"Your Majesty!" Concubine Shu raised her voice, her eyes instantly red. "That's not an ordinary pearl hairpin. It's a wish passed down through three generations of my mother's family. It's of extraordinary significance!" She stole a glance at Su Jinli and suddenly changed the subject. "Besides...if Princess Shou'an develops the habit of stealing things from a young age, how can she be a mother of the country in the future? If word of this gets to the Censorate, I'm afraid they'll report the princess for her lack of moral integrity!"
These words struck the emperor like a needle, precisely piercing his sore spot. He looked at Princess Shou'an, who was trembling with tears, her face still stained with willow catkins. He hesitated for a moment: "This... the pearl hairpin should indeed be found."
Seeing this, Su Jinli stepped forward and bowed. "Your Majesty, since you are determined to find it, why not let me do it?" She turned to Concubine Shu, her eyes clear. "I have a way to find the pearl hairpin without causing any harm to the princess."
"What can you do?" Concubine Shu sneered, her tone full of disdain. "Do you think you should ask a sorcerer to tell your fortune?"
"It's very simple." Su Jinli clapped her hands, and the eunuch standing by immediately stepped forward. She whispered a few instructions, and the eunuch left, quickly fetching an ox bone comb and calling the maids brought by Concubine Shu and the maids from Princess Shou'an's palace to the corridor.
The emperor came over curiously: "Jinli, what are you going to do?"
"Your Majesty will know in a moment." Su Jinli touched her belly, a confident smile on her lips. "If the hairpin is with someone in the princess's palace, I am willing to be punished. If not..." She looked at Concubine Shu, "Then I'll ask Concubine Shu to give the princess an explanation."
Concubine Shu's face turned pale, but remembering that she had already secretly hidden the pearl hairpin in the bun of her personal maid Cui'er, she gritted her teeth and said, "Okay! If you can't find it, I will personally apologize to the princess!"
The corridor quickly formed into two lines. Su Jinli picked up an ox bone comb and approached the maids from Princess Shou'an's palace. The teeth of the comb were as fine as a comb; if a pearl hairpin was hidden, it would surely be removed. She gently combed each maid's hair, the comb passing through the hair only removing a few loose strands and a bit of hair oil. Not even a pearl hairpin could be found, let alone a pearl.
Concubine Shu's face looked a little ugly, but she still tried to remain calm: "Maybe it's hidden somewhere else, or maybe the princess hid it herself..."
"Don't worry." Su Jinli put down the comb and turned her gaze to the three maids brought by Concubine Shu. Cui'er, the leader, had a flickering look in her eyes and subconsciously shrank back, a faint pearly sheen peeking through her hair. Su Jinli noticed this and deliberately combed the other two maids' hair first. Sure enough, there were no problems. Finally, she walked over to Cui'er and said with a carefree smile, "Sister, your hair is so neatly combed. What kind of hair oil do you use? It smells like jasmine."
Cui'er was trembling with fear, her lips quivering and unable to speak, the silver hairpin in her bun swaying slightly. Su Jinli said nothing more, picked up the comb and gently ran it through her bun. With a crisp "ding," a shimmering nine-phoenix pearl hairpin fell out of Cui'er's hair, landing on the bluestone slab, splashing a few willow catkins.
Everyone was stunned. Princess Shou'an pointed at the pearl hairpin and burst into laughter: "This is it! The same one that Concubine Shu wore yesterday! The nine phoenixes on it have eyes made of rubies!"
The emperor's face darkened instantly, and his dragon boots creaked as they rolled over the blue bricks. He stared at the collapsed concubine and said in a voice as cold as ice: "What's going on?!"
Concubine Shu's face was ashen, she collapsed to the ground, unable to utter a word, her fingers unconsciously picking at the cracks in the bricks. Su Jinli bent down to pick up the pearl hairpin, holding it up to the sunlight. Sure enough, the base of the hairpin was stained with a little dark yellow hair oil. "Your Majesty, look, this hairpin is still stained with Miss Cui'er's hair oil. I guess Concubine Shu planned this all along, having the palace maids hide the pearl hairpin in the princess's hair, deliberately framing her?"
"Shufei!" The emperor was so angry that he kicked over the flower pot beside him, and the broken porcelain pieces mixed with mud splashed all over Shufei. "How dare you frame the princess! You deserve to be executed!"
Concubine Shu was so frightened that her soul was about to be shattered. She kowtowed repeatedly, her forehead hitting the blue bricks with a "dong dong" sound: "Your Majesty, spare my life! I... I was just confused for a moment and was blinded by lard..."
Su Jinli looked at the collapsed Concubine Shu, the fetus in her belly stirring slightly again. She recalled the suffering she had endured at the hands of her stepmother in her previous life, the inexplicable grievances and humiliations. At that moment, she felt only a cold sense of satisfaction. In this life, she would never again allow herself to be bullied. Anyone who dared to touch anyone she cared about, no matter who it was, would pay the price.
Princess Shou'an threw herself into Su Jinli's arms, rubbing her face against her skirt: "Sister Su, you are so amazing!"
Su Jinli gently patted the princess's back, her gaze fixed on the drifting willow catkins in the distance. Sunlight filtered through the willow branches, casting dappled shadows on her face. A faint smile played at the corner of her mouth. She knew the turmoil within the palace would not subside, but as long as she remained here, she would never allow anyone around her to suffer even the slightest injustice.
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