Water Falls
As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell into deathly silence.
Everyone's gaze was like ice-hardened needles, fixed on Liang Pei'an.
Li Qingping pondered. Empress Li and Concubine Ke were warnings. Emperor Yongping hadn't expected this matter to even reach Yonghe Palace. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Liang Pei'an.
The one serving Li Qingping today was Yun Zao. Upon hearing what she said, she wished she could tear that damn girl Yun Guan to pieces right away.
If Yun Guan really did something stupid and dragged the Empress into trouble, Yun Zao would make that slave girl's life worse than death. Yonghe Palace has no room for such a stupid dog slave!
Concubine Wan was somewhat perplexed and uncertain, and the jade bracelet in her hand accidentally knocked against the table, making a crisp sound that was particularly harsh in the stagnant air. But fortunately, no one cared about these things now.
Liang Pei'an presented the information he had collected to Emperor Yongping. After reading it, Emperor Yongping silently handed it to Empress Li, and then passed it to the people behind him in turn.
It was first written above that Yun Guan in Li Qingping's palace often subsidized his younger sister Fang'er in private.
This is not surprising.
While being the chief tea steward under the Imperial Household Department was considered one of the best-paid positions in the palace, managing the entire palace's tea supply and commanding respect wherever they went, it still couldn't compare to the maids serving prestigious masters. Li Qingping was never one to be stingy. Yun Guan and the other second-class maids, second only to Yun Su and Yun Zao in Yonghe Palace, always received generous rewards during festivals and holidays, and they also regularly assisted Li Qingping with chores. Furthermore, within the same palace, it was perfectly normal for older sisters to subsidize younger ones.
But the following is that Fang'er has been giving her brother monthly allowance regularly since half a year ago, which is really suspicious.
The servants in the palace all valued these godparent relationships. Acknowledging a godparent meant finding a backer. But Fang'er already had a sister, a second-class maid in Yonghe Palace—a biological sister—so why bother adopting a godparent? That godparent wasn't much more powerful than Yun Guan; he was just a small eunuch in the kitchen. Even if that little eunuch had a godfather who was a small steward, he still wouldn't be as impressive as Yun Guan.
Moreover, Fang'er has obviously given less filial gifts to her brother in the past few months. Upon investigation, it turns out that Yun Guan has not given her any private subsidies these days.
It seems that Fang'er still used the subsidy given by Yun Guan to pay her respects.
But this inevitably led to the speculation that Yun Guan or Li Qingping behind her had some inconvenient tasks that the young eunuch or the pastry chef had to do. And those so-called "subsidies" were just "rewards" for doing the work.
"Is this Yunguan someone from Concubine Ding's palace?" Emperor Yongping's voice was unrecognizable, but his fingers tapped lightly on the armrests of his chair, a rhythm that struck at everyone's heart. "Is there such a person in your palace?"
The emperor was such a busy man, how could he remember the maids in each palace? At most, he was familiar with the senior maids who often served his masters.
Seeing that Emperor Yongping seemed to be about to accuse her, Concubine Ke quickly chimed in: "Your Majesty! You know my sister's temper. She has always been a peaceful person. How could she do something so shameful? Someone must be trying to drag her down!"
Li Qingping, however, held her hand, signaling her to remain calm. He slowly stood up, the pearl and jade hairpins on his temples swaying slightly as he knelt in salute. "Your Majesty, this Yunguan is a second-class maid assigned to Yonghe Palace by the Ministry of Internal Affairs according to the rules for concubines when I first entered the palace. Now she's doing the job of serving tea."
Yunguan and Fang'er both worked in the teahouse at first, so serving tea was the job that was most convenient for them. After entering Yonghe Palace, they had been doing this job ever since.
Empress Li looked at Liang Pei'an calmly: "Where are Yunguan and Fang'er now?"
"Your Majesty, we have captured him and he is waiting in the side hall."
"Bring it up."
Yun Guan and her sister Fang Er were brought before the masters. Fortunately for Yun Guan, she was a member of Li Qingping's palace after all, and without a solid charge of a crime, the people under her didn't dare to do anything to her, lest she turn out to be innocent and be blamed by Concubine Ding.
Fang'er wasn't so lucky. She was escorted in by two eunuchs, her hair disheveled and her face stained with fingerprints. As soon as she saw her masters, she fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. "Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! I really don't know anything! The pastry chef's relatives are so remote, I've never even met them!"
"Never seen it?" Emperor Yongping sneered. "Then why does part of your monthly salary go to that master's godson every month? Or do you think I don't know about your secret relationship?"
