noffsinger Chapter 82 The Storm Is Brewing
Chapter 82 The Storm Is Brewing
Inside Shuhua Palace, Wei Yiqiu was both anxious and furious upon hearing the news of Consort Ning's arrest.
"That useless fool, all she did was poison, and yet she's caught red-handed? Now that His Majesty is personally investigating, how am I supposed to save her?"
Seeing her start smashing things and getting angry again, Zhou Baojin, sitting below, felt a pang of impatience. But remembering General Wei's past kindness to him, he suppressed his impatience and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, now is not the time to think about Consort Ning. What you should be thinking about now is your own situation and how to completely extricate yourself from this matter."
"What do you mean by that?" Wei Yiqiu frowned.
"This servant suspects that Your Majesty is secretly investigating the murder of Consort Chu, and I fear that this matter—"
Before Zhou Baojin could finish speaking, Wei Yiqiu's face had turned deathly pale.
She looked at Zhou Baojin and forced herself to remain calm, saying, "Impossible. That matter was handled so secretly that it could never have been discovered."
But as she said this, she herself felt uneasy.
Wei Yiqiu understood perfectly well that if Pei Yuanling found out about this, even with the General's Mansion as her backer, things might not end well.
After a moment's thought, she bit her lip and then whispered, "You...you should quickly send the person out of the palace."
Zhou Baojin agreed and was about to leave when she called him back: "Wait!"
"You must handle this matter personally, and absolutely no mistakes are allowed to occur."
Wei Yiqiu's expression was colder and more solemn than ever before.
Zhou Baojin nodded heavily: "This servant understands!"
After he left, only Wei Yiqiu remained in the entire hall.
Extreme panic and anxiety were like the last straw that broke the camel's back; her whole body went limp, and she collapsed onto the soft chair beside her.
In the first two years after entering the Prince's residence, she was incredibly successful. Even when facing the favored Chu Qingyin, she was never outshone.
But at this moment, her heart was filled with fear, as if her life had come to an end and there was no way to turn things around.
She could no longer hold back and buried her face in the back of the soft chair, bursting into tears that echoed throughout the hall.
How could this be?
Wasn't Chu Qingyin already dead? How did things get to this point?
***
There have been many events in the palace recently, and people are filled with anxiety.
Inside Feixue Palace, Chu Qingyin lazily leaned back on the chaise lounge, basking in the sun while holding Little Snowball and listening to Kang Luhai's report.
"Your Majesty, this servant has learned that the eunuch who secretly performed the sacrifices for Consort Chu witnessed her being poisoned. He has now been imprisoned by His Majesty and is heavily guarded, with no one allowed to visit him."
Kang Luhai reported all the information he had gathered to Chu Qingyin.
"Did he see it?"
Chu Qingyin paused in stroking the cat, a look of shock appearing in her eyes.
"He certainly saw him, otherwise His Majesty wouldn't have ordered him to be guarded. He probably feared he would be silenced."
After her rebirth, Chu Qingyin kept thinking about how the eunuch in the Cold Palace that day could have escaped the palace guards, eunuchs and maids and rushed into the Cold Palace to poison her if the emperor hadn't issued an order.
No matter what, there should be at least some trace left!
It wasn't until recently, when she was searching for that little eunuch in the palace like looking for a needle in a haystack, that she finally gave up on this fantasy.
Who would have thought that at this very moment, God would have been so kind as to bring witnesses to our doorstep.
It seems even God is on her side!
"Oh, Your Majesty, there's something else, but I'm not sure if I should say it," Kang Luhai said hesitantly.
Chu Qingyin lifted her eyelids: "Speak freely."
Kang Luhai then continued, "The real culprit who poisoned Her Majesty has been caught. It is Xiao Anzi, a little eunuch planted in the Imperial Kitchen by Consort Ning."
"Oh, I already know about that."
"Your Majesty, there is something else you may not know. This Xiao Anzi was originally a palace eunuch, but he was not completely defiled. While in the palace, he had a secret affair with a palace maid named Chunxia. After the palace maid turned twenty and was released from the palace, he would often use the excuse of shopping to sneak out of the palace to meet his beloved."
"It was because of this incident that Consort Ning had a handle on him, which is why he risked poisoning Your Highness."
Chu Qingyin scoffed: "I didn't expect him to be such a lovelorn fool."
