Chapter 382

During the Crown Prince's first birthday celebration, all the servants from Zhang Wanrong's palace went to see the festivities. However, Zhang Wanrong claimed that she was ill that night, suffering from a severe headache, and insisted that her personal maid could vouch for her.

At first, the maid's story aligned perfectly with Zhang Wanrong's. She said that there were few servants in their palace to begin with, and she was the only one who diligently attended to Zhang Wanrong.

While the Taihe Hall was filled with music, dance, and lively celebrations for the Crown Prince's birthday, everyone from their palace had abandoned their posts to join the excitement, leaving only her to care for the ailing Zhang Wanrong.

Under harsh interrogation, the other servants admitted to looking down on Zhang Wanrong, unwilling to serve someone who lacked favor, status, or power and was constantly at odds with the Empress.

They confirmed that they hadn’t seen Zhang Wanrong’s personal maid leave that night, suggesting that Zhang Wanrong was telling the truth and had a solid alibi.

Unfortunately, the Emperor, like Jiang Xinyue, didn’t believe their testimonies.

Without revealing his doubts, he had Zhang Wanrong taken to the Investigative Bureau, separating her from her maid and interrogating them in isolation.

To Zhang Wanrong, he said that the maid had confessed to the truth of that night: that she had killed Consort Cheng, and together they had disposed of the body. The maid now claimed that Zhang Wanrong was the murderer, and she had merely followed orders, begging the Emperor for mercy.

The maid argued that she had no choice but to obey her mistress, as disobedience would have meant certain death. She had been forced into complicity.

To the maid, the Emperor said that Zhang Wanrong had admitted that the maid had accidentally killed Consort Cheng, and she had only helped bury the body out of pity after witnessing the maid’s desperate tears. She pleaded for leniency.

Both sides were fed lies, fabricated out of thin air.

Zhang Wanrong, naturally suspicious, crumbled under the pressure and confessed after a few more questions.

In the dungeon, she cursed the maid, calling her a traitor and lamenting that they had agreed to stick to the story of her illness. Who could prove she was lying?

In the harem, she was invisible, a nobody. No one would care whether an unloved, insignificant figure like her was truly ill or not.

Thus, the truth became impossible to verify.

The maid, berated mercilessly by Zhang Wanrong, publicly exposed her mistress’s crimes that very night. It was only then that Zhang Wanrong realized the Emperor had tricked her—the maid had never betrayed her.

But her outburst had already sealed her fate. It was too late for regrets.

Tang Shiliang shook his head. “Zhang Wanrong was worried that you, Your Majesty, intended to promote her half-sister by assigning her to the imperial kitchen, hoping she could win the Emperor’s favor through her culinary skills and eventually be recommended for his attention. Back at home, she had bullied her younger half-sister and caused the death of her mother. Consumed by guilt, she feared that if her sister ever gained power, she would seek revenge. So, she decided to teach you a lesson. First, she incited Consort Cheng to act, then secretly aided her. The accomplices in the Ministry of Internal Affairs have all been executed by the Emperor.”

As for the deceased Consort Cheng and the still-living Zhang Wanrong…Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Consort Cheng’s father, who had previously been demoted, was now stripped of his position entirely, and his entire family was exiled to the coal mines in Bing Province.

Zhang ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‍Wanrong, the mastermind behind the plot to harm the Crown Prince, was found guilty and sentenced to the extermination of her entire clan.

This was the first time since Jiang Xinyue had transmigrated to the Great Yan Dynasty that she had witnessed the Emperor ordering the extermination of an entire family.

She knew that Emperor Xuanwu was a good ruler, one who valued human life and seldom resorted to executions unless his bottom line was crossed.

Let alone the extermination of an entire clan.

Jiang Xinyue was relieved that the Emperor hadn’t shown the same leniency toward Zhang Wanrong as he had toward Consort De. If such crimes were not met with severe punishment, the tragic fate of the late Crown Prince would be repeated with her own child.

She wasn’t a deity, and she couldn’t be certain that she could protect her son from every poison or plot.

All she knew was that any threat to her son’s survival must be eradicated, regardless of the consequences.

The Emperor, likely fearing a repeat of past events, had chosen to uproot the threat entirely.

In the imperial kitchen, a young woman with her sleeves rolled up collapsed to the ground, wailing uncontrollably upon hearing that the Zhang family had been exterminated. “I knew she was a curse! She killed my mother, and now she’s trying to kill me too! I finally had a chance to do what I love, and she couldn’t stand to see me happy. She’s in such a hurry to send me to the underworld! Anyone in the Zhang family can die, but not me! I promised my mother I would bring honor to our family and avenge her! I don’t want to die!”

“Who said anything about killing you?”

Xi Que, holding a cucumber, took a crisp bite. “Miss Xiuzhu, Her Majesty said she enjoyed the braised chicken you made yesterday. The Emperor liked it too. She wants you to prepare another dish today.”

Zhang Xiuzhu’s sobs stopped abruptly. “You’re not going to kill me?”

“Why would we kill you? You’re in the palace now, a servant of the Emperor and the Empress. What does the extermination of the Zhang family have to do with you?”

In Zhang Xiuzhu’s heart, the only family she had was her mother.

But her mother had been killed by her elder sister, Zhang Wanrong, many years ago. Her father and stepmother had covered up the crime, claiming her mother had died of a sudden illness.

How could that be?

She had seen Zhang Wanrong push her mother into a well and drown her.

She had sought justice from her father, but instead of receiving it, she was beaten nearly to death by her stepmother for defying her elder sister and spreading false accusations.

From that day on, she knew she had no family.

To fight against the injustice of her fate, she relied on the culinary skills her mother had taught her. But trapped in the Zhang family’s backyard, she had no opportunity to leave.

She had once disguised herself, sneaked out of the estate, and worked as a chef in a restaurant under a false name, earning both money and reputation. But when she was discovered, someone else took credit for her work.

Her father and stepmother, upon finding out, subjected her to another round of harsh punishment, berating her for disgracing the family by working in public.

All she wanted was to cook. What had she done wrong? How was that shameful?

Was she supposed to accept her fate, let her stepmother dictate her life, and marry some corrupt official decades her senior, all while being grateful for the abuse?

Why should she?

So, when she learned that her father had selected her sisters for the palace selection but they were unwilling to go, she secretly changed the name on the list to her own.

If her life was destined to be controlled by her stepmother, ignored by her father, and filled with humiliation, she would rather enter the palace and escape far away.

She never imagined that her culinary skills would catch the attention of the Empress, earning her a place in the imperial kitchen.

When the news of the Zhang family’s extermination reached her, her hatred for Zhang Wanrong burned hotter than ever.

But Xi Que had just said they weren’t going to kill her?

“Ugh… I’m going to die of fright one of these days…”