Chapter 18: What is the thousand-year-old turtle pretending to be?

As soon as Chu Liuzheng thought of the word "human pig", he suddenly felt pain all over his body.

[I was almost turned into a human pig by the tyrant! ]

Xiao Jingfan, who happened to hear this in the Yangxin Palace, said: ???

When was he going to turn that woman into a human pig?

Zhou Yuande, who was guarding the door of the Yangxin Palace, saw Chu Liuzheng walking towards him and his eyes lit up.

Your Majesty has already inquired twice, and finally found this person!

He hurried over, looking her up and down, and asked with concern: "Is the girl okay? Are you hurt?"

"Everything is fine, thank you for your concern, Eunuch Zhou." Chu Liuzheng didn't have time to curse Cuiyun, the sweet-mouthed but treacherous bitch, in his heart. He also had to deal with a eunuch who wanted to have sex with her.

Ah! I’m so tired!!

"His Majesty is waiting for you to come in and reply. You can go down and dress yourself first." Zhou Yuande waved and called two young palace maids who were serving in the Yangxin Palace to come over and asked them to take Chu Liuzheng downstairs to dress up.

Chu Liuzheng thought that his hair was disheveled and his clothes were covered in dust, so he was not fit to meet the emperor, so he followed the two palace maids.

After washing, changing clothes and tying up his hair, Chu Liuzheng walked into the Yangxin Palace and knelt down to pay his respects to Emperor Shunguang, who was leaning on the couch reviewing memorials.

"Stand up." Xiao Jingfan looked up at her, "Where did you go just now?"

"I did not leave voluntarily, but was harmed by a bad person. I beg Your Majesty to help me." Chu Liuzheng did not get up, but knelt down and kowtowed to Emperor Shunguang.

"I am a servant of Your Majesty. How dare that villain knock me unconscious and take me away in broad daylight? How audacious!"

"Nongyun Garden is so close to Wenhua Palace. My life and death are of little importance, but the safety of Your Majesty is of paramount importance. If that villain were to sneak into Wenhua Palace one day, the consequences would be disastrous. I beg Your Majesty to conduct a thorough investigation and apprehend this criminal to restore order in the palace."

[The tyrant doesn't care about the safety of a little maid like me, but he must care about his own life, right?]

Xiao Jingfan looked at her coldly for a moment, "Get up and answer."

Although he had just heard the whole story from Xiao Shiyi, he didn't mind hearing it again from this woman.

Chu Liuzheng stood up, lowered his head, and looked very well-behaved and polite.

Xiao Jingfan said, "Tell me the whole story from beginning to end, and I will make the decision with you."

——The system is of great importance. How dare the person behind the scenes attack this woman? Is he tired of living?

Chu Liuzheng felt relieved. As expected, no matter which emperor it was, no one could tolerate the existence of anything that threatened his life.

"I accidentally injured my hand and was resting in Nongyun Garden when I suddenly heard someone calling me from outside the door, so I opened the door and went out to see."

"There's an unfamiliar eunuch standing outside the door, calling himself Xiao Yuanzi. He was sent by Wang, the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department. Please go to the Imperial Household Department to speak with me."

"I was just wondering what was going on and wanted to ask for clarification, but Eunuch Yuan suddenly raised his hand and sprinkled a handful of powder at me. I fainted immediately and when I woke up, I was tied up in Zhaoxue Hall. I cried out to heaven and earth, but no one answered."

Chu Liuzheng revealed his wrist, which was even more red and swollen than before.

She couldn't appear before the emperor in a disheveled state, nor could she use this opportunity to act pitiful. That was why she had deliberately not applied the medicine, waiting until this moment to use it as evidence.

I saw that the snow-white wrist was swollen high, and several bloodstains as thick as fingers were very unsightly.

Xiao Jingfan frowned slightly when he saw this.

"I tried to smash the window with a chair, but it didn't break. Instead, it attracted the young man in black. He rescued me. Concubine Wang misunderstood him as a villain and started an argument with him. Then, Imperial Concubine Rong also arrived..."

