Chapter 048 Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Fengyi Palace was unusually quiet for a moment, and the only thing that could be heard was Wen Yunu's low sobs.

Both Shufei and Wen Yunu were still kneeling but no one dared to stand up. Ruan Jun saw that Shufei looked unhappy and looked towards the emperor from time to time, but the emperor had no intention of letting Shufei stand up.

Yan Shiyu closed his eyes slightly, and only when Wen Yunu cried a few times did his brows tighten.

Soon Yu Ronghua arrived at Fengyi Palace.

After not seeing each other for a long time, Yu Ronghua looked slimmer than before, and her rouge concealed her unwell look.

Yan Shiyu opened his dark eyes and his originally indifferent expression suddenly turned cold after just one look at Yu Ronghua. All the words Yu Ronghua wanted to say were stuck in her throat. The emperor's cold eyes pierced her body, which was more painful than taking her life.

The Queen spoke first: "Help Yu Ronghua sit down, and then put a soft pillow under her."

Ran Xia went to do it herself, but Yu Ronghua showed no gratitude at all and didn't even stand up to express her gratitude.

The Queen glanced at Yan Shiyu and said, "Yesterday, your maidservant accidentally fell into the well. Do you know what happened to her in Hanyu Palace?"

Yan Shiyu did not interrupt the Queen. He held his forehead with his hand and wanted to see how the Queen would deal with the current situation.

Yu Ronghua sneered and said, "How could I know what she did, a dog slave who betrayed her master?"

The Queen looked at Wen Yunu calmly, "So, Wen Yunu went to Chen Lu and gave her a hairpin. She also happened to be Yu Ronghua's concubine. Wen Yunu's actions this time seemed to be somewhat ulterior."

Wen Yunu felt very aggrieved and kept crying, "Your Majesty, please be clear. I dare not do that. The hairpin was indeed lost a long time ago."

"Oh?" The Queen asked in a serious tone, "Is it such a coincidence?"

"I want to ask you, besides the maids in your palace, does anyone know that the hairpin is lost?"

Wen Yunu recalled Ruan Yun's denial just now, and knew that she couldn't bring herself to associate herself with Ruan Yun no matter what. She could only take a deep breath and then said, "No."

The Queen couldn't help but ask, "Yu Ronghua is still under house arrest, and the palace maids will not go out unless necessary. What excuse did Chen Lu use to leave Hanyu Palace last night, and how did she convince the guards? Not to mention, Yu Ronghua, as the head of a palace, how do you discipline the palace maids?"

Yu Ronghua rubbed her waist and stood up, her eyes full of anger, "Your Majesty, I am still under house arrest, and I am already exhausted from carrying the heir. It is indeed my fault that I did not discipline my subordinates well, but I really don't know what Chenlu did."

The queen turned to look at Yan Shiyu and said in a very light voice, "In this case, we can only question the guards who guarded Hanyu Palace last night."

Yan Shiyu nodded and said in a cold voice, "Go check it out."

Wei Maoyuan did not dare to delay for even a moment and hurriedly sent people to the guardhouse to capture the guard who was on duty that night.

Ruan Yun saw Wen Yunu's hanging hands gradually clenched, and even her expression, which had been calm just now, became different. Ruan Yun instantly found this matter quite interesting.

Did the guard last night really have a different relationship with Wen Yunu?

Wei Maoyuan checked very quickly and arrived at Fengyi Palace in a short while.

Standing beside Yan Shiyu, thinking about the news he had just learned, he actually found some clues after checking.

I was hesitating about how to start talking, but Yan Shiyu said coldly, "Speak!"

When the emperor was angry, everyone's heart trembled. Wei Maoyuan knelt down in a hurry, and the crown on his head was about to fly off. He said, "The guard on duty at Hanyu Palace last night, Pei Xu, the third son of the Pei family, is the cousin of Wen Yunu."

The teacup was suddenly thrown in front of Wen Yunu, who was shaking with tears. "It's not... it's not like that, Your Majesty."

Yu Ronghua said sarcastically, "I didn't know you were so cruel that you wanted to attack the dragon descendant in my belly."

Wei Maoyuan continued, "I found a lot of broken hemp leaves in Hanyu Palace. During the New Year's banquet, Pei Xu was on duty in Qingxuan Palace. He was in charge of the palace front that night."

Yan Shi said sternly: "What else do you want to say?"

Wen Yunu panicked for a moment. She looked around hurriedly. When she saw Ruan Yun, she crawled over without paying attention to anything else and grabbed Ruan Yun's clothes and said, "I am doing this for Sister Ying's own good. Sister Ying suffered so much injustice at the hands of Yu Ronghua. Now she has finally gained the favor of the emperor. How can she be taken away by others?"

Yan Shiyu sat at the head of the table, his whole body emitting anger, "The daughter of the emperor, Wen, has a bad character, colluded with the court, and plotted to harm the heir to the throne. From today on, she will be banished to the cold palace and will never be summoned to the emperor's favor again! I will give her a white silk to keep her body intact!"

Wen Yunu fell to the ground and before the guards arrived, she suddenly grabbed Ruan Jun.

