Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Chapter 130: Misfortune falls from the sky

"How dare you quibble! Come, take her away!"

Behind the Queen Mother stood a large group of burly guards, whose arms were thicker than Ji Anni's thighs. Although Ji Anni had encountered similar strong men when she had captured criminals before, now they were outnumbered and Ji Anni had already lost in terms of momentum. As the saying goes, it is easy to find a pretext to accuse someone of a crime. Ji Anni felt that she would not be able to escape this disaster today, so she simply stopped struggling and let the guards tie her hands obediently.

"Queen Dowager, I am responsible for my own actions. Just tell me how you want to punish me." Ji Anni showed her determination to kill me. She looked past the crowd of people and vaguely saw the palace maids looking worriedly into the room. There were Die'er and Huarong, as well as many other maids from the right courtyard. The Queen Dowager brought so many guards this time, so she must have come prepared. It's fine if she wronged me, but she just hoped that she wouldn't implicate those poor maids as well.

"You are so good, Zhao Ji. You still don't repent even when you are about to die." The Queen Mother's face was colder than her voice, as heavy as a piece of iron. She didn't even need to move her hands. She slapped Ji Anni several times with just her eyes.

"Empress Dowager, I drew the cards and roasted the meat. Those maids in my courtyard just obeyed my orders. Your Majesty Dowager is broad-minded and magnanimous. You will definitely not accuse them of rebellion, right?" Ji Anni praised the Empress Dowager, just to ask her not to implicate innocent people.

If the Queen Mother's goal was only Ji Anni, she wouldn't have to bring this group of guards. Judging from the number of these guards, the Queen Mother probably wanted to take down the entire Pianyou Courtyard today.

"Zhao Ji, you should worry about yourself first." The Queen Mother's fake smile looked particularly sinister.

"The Queen Mother..."

"Take her away." Without giving Ji Anni a chance to speak, the Queen Mother simply waved her hand, signaling the guards to take her away quickly.

"Queen Mother!" Ji Anni struggled hard for a few times, knelt in front of the Queen Mother and said, "Queen Mother, do you want to hold everyone who participated in the barbecue party last night accountable today?"

"They know they are wrong but they still make mistakes. If they are not punished lightly, won't there be no rules in the palace in the future?" The Queen Mother almost snorted when she said this, her contempt evident in her words.

"Queen Mother..." Being forced to this point, Ji Anni had to say, "Last night, Zhao Ji and several guests had dinner and fun here. Should the Queen Mother punish those guests as well?"

As soon as these words fell, the Queen Mother's expression changed slightly.

Obviously, Ji Anni was hinting at the existence of Princess Tianning. Although she didn't know how the Queen Mother heard about last night's incident, since she knew exactly what Ji Anni's three treasures were, she must know who was in the right courtyard last night. If she punished the maids alone but let go of those who directly participated in the barbecue and card games, wouldn't she be gossiped about?

The Queen Mother was unable to answer Ji Anni's question of "should they be punished together" for a moment.

"Queen Mother, everything started because of me. I am willing to bear all the consequences. I only ask that you, Queen Mother, be gracious and let other innocent people go, so that people will not think that you are unfair and protective of your relatives."

Ji Anni's words were quite sincere, so even if the Queen Mother came here to find fault today, she couldn't help but secretly admire her and sneered, "Well, Zhao Ji, since you are willing to bear all the consequences, I will do as you wish and release the others. But..." Then she changed the subject and said sternly, "Do you still remember what I said in the Imperial Garden? Since you are already an imperial concubine, you should act like an imperial concubine. Don't think that you can use the eight words "new to the palace, don't know the rules" as a shield for your whole life."

"Queen Dowager, Zhao Ji said, you can punish me however you want. Zhao Ji has never found any excuses for herself." As long as Ji Anni heard that the Queen Dowager was willing to let other palace maids go, she had no worries and instantly regained her courage. She said, "Queen Dowager, are you going to beat me with thirty sticks or pour chili water on me?"

"Shoji, I really admire your courage."

The Queen Mother had been in the palace for thirteen years, and was promoted from a concubine to a noble concubine, then from a noble concubine to the Queen, and finally to the Queen Mother. The ups and downs in the process would fill ten books, and she had dealt with so many concubines that she couldn't count them with both hands, but this was the first time she had met a concubine like Ji Anni. If it were anyone else, they would have been scared to tears by now, and they wouldn't be as arrogant as Ji Anni.

The Queen Mother said, "It is not my decision how to punish you. The punishment will be decided after the trial by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Zhao Ji, you should go to the dungeon and reflect on your mistakes and think about how to defend yourself."

"Queen Dowager, Zhao Ji has been a slow-witted person since she was young. She can't come up with any excuses and always tells the truth. Queen Dowager, you should think carefully about how to exaggerate those chicken skewers and steamed buns to convict me of a serious crime." Anyway, she was going to jail today, but she couldn't admit defeat. Ji Anni was not afraid of death and gave the Queen Dowager a few sneers before being taken away by the guards.

The crowd automatically made way for them to escape.

Ji Anni saw the worried faces of Huarong and Dieer.

"My Lady..." Hua Rong squeezed forward, as if she had something else to say to Ji Anni. But the rogue Hua Rong was too weak, and before he could squeeze out of the crowd, Ji Anni was taken out of the right courtyard.

***

It was still early, and there was almost no one on the road except for some eunuchs sweeping fallen leaves.

Ji Anni thought that it was a good thing that there were not many people around, otherwise it would be really uncomfortable if her miserable appearance was seen by acquaintances.

There were only five guards responsible for escorting Ji Anni to the dungeon of the Imperial Household Department. The Queen Mother and others did not follow.

After walking about a hundred meters away, the guards suddenly let go of Ji Anni.

"Huh?" Ji Anni was stunned for a moment after her hands were freed, wondering why these guards let her go?

Before she could ask, a guard who looked particularly burly said, "Madam, does your wrist hurt? I am a rough man and accidentally used too much force. Did I hurt you?"

"Huh?" Ji Anni was startled by his concern, but seeing his sincere expression, she said, "It's okay, it doesn't hurt."

"Your Majesty, if it weren't for you, Xiangxiang would have been in great trouble," said a guard.

"Xiangxiang?" Who is this?

"Your Majesty, if it weren't for you, Xiaolu would have been punished as well." another guard said.

"Xiao Lu?" Why are all these names I've never heard of? Ji Anni was confused.

The guard said, "They are all maids working in the right courtyard of the Majesty. If the Majesty hadn't pleaded for them just now, I'm afraid they would all be in jail today."

"Oh..." Ji Anni finally understood. It turned out that these guards had been hooking up with the maids in her courtyard. They let go of her hands because they were grateful for her pleading for the maids. Instead of sending her to the dungeon, they "invited" her to be a guest there for a while.