Chapter 82 Reap What One Has Sown

The Empress Dowager herself had once suffered deeply from such things. Now, looking at Pan Miaoqian whose makeup was ruined by tears, she felt a sense of empathy and compassion. She raised her hand tremblingly and comforted Pan Miaoqian, "My dear child, don't be afraid. I will definitely uphold justice for you."

Yao Zhen stepped forward, bowed to the Empress Dowager, and said, "Although I don't want to mention it, among all the people present, it's impossible for anyone to know Miss Pan San's birth date. Only the two Misses of the Pan family are likely to know it!"

What he said was quite right. The birth date, which was crucial in this matter, meant that the number of people who knew it was limited. Everyone present couldn't help but take a deep look at Pan Yueqing and Pan Lianshan. Pan Yueqing raised her eyes, glanced at Yao Zhen with a sincere look, and sneered. Then she grabbed the little doll from the eunuch's hand.

Since he wouldn't let go of the issue of the birth date, then she would talk about it according to his wishes.

"May I ask all the elders present, you have seen much in your life. You should know that if you want to curse someone with a voodoo doll, you need to use the real birth date, right?" Pan Yueqing said with a faint smile. Looking at the voodoo doll full of needles in her hand, she turned it over to look at the birth date on the doll. When the Empress Dowager nodded with a solemn face in agreement, she raised her eyes and smiled at Yao Zhen, "But if I were to use the Third Sister's birth date, I definitely wouldn't use this fake one."

Pan Miaoqian's face turned pale, and her crying froze. Pan Lianshan also nodded and said, "The birth date written on the doll is 'Jiyou Bingzi Xinsi Wuzi'. This birth date is not yours originally. When the Taoist priest who named you told Father that if you wanted to grow up safely and get a good husband in the future, you couldn't tell others your real birth date when asked, so we changed the time - branch to 'Wuzi'. But the time - branch written on this doll is still 'Wuzi'. It can be seen that although this person knows the Third Sister's birth date, they don't know this reason."

When the Empress Dowager first saw the voodoo doll, she was so frightened that she fainted and didn't see the words on it clearly. But when Pan Lianshan softly read out the birth date, her face darkened. She looked at Pan Miaoqian, who was kneeling at her feet, with very unfriendly eyes.

Jiyou Bingzi Xinsi Wuzi.

This was her birth date! How could there be such a coincidence in the world!? The Empress Dowager stared at Yao Zhen, who was standing aside, and Pan Miaoqian, who had unconsciously stopped crying. She suddenly understood everything. She said in a deep voice, "So it seems that the person who is relatively close to the Pan family but not from the Pan family is more suspicious?"

Pan Miaoqian raised her head and looked at the Empress Dowager in disbelief. The Empress Dowager, who had been kind - faced to her just now, had instantly lost her smile and sympathy. Her words clearly pointed at Yao Zhen, who had always been on her side. After hearing the Empress Dowager's insinuation, Yao Zhen immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed deeply, "Your Majesty, please see clearly! I am absolutely loyal and would never dare to do such a thing..."

Pan Yueqing sneered coldly. Then she took the gift that the Marquis of Pingnan had presented to Qi Simeng from Li Shuran's hand. The year of the signature, 'the 24th year of Changji', happened to have the character 'Ji'. Pan Yueqing compared the birth date on the voodoo doll with the year number on the gift list and presented it in front of the Empress Dowager, "Your Majesty, please look. The character 'Ji' in the year number of this gift has a characteristic. The person who wrote it always made the hook of the vertical - bend - hook into a willow - leaf shape. Although it's not very obvious on the voodoo doll, it can still be carefully distinguished. His Highness the Second Prince and Miss Lai are both experts in calligraphy. Why don't we let them judge? Don't say that I'm just making unfounded accusations."

After saying that, the attendant first presented the two pieces of paper to Qi Sicheng. After carefully examining them, Qi Sicheng nodded heavily and said to the Empress Dowager, "It's indeed so." Then the papers were handed to Lai Changya, and she also nodded seriously.

