Chapter 224 Underestimation
Gao Yongfu took the order and delivered the message.
Linlang was struck by lightning, and rushed over to hug Gao Yongfu's legs in panic, "Eunuch Gao, I won't go to the laundry department, please help me ask the Queen for mercy!"
Gao Yongfu ordered someone to pull her away. Seeing her tear-stained face, he couldn't help but sigh, "It's human nature to want to climb up the social ladder, but you shouldn't have committed such a crime under the Empress's nose."
Linlang raised her head and said, "I don't understand what you are saying, father-in-law. Please explain clearly."
Seeing that she was still playing dumb even when facing death, Gao Yongfu no longer had the heart to teach her. He said coldly, "It's your blessing that the Queen is willing to honor you. You should cherish it. Now that you have thrown it away in vain, who can you blame?"
He ordered his attendants: "Take him away!"
"No, I won't go!" Linlang waved her arms and tried to grab Gao Yongfu's clothes, but she was dragged out by two eunuchs before she could even touch him.
Gao Yongfu dusted his clothes with a whisk, feeling unlucky, and shouted, "Shut her up and don't disturb the Empress's peace."
As soon as she finished speaking, Linlang's begging and crying stopped abruptly.
Gao Yongfu shook his head and turned to go back to the hall to answer.
*
Wanshou Palace.
Xie Jieyu looked at the Queen Mother and complained dissatisfiedly: "Aunt, His Majesty treats me worse than an outsider. He hasn't been to my palace for a long time. You have to make the decision for me!"
The Queen Mother got a headache whenever she heard her complaining. She didn't have any brains but she blamed others for having brains. How could she be so stupid?
"Instead of complaining to me, you should spend more time on the emperor."
"I do want to," Xie Jieyu muttered, pulling at her handkerchief. "Your Majesty doesn't even come to my palace, so I have nowhere to put my energy."
The Queen Mother: “…”
Tomorrow she must ask her brother why he chose so many times and finally picked such a stupid person to enter the palace. Was he doing this on purpose to make things difficult for her?
"Aunt~" Xie Jieyu hugged the Queen Mother's arm and acted coquettishly, "Don't you want to have a grandson? Please think of a way for me. I will definitely give you a big fat grandson as soon as possible."
Even if the Queen Mother disliked this guy beside her, she still had to think about her family. She pulled her arm free and said, "Go and copy two volumes of Buddhist scriptures for me."
"Copying again?" Concubine Xie's face suddenly turned bitter. She held out her hands to show the Empress Dowager, "Look, I come here every day to copy Buddhist scriptures. My hands are covered with calluses. If Your Majesty touches them, they will feel so rough."
The Queen Mother glanced at her, her eyes seemed to say "Copy if you want, get out if you don't."
Xie Jieyu pouted, still hoping for the Queen Mother's help, so she had to go and copy the Buddhist scriptures obediently.
Not long after copying, a palace maid came in to report that the emperor had arrived.
Xie Jieyu was immediately delighted and turned to look at the empress dowager who was leaning on the couch and dozing off.
The Queen Mother opened her eyes and nodded at her, "What are you still standing there for? Go out and greet them."
"Yeah!" Concubine Xie went happily.
The Queen Mother looked at her back and shook her head. She turned to Madam Zhao and sighed, "How can the Emperor like her with such a noisy temper?"
Aunt Zhao smiled and comforted her, "Mrs. Jieyu is innocent by nature. If you give her some guidance, she will eventually understand."
Hearing these words as comforting, the empress dowager curled her lips in disgust.
Xiao Jingfan was also helpless when being pestered by Concubine Xie. If he had known earlier, he would not have come to pay his respects.
When Concubine Xie asked him to have some snacks for the fifth time, Xiao Jingfan couldn't help but send her away. "I want to talk to my mother alone. You should go back first."
Xie Jieyu felt that these words sounded familiar. This was how the emperor had just driven her away in Changchun Palace.
Her eyes suddenly turned red with grievance, and she turned to look at the Queen Mother, hoping that she would make the decision for her.
The empress dowager held her forehead and signaled Zhao Ma to send the person out.
Seeing that her own aunt did not stand on her side, Xie Jieyu almost burst into tears.
In the end, he left feeling aggrieved and dejected.
Xiao Jingfan breathed a sigh of relief, pushed the apple pastry in front of him away, and drank some tea to clear his mouth.
