novelraw Chapter 325: Scapegoat
Chapter 325: Scapegoat
Li Shengan felt a cold chill down his spine."Your Majesty, please forgive me. Seeing that you were truly too busy, I just..."
Zhao Junyao’s eyebrows turned cold. "So you decided to conceal it?"
Li Shengan lowered his head, not daring to say another word.
Zhao Junyao stood up, hands behind his back, intending to head to Qingya Residence. On the way, he seemed to remember something and instructed, "You go investigate this matter! I want to see who it is!"
Li Shengan hurriedly acknowledged the command. Zhao Junyao huffed and then left.
Li Shengan jogged all the way behind. In the past, when the Emperor was busy, he wouldn’t dare report anything from the Harem, not even if the sky were falling. The Emperor wouldn’t bother with it, and he himself would only end up getting a scolding. So what about this time? This was indeed the first time the Emperor had abandoned his duties for a woman. Could it be that Xia Jieyu was truly favored to this extent? Li Shengan found it a bit hard to believe; the Emperor would never place a woman before the realm. Therefore, the only remaining explanation was... The Emperor values the child! Well, no matter how you put it, the child is in Xia Jieyu’s womb, so he still values Xia Jieyu! Li Shengan thought it over and over, only to end up back at the beginning, so he decided to think no more of it.
With a flick of his duster, he followed along with a bounce in his step.
In the late afternoon, a bamboo grove outside the bedroom of Qingya Residence kept Xia Ruqing’s room very comfortable and cool. She lay on the bed, sleeping blissfully.
Just then, Zhao Junyao suddenly arrived.
Zi Yue and a roomful of palace maids and eunuchs all knelt down to salute. Only Xia Ruqing, deep in sleep and oblivious to the world, had not yet woken up. Pregnant women are naturally sleepy, so this was nothing too surprising.
Zhao Junyao told the palace attendants to rise and then sat down at the bedside to begin questioning Zi Yue and the others.
"She was frightened? What did the Imperial Physician say?"
Zi Yue nodded, then... shook her head.
Zhao Junyao was somewhat confused. "What exactly happened?"
Zi Yue conveyed the Imperial Physician’s words to the Emperor verbatim: mostly reassurances that the pregnancy was stable and she should maintain a good mood.
In reality, her mistress’s pregnancy had been fine from the start. It was just that Zi Yue truly didn’t know how to describe her mistress’s behavior the previous night.
Waddling around with a pregnant belly in the middle of the night, catching ghosts with servants? Ugh, that sounds too bizarre. Forget it.
It was then that Zi Yue decided to just tell the truth!
"Your Majesty, our mistress is just a bit tired, it’s nothing serious!"
Her mistress was being thoughtless, still not awake even now; she had to put in a good word!
As expected, Zhao Junyao smiled upon hearing this. Actually, Li Shengan had already told him.
One has to admit, Xia Ruqing, you indeed are quite a talent. In the entire world, she was probably the only person daring enough to chase after a female ghost! This woman! This woman actually dared to do such a thing!
Zhao Junyao shook his head. Seeing her sleeping so soundly, and indeed being fine, he instructed Li Shengan to fetch a box of bird’s nest from the storeroom to calm her fright, then he left.
「...」
Meanwhile, the Empress, having obtained evidence, began to investigate each palace. To show impartiality, she started with her own. According to the roster from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, she checked how many palace maids were in Jiaofang Hall: who were first-rank, second-rank, and third-rank. All palace attendants stood in an open area for inspection. In the end, no one was found injured, thus clearing the Empress of suspicion.
Then, she led her retinue to start the search from the eastern palaces: Consort Ning’s Yichun Palace and Consort Hui Pin’s Zhaoxiang Pavilion. As for the residences further back, Qingya Residence was naturally on the list, but even the neighboring Lijing Pavilion had to be searched. Indeed, not even the most distant Zhaohua Pavilion was overlooked. The entire eastern side was searched, and none of the palace attendants were injured. Therefore, it was quite clear the injured person was on the western side. And on the west, wasn’t Noble Concubine Shih’s Xifu Palace the most prominent?
In fact, as long as she could disassociate herself from the matter, the Empress was satisfied. She didn’t want to bother with anything else. Whoever it might be, did it matter?
The Empress, leading personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Punishment Department, made her way to the west. Yet, upon arrival, the great doors of Xifu Palace were tightly closed.
A cold laugh rose in the Empress’s heart. Noble Concubine Shih’s adherence to etiquette was truly improving; she even dared to close her doors when the Empress arrived. Was she supposed to call out for them to open the door?
Lady Yu Lan frowned, somewhat conflicted. "Empress, perhaps... I should go and knock?"
The Empress looked at her, a pang of sadness in her heart. How had it come to this? Her own Senior Palace Maid, who had accompanied her in marriage, now had to stoop to knocking on doors. What a loss of dignity!
But at that moment, there was no other choice.
Biting her lip, Lady Yu Lan steadied herself and stepped forward. However, before she could even knock, the grand doors of Xifu Palace suddenly swung open.
Noble Concubine Shih, along with the other two Honored Ladies from Xifu Palace and all its palace attendants, were present. Among them, a palace maid was tightly bound, pushed to the ground, and gagged with a cloth.
Noble Concubine Shih stood to one side, slowly greeting the Empress with a curtsy. "This subject pays respects to the Empress!" she said, then immediately added, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the person you are looking for is likely her!"
"This palace maid is from Lady Zhou’s service, only recently arrived. She was doing fine in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so how could she have suddenly... changed!" Noble Concubine Shih stated this with a triumphant air, while Lady Zhou knelt aside, her complexion pale, looking terrified and shivering all over.
"No... I didn’t!"
Noble Concubine Shih’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. "Didn’t? Then explain how your personal maid suddenly... injured her legs?"
"Most importantly, she also has a cat bite on her leg!"
"What a joke, Empress! No one in my Xifu Palace keeps a cat, and she seldom goes out—how could she get bitten by a cat? It is evident that it’s her doing!"
The Empress glanced at the palace maid, who was sobbing to the point of near collapse, the cotton gag making it hard for her to breathe. She looked at Lady Yu Lan. "Go, loosen the gag in her mouth before we continue!"
"Yes!"
Lady Yu Lan hurried to do so.
Once the gag was removed, the palace maid immediately began to gasp for air, all the while kowtowing. "Thank you, Lady Yu Lan!"
The Empress slightly curled her lips. "Why did you want to harm Xia Jieyu? Do you not know that plotting against an imperial heir is a capital offense?"
The palace maid’s face instantly turned ashen. "No! I didn’t! I really didn’t! Xia Jieyu is kind to everyone. I admire her greatly; why would I harm her?"
Noble Concubine Shih let out a faint, cold laugh. "Well, who knows!"
The Empress glanced at Noble Concubine Shih, whose face was full of triumph. Then she looked at Lady Zhou, kneeling on the ground, her complexion ghostly pale, too distraught for tears, looking utterly helpless and weak.
In her heart, what else was there not to understand? This affair was either orchestrated by Noble Concubine Shih, or Noble Concubine Shih herself had done it and framed Lady Zhou! I must say, she is truly cunning!
With the evidence and the injuries on the maid, the Punishment Department had no choice but to take her away.
Lady Zhou cried bitterly and then fainted. That palace maid was one she had personally brought into the palace; their bond was deep, needless to say. Most importantly, she had only brought this one maid with her.