You expect me to serve your mistress? The mistress is driving this scumbag and his entire family cra

Chapter 197 Old Qian finally woke up
The next day, the morning had just ended.

Minister Jian submitted a memorial impeaching him.

Marquis Huaiyuan allowed his daughter to commit murder, kidnapping Sun Ma, a servant of the Minister's mansion, and torturing her to extract a confession, intending to frame the future Princess Consort of Pingxi.

The emperor ordered that Marquis Huaiyuan and Xie Wan'er be summoned to the palace for interrogation.

When Xie Wan'er confronted Jian Shuyan in the main hall, she naturally couldn't produce any solid evidence to prove her accusations against Jian Shuyan.

The emperor sat on his dragon throne, looking down at the two who were locked in a fierce debate, neither willing to give an inch. His eyes were dark and unfathomable, and his expression was unpredictable. No one could fathom his thoughts.

Jian Shuyan calmly responded to Xie Wan'er's questions, refuting them with reason and evidence. In particular, she successfully shifted the suspicion to Liang Jiang regarding the matter of the coachman Lao Qian being poisoned by Yu Shu.

In the end, Xie Wan'er was defeated by Jian Shuyan's impassioned speech.

The emperor's eyes were already blazing with suppressed rage. Marquis Huaiyuan knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head, awaiting the emperor's thunderous fury.

"Here comes someone!"

The guards outside the hall responded and entered.

"Princess Xie Wan'er of the Marquis of Huaiyuan's mansion framed others without any evidence and attempted to extract a confession through torture. Her actions were heinous and cannot be forgiven."

Marquis Huaiyuan allowed his daughter to commit murder; he should be punished as well. Drag both of them away and order them to be taken away…

"Brother Emperor!"

Gu Xizhi, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "Your subject has something to report."

The emperor was displeased: "Are you going to plead for Xie Wan'er?"

Gu Xizhi pursed her thin lips and took two steps forward.

He went to the palace today specifically for Xie Wan'er's matter, and as he expected, he was unable to stop the situation from developing.

Seeing that the two were about to be punished by the emperor, and that once the imperial edict was issued, there would be no way to reverse the situation, they had no choice but to take a desperate gamble.

"Your Majesty, the coachman, Old Qian, is not actually dead. He is currently being cared for in a safe place by Princess Heya. Once Old Qian regains consciousness, he will be able to prove who is the real Xie Wan'er and who is the imposter."

The emperor frowned: "Why didn't you speak up just now?"

"Old Qian's condition is not good. I don't know if he will be able to wake up. Moreover, Old Qian has been repeatedly hunted down by the perpetrators who are ruthless. I dare not reveal this matter easily."

The emperor had long lost his patience and waved his hand, ordering: "Then put the two of them in jail for now and leave them for later. I will give you two days. If Old Qian still hasn't come to his senses, then deal with him according to the laws of Chang'an."

This is already an act of mercy.

The Imperial Guards immediately swarmed forward and dragged Xie Wan'er away.

Marquis Huaiyuan was led away without saying a word, dejected.

The emperor angrily flung his sleeve and said, "Disperse, all of you."

Just as he stood up, a member of the Imperial Guard rushed in and whispered something to Eunuch Lin.

Eunuch Lin hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head, walked to the emperor's desk, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, Princess Heya requests an audience and is outside the palace."

The emperor lifted his eyes: "Her alone?"

"There was another person with them. Princess Heya said he was a witness in the case of the assassination of Consort Xie, and the Consort's coachman."

Old Qian has finally woken up!

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the people in the hall varied.

Jian Shuyan and Jian Shangshu were clearly flustered, while Xie Wan'er perked up immediately, straightening her back and becoming excited.

The emperor glanced at Jian Shuyan without changing his expression, then waved his hand: "Summon her."

Eunuch Lin gave the order. A moment later, Liang Jiang helped a thin, sickly-looking man slowly enter.

The two knelt together in the main hall and kowtowed to the emperor.

