Yun Fenghuang was not surprised that something wrong would happen to Yuan Lianniangâs baby.
In spite of that she had an abortion last time and therefore she was bound to suffer dangers this time, it would be unreasonable if she were safe in those ten months due to her bad temper.
Unexpectedly, the people who hurt Yuan Lianniang acted so early when she hadnât shown yet.
Besides, Yun Fenghuang was implicated?
As Yun Fenghuang thought this, she glanced at the furious crowd in front of her, saying, âItâs a big thing. Letâs visit Her Highness to figure it out. I also want to know who dares to fling mud on me?!â
âHow is Jie Yu Yue now?â After they boisterously arrived at Yan Fu Palace, upon hearing this news, Empress Ji frowned, asking, âDid imperial doctors go there?â
Yun Fenghuang said, âYour Highness, I was invited by Jie Yu Wei to Yi Jia Palace in the afternoon, and then was blocked at the door when I returned to Hu Zhu Palace. So, I havenât seen Jie Yu Yue.â
Among the maids, an older one came out and knelt down, âYour Highness, when Her Lady woke up in the afternoon, she let the maid sent by Noble Consort Gui serve her, and the maid did that for a while. Then she suddenly pulled out a silver needle and pierced the belly of Her Lady when we were careless.â
Empress Ji was puzzled, âThen is there any relationship with Pin Yun?â
âYour Highness, here is the thing. The maid is called Shan Xiang. When she first came to Hu Zhu Palace, she was told to wait outside because Her Lady was sleeping, but she quietly visited Pin Yun.â The maid said, âShe talked with Pin Yun for a while and then came back to Ning Bi Hall to take orders⌠Many people at Ning Bi Hall witnessed it. Since Shan Xiang met Her Lady for the first time and Her Lady didnât maltreat her in the past several days, why did she hurt Her Lady and her baby so brutally?â
âShe must be ordered by someone!â
The maid kowtowed again with strength, begging the Empress, âYour Highness, please find the truth for both Her Lady and the unborn baby in her belly!â
Empress Ji glanced at her, saying, âSo far, you havenât told me yet whether Jie Yu Yue and her baby are safe or not, have you?â
The maid was unconvinced and said after a while, âFortunately, Mammy Zhu was concentrated and acted quickly. At that time, she was next to Shan Xiang. When she saw something wrong, she caught her in time⌠but Her Lady was shocked. Before we left, I had told someone to make the sedative soup and to ask imperial doctors. As for what the doctors said, I was already on the way to Yan Fu Palace, so I donât know.â
âIs there anything more important than the royal baby at this time?â Empress Ji snorted, âMaids, open my storeroom, pack up some good medicines, and quickly send them to Hu Zhu Palace! Then ask the doctors clearly about Jie Yu Yueâs situation and report it to me!â
She then ordered people to report it to Empress Dowager, Queen Mothers and Emperor Chunjia, saying, âTell grandmother and three Queen Mothers that Jie Yu Yue is shocked but safe. And tell them not to be worried, for I am finding the truth.â
After that, she ordered someone to go Yan Lan Palace and invited Noble Consort Gui⌠Noble Consort Guiâs maid to confront.
âAfter all, Noble Consort Gui is pregnant, so it is not appropriate to disturb her, for there is no conclusive evidence.â Empress Ji was bold and straight, âJie Yu Yue was just in distress. Being pregnant, she must understand my decision than anyone else.â
It was impossible for Yuan Lianniang to understand her, and either for the people of Ning Bi Hall. They all felt that the Empress was biased, however, they dared not to speak it out but lowered their heads angrily and silently.
Seeing this, the Empress just thought that they all agreed. She asked someone to serve the tea and enjoyed it causally.
A long time later, a concubine of Yan Lan Palace came here. It was the one who had appeared instead of Noble Consort Gui when Xin Qing was found dead in the lotus pond of Yan Lan Palace.
This concubine looked at her 20s, and had a beautiful look and a full figure. With gold and silver decorations, she showed a sense of grace.
