Borrowing a knife

When Cui Shenzhi was teaching Ping An the phrase "Clouds rise and bring rain, dew condenses into frost," Ju An arrived at the study with a livid face.

Seeing the serious expression on Ju An's face, Ping An knew that her previous arrangements had been discovered. She couldn't help but smile slightly. However, she had always been a cheerful person since arriving at the East Palace, so no one thought anything was wrong.

—Except for Ju'an.

Looking at Ping An's innocent smile and thinking about what was tucked in her sleeve, Ju An felt a surge of heartache and anger.

She pursed her lips and bowed to Cui Shenzhi: "Your Highness, Ping'an has been studying with you for quite some time now. I think it's time for her to rest. The weather is nice today, so why don't we have Siwei take Ping'an for a stroll in the small garden?"

Ju An's intention to send Ping An away was too obvious, and Cui Shenzhi naturally sensed that something was wrong.

The smile on his face slowly faded, and he said calmly, "That's true. Let's stop here for today. Siwei, take Ping'an out for a walk."

Ping An nudged Cui Shenzhi's lower back and blinked, saying, "Can I fly a kite with Sister Siwei?"

Choi Shin-ji nodded.

Ping An immediately cheered and pulled Si Wei, who was about to put on his luggage, and ran out.

Seeing that Ping An had left, Ju An prepared to take something out of her sleeve, but Cui Shenzhi stopped her. Only after Ping An's voice could no longer be heard did Cui Shenzhi signal her to take out the thing and explain the situation.

With a sullen face, Ju An pulled out a tattered piece of cloth from his sleeve and presented it to Cui Shenzhi.

"Your Highness, the palace maids found this while washing Ping An's old clothes. It seems to be a letter sealed in blood, and it looks quite old. The contents inside are really... This servant dares not act on my own authority, so I have come to report to Your Highness."

Choi Shin-ji took it, unfolded it, and frowned deeply.

This was indeed a letter written in blood. It said that Guo Shu, the steward of the Cold Palace, in order to curry favor with the Imperial Concubine, used her relatives to blackmail her into using her body to please the guards of Chengqian Palace, which resulted in her becoming pregnant with a child she shouldn't have. He even wanted to use her newborn daughter to continue this despicable act.

A girl born in the cold palace...

Cui Shenzhi's face darkened. There was no other girl born in the Cold Palace besides Ping An.

In other words, Ping An's mother did not voluntarily commit such a depraved act in the palace, but was forced into it by Guo Shu. Her death was not due to postpartum weakness, but because she discovered that Guo Shu wanted to send her daughter Ping An to be bullied by others, and when her resistance was futile, she was killed by Guo Shu!

No wonder, no wonder Guo Shu didn't teach Ping An anything. The reason wasn't because he said it was for Ping An's good, but because in his eyes Ping An wasn't a person at all, but just a gift that could be traded or given to others at any time!

The less Li Quan knows about the gifts, the better. After all, the less he knows, the less likely he is to resist. Haven't you noticed that Ping An still doesn't know about the proper separation of men and women? Who knows, if Guo Shu really sells him out one day, Ping An might even stand up for Guo Shu!

Qi Kang looked at the contents of the paper, thought for a moment, and whispered, "Your Highness, now that I think about it, the situation was also a bit strange when I was inquiring about Ping An in the Cold Palace that day."

"How so?"

“That day, I asked many palace servants about Ping An’s situation. They all spoke very clearly about Ping An’s mother’s identity, the reason for her death, and Ping An’s own situation. It seemed that everyone knew a lot about Ping An, but this shouldn’t be the case.”

“Every year, new palace servants arrive and others leave when they reach the required age. So, the servants in the Cold Palace include those who just entered the palace this year and those who have been there for more than ten years. It's understandable that those who have been there for more than ten years know about Ping An, but how could those who have only been in the palace for a year know so much? Unless someone anticipated that someone would ask about Ping An and taught those servants in advance how to answer, such a situation would not occur. And in the Cold Palace, the only person who could do such a thing is Guo Shu.”

Cui Shenzhi was furious and mentally listed Guo Shu's crimes.

Regardless of whether Ping An's mother was forced into it or not, she had indeed violated palace rules. Once this is brought to the forefront, Ping An might face a terrible fate.

Cui Shenzhi didn't want to let Guo Shu off the hook, but he couldn't bring himself to secretly send someone to deal with Guo Shu's matter. He was at a loss and didn't know what to do.

Qi Kang noticed Cui Shenzhi's predicament and stepped forward, whispering, "Your Highness, Guo Shu is, after all, one of the Consort's men. No matter how you want to deal with him, you can't get past the Consort. In my opinion, it would be better to report this matter directly to the Consort and let her handle it. The Consort is kind and gentle, and she will surely not make things difficult for Ping An and will also deal with Guo Shu. What do you think?"

Choi Shin-ji pursed his lips and nodded.

*****

Qi Kang was a palace servant who grew up with Cui Shenzhi. No matter what Cui Shenzhi wanted to do, he would do his best to make it happen, but he did not want Cui Shenzhi's reputation to be damaged—not for anyone else.