Fang'er's face was pale, her lips trembled and she couldn't speak.
Li Qingping watched her panic-stricken expression and suddenly remembered that two months ago, Yun Guan had accidentally broken a Ruyao tea set. According to custom, he was fined three months' salary. Even Yun Su, the longest-serving and most loyal servant, was fined by Li Qingping, so how much more so Yun Guan? Therefore, Yun Guan had received no monthly salary for the past three months. This must be why Yun Guan hadn't been giving Fang'er any money these days.
Li Qingping turned the bracelet on his wrist and asked Yun Guan, who had been silent since entering, "Yun Guan has been subsidizing you privately. Yun Guan, do you have anything to say?"
Yun Guan kowtowed, her forehead red and swollen. "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I did often give money to Fang'er, and I was once puzzled as to why she spent the money so quickly. However, I neglected to ask her questions and investigate, causing Fang'er to get into such a big trouble, and even implicating Your Majesty. I have brought this upon myself."
Seeing Yun Guan's expression, Li Qingping turned to Fang Er and asked, "What about you? Do you have anything else to say?"
Fang Er was at a loss: "Your servant, your servant..."
"Your Majesty," seeing she couldn't say anything, Li Qingping said loudly, "If I really wanted to attack Noble Lady Qi, why would I go through so much trouble? As the Empress Dowager, wouldn't it be easy for me to teach the concubines a lesson?"
Concubine Qi woke up and lay on the bed. After hearing this, she said anxiously: "Your Majesty! Concubine Ding has always been a peaceful person. Someone must have framed her!" At this moment, she forgot that she wanted to shift the blame to Concubine Wan. She only thought about not letting Li Qingping be implicated.
Empress Li and Concubine Ke have always been protective of their people. If Li Qingping had an accident this time, she would inevitably be targeted by these two people in the future. After all, today's incident started with her fall.
Concubine Wan sneered at the side and said, "Sister Qi is being kind now? Who knows if you two have colluded to play this trick of her?"
"Shut up!" Concubine Ke glared at Concubine Wan, "You still dare to sow discord after all this!"
Empress Li raised her hand to stop the quarrel. "Liang Pei'an, check Fang'er's whereabouts over the past three months and see who she has come into contact with. Also, carefully examine the bodies of the master and the young eunuch. Don't miss any clues."
Liang Pei'an glanced at Emperor Yongping and saw him nod before he took the order and left. The hall fell into silence again.
Emperor Yongping looked at Li Qingping and suddenly asked, "Who do you think is behind this?"
In other words, Emperor Yongping did believe in Li Qingping.
Queen Li and Concubine Ke both breathed a sigh of relief.
Concubine Wan and Concubine Qi both felt a flicker of envy. Concubine Wan, in particular, was now the most favored of the six imperial concubines, but there was no guarantee that Emperor Yongping would believe her as much as he did today if she were the one being questioned.
The heart of an emperor is unpredictable. Concubine Ding's affection for Emperor Yongping was indeed extraordinary.
Li Qingping pondered for a moment: "I dare not make any rash comments, but this matter involves a wide range of people. I am afraid it is not just aimed at Noble Lady Qi."
She paused, her eyes sweeping over Concubine Wan and Fang'er, who was trembling in the corner. "The matter of the bitter almonds was kept secret. If Concubine Qi hadn't found them too sweet and ate less, I'm afraid both would have died. By then, all the blame would be directed at the kitchen. At most, they'd find Fang'er, and from Fang'er, it would be linked to Yun Guan, and then to me..."
"You mean, someone wants to kill three birds with one stone?" Queen Li's eyes flashed. "Eliminate Concubine Wan's child, bring you down, and bring disgrace upon Concubine Qi? But that person probably didn't realize that Concubine Qi was pregnant."
"I'm just guessing. But that person must know about Concubine Qi's pregnancy. After all, the bitter almonds were meant for Concubine Qi." Li Qingping lowered her eyes. "He was able to tamper with the bitter almonds and bribe the pastry chef. This person must have some schemes in the palace."
However, that person was scheming, but he might not have the ability to set up such a large-scale scheme. I'm afraid there must be a bigger hand behind this.
Half an hour later, Liang Pei'an's footsteps sounded hurriedly in the corridor, and he returned to the main hall with two young eunuchs.