The emperor's patience was almost exhausted, and he asked in a deep voice, "Are you the coachman who miraculously survived?"

Old Qian had been unconscious for so long, and had just woken up when Liang Jiang carried him all the way into the palace.

At this moment, he was weak all over, had no strength, and even his voice was hoarse, making it very difficult for him to speak: "Your Majesty, that is indeed the case."

"Then what exactly do you know? What exactly happened when Consort Xie returned to the capital that day? Tell me the truth."

Old Qian lowered his head, not daring to raise his face, and recounted, word by word, what happened on the way back to Beijing that day.

"That day, as the capital approached, Princess Wan'er, eager to return home, seized a guard's horse and went back to the capital first."

Fearing something might happen to her, the Empress Dowager ordered the guards to quickly catch up and protect her. Only this servant and six or seven guards remained to escort the Empress Dowager slowly.

Unexpectedly, halfway there, they were suddenly attacked by arrows. Everyone was caught off guard and had nowhere to hide, resulting in most of them being killed or wounded. The old servant was also hit by an arrow. The Empress Dowager also fainted on the spot because her horse was startled and she suffered a head injury.

Fortunately, in the nick of time, Princess Heya arrived and shielded the old servant from the pursuing assassins in blue, allowing the old servant to drive the carriage away first.

Having said so much in one breath, the driver was a little out of breath. He rested briefly before continuing:

"The old servant drove the carriage away from the scene, but who knew that he would be chased by those assassins in green again. He was careless and was hit by a sword again, and immediately fainted."

In my daze, I heard a woman scolding the men in blue for their incompetence, saying that her young lady had been waiting for half a day and they couldn't even handle a few lowly guards.

Then a blue-clad assassin briefly explained what had happened and asked the man for instructions: "The Empress Dowager has fainted. What should we do next?"
The woman said, "Miss is waiting at the crossroads ahead. After I leave, pretend to be a frightened horse. Once Miss has rescued the Empress Dowager, just make a show of it and then immediately retreat."

"Nonsense!" Jian Shuyan's face turned pale, and she immediately retorted, "Did Liang Jiang tell you to say that? You were unconscious at the time, how could you have heard what others were saying?"

Old Qian swallowed hard: "Although I was hit by two arrows and lost a lot of blood, and my head was spinning, I was not seriously injured. I was also worried about the safety of the Empress Dowager, so my mind was clear."

When I heard them say they were going to frighten the horse, I immediately struggled to my feet, presumptuously trying to stop them.

Before I could even get up, the woman saw me and struck me hard on the head. What happened after that, I truly don't know.

Perhaps I had held my breath and they thought I was dead, or perhaps I was just lucky and a passerby came near, which is how I escaped death and was rescued by Princess Heya who arrived later.

Once those words were spoken, the truth became clear.

It's obvious that Jian Shuyan had planned this all along, sending someone to assassinate the Empress Dowager and then claiming the credit for it.

No wonder Lao Qian kept getting into danger. He had seen Sun Ma and overheard her plans. How could she possibly spare his life?

Jian Shuyan still tried to make one last attempt.

“Your Majesty, please investigate. This old Qian was clearly instructed by someone to collude with Princess Heya to frame me. I am already the one chosen by Your Majesty to be the Princess Consort of Pingxi. I have absolutely no reason to do such a thing.”

Gu Xizhi said calmly, "Whether Lao Qian is lying or not, we only need to call Sun Ma in and have her identify him on the spot to find out."

Sun Ma waited outside the palace, ready to be summoned at any time to testify for Jian Shuyan.

When Liang Jiang brought Lao Qian into the palace, she knew that the matter could no longer be kept secret.

Hesitantly, he was summoned into the main hall and stood with several other women of similar build, where Old Qian pointed them out.

Old Qian glanced at her, then immediately pointed at her without hesitation: "It's her!"

The matter is already obvious.

Jian Shuyan's face turned ashen, and she trembled as she tried to explain, "Your Majesty, this humble woman..."

(End of this chapter)