Ying Ning said loudly: "My lady, be careful."

Ruan Yun was suddenly grabbed by Wen Yunu before she could react. Wen Yunu's eyes were full of hatred. "I am helping you, how can you turn a blind eye to it! It's you! It's you who will take your hair from me..."

Yan Shiyu kicked her in the chest and Wen Yunu spat out a mouthful of blood. The guards did not dare to make any mistakes and quickly dragged Wen Yunu away.

Ruan Jun was still in shock, her eyes were wet, and she stood there as if she could not do anything. There were still bloodstains on her peach-colored embroidered skirt, and the blood color on her lips that were not stained red was gone. She bit her lower lip and threw herself into Yan Shiyu's arms, "Your Majesty..."

Yan Shiyu clasped her back with his big hand and looked at Yu Ronghua and Shufei who were kneeling.

He patted her waist and said, "It will be fine in a while."

Ruan Jun was helped by Yingning to sit on the chair. Yingning was extremely nervous. Fortunately, the emperor acted quickly just now, otherwise Wen Yunu might have done something unknown.

The Queen quickly calmed down and turned to Concubine Shu and asked, "Qingyi Palace and Xise Pavilion are not in the same direction. Wen Yu bribed Chen Lu to kill the heir, but if Chen Lu wanted to return to Hanyu Palace, how could she have fallen into the water in the direction of Qingyi Palace?"

Concubine Shu was so frightened by the battle that she didn't know what to say for a moment. There was still a faint bloody smell in the Fengyi Palace. Concubine Shu knelt straight, and when she met the emperor's cold eyes, her heart suddenly sank, "Your Majesty, I didn't do it."

Yan Shiyu stood at the head of the group without saying a word. Seeing Ruan Yun pale with her head leaning on Yingning, he was obviously frightened. He strode out and pronounced his verdict on Concubine Shu and Yu Ronghua:

"The concubine is demoted to a noble lady and is confined to her house for half a year."

"Yu Ronghua was stripped of her title and demoted to a talented lady, and was punished to serve for one year. She was not allowed to leave Hanyu Palace unless summoned."

"As for the rest, the Queen will take care of it."

The Empress bowed and respectfully saw the Emperor off. The kneeling Meng Guiren and Du Cairen looked as if their energy had been drained out and they no longer knew what to do.

Meng Guiren suddenly said, "Your Majesty, I have never done this before."

Yan Shiyu said coldly: "Whether you did it or not, you know it in your heart."

When Meng Guiren heard this, tears started to fall. Her throat felt extremely sour but she couldn't utter a word. Her beautiful eyes stared blankly at the place where Yan Shiyu left, and she finally fainted because she couldn't bear it anymore.

The empress looked at the palace maid behind Du Cairen, her gentle face full of annoyance as she said, "Send Du Cairen back to Hanyu Palace first. Your young master has been demoted and no longer needs to live in the main palace. I will instruct the eunuchs to let Du Cairen live in the east side palace."

Qing Ling did not dare to disobey. She wiped the tears from her face and went forward to support Du Cairen, but Du Cairen shook her hand away and shouted, "No! I am still pregnant with a dragon child, Queen, you can't treat me like this."

The Queen gave Zeqin a look, and Zeqin, along with a few palace maids, carried Du Cairen out. Considering that Du Cairen was pregnant with a dragon fetus, the Queen allowed Du Cairen to ride on the ceremonial carriage.

Ruan Yun walked out of Fengyi Palace. Seeing the bloodstains on her skirt, she felt a little scared. Ying Ning helped Ruan Yun wipe the sweat off her face. Looking forward, she couldn't help but panic and said to Ruan Yun, "My lady, the emperor is waiting for you in front."

There were a few drops of tears hanging on her eyelashes, wetting Ruan Yun's crow-feather-like eyelashes. Without waiting for Yingning to help her put on the cloak, Ruan Yun quickly ran towards Yan Shiyu. She wanted to pull his sleeve, but she put her hand down for some reason.

She was petite and stood in front of Yan Shiyu only at the height of his shoulder. Ruan Yun asked timidly, "Is the emperor angry with me? I didn't mean to give the hairpin to Wen Yunu, nor did I mean to say those words just now. It was..."

Yan Shiyu frowned. In the past, he always said that she was unruly and that her smiles, joys and anger were all accompanied by a hint of defensiveness. Today was not like that as usual. However, when he saw her frightened like this, he felt as if a stone was pressing on his heart. He had never felt this way in many years. This was the first time.

He personally took the cloak and wrapped Ruan Yun tightly.

Yan Shiyu turned around and was about to leave. Ruan Jun was in a hurry and didn't care about anything else. She directly grabbed Yan Shiyu's dragon-patterned sleeve. The dragon claws on it fell on her soft hands, which had a strange beauty.

"You don't want your body anymore?"

Yan Shiyu sneered in annoyance, and when he turned sideways, he caught a glimpse of Ruan Yun's red nose and rabbit-like eyes. He grasped her hand and led her out of Fengyi Palace.

