was their goal?
They went in such a big circle because they were afraid of offending the Minister's Residence by killing her, but they also didn't want her to be the Crown Princess.
With this understanding, Sun Jiaojiao became even calmer.
She raised her head, shot a resentful glance in the Crown Prince's direction, and then continued to kowtow, saying, "Please, Your Majesty and Empress Dowager, investigate clearly. This 'flower-picking thief' dares to lie in Your Majesty's presence; it is a great crime of deceiving the monarch. It is true he entered my Minister's Residence to commit indecent acts, but he couldn't even identify the right person. He slept with my personal maidservant, Yu'er, by mistake. He is truly a stupid thief. I don't know who was so foolish as to send such stupid thieves..."
When these words came out, everyone was shocked.
Slept with the wrong person?
The Empress Dowager was furious. "Absurd! Utterly absurd! It is an iron-clad fact that your body has lost its purity. You still dare to argue?"
Losing her body meant it was impossible to marry into the imperial family.
In the dark corners of the court, many ministers quietly smiled.
No matter who set this trap for Minister Sun's family, this Young Miss Sun could no longer fly up the branch and become a phoenix. The position of Crown Princess... this Young Miss Sun was definitely not fortunate enough to sit in it...
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