Chapter 5 — Bowl of Noodles Save the Lungs

I grabbed her arm tightly, "Your highness can't go out, but this slave can." "You write me a handwritten letter, I'll go find someone." "Looking for who?" I thought for a moment, "Minister of Criminal Justice, Mr. Bui." Tham Van Am slightly frowned: "Bui Vien? He and the Tham family have never had any friendship." "But he is an honest official." I stuffed the bowl of porridge into her hand, "Niang Niang, for half a year you have been exiled to the cold palace, the civil and military officials in the court only need someone with a little conscience, is there anyone who does not know that you have been wronged? It's just that no one dares to speak first." "The front line is urgent now, if the Dieu family really dares to collude with the enemy, that's it." "Bui Vien is the Minister of Criminal Justice, investigating cases is his duty, he will not stand by and watch."07 Bui Vien is a middle-aged man in his forties, thin, reserved, but has sharp eyes that seem to be able to see through people's hearts. When I presented Tham Van Am's handwritten letter, he stared at me for a week. "Are you the young lady who delivered meals to the late empress?" "Yes." "Do you know, with just this letter, this official can charge you with a crime of colluding with the late empress and plotting to cause chaos?" I knelt on the ground, the clothes on my back were drenched in cold sweat, but my voice was still very steady. "Your Excellency is the Minister of Penal Affairs, in charge of the prisons in heaven." "If even you can't clearly distinguish between loyalty and dishonesty, then if this slave dies here today, it won't be unjust." Bui Vien was silent for a long time. He bowed his head and finished reading Tham Van Am's letter, then suddenly asked an unrelated question: "I heard that you were in the cold palace, using an old hen to exchange for a block of iron tokens from the Tham family army?" I was stunned, not understanding why he suddenly mentioned this. Bui Vien folded the letter neatly, put it in his sleeve, and said faintly: "This judge has been on trial for twenty years, and has seen countless people betraying dragons and phoenixes. But someone like you, daring to risk his life for an abandoned queen, this is the first time." Bui Vien stood up, walked to the window, turned his back to me. "Dieu Sung is in charge of the food and grass of the Ministry of Defense, his arms are really too long." "But he forgot one thing, the Ministry of Criminal Justice has the right to supervise overlords, colluding with the enemy to commit treason, it is under my authority." "This case, this official accepts it." I bowed my head vigorously: "Thank you sir!" Bui Vien waved his hand: "There's no need to thank me. You go back and report to the lady, the matter on the front line will be investigated by the Criminal Department." "But I must tell him to stay calm and stay in the cold palace for a few more days. This old fox of the Dieu family, his tail hasn't fully revealed yet." My heart was shocked and I immediately understood what he meant. What Bui Vien wants is not just to overturn the verdict for Tham Van Am, he wants to dig up all the evidence of the Dieu family's enemy and catch a whole net. I returned to the cold palace and recounted Bui Vien's words verbatim to Tham Van Am. After listening, she didn't speak for a long time. She just picked up the bowl of cold porridge and drank it sip by sip. "He's right." Tham Van Am put down the bowl, her eyes were terrifyingly quiet, "I've been in this cold palace for half a year, no less than these few days. The debt the Dieu family owes me, I have to reclaim both the capital and interest." The comments flowed by: [This look from the lady, the Dieu family is about to face a major disaster.] [This Bui Vien line is buried so well, the female lead can really use any force.] [Looking forward to the lady turning the deal to kill!] However, what we are waiting for is not Bui Vien's good news, but the Dieu family's fatal blow. Three days later, a team of Forbidden soldiers surrounded the palace.

The head eunuch held up a bright yellow edict and read clearly: "The Empress Tham Thi, during her time in the cold palace, refused to repent, colluded with the Northern Realm priests, passed on military intelligence, the evidence is extremely accurate." "From today, stripped of all titles, banished to heaven, awaiting trial!" In my head, there was an explosion. Economic collusion? Military intelligence transmission? If this crime is established, Tham Van Am is a traitor and the entire Tham family will be excommunicated! Tham Van Am stood on the steps, her face like frost: "Where is the evidence of the crime?" The eunuch smiled faintly and clapped his hands. Two guards escorted a person covered in blood to the front, who was Tham Van Am's former concubine, Thu Hoa. Thu Hoa was beaten until she was so broken that she couldn't even look human, kneeling on the ground trembling, not daring to look Tham Van Am in the eyes. "Thu Hoa has already confessed, through her contact with the North Realm priest, Major General Tham's military route was revealed to Nhu Nhien's people." The eunuch said in a strange yin and yang tone, "The evidence is clear, do you still want to deny it?" Thu Hoa's whole body trembled. She suddenly raised her head and looked at Tham Van Am with tears in her eyes: "Niang, I'm sorry to you. But the noble lady said, if I don't confess, I will kill my whole family..."