The Queen Mother looked at him carefully, her brows furrowed as she looked at him. "My prince has lost weight again, but is the food in the imperial kitchen not to your liking?"
Xiao Jingfan was tired of hearing this. His mother had never thought he was fat.
He put down the teacup and said, "It's okay."
"You can fool me," the Queen Mother snorted. "Anyway, I am old and my eyesight is dim and I am useless. You can fool me as you please."
Xiao Jingfan coaxed his mother patiently, flattering her and making promises, and finally made his mother happy.
The mother and son chatted for a while, and the Queen Mother asked again about the arrangements for the three princesses. It was not a good thing to drag it on like this.
Xiao Jingfan said: "It has been decided, and the decree will be issued after the new year."
The Queen Mother did not ask about the specific arrangements, but instead talked about the selection of concubines: "According to the rules, the selection is every three years. I see that there is no one in the palace that you like. Why not ask the Ministry of Rites to arrange it early?"
Xiao Jingfan frowned: "My son is concentrating on the affairs of the previous dynasty and doesn't want to waste people's money. Besides, there are many concubines in the harem, so let's skip the election next year."
Seeing that he looked unhappy, the Queen Mother was about to persuade him, but Xiao Jingfan said he had something to do and slipped away with his men without waiting for the Queen Mother's reaction.
The Queen Mother: “…”
*
It gets dark early in winter, and before the sky was completely dark, the case of Cai Baolin's poisoning was finally concluded.
It turned out that Kang Cai, a young eunuch in Huaqing Palace, had an old grudge against Concubine Zhu. In order to take revenge on Concubine Zhu, he secretly mixed almond powder and oleander juice into the jade cream he gave to Concubine Zhu.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Meiren failed to harm the innocent Cai Baolin, but was implicated.
He knew his crime was unforgivable, so he confessed and then hit himself against a pillar and died.
There are two more pieces of news.
One was that a mouse somehow ran into Concubine Dou's bedroom, scaring her so much that she jumped out of bed, and her illness was instantly almost healed.
It was because of his recovery that Kang was caught so quickly.
Another story is that Doukou, the head maid of Chengbi Hall, had committed suicide by jumping into a well the previous night. Her body had just been pulled out of the well when Kangcai confessed his crime. Upon hearing the news of Doukou's death, Cai Baolin fainted from grief and has not woken up since.
"I went to check, there's a bloody hole on Doukou's head." In Yiran Garden, Chen Xing raised his hand to show Chu Liuzheng and the others, "It's so big, all the blood has drained out."
Yuzhui was surprised: "How could jumping into a well create such a big hole?"
Chen Xing blurted out: "No."
Yuzhu was about to ask her how she knew that when she saw Siyue reach out and pat Chenxing on the head, "You're just guessing again."
Chen Xing stuck out her tongue and rubbed Chu Liuzheng's arm.
Chu Liuzheng tilted his head to look at her.
[I let something slip since it was related to my profession, but luckily Mitsuki helped me make up for it.]
Yuzhui reached out and pinched Chenxing's cheek, and suddenly remembered something: "Oh, do you remember that I met a fierce-looking nanny when I went to the Imperial Garden before?"
Chu Liuzheng asked, "Is it the Madam Qi who serves in the cold palace and has a scar on her face?"
"That's her." Yu Zhui nodded. "I heard she was transferred to Chengbi Hall yesterday."
[Yesterday? Doukou also jumped into the well yesterday. Isn't that a bit of a coincidence?]
Chu Liuzheng quietly flipped through the system.
She originally felt that Doukou's suicide by jumping into the well was full of murder, but she also felt that Caiyue, who dragged her sick body to Changchun Palace to ask for help for her, should not be so cruel.
As I was flipping through the pages, I didn't find the cause of Doukou's death, but I found her experiences in the past few days.
[They made me kneel in the snow in a single layer of clothing, picking chestnuts from a burning charcoal basin. If I was slow, I would be slapped in the face... Killing people is not enough, is there any need to torture them like this?]
Chu Liuzheng frowned, realizing that he had underestimated Cai Luoyu's ruthlessness.
[Tsk, Doukou was completely driven to death by Cai Baolin. With the torture she endured, she wouldn't have survived more than two days even if she hadn't jumped into the well... Eh? Wait, what's this...]
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