Gu Yin had just left when he started coughing.
"Young master, it's cold, please take care of yourself." The servant helped Gu Yin up, his face full of worry.
"It's nothing, just an old ailment. It's been colder this year than usual, but it'll get better after this winter. I know what I'm doing, no need to worry." Gu Yin didn't seem to care. If you ignored his pale face, the servant would have believed him.
"Why is the young master doing this?" the servant asked, unable to understand.
"The first time I met her was in winter. It was really cold, but she was dressed in red, and she was the only warmth in that winter," Gu Yin said, then turned to look in the direction of Cining Palace.
“I will take her to Jiangcheng. She will definitely like it there. Compared to this deep palace, she will definitely prefer everything in Jiangcheng.” Gu Yin said as he turned and left, then slowly disappeared into the night.
Snow falls on plum blossom branches, but it's not just the branches that are weighed down.
The next morning
Nan Zhiyun slept until she naturally woke up again. When she woke up, Yu Jingchen had already gone to the morning court.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty has sent over a group of palace maids. He asked you to select some suitable ones to stay in He'an Palace and serve you from now on," Qianxia said.
"Isn't the manpower in He'an Palace already sufficient? Why do we need to choose again?" Nan Zhiyun felt that she didn't need to choose anymore. Choosing more people might not necessarily be better.
"Does Your Majesty not spare a single one?" Qianxia asked.
Nan Zhiyun hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "I'll take a look first." After all, these were people sent by Yu Jingchen. It would be rather impolite of her not to look at them or keep any of them.
So Nan Zhiyun went to take a look anyway. She had to admit that the people Yu Jingchen had chosen were quite capable. They were impeccable in terms of etiquette and manners, and each of them had their own skills. There were not only palace maids, but also eunuchs and nannies, which was quite comprehensive.
In the end, Nan Zhiyun selected four people: a nanny, a young eunuch, and two palace maids. She sent the rest of them back home.
"This servant greets Consort Shu." The four remaining servants immediately knelt down to pay their respects to their new mistress.
"What are your names?" Nan Zhiyun asked, looking at the people below.
"Please bestow a name upon us, Your Majesty," the group said in unison.
"Then... Chunhua, Xiayi, Qiuyun, and Dongyuan, shall we?" Nan Zhiyun named them rather casually, simply pointing to these four people and bestowing their names upon them.
Chunhua was the old nanny, Xiayi was the eunuch, and the remaining Qiuyun and Dongwan were the two palace maids.
"Thank you for bestowing this name upon us, Your Majesty!" The group bowed in unison.
"Where did you all work before?" Nan Zhiyun asked again.
“I used to serve Consort Lin. After Consort Lin passed away, I stayed in the palace and never served any other master.” This was Chunhua.
“This servant has always been in the flower room and has never served any other masters.” This was Xia Yi.
“Both I and Dongwan are new to the palace this year and have not yet been assigned to any other masters,” Qiuyun replied.
Tsk, they're all pretty clean. Not only that, Nan Zhiyun remembered that Qianxia had just told her that these people were all alone, without parents or relatives.
“Well then, you can all stay in He’an Palace from now on. However, I don’t like having too many people around me, so I’ll keep only Qianxia to serve me personally,” Nan Zhiyun said.
"Yes" is obedient.
"Qianxia, please make arrangements for them in a bit." Nan Zhiyun didn't want to get involved; it was good to be a hands-off manager.
After dealing with these matters, Nan Zhiyun originally intended to go to Cixi Palace, but the Empress Dowager said she wanted to rest for the next couple of days and wouldn't see anyone. Aunt Anxin even came today to explain, saying that the Empress Dowager had been tired and somewhat sleepy lately, so she wanted to recuperate for a while, and therefore Nan Zhiyun didn't need to go for the next few days.
Nan Zhiyun had some doubts, but she didn't say anything. She just told An Xin to take good care of the Empress Dowager, and that she would personally take care of her if there was anything she needed.
An Xin knew that Nan Zhiyun was worried, but didn't want to make things difficult for them, so she offered a few more words of comfort. Nan Zhiyun didn't say anything more.
Zichen Palace
Yu Jingchen overturned the inkstone to the ground, and Xinglai and the other servants immediately knelt down. There were also imperial physicians and people from the Imperial Household Department present.
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Xinglai said.
"There's something wrong with the incense, and you're only finding out now? What were you eating all this time?!" Yu Jingchen was filled with rage.
"Your Majesty, this incense was a gift from the Empress Dowager; we were unaware of it." The first to speak was an official from the Imperial Household Department.
"You mean the Empress Dowager did something to the incense?" Yu Jingchen looked coldly at the people from the Imperial Household Department.
"Your Majesty, please forgive us! We had no such intention!" The people from the Imperial Household Department were quite frightened. How could he dare to say it was the Empress Dowager? Besides, it couldn't possibly be the Empress Dowager in the first place.
"What about the Imperial Medical Bureau? What exactly is the purpose of this incense? They still haven't figured it out?" Yu Jingchen looked at the imperial physicians below.
"Your Majesty, we are incompetent. We have never seen anything like the contents of this incense before. Apart from the hallucinogenic ingredients, we are unaware of any other effects," the imperial physician said.
"Investigate! Also, replace those incense sticks immediately, do it discreetly, and don't alert anyone." Yu Jingchen had asked Xinglai to thoroughly investigate the items in He'an Palace yesterday, and unexpectedly, they actually found a problem.
Previously, the calming incense that Nan Zhiyun liked to use had been laced with something of unknown origin that had hallucinogenic effects. Yu Jingchen's biggest concern was that there might be other harmful ingredients in it that could also harm Nan Zhiyun.
This incense was given to Nan Zhiyun by the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager... Yu Jingchen naturally knew that the Empress Dowager would never harm Nan Zhiyun, but... who else could do such a thing? Whether the problem had already arisen when it was with the Empress Dowager or only arose after it was given to Nan Zhiyun, Yu Jingchen did not know.
"Go and check the incense at the Empress Dowager's place again," Yu Jingchen said after thinking for a moment.
Fortunately, she arrived to receive the imperial decree, and of course, it wasn't a grand affair. But... well, something really did go wrong. The incense the Empress Dowager herself used was also problematic. It seems the Empress Dowager was unaware of this, but... who is being targeted here? The Empress Dowager or Nan Zhiyun?
"Your Majesty, this servant has another matter to report," Xinglai said, bowing.
Now that everyone else had left, Yu Jingchen let him speak directly.
"There's been some progress on the Wen family's matter. Before the Empress Dowager returned from praying outside the palace, the Wen family exchanged letters with her," Xinglai reported. (The Wen family was the former Imperial Concubine, the one who locked Xiaoyun'er in the secret room.)
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