She stepped forward gently to greet the Empress, saying, âYour Highness, Cai Haoâer, a Cai Ren of Yan Lan Palace, greetings.â
The Empress let her rise. After telling her the whole thing, she asked, âSince Noble Consort Gui sent you here, do you know Shan Xiang?â
âYes, I do.â Cai Haoâer said without hesitation, âShan Xiang was originally a maid served at Yan Lan Palace. Because she had learned some massage techniques from an old mammy, she was very valued by Her Lady. I went to the main palace to greet Her Lady every day, so, I always met her⌠Several days ago, when His Majesty went to Yan Lan Palace to see Her Lady, he mentioned that his arms were sore. Her Lady even asked her to massage the arms of His Majesty.â
What happened afterwards was just as Shan Xiang chatted with Yun Fenghuang that day when she arrived at Hu Zhu Palace, which was that Emperor Chunjia felt more comfortable and praised her for her performance and Noble Consort Gui immediately wanted to let her serve the Emperor.
The Emperor refused again and again, and finally left, but Noble Consort Gui sent Shan Xiang to Hu Zhu Palace, with the thought that âHis Majesty is so considerate towards me. Then I should be grateful. Well, all people know that he likes Yue Jie Yu most. Since she is pregnant now, she definitely needs a maid like Shan Xiang.â
âYour Highness, Her Lady was very surprised when she heard that Shan Xiang had tried to hurt Jie Yu Yue, because everyone of Yan Lan Palace knew that Shan Xiang had the least guts. When she heard that she was going to be given to Jie Yu Yue, she panicked and almost knelt down for begging Her Lady for withdrawing her order⌠How could she have the courage to hurt Jie Yu Yue and her baby?â Cai Haoâer said with a puzzled expression, âYour Highness, Her Lady sent Shan Xiang to Jie Yu Yue for kindness, and not for anything else.â
Empress Ji was a little distracted, and said indifferently, âThis also makes sense⌠But there are so many people from Ning Bi Hall. Obviously, Jie Yu Yue really got shocked because of this matter. Do you have any suggestions about why Shan Xiang did so?â
Cai Haoâer lowered her head and said that she was dull, âYour Highness, please find the truth for Her Lady.â
The Empress asked the maid of Ning Bi Hall again, letting her speak her thought out.
The maid asked Yun Fenghuang come here just now, and now she was very firm and didnât change her words, âAs a maid of Yan Lan Palace, Shan Xiang was sent deliberately by Her Lady to Ning Bi Hall. But she specially visited Pin Yun before she met Jie Yu Yue. We all know this, so, hereâs the evidence!â
She didnât directly say whether the murderer was Noble Consort Gui or Yun Fenghuang, or even the Empress, but she implied that the real murderer must be among these people.
Yun Fenghuang frowned, having an idea in her mind, and said in a loud voice, âYour Highness, although I had seen Shan Xiang once before, I even donât know her name. Besides, the case was that Shan Xiang visited me not I visited her! Those of Ning Bi Hall slander me and suspect that I ordered Shan Xiang to hurt Jie Yu Yue and her baby. I beg you for finding Shan Xiang here to confront me!â
Empress Ji then ordered people to find Shan Xiang.
But Shan Xiang didnât come because she was dead by committing suicide.
âHer Lady felt painful in her belly after being frightened. People of Ning Bi Hall all worried about her baby and thus they are all in a mess. After that, we all got very angry when thinking that Shan Xiang did such a thing, so we tied her up and left her alone at the steps. We were very busy and forgot thatâŚâ The maid explained, âJust now, when we received your order of finding her, we all did but found that she had committed suicide by biting off her tongue.â
Because of her death, there was no evidence anymore.
Chong Chang Hall instantly became a mess, and people asked the Empress to find the truth for them one after another.
After all, it involved the royal baby. Although the Empress did not care much about Yuan Lianniang and her baby, she finally decided to ground Yun Fenghuang at Zi Quan Hall temporarily to comfort the two concubines who were pregnant.