"This servant agrees. I was just a little curious about him, so I asked him a few more questions, which led me to discover another interesting story."
Kang Luhai laughed to himself as he spoke.
Chu Qingyin couldn't help but become interested: "Stop keeping me in suspense, just tell me."
"This servant has discovered that although Xiao Anzi is the purchasing manager of the Imperial Kitchen, few people have seen what he looks like."
"What do you mean?" Chu Qingyin asked tentatively.
"I heard that after Xiao Anzi was promoted to steward, he developed a rash on his face and covered his face every day. There are very few people in the palace who know him and have seen his true face. But a month ago, his face somehow recovered. In addition, Yu Lian has a good memory and recognized him at a glance. That's how we were able to keep an eye on him until the guards came to arrest him."
Kang Luhai rattled off a long speech, but Chu Qingyin's expression had already changed, and she had already made up her mind.
The reason that little eunuch disappeared without a trace in the palace was obviously because he had impersonated someone else and was running rampant in the palace.
Now everything matches up.
“Kang Luhai!” Chu Qingyin called out.
Kang Luhai was startled: "Your Majesty, this servant is here."
"Go and investigate this Xiao Anzi again, especially his records of entering and leaving the palace in recent months."
After Chu Qingyin finished speaking, she seemed to remember something and added, "Wait, remember to bring the portrait and find a few people who have had close contact with Xiao Anzi so that they can recognize his face."
"Your Majesty, you suspect—"
Before Kang Luhai could finish speaking, he saw Chu Qingyin nod solemnly, and he immediately shut his mouth.
This is a capital offense! This little Anzi is too audacious, daring to play the trick of substituting the crown prince for a cat in the palace.
"Investigate this matter carefully, and make sure no one else finds out."
"The slave understands."
As soon as Kang Luhai left, Xianglan hurriedly came in from outside.
"Your Majesty, I have completed the task you entrusted to me. That thing has been completely destroyed."
Chu Qingyin said with satisfaction, "That's good."
"But Your Majesty..."
Xianglan bit her lower lip, but couldn't help but say worriedly, "Now everyone in the palace is on edge when they talk about Consort Chu. I'm afraid the person behind it all is on guard and it will be hard for them to slip up again."
"Don't worry, that person has already given himself away. Now all we need to do is find that little eunuch to avenge the Imperial Concubine."
Seeing her master's confident expression, Xianglan felt a little more at ease.
Once Consort Chu has avenged her great grudge, she will likely stop bothering her master, and the master will finally be able to rest in peace.
***
Meanwhile, Kang Luhai went to investigate as instructed by Chu Qingyin.
He actually managed to find some clues.
The little eunuch that Chu Qingyin painted was actually another 'Little Anzi'.
Knowing the seriousness of the matter, Kang Luhai did not delay and immediately returned to the palace to report to Chu Qingyin.
"Your Majesty, just as you thought, that little eunuch is indeed 'Xiao Anzi.' However, when the Imperial Kitchen was searched by the Imperial Guards that day, he noticed something was wrong and ran away. In addition, he was just a stand-in, so no one noticed and he slipped through the net."
"Do you think he's still in the palace?" Chu Qingyin asked.
Kang Luhai thought for a moment before cautiously saying, "This servant believes he should still be in the palace. Now that His Majesty has ordered martial law in the palace to investigate the Consort's murder, it would be difficult for him to leave even if he wanted to. Unless—"
Chu Qingyin replied, "Unless someone helps him."
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Chu Qingyin smiled and then said, "Investigating further is beyond our capabilities. Find an opportunity to report this to Chen Zhongliang."
If Chen Zhongliang finds out, Pei Yuanling will find out too. Then, how can we not find the culprit?
Kang Luhai was indeed becoming more and more efficient in his work. Before nightfall, news of "Xiao Anzi" had already reached Pei Yuanling's ears.
He immediately ordered Chen Xun to seal off all entrances to the palace and impose a state of emergency.
Zhou Baojin, the chief eunuch of Shuhua Palace, who was hiding in a corner of the palace wall, looked solemn when he saw the imperial guards patrolling ahead.
Unfortunately, the young eunuch following behind him patted him on the shoulder and threatened, "Eunuch Zhou, I work for the Empress. You must protect my life, or if anything happens to me, none of you will be safe—"
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Baojin grabbed him by the throat, his eyes cold and murderous: "Then you can die now."