Chu Liuzheng recounted the entire story from beginning to end in detail, without any exaggeration, and in a clear and logical manner.

Even she could figure out the twists and turns, so how could a tyrant who was playing tricks on his court officials not figure it out?

She doesn't need to talk too much. If she talks too much, she will just become annoying.

As for playing the victim and getting the tyrant to rage against Concubine Rong? Haha, she was just a palace maid and didn't have that kind of power.

As expected, Xiao Jingfan didn't ask why Concubine Rong had gone to Zhaoxue Hall in the middle of the night, nor did he care about the dispute between Concubine Wang and the secret guards. He only asked, "Do you still remember Xiao Yuanzi's face?"

Chu Liuzheng nodded, "I remember."

[I can recognize you even if you turn it into ashes! ]

Xiao Jingfan raised his eyebrows. If he could recognize her even if she turned into ashes, then it would be easy.

"Zhou Yuande."

"I'm here." Zhou Yuande came in.

Xiao Jingfan pointed at Chu Liuzheng and said, "You personally take her to the Imperial Household Department to identify the person. Make sure you find the eunuch named Xiao Yuanzi."

"only."

*

Chu Liuzheng followed Zhou Yuande out of the door of the Yangxin Palace before he breathed a sigh of relief, loosened his clenched palms, wiped the sweat from his palms on the hem of his skirt, and walked briskly towards the Imperial Household Department.

At this time, everyone was asleep except the palace servants on night duty. Zhou Yuande didn't care about that and sent someone to wake up everyone in the Imperial Household Department.

The chief steward Wang Jinzhong hurriedly dressed and came over, looking very unhappy.

"Eunuch Zhou is coming here with such a threatening attitude. Is he planning to cause trouble in my Imperial Household Department?"

Wang Jinzhong was taller than Zhou Yuande. He glanced at Zhou Yuande with his slender eyes, and his voice was two points sharper than Zhou Yuande's.

This was not the first time Chu Liuzheng had met the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department. Every time he met him, he doubted whether his squinting eyes could see clearly.

"We are here on the emperor's orders. Eunuch Wang, do you want to disobey?" Zhou Yuande was full of confidence. He straightened his chest and stretched his neck like a big white goose ready for battle. He didn't want to lose to Wang Jinzhong.

—This old fellow, relying on his seniority, acts like a big shot in front of us, trying to put us down. Humph! Doesn't he even see who we're serving?

Seeing that Zhou Yuande wasn't buying it, Wang Jinzhong rolled his eyes and softened his tone, "Eunuch Zhou, what are you talking about? We're already paying our respects to His Majesty, how dare we disobey his orders?"

"I wonder what your majesty's orders are?"

Zhou Yuande raised his chin as if he had won a battle, and snorted, "Call out all the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department, line them up, and let Miss Liu Zheng recognize them."

Wang Jinzhong first ordered his confidant to call for help, then looked at Chu Liuzheng standing next to Zhou Yuande, with a look of doubt on his face:

"What happened? Did those fools accidentally offend the girl? If so, our family will apologize to the girl on their behalf."

"Eunuch Wang, you are too polite. How dare I accept your gift?" Chu Liuzheng dodged the gift with a polite smile on his face.

[You keep pretending, keep pretending! You thousand-year-old bastard, why are you pretending like a turtle?! With all those spies you've planted in the palace, how could they not know what just happened in Zhaoxue Hall?]

Smiling on the surface but thinking MMP in the heart is the best description of Chu Liuzheng at this moment.

She had just confirmed in the system in advance that Xiao Yuanzi was indeed working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, specifically responsible for raising cats and dogs for the nobles.

"Yesterday, the eunuch sent a eunuch named Yuan to Nongyun Garden to invite me to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for a talk. Does the eunuch still remember this?"

Hearing this, Wang Jinzhong looked surprised. "Young lady, I think you've misremembered it. The entire Imperial Household Department is swamped with activity due to the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet in two weeks, and our family is even busier. When did they send someone to Nong Yun Garden to invite you over to talk?"

(End of this chapter)