âSis, I didnât do it.â Soon after she announced this, Noble Consort Gui came over. After sending the maids away, she solemnly said to the Empress, âI donât like Yuan Lianniang, but I am going to be a mother. For the sake of my baby, how could I do such a brutal thing? Whatâs more, my rank is higher than that of Yuan Lianniang. So, she would never be superior to me after we give birth to our children. How could I dirty my hands by doing so?â
Empress Ji said indifferently, âI certainly know that you didnât do it, but I am confused that why Shan Xiang visited Pin Yun and told her those things when she first came to Hu Zhu Palace, for she hadnât known Pin Yun before. As a result, Pin Yun canât explain it clearly now and she gets involved.â
âI donât know.â Noble Consort Gui came here personally for this matter, otherwise, relying on her status, her supporters, and her pregnancy now, she could escape from punishments even if she really did it and the evidence was conclusive, not to mention she had not been accused of ordering Shan Xiang to hurt Jie Yu Yue.
However, Shan Xiang got Yun Fenghuang involved. Noble Consort Gui didnât care about Yun Fenghuang, while all people knew that Yun Fenghuang was on the side of the Empress. There was a rumor that Jiâs Family hurt the babies of Noble Consort Shu and Yuan Lianniang before. Most people didnât dare to speak it out, but they all believed that Jiâs Family did not want other concubines except their girls to give birth to royal babies and would find ways to hurt those pregnant concubines.
In order to prove their innocence, whether Empress Dowager or Queen Mother Ji, no matter how they disliked Noble Consort Gui or Yuan Lianniang, they all hold the principle of protecting the royal babies at that time.
If Yun Fenghuang let the Empress and even Jiâs Family be implicated this time, then she would certainly be the enemy of them.
Though Noble Consort Gui always stayed at her palace after she was pregnant, she had to come here personally to explain it to the Empress, âThere are four or five maids who are good at massage. Among them, Shan Xiang was not the most skillful one but the most beautiful one. That day, I had planned to persuade His Majesty to let her be a Cai Nv, but he refused. So, I thought of another way, sending her to Ning Bi Hall to embarrass Yuan Lianniang⌠I thought that if the maid was tormented to death by Yuan Lianniang, I could accuse her of this in front of youâŚâ
âAfter all, Yuan Lianniang is pregnant now, and no one can really hurt her⌠I just want to embarrass her slightly and have no thoughts of hurting her baby, not to mention let Shan Xiang do it in that way!â
Empress Ji smiled lightly, and she was not convinced at all.
Perhaps, Noble Consort Gui didnât ask Shan Xiang to do it in that obvious way, but it would be ridiculous to say that she was not malicious towards Yuan Lianniang. Yuan Nianniang was notorious for her jealousy, and now she was pregnant. She was expected to avoid being anxious and restless and to be clam for her babyâs sake, but she was naturally impetuous. She couldnât bear those concubines who were cordially invited, not to mention that Emperor Chunjia would take a maid right now.
Although the Emperor did not agree to take Shan Xiang eventually, since Noble Consort Gui sent Shan Xiang to Ning Bi Hall, she must let people tell and even bluff this to Yuan Lianning for irritating her⌠Yuan Lianninag was expected to have a miscarriage.
âSince even you donât know the truth and Shan Xiang was dead, how can I find out the truth?â The Empress fingered the tea bowl in front of her, and said slowly, âForget it, for Yuan Lianniang is fine. The date of the summer banquet ordered by grandmother and mother is approaching, and there should be no bad rumors in the palace⌠Any suggestions about how to deal with it?â
How to deal with it?
Noble Consort Gui was stunned for a while, and then became undecided. What the Empress meant was that the truth was unimportant and a final decision was needed.
If other things happened, she could find some scapegoats easily.
But this thingâŚ
The best scapegoat was no one but Yun Fenghuang. Yun Fenghuang promoted quickly in terms of the rank and she would be a hostess soon, while Noble Consort Gui thought that she could be abandoned by costing more to persuade the Empress.
The problem was that Jiâs Family did such things before, at least in the eyes of others. Yun Fenghuang had a close relationship with Empress Ji and was summoned alone by Empress Ji before. If she had a relationship with the murder of the royal baby, even if the evidence was conclusive, some people would suspect that she was the scapegoat of the Empress.
The reason why Empress Ji promised just now to ground Yun Fenghuang temporarily was that she didnât want to be blamed for favoring the culprit and wanted to prove that Jiâs Family had never murdered the royal babies⌠But if Yun Fenghuang was not the scapegoat and Noble Consort Gui didnât want to be planted, who would be âthe really killer behind the attackâ?