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Since becoming suspicious of Shen Meiwu, Cui Shenzhi began a covert investigation.
He instructed Qi Kang and Ju An to send people to contact the older palace servants, at least those who had entered the palace before his birth in the eighth year of Hongjia, to try various methods to inquire about Fu Yunjin's life, but they did not obtain much useful information.
Whether those people were terrified of Shen Meiwu's torment or for some other reason, no matter how they were asked, they kept repeating the same sentence:
Fu Yunjin was not liked by Cui Sugong during her lifetime; Shen Meiwu was Cui Sugong's true love.
Who doesn't know these things?
Cui Shenzhi had no choice but to find another way.
He originally intended to send someone to the Fu family to ask Fu Yunjin what entanglements she had with Shen Meiwu and Cui Sugong before her marriage, but after thinking about it, he gave up the idea. For no other reason than that, judging from the Fu family's usual lack of resistance to his approach to Shen Meiwu, the Fu family probably wouldn't want to see him become estranged from Shen Meiwu.
So where else can we find out the truth about what happened back then?
After thinking for several days, Cui Shenzhi finally came up with a person, or rather, a group of people.
—Those deposed concubines in the Cold Palace.
Although most of those people have gone mad, going mad doesn't mean they're stupid, nor does it mean they don't remember the past.
Moreover, their madness means they won't lie. Although it's hard to say how credible their madness is, as long as we compare what they say, what everyone says must be close to the truth.
However, the Cold Palace is Shen Meiwu's territory. If he were to send someone to the Cold Palace to inquire about those deposed concubines in a blatant manner, it would inevitably attract Shen Meiwu's attention, which would be undesirable.
Cui Shenzhi could only send his secret guards to sneak into the Cold Palace at night to question the deposed concubines and record their words for comparison.
Several days later, Choi Shin-ji finally obtained a highly credible truth.
Looking at the things Shen Meiwu did to frame Fu Yunjin written on the paper, Cui Shenzhi felt that his behavior of treating Shen Meiwu as a kind and respectable elder all these years, never suspecting her, and even having a deep affection for her was ridiculously absurd.
He actually treated the woman who caused his mother a lifetime of suffering with genuine respect, as an elder.
How ridiculous, how utterly ridiculous!
Cui Shenzhi casually picked up the inkstone next to him and threw it on the ground.
"Ju'an," Cui Shenzhi said, panting heavily, "put me in the storeroom and throw away everything Shen Meiwu sent..."
Cui Shenzhi paused before continuing, "Pack everything up, then take it all outside the palace to exchange for silver, and use that money to buy some practical things to send to the slums."
"Yes." Ju An bowed and withdrew.
"Qi Kang".
"Your servant is here."
“Go and investigate each of the palace servants. I don’t believe that the Empress Dowager’s death has nothing to do with Shen Meiwu, nor do I believe that there is not a single person in the palace who knows anything about it. Even if all the palace servants around the Empress Dowager have been eliminated, it is impossible for all those who have received favors from the Empress Dowager to be gone. There must be some who are still alive. Perhaps they will know something.”
"This servant will go immediately."
Then Cui Shenzhi kicked Siwei out as well, and sat alone in the study, sobbing as he looked at the sheets of paper filled with Fu Yunjin's pain.
Mother, I'm sorry. I was foolish, I was stupid, I misjudged people, I couldn't even tell friend from foe, which is why I sincerely admired Chen Meiwu for so many years. But rest assured, I know everything now. I will definitely seek justice for you for the suffering you've endured and the tears you've shed! If your death is also related to her, I will make her pay with her blood!
*****
Ever since Ping An learned that there was something wrong with her and Cui Shenzhi's identities, she has lost interest in dealing with Cui Shenzhi. After all, things are different now. Cui Shenzhi is no longer a ladder for her to climb up, but an obstacle to her taking back everything that belongs to her.
It just so happens that Cui Shenzhi has been busy with something lately and has hardly paid any attention to her. Instead, he has replaced her with a palace maid named Ji Yu, who has been learning martial arts for a few years. However, it is estimated that Ji Yu has been instructed on something, because Ji Yu did not follow her closely like Yue Sheng had before. Instead, Ji Yu stood at a distance where she could see her.
Ping An didn't do anything extra; he simply followed the previous plan and slowly 'recovered' from his injured state.
—Of course, it's impossible for her to return to her previous innocent and naive self, and to be as close to Choi Shin-ji as before; rather, it's the state that an ordinary girl should be in.
He was gentle and polite, and because of the strict separation between men and women, he maintained a just-right distance from Cui Shenzhi.
While doing so, I thought about what to do next.
The Emperor, Shen Meiwu, and Cui Shenzhi are all people whose interests conflict with hers. It's impossible for her to get back what belongs to her by relying on these three people. She can only try to find a way outside the palace.
For example, those members of the imperial family who were said to be at odds with the emperor.
Once they learn that the biggest factor enabling Emperor Choi Shin-ji to remain on the throne is that he is an illegitimate child of unknown blood, she doesn't believe that the royal family members won't make a big fuss about it. After all, who wouldn't want to be emperor?
She was the same.
But that's how the world is. If she can be the emperor, then so can Cui Lingxian. Then the emperor and Shen Meiwu wouldn't need to bring Cui Shenzhi into the palace to be the crown prince.
