A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace

Chapter 324: Coming to Claim Your Life!

Even as she stepped forward a few paces, the female ghost floated backward. Xia Ruqing laughed coldly again."Why are you running? Don’t run, come and take my life!"

After speaking, she stomped forward a few steps, and Xiao Xizi hurriedly pulled her back.

"Master, don’t go forward anymore!"

Xia Ruqing didn’t listen and let out a cold laugh.

"Fine, I won’t go, but you all go and catch that trickster. I’ll just wait here!"

Xiao Xizi bit his lip but still nodded in agreement!

Taking along Xiao Zhu Zi, whose calves were still shivering, they ran toward the female ghost.

At that moment, Da Bai smelled the scent of blood and his fur bristled!

With a HOWL! he dashed out in a flash.

Then... seeing the momentum turning against her, the female ghost quickly floated backward.

Before Xiao Xizi and Xiao Zhu Zi could catch up, the female ghost screamed AH! in agony.

Turns out, she had been bitten by Da Bai.

Xia Ruqing felt very smug inside.

"Good job, Da Bai, bite her hair!"

Usually, the hair of those pretending to be ghosts is fake, and once the fake hair comes off, their gig is basically up.

Once they are caught, both the human and material evidence will be present.

Da Bai seemed to understand her words and, stimulated by the smell of blood, became quite vicious.

His sharp teeth gleamed with a chilling and terrifying light in the night.

"HOWL!" He bit again.

"AH!" The female ghost screamed in pain once more.

Unfortunately, Da Bai was just a cat after all, and with a painful lash from the female ghost, he was sent flying, crashing heavily to the ground.

"HOWL!"

"Da Bai!"

Xia Ruqing, without a second thought, ran over to him.

"Master!"

Zi Yue hurriedly followed.

Zi Su and Zi Ning also came to their senses, with Zi Ning going to find the master.

As for Zi Su, she clenched her teeth, picked up a stone, and fiercely threw it toward the female ghost.

"AH!"

The female ghost was injured on the forehead, injured on the leg!

Her body also fell to the ground, hitting it hard.

"AH!"

Most likely she had hurt her leg again.

Before she could feel the pain, two Little Eunuchs and a Little Palace Maid caught up with her.

Seeing things turn sour, the female ghost got up and ran for her life!

Xia Ruqing picked up Da Bai and shouted to Xiao Xizi.

"Catch her, we need her alive!"

Xiao Xizi didn’t have time to look back, only yelling out.

"Yes! Master!"

That night, the palace was wary of the Ghost Festival; no one dared to go out.

Yet Xia Jieyu and her Servants chased a female ghost all over the Imperial Palace...

However, it was a pity that in the end, they couldn’t catch her.

Xiao Xizi came back feeling very dejected, bringing only a wig and a piece of blood-stained cloth.

"Master, I’m useless!"

The female ghost ran too fast; she must have been trained, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been floating in midair!

Trained as she was, of course, Xiao Xizi couldn’t keep up.

Xia Ruqing didn’t blame him and sighed.

"It’s not your fault. We will leave this matter for the Empress to investigate!"

After speaking, she lay on the bed, somewhat tired.

After a while, she suddenly sat up.

"Zi Yue!"

"Call the Imperial Physician over, say... my stomach hurts, I feel unwell!"

Zi Yue’s face turned pale with fright.

"Master, your stomach hurts? Alas, I said we shouldn’t go out tonight!"

Xia Ruqing was speechless.

"I am just pretending to be unwell!"

After all, if she didn’t make some noise about it, others wouldn’t know what had happened to her tonight!

Zi Yue thought about it and agreed. Hmm, it’s good as long as Master isn’t actually unwell!

"Then, Master, please lie down. I will call the Imperial Physician for you right away!"

Xia Ruqing lay down with a clear conscience.

The next day, the news of Xia Jieyu’s frightful encounter spread throughout the palace early in the morning.

During the morning greetings, everyone pretended to be very worried, but in reality, they were delighted as they discussed the matter.

"Alas, I heard she encountered a ghost on her way back last night!"

"She really has some nerve, daring to go out last night!"

She truly had it coming.

Being frightened was too lenient; it would have been better if she had been so scared as to affect her pregnancy, or even miscarry!

Of course, they wouldn’t dare to say these things openly.

When the Empress heard the news, she didn’t dare delay. She immediately sent someone to report to the Emperor and also instructed Yu Lan to go at once to ascertain the situation.

「Inside Qingya Residence.」

Yu Lan stood by the bedside while Xia Ruqing lay on the bed, weak and tearful, making her accusations.

"I don’t know who wants to harm me, having someone dress up as a ghost just to scare me!"

"Lady Yu Lan, this is evidence my servant found last night. I beg the Empress to seek justice for me!"

As she spoke, Xiao Xizi presented the fake hair and blood-stained clothing exactly as it was found.

Upon seeing this, Yu Lan instantly turned pale.

"To think that such things are happening inside the palace!"

Zi Su suddenly knelt down beside her.

"Aunt Yu Lan, please help my master!"

Yu Lan glanced at the blood-stained clothing and then at Zi Su, her expression full of conflict.

This was indeed a difficult position; the Empress had sent her here, but not to invite trouble.

But if she refused, wouldn’t it indirectly imply that the Empress’s concern for Xia Jieyu was merely for show?

The evidence was right there; if they were unwilling to investigate, how could it be called concern?

The Empress valued her reputation greatly and would likely not want to give people grounds for gossip.

After thinking for a moment, Yu Lan quickly helped Zi Su to her feet.

"Rest assured, with such an incident occurring within the palace, our Empress will definitely not ignore it!"

Having said this, she looked at Xia Jieyu and then at Zi Su before speaking again.

"If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave!"

Xia Ruqing nodded her head.

Yu Lan left the room.

She returned to Jiaofang Hall and relayed the whole account of Xia Ruqing’s tearful complaints.

The Empress frowned upon hearing it.

"She said that someone attempted to take her life while disguised as Lady Xi?"

Yu Lan nodded her head.

After pondering for a moment, the Empress felt disgusted.

Why must people still talk of that woman!

If it weren’t for her, the Emperor wouldn’t have misunderstood me for so long.

Now that she’s dead, why does her damned spirit still linger!

The Empress further inquired.

"Did Xia Jieyu say anything else? Did she describe any characteristics of the person playing the ghost?"

Yu Lan hurriedly replied.

"She did mention that the ghostly woman had injured her leg and also... had bite marks from a cat on her leg!"

Upon hearing this, the last bit of fear in the Empress’s heart dissipated.

She smacked the table in anger.

"Hmph! The palace has become utterly lawless, resorting to such foolish tricks!"

"Summon someone! Have all the Palace Attendants gathered, and conduct a thorough check of each palace!"

Yu Lan quickly acknowledged the order.

Sure enough, on the afternoon of the sixteenth, a massive search operation commenced throughout the palace.

Recently, Zhao Junyao had been busy with the military exam and hadn’t visited the Harem for a while.

Just the night before, the fifteenth, he had simply had dinner at Jiaofang Hall before leaving.

Unexpectedly, he had barely started going through petitions today when he heard the news.

Zhao Junyao frowned and asked.

"What is the Empress playing at!"

Li Shengan thought for a moment before explaining the whole situation.

Zhao Junyao’s face immediately darkened.

"Why didn’t you report such a matter sooner! Dressing up as ghosts!"