"Then we can be sure that the birth date on this voodoo doll is from the Pingnan Marquis's Mansion." Pan Yueqing smiled at the Empress Dowager, then turned to look at Yao Zhen, who couldn't be seen clearly but whose whole body was shaking. "Your Majesty is right. The person who doesn't know the reason of the Third Sister's birth date must be someone who is relatively close to the Pan family but doesn't fully know the details. Combining these two points, naturally, it can only be the eldest brother - in - law."

After saying that, she smiled calmly and looked sideways at Pan Miaoqian, who was shaking like a sieve. Of course, she wouldn't let her go. She chuckled and said, "Third Sister, you clearly knew that this wasn't your birth date. Why were you so certain at the beginning? Miss Zou was right. We don't get along. But I've never wanted to kill you like you wanted to do to me."

Lai Changya stood aside and was about to open her mouth to persuade, trying to win a gentle image for herself, "Miss Second..."

Pan Yueqing interrupted her abruptly. She turned around and sneered at Lai Changya, "Miss Lai, you are a noble lady from an aristocratic family. But how did your century - old Lai family teach you to be so deaf and blind? Don't pretend to be just in front of me. What? At first, when everyone praised your excellent embroidery skills, you could accept it calmly. When you saw the situation turning bad, you said something about having a connection with me. You are just a person who flatters the rich and powerful and bullies the weak, extremely hypocritical!" As she spoke, her voice unconsciously rose three degrees.

Lai Changya looked at her arguing forcefully. Her words got stuck in her throat, and she was pulled back by the maid behind her.

Seeing that she no longer spoke, Pan Yueqing slowly bowed to the Empress Dowager, "Your Majesty, I, Yueqing, am an innocent girl. But I was in such a situation where it was impossible to defend myself. Now that the truth has come to light, please Your Majesty uphold justice for me!"

Yao Zhen came to his senses and crawled forward several steps. He knelt in front of the Empress Dowager and kept kowtowing, "Your Majesty! I'm wronged! I'm wronged!"

"You're crying injustice a bit too early." Qi Sian, who had been watching from the sidelines, slowly spoke. Looking at Yao Zhen, who was prostrate on the ground, he said coldly and clapped his hands. Then an old hunchbacked man came walking down from the viewing stand. It was Butler Shui, the old housekeeper of the Pingnan Marquis's Mansion who had been sent back to the estate not long ago.

"Eldest older imperial brother, you've always wanted to know who made the affair in Sandalwood Tower more and more intense, right?" Qi Sian pointed at Butler Shui and said to Qi Simeng. Qi Simeng's eyes darkened slightly, and his brows furrowed tightly. In the Sandalwood Tower affair, he was stigmatized as a person who killed prostitutes out of love - turned - hatred. Although it wasn't a formal crime, it affected the dignity of the royal family, so he was punished to reflect in the capital and couldn't return to the northern border.

Butler Shui looked at Yao Zhen hatefully, "It's him! My son was originally his close attendant. He killed the prostitutes, framed His Highness the Crown Prince, and also killed my son. If I hadn't been lucky enough to escape with my life, my son would have died unjustly..."

Yao Zhen looked at Butler Shui as if he had seen a ghost. He trembled and held his forehead with his hands, let out a scream, and kept retreating, muttering, "There's a ghost! There's a ghost!" Eventually, he had no way to retreat and fell off the three - meter - high viewing stand.

"Guards!" The Empress Dowager ordered, pointing at Yao Zhen, who was running away, "Capture him alive. Tomorrow, Yao Zhen, the Marquis of Pingnan, will be charged with the crime of witchcraft and the crime of slandering the royal family! Report to the Emperor and hand him over to the Dali Temple!"

"Pan Miaoqian, charged with the crime of witchcraft, hand her over to the Dali Temple!"