On the throne, Ruan Yun curled up in Yan Shiyu's arms very quietly and whispered, "If the emperor wasn't here, I really don't know what to do."

Yan Shiyu lowered his head and looked at Ruan Yun, kneading her round earlobes without saying a word. In this place, he could see her fair and vulnerable neck exposed, and then looking down were her undulating and beautiful snow-capped peaks. Her waist was tied between her dress, making people want to hold it.

Yan Shiyu did exactly that, and put his big hand on Ruan Yun's waist and said, "Go to Zichen Palace."

Ruan Yun wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and hooked her little finger around Yan Shiyu's hand, saying, "I know I was wrong. In the future, I will never give away the things that the emperor has given me as a reward to others."

Yan Shiyu stared at Ruan Yun with a cold brow, thinking of all the things that had happened in the past few months. He didn't know how much dirty water had splashed on her. If it hadn't happened today, he was afraid that everything would have been wiped out without a trace.

But her obedient look was too glaring.

Purple Palace.

Ruan Yun was supported by Ying Ning to go to the back hall to change clothes. Seeing the bloodstains on her dress, Ruan Yun's face was a little ugly. Ying Ning said without any context, "The silver hairpin on the young lady's dressing table, I have already put it away. I will definitely not let others find it."

The fear in her almond eyes had long gone, leaving only calmness. Ruan Jun looked at Ying Ning and understood what she meant. She smiled and said, "I know."

There was a lot of meaning in that smile, and Yingning felt relieved.

The most frightening thing for a servant is being suspected of not being loyal enough by the master. The final fate of those servants is probably no different from that of Chen Lu today. She was sent by the emperor to serve the young master, and the young master's only worry is that she will tell the emperor about the matter.

After what happened in Fengyi Palace, Ruan Yun felt quite sleepy. It was not yet time for lunch, and Yan Shiyu also left his affairs of state and hurried over. Ruan Yun asked Yingning to serve her and went to sleep in the back hall.

Yan Shiyu picked up a memorial coldly, his other hand resting beside the red pen, and asked calmly, "What did you find out?"

Wei Maoyuan only felt cold sweat dripping down his face. On the surface, the affairs of Qingxuan Palace were all handled by Wen Yunu alone, but in fact, he also found out some other things, but he did not tell them all in Fengyi Palace. Although the emperor did not look at him, Wei Maoyuan's legs went weak first, and he wished he could bury himself in the golden brick seams of Zichen Palace:

"Mr. Meng knew that Concubine Ji was pregnant. The maid who committed suicide was arranged by Mr. Meng. He wanted to take the opportunity to let Concubine Ji slip, but who knew that Ms. Wen Yu would interfere."

It's no wonder that this matter is so difficult to handle, because there are so many people involved. Concubine Shu... no, Lady Meng has it all to blame. Although she has no children, she can be on equal footing with Concubine De, who gave birth to the eldest prince. She was also the most favored in the past, but she has such vicious thoughts.

"Heh." Yan Shiyu rubbed his eyebrows, his eyes full of coldness.

Wei Maoyuan thought about it and decided to tell the emperor another thing. "Du Cairen was just sent back to the palace. She made a big fuss when she learned that she would be moved to the East Palace. The imperial physician said... if this happens again, I'm afraid..."

Facing the emperor's cold gaze, Yan Shiyu looked towards the back hall unconsciously and said calmly, "Don't worry about her anymore."

Wei Maoyuan took a deep breath. This meant that Du Cairen should be left to fend for herself. The emperor always disliked women who relied on their favor to become arrogant. Among so many masters in the harem, only Ying Cairen was special. Even if Du Cairen was demoted and moved to another palace, she was still pregnant with the emperor's child. Her suffering was also suffering the emperor's child.

"yes."

Yan Shiyu threw the memorial back onto the table, no longer interested in reading it, and said, "Is the talented person blaming me?"

Wei Maoyuan hurriedly said: "You have dealt with Meng Guiren and Du Cairen, how could Ying Cairen have any complaints?"

Yan Shiyu's eyebrows were calm, thinking back to that time when she was in Fengyi Palace, with a dazed look on her face. He did know some things that happened earlier, but today they were all settled together. How could she not guess it when she was so smart?

"She has a bad temper." Yan Shiyu recalled the scene in Fengyi Palace today, "She was not happy when I said something to her."

Wei Maoyuan subconsciously followed the words of the Wansui Master and said: "Yingcai is indeed a bit fierce in temper."

However, the next moment he was kicked to the ground by Yan Shiyu, and the Qiao Shiguan flew far away. Wei Maoyuan quickly slapped himself and said repeatedly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me."

Yan Shiyu glared at him, and Wei Maoyuan felt as if a knife was hanging around his neck. He said with a bitter face, "This slave deserves to die."

"Get out." Yan Shiyu waved his sleeves and left, intending to go straight to the back hall.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Muzi came in and said, "Your Majesty, Young Master Yu has something to ask for an audience and is already waiting outside the palace."

Yan Shiyu paused as he was heading towards the back hall, turned the white jade ring in his hand, and then said in a deep voice:

"Let him in."