But how can she contact those members of the royal family?
You should know that those relatives of the imperial clan, because of their poor relationship with the emperor, basically do not enter the palace except for major festivals. Now that the New Year has just passed and the emperor's birthday has not yet arrived, it is impossible for the relatives of the imperial clan to enter the palace. Does she have no choice but to wait?
But she didn't want to wait.
Just then, Ping An heard a voice that he had never heard before, yet which sounded somewhat familiar, coming from the side.
"Excuse me, are you Miss Ping An?"
Ping An looked in the direction the sound came from and saw a person wearing a blue official robe embroidered with birds.
Wearing a blue official robe, the highest rank one could attain was the fifth grade, a minor official.
Ping An ignored him and tried to leave.
“Miss Ping An, my name is Lin Yimo. Yimo is better when it is silent than when it is spoken. I am a good friend of Lu Fengping.”
Lu Fengping?
Ping An turned around, her face full of worry, and timidly bowed to Lin Yimo: "So you are a good friend of Physician Lu. The other day, I thought that you were a person with ill intentions, so I acted so rudely. Please forgive me, Lord Lin."
Lin Yimo took a few steps closer and said in a low but clear voice, "Miss Ping An, you don't need to pretend. I can tell we're the same kind of people."
Hearing this, Ping An became somewhat interested, but her face remained expressionless, showing nothing but bewilderment.
"What is Lord Lin saying? This servant does not understand."
Lin Yimo chuckled a few times, but there was no smile in his eyes: "Miss Ping An, do you know why Lu Fengping asked me to come to you? He wanted me to test you, to see if you have really been fooled by the Imperial Concubine, and whether you have given up the idea of harming the princess after this incident. If not, then let me dispel your thoughts."
Ping An still looked like a frightened bird.
Lin Yimo didn't care and continued to say to himself, "But the moment I saw the girl, I knew he had made a mistake from the beginning, because the girl is the same kind of person as me. She only cares about interests and only wants to climb up the social ladder. She wouldn't do anything unnecessary, and she certainly wouldn't harm the princess for the sake of revenge for killing her mother."
"In my opinion, your goal is not the princess but the crown prince. You want to curry favor with the crown prince, become his confidante, and then become the next imperial concubine, or even the empress. So I think we can cooperate."
A collaboration? Lu Fengping's friend is asking her to collaborate?
That's interesting.
Ping An glanced at Ji Yu, raised his sleeve to cover his face, and said softly, "Isn't Lord Lin a good friend of Young Master Lu? What could we possibly have to do together?"
Only when he heard that Ping An was no longer pretending did a slight smile appear in Lin Yimo's eyes.
"Don't you find it strange, young lady? How could someone like me become friends with that idiot Lu Fengping?"
Ping An glanced at Lin Yimo with a half-smile: "Who can say for sure what will happen in this world? The Imperial Concubine and the Crown Prince, the son of the late Empress, can be as close as mother and son. What's so strange about Lord Lin and Young Master Lu being friends with completely opposite personalities?"
“That’s true,” Lin Yimo looked at Ping An, his ambition in his eyes not to be underestimated. “It’s quite a coincidence that the reason I’m on good terms with Lu Fengping is somewhat similar to the reason why the Imperial Concubine is on good terms with the Crown Prince.”
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"The Imperial Concubine is thinking about the future, befriending the Crown Prince, the future emperor. I am also thinking about the future," Lin Yimo said with his eyes half-lowered. "I want to marry a princess, Princess Cui Lingxian."
"Princess? So Lord Lin wants to be the princess's husband?" Ping An's eyes showed a hint of disdain: "I thought Lord Lin had great ambitions, but it turns out he's just a freeloader."
"You jest, young lady. A true man is born to rule the world and enjoy the company of beautiful women. The princess is merely a stepping stone for me, just as the crown prince is to you."
Ping An chuckled softly, her gaze slowly shifting downwards to the ground.
Like her? How could she be the same? Cui Shenzhi is not her stepping stone now, but only an obstacle.
However, the possibility of cooperation is indeed open to discussion.
She now needs someone to help her deliver messages to the royal family. Lin Yimo is an outsider, yet he has access to the inner palace. Isn't he exactly the person she needs?
"So-called cooperation is about each getting what they need. Lord Lin just wants me to sow discord between the princess and Lu Fengping in front of her, and to bring you together. What can Lord Lin do for me? Or rather, do I need Lord Lin's help?"
“Miss, you’ve not thought this through. Right now, all you need is the Crown Prince’s heart, so of course you don’t need my help. But what about the future?” Lin Yimo looked at Ping An, his expression as gentle as if he were telling Ping An that the weather was nice today: “My beloved concubine, you can’t just be a parasitic flower that depends on others to live.”
"Of course I know about this, but Lord Lin, how can I be sure you will help me in the end? Don't tell me that a gentleman's word is his bond. After all, neither you nor I are gentlemen, and we certainly don't believe in something without a guarantee."
"What does that girl want me to do?"
“Don’t rush that,” Ping An said softly. “Lord Lin, what’s more important now is that you have to prove to me that you have the ability to negotiate with me.”
"Here's what we'll do: you go and find out about the princes, ministers, and members of the royal family. Whether we can cooperate, and how we can cooperate, depends on how much you can find out."
Lin Yimo responded and then turned to leave.
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