Chapter 114 Bamboo Grove
"Greetings to Consort Yue Zhaorong." Lian Qiao knew that Consort Yue Zhaorong often came to Yilan Palace to see the Empress, and their relationship seemed to be quite close.
Yue Zhaorong asked her, "How is your mistress?"
"Your Majesty, the mistress has only caught a cold, and the imperial physician says it's nothing serious," Lian Qiao replied cautiously, bowing.
Yue Zhaorong nodded gently, and seeing her slightly wary attitude, she chuckled and said, "Since everything is alright, I'm relieved. I'll come to see your mistress again once she's fully recovered."
Lian Qiao responded with a "yes" and bowed as she saw her off.
Inside the main hall, the imperial physician had already left, and the person on the bed was no longer muttering in their sleep, seemingly having escaped the nightmare.
Chu Mingheng stood guard by the bed, his tall figure appearing excessively silent. He simply sat by the bed, his gaze never wavering, occasionally reaching out to gently touch Lan Wu's face.
Suddenly, his hand paused, as if he remembered something.
Just as he was about to call for someone, he stood up and walked outside, saying to the palace servants waiting at the palace gate, "Go and get a bottle of Jade Dew Ointment."
Soon after, what he asked for was served.
Chu Mingheng carefully and gently pulled down Lan Wu's blanket, only a few inches away. He saw the red marks on her neck where he had torn them, frowned, and reached out to apply ointment to her.
He exhausted himself just from applying the medicine.
Finally, he let go and placed the bottle of Jade Dew Cream on the table.
He turned his head to look at Lan Wu's sleeping face, his eyes lowered, his expression cold and stern, as if he was too stiff to show any other expression. The slight panic he had just felt was firmly stored in his heart. He leaned down and gently kissed Lan Wu's forehead.
“Since you won’t tell me anything.” He got up, covered Lan Wu with the blankets, and said in a calm and natural voice, as if he were describing something very ordinary. “Then I will investigate myself.”
Lan Wu hadn't told him many things. Even though he had already sensed something was wrong, he still wanted Lan Wu to tell him herself. After all, Lan Wu was timid, and if he forced her to tell him, she would definitely be afraid of this and that.
But now that she's already been frightened to this extent, there's no reason to let her have her way any longer.
Zhu Qing's identity is questionable. Yi Zhen said she came from the palace, which is quite a coincidence. He had just uncovered some secrets when this Zhu Qing showed up.
Several palace servants waiting at the palace gate saw someone coming out and hurriedly bowed to pay their respects.
Chu Mingheng glanced at them and asked, "Where's Danshan?"
Mu Jin said, "Aunt Danshan is watching the small kitchen. She said that if Her Majesty wakes up, she might be hungry, so she has someone prepare some porridge and snacks."
"Call her over."
When Danshan was summoned to the main hall, she was still unclear about Chu Mingheng's intentions. However, the main hall and the inner hall were only separated by a door, neither too far nor too close. Moreover, Mujin and Lianxi were taking care of things in the inner hall, so she figured nothing would happen.
However, she had assumed that His Majesty would stay by the Empress's side at all times.
"She's afraid of noise." Perhaps sensing the meaning in Danshan's glance, Chu Mingheng spoke calmly.
So that's how it is.
Danshan understood.
"What does Your Majesty wish to ask?"
"Does Aunt know a palace maid named Zhuqing?" Chu Mingheng asked, looking at her. "She is skilled at making incense."
Danshan didn't answer immediately, but thought about it carefully.
She then shook her head: "I don't know the palace maid named Zhuqing, but if Your Majesty is talking about a palace maid who is good at making incense, I do know one."
"That person was named Zi Ming. She was skilled in making incense. The fragrances she made had a unique flavor, which Empress Dowager Jingwen liked very much, so she kept her on."
"Because she was skilled, Empress Dowager Jingwen did not have her treated as an ordinary palace maid. She was also a proud and aloof person and usually stayed in her own room. Later, when Empress Dowager Cimin entered the palace, she was given to Empress Dowager Cimin."
"She was so low-key that by the time I heard news of her again, she had already been transferred to another palace for making a mistake."
As for where it is, there's no way to find out.
Upon hearing this, Chu Mingheng tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of his seat, silently pondering something.
There are several obvious inconsistencies in these statements.
Since Zi Ming is aloof and cold, she shouldn't have made a mistake and been punished to go to another palace as long as she keeps a low profile. Moreover, she was given to her by the Empress Dowager, so if Consort Qiao were to punish someone, she would do so out of respect for the Empress Dowager.
Unless she has committed a grave mistake that cannot be spoken of.
"Aunt, please go to the Censorate and verify whether the palace maid named Zhuqing is indeed the Ziming you mentioned."
Danshan responded, "Yes."
-
The concubines rushed to Yilan Palace in the middle of the night to watch the commotion, only to find themselves in the mess. They returned home looking utterly humiliated, but they weren't the most shameful of them all. In private, they all secretly enjoyed watching Consort Shu make a fool of herself.
What good is having power in the palace if she still doesn't win the emperor's favor? Don't be fooled by her current control of the palace; who knows what the future holds?
Consort Wen followed Consort Shu to the fork in the road, bowed respectfully, and then returned to her palace.
She had a different opinion from Consort Shu.
Perhaps Consort Shu thought that Lan Wu's status was too low and assumed that His Majesty would not hand over the power of the palace to her, but she did not think so.
It seems that His Majesty has already taken a liking to Lan Wu. When has His Majesty ever been so special to anyone? Thinking about it carefully, it seems that from the very beginning, this dancer named Lan Wu has been special.
If Consort Shu hadn't provoked Lan Wu and had obediently handed over her power, perhaps everyone would have been happy. However, Consort Shu certainly wouldn't have been willing to give up something she had worked so hard for. His Majesty favored his beloved concubine, so naturally he wouldn't find anything wrong with Lan Wu. If Consort Shu were to clash with Lan Wu, it was obvious who would lose.
Suddenly, the tragic end of Zeng Shi flashed before my eyes, and recalling her empty mouth, I couldn't help but shudder.
She could no longer associate with Consort Shu—at least she could no longer do things for her.
But at this critical juncture, it's difficult to extricate oneself.
Consort Wen frowned, racking her brains for a solution until she entered her palace.
The palace maids removed her cloak, and she sat down in a chair, drank some hot tea, and unconsciously traced the same strokes that Zeng had written in her palm earlier that day on the table.
A complete mess.
It's also her fault for being too flustered at the time; otherwise, she would have known what Zeng was trying to tell her.
"Why is Your Highness drawing a few circles on the table?" The palace maid Zhuzhi cautiously approached and asked, thinking that Your Highness had some instructions.
Wen Zhaoyi glanced at her and asked, "What character do you think this looks like?"
Palace maids who could read were considered learned. Zhuzhi was her personal maid, and she only learned to read later in a hasty manner. Originally, she didn't place much hope on Zhuzhi, since she didn't know many characters either.
Zhu Zhi gestured with her hand, then said dejectedly, "This servant doesn't recognize the one Your Highness drew..."
Consort Wen was somewhat disappointed.
"But if you add a vertical bar in the middle, it looks like the Chinese character '王' (king)."
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