So on his way to Chengqian Palace, he kept making up a story in his mind, trying to get Shen Meiwu to deal with Guo Shu without involving Cui Shenzhi. He had to achieve the best of both worlds.

Upon arriving at Chengqian Palace, Qi Kang went straight to Yan Zhi, who was standing next to Shen Meiwu.

When Yan Zhi saw Qi Kang arrive, she smiled and said, "What brings you here, Eunuch Qi? Did His Highness the Crown Prince send you to deliver some good things to our princess again?"

“Miss Rouge, you’ve misunderstood,” Qi Kang said with a smile. “I came to Chengqian Palace this time not on His Highness’s orders, but because I have something I want to ask Miss Rouge if it needs to be dealt with, and if so, how.”

Rouge looked puzzled: "Ask me? What important matter could possibly warrant your head eunuch from the Eastern Palace coming all the way here to ask me?"

"It's not a big deal. Have you heard about His Highness losing a jade pendant a few days ago?"

Rouge didn't know how the topic had turned to this, but she still answered honestly: "I heard about it, and I even know that it was found in the Cold Palace. Guo Shu, the steward of the Cold Palace, sent someone to tell our Lady about it. What happened?"

"That's where the problem lies. I was with His Highness that day when I overheard someone criticizing the Imperial Concubine. They said that he had been loyal to her for so many years, but he was stuck in the Cold Palace, a godforsaken place with no hope of promotion and little reward. And then... well, it was all unpleasant and inappropriate talk."

"But at the time I was in a hurry to help His Highness find the jade pendant, so I didn't pay attention to the person's appearance and naturally didn't know who that person was. But afterwards I thought about it again and again and still felt it was inappropriate. After all, the Imperial Concubine takes such good care of His Highness. If I did nothing when I heard someone talking about the Imperial Concubine, it wouldn't make sense. So I went to the Cold Palace to find out who that person was."

"As a result of this investigation..."

Qi Kang didn't continue speaking, but looked at Yan Zhi, as if he had something to hide.

With a sullen expression, Rouge said, "Eunuch Qi, please speak freely. I want to see which greedy and insatiable person dares to slander Her Majesty by relying on her for survival in the palace."

Qi Kang bent down slightly and said softly, "That man is Guo Shu, the head eunuch of the Cold Palace."

"Guo Shu?" Rouge sneered. "That old eunuch, if it weren't for Her Majesty's promotion, he would have been just a lowly eunuch that anyone could bully for the rest of his life. How dare he say such things? He deserves to die."

“What you say is true, but he is the steward of the Cold Palace. Although I am someone close to His Highness the Crown Prince, if I want to deal with someone in his position, it will inevitably alarm His Highness. But as you know, His Highness is the most soft-hearted. If he finds out about this, he will probably just give him a few words of reprimand and that will be the end of it. But I think that is not appropriate.”

"Guo Shu has the backing of the Imperial Concubine, yet he speaks ill of her behind her back. If we let him off so easily, what prestige will the Imperial Concubine have left in the palace if the palace servants follow suit? That's why I didn't act rashly, but first came to ask you how you want to deal with him, whether you want His Highness to decide, or..."

Seeing Qi Kang's gaze, Yan Zhi twitched the corner of her mouth and said, "Of course, it's not enough to let them off lightly. As for the punishment... since His Highness the Crown Prince is now involved in court affairs, there's no need to trouble His Highness with the trivial matters in the palace. Just leave them to me."

"Yes," Qi Kang cupped his hands in greeting, "Since Miss Rouge says so, then I will pretend this matter never happened and will absolutely not let His Highness hear even a single word of it. After all, His Highness and the Imperial Concubine have such a good relationship... it wouldn't be good for His Highness to get in the way of the Imperial Concubine's need to clean house."

"Eunuch Qi is joking. Someone like Guo Shu is hardly worthy of being called a 'clean house,' he's just cleaning up the trash. Anyway, I'll leave His Highness the Crown Prince to us. I have other matters to attend to, so I won't see you off."

After Yan Zhi finished speaking, she turned and went into the hall without waiting for Qi Kang's reply, and told Shen Mei Wu everything Qi Kang had said.

Shen Meiwu snorted coldly after hearing Qi Kang say that Guo Shu's insults to her were "neither pleasant nor appropriate."

"Guo Shuzhen has become incredibly audacious. I arranged for him to be the steward of the Cold Palace to watch over those lowly people because I knew him from the slums and wanted to give him a hand. But he has no self-awareness and even blames me. Doesn't he realize that he can barely read? If it weren't for me, he would never be able to sit in the Cold Palace steward's position in his next life!"

"Your Majesty, what should we do with him?"

"Old method, tomorrow you find any excuse to call him to Chengqian Palace, and then arrange for someone to hide some things he shouldn't have in his residence. After half a day or a day, lock him up in Shenxing Division on charges of stealing imperial gifts. You can arrange the rest after that. In short, I don't want to see him walk out of Shenxing Division alive."

"As for the position of the steward of the Cold Palace, take a look at those who have given you the most money, and pick an honest and dutiful one to guard the Cold Palace."

"I understand, I will do it right away."