Chapter 118 Whom Do We Serve?
Chu Mingheng lay with Lan Wu for a while before getting up and leaving Yilan Palace. He still had many things to do, and the first one was Zhu Qing, whom Lan Wu said had killed her in her previous life.
As soon as they stepped out of the Yilan Palace gates, Chu Mingheng instructed Chen Kang'an to go to the Shenxing Division.
Yesterday, Zhu Qing was brought back to the palace and immediately sent to the Department of Punishments. After a whole night of torture, she proved to be a tough nut to crack, not uttering a single extra word.
The prison of the Imperial Prison is damp and cold all year round. Even though the floor has been washed many times, it still smells of blood. Occasionally, you can see bloodstains from executions on the dark walls.
Chen Kang'an reported back on the information he had gathered from yesterday to today regarding this place called Zhuqing.
"Your Majesty, Danshan identified her last night, saying that she is the palace maid named Ziming."
"Back then, she committed a crime in the palace of Empress Dowager Cimin. The book stated that she accidentally broke the exquisite eight-treasure vase that His Majesty had bestowed upon her. She was punished by Empress Dowager Cimin and sent to the Wanshu Pavilion. She did not leave the palace until seven years later, when she changed her name to Zhuqing and entered Princess Yizhen's villa."
"After entering the princess's villa, Zhu Qing was very quiet and rarely went out. However, according to the palace servants, she often went to Huguang Temple to burn incense in the past year, and she would not return until almost night each time."
"This servant sent someone to inquire about the Huguang Temple. The monks all said they remembered Zhuqing. Every time she came to the temple to offer incense, it was always on the first or fifteenth of the month. Occasionally, they would see her not alone, but with an ordinary-looking woman by her side, talking together."
"There are so many people offering incense on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month that it's unclear which family's woman she is."
As they talked, they quickened their pace and arrived at the interrogation cell door.
The interior had been tidied up a bit, but you could still smell the filth and blood as soon as you went in.
A person was hanging from a frame, her head fixed up, blood dripping from her body. If it weren't for the visible rise and fall of her body, one might mistake her for a corpse.
Chu Mingheng stared at the man expressionlessly. Remembering what Lan Wu had told him before, his eyes flashed, and he wished he could tear the man in front of him to pieces.
But it's not the right time yet.
"What did you find when you searched her residence?" Chu Mingheng sat in the chair in the center, looking through his subordinates' confessions. It was called a confession, but it was actually only a few sentences long. Zhu Qing was a tough nut to crack, and he didn't know who she was working for so loyally.
That's truly extraordinary.
Chu Mingheng threw down the booklet in his hand and ordered someone to splash water on the bamboo shoots to wake them up.
A bucket of cold water was poured over their head, chilling them to the bone, and soon the person on the shelf woke up.
The moment she woke up, Zhu Qing instinctively spoke, but all she said were the same words she had already said before.
Chu Mingheng ignored her and simply asked in a low voice, "To be able to release you and that palace maid named Han Shuang from the palace, one must at least be a prince. Although the princes were all young at the time, with the interference of various forces, it was hard to guarantee that it wouldn't succeed."
He slightly raised his eyes and slowly said, "Is it the Prince of Xuan, or the Prince of Wei?"
Zhu Qing stiffened, her lips pressed tightly together.
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Lan Wu didn't sleep well in the afternoon and woke up after about an hour.
When she woke up and didn't see Chu Mingheng, she guessed that he had already left, and her heart was filled with mixed feelings.
Although she had told Chu Mingheng the truth, the truth was still too bizarre. Chu Mingheng believed her and that's why he vomited blood. He vomited blood just from hearing that "she died." Could it be that Chu Mingheng in his previous life also vomited blood?
The journey from the capital to Changyong Mountain was neither too far nor too short, taking about ten days to travel back and forth. She was ambushed on the seventh day after Chu Mingheng left and died that same day. Even if Chu Mingheng rushed back, her body would probably have already decomposed and become unsightly by then.
Thinking of this, Lan Wu sat on the couch, frowned, and looked down at her clean, white fingers. The image of herself as a dead person flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but shudder.
Sick people are most afraid of being exposed to cold winds, but it is also very stuffy when the windows are completely closed. So Mu Jin left a crack in the window to allow the air inside and outside to circulate more smoothly, so that Lan Wu would not feel uncomfortable.
There were always servants in the hall, and when they saw Lan Wu wake up, they helped her get up.
"I was thinking of asking this when I woke up this morning: can I take a shower now?" Lan Wu couldn't stand the feeling of not being dry after sweating. Although someone had already wiped her down, she still felt uncomfortable.
Lian Qiao gently shook her head and said, "Your Majesty, the imperial physician said you must not catch a cold, otherwise it may worsen your condition."
"If Your Highness is not feeling well, this servant can fetch water to bathe you."
Lan Wu touched her forehead and cheeks. This cold she had caught had been quite a journey. The high fever had come and gone. Although it had gone down after a night's sleep, who knew if it would return during the night?
She dejectedly put on her cloak, sat up from the couch, and said, "Never mind."
"I've been lying in bed all day, and my whole body aches. Please let me get up and walk a few steps."
"Your Highness, please slow down." Lianqiao gently supported her.
Lan Wu wasn't so badly unable to walk. Among her several personal maids, Lian Qiao was the most naive and the easiest to get information out of them.
"Why haven't I seen Aunt Danshan?" Since she woke up, she has seen Lianxi, Mujin, and Lianqiao, but she has not seen Aunt Danshan.
Lianqiao supported her and whispered, "After Her Majesty's condition improved last night, His Majesty invited Aunt Danshan into the palace. I don't know what they said, but after that, Aunt Danshan left Yilan Palace with Aunt Luoyun from the Imperial Palace. They haven't returned yet."
"This servant doesn't know where Aunt went either, and His Majesty didn't say either."
Upon hearing this, Lan Wu softly responded with an "oh".
Aunt Danshan is Empress Dowager Jingwen's personal maid. Where did Chu Mingheng send her last night?
No matter where you go, it will always be related to Zhuqing.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty fell ill last night. His Majesty summoned all the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital. The concubines from all the palaces also rushed over after hearing the news. However, they made some noise in the outer hall, and His Majesty got angry and drove them all out."
Lian Qiao spoke with a hint of pride, for the master she served was undoubtedly the most favored by the emperor, and they, as the personal maids, also had a lot of face.
"Huh?" Lan Wu stopped in her tracks and looked at her. "His Majesty chased them away? How?"
Lianqiao whispered, "His Majesty said they were making a fuss and sent Mujin to the outer hall to order them to leave. He also said that anyone who dared to say another word would be dragged outside the hall and slapped."
Seeing that Lan Wu seemed to be deep in thought, Lian Qiao continued, "Yue Zhaorong stayed in the outer hall for a while. When she saw me, she talked to me and asked about your condition. She also said that she would come to Yilan Palace to talk to you after you recover."
Lan Wu gave a vague "hmm" and continued pacing back and forth in the hall.
Yue Zhaorong still remembered the favor she had done last time, but she didn't really feel like she had helped much, since Chu Mingheng would probably meet her eventually anyway.
Yue Zhaorong...
Suddenly, something flashed through Lan Wu's mind—when Yue Zhaorong came to her palace last time and spoke to her, did she mention that there was a palace maid in the late Empress's palace who was skilled in making incense?
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