"Your Majesty, for the past three months, Fang'er has only been working in the teahouse for the chief waiter, meeting privately with Miss Yunguan on the second and sixteenth of each month. However, two weeks ago, she was seen having a private conversation behind the rockery in the Imperial Gardens. A patrolling guard spotted her from a distance, but they only recognized a lady in a lake-blue palace dress, accompanied by a young palace maid with a double-ringed bun."
As soon as these words were spoken, Yun Guan looked at Fang'er in shock and fear.
Fang'er kept crying from the beginning, asking Yunguan to save her. Yunguan originally thought that Fang'er was just paying tribute to the young eunuch, and that the young eunuch had committed suicide out of fear of punishment after doing something wrong, which implicated her. He didn't expect that this girl was so bold as to have an affair with the concubines in the harem?
"A lake blue palace dress?" Queen Li's fingertips gently rested on the armrest of the sandalwood chair. "According to palace rules, only those of rank above the rank of Talented Person can wear the true lake blue color."
Emperor Yongping frowned and asked, "Which master was in the Imperial Garden that day?"
Liang Pei'an was prepared: "Your Majesty, that day, only Concubine Liu seemed amiss. She claimed to be ill and rested in her room, but she didn't summon the imperial physician. Later, she said she felt chest tightness and went for a walk in the Imperial Garden."
"Liu Cairen?" Li Qingping paused. Ever since being demoted from Noble Lady to Talented Lady, Little Liu had mostly been keeping to herself, rarely appearing in public.
It’s her?
Empress Li hurriedly sent people to Yonghe Palace to invite Lady Liu.
At first, Liu Cairen cried and denied it, her voice shaking, but under the pressure from the masters, Fang'er couldn't help but collapse.
"It was her! It was Concubine Liu who approached me half a year ago. Everyone in the teahouse knew I had a sister working at Yonghe Palace, so I'd always been responsible for the tea there. Concubine Liu was jealous of Concubine Ding, so she wanted me to find an opportunity to tamper with the tea sent to Yonghe Palace! But I didn't respond. My sister was still serving Concubine Ding. If I did it, how could my sister continue to stay by her side?"
Fang'er's voice was sharp, she burst into tears. "When she saw that this plan didn't work out, Consort Liu left in shame and anger. But this was heard by that eunuch, and he threatened me that if I didn't give him the money, he would tell everyone about this and make things bad for my sister and me!"
"What can I do? My sister's bright future in Yonghe Palace cannot be ruined like this. I can only pay him tribute every month."
"Later, Concubine Liu overheard that Concubine Qi was pregnant. Thinking of the feud between the two noble ladies, she wanted to plot harm. She knew that Concubine Qi loved almond milk, so she bribed a young eunuch to mix bitter almonds into it. It was the young eunuch who let the old eunuch know about it, and when the old eunuch wanted to report him, he got angry and killed the old eunuch first! I was outside the courtyard at the time, and after I got back, I had nightmares all night long!"
Liu Cairen's face was as pale as paper, and her lips trembled, unable to speak: "What nonsense are you talking about, you bitch!"
Concubine Wan suddenly sneered, "I knew this was a sinister plot. It turns out someone is jealous of Concubine Qi's pregnancy and resents Concubine Ding for not helping her win favor, so they came up with this vicious plan!"
These words were like a heavy hammer, knocking Concubine Liu completely to pieces. She threw herself at Li Qingping, but was held down by the guards.
"It's you! It's all your fault! When I first entered the palace, we were both in the Qiandi Residence, and you relied on your status as a concubine to ignore my advances. Last year, I begged you to say a few good words to the Emperor to regain his favor, but you acted so condescending and laughed at me! Concubine Wan is being favored by the Emperor every day, and Concubine Qi is even pregnant with the emperor's fetus. Why do you all get to enjoy so much glory while I have to endure in that little room?"
"Did you ask the pastry chef to add the bitter almonds?" Emperor Yongping's voice was as cold as ice. "Did you know that plotting to murder the heir to the throne is a grave crime punishable by the death of nine generations of the clan?"
"So what if it's me!" Concubine Liu's eyes flashed with madness. At this point, she couldn't care less. Her voice seemed to pierce everyone's eardrums: "That old eunuch's godson gambled outside the palace and owed money. I helped him pay off the debt! I wanted to kill Concubine Qi twice and then put the blame on Concubine Wan. Plus, the relationship between that stinking eunuch and Fang'er will definitely implicate Yonghe Palace. I just want to make you high and mighty masters taste the taste of falling from the dust!"
She suddenly laughed bitterly: "It just didn't work out! Not a single one of them worked out! They're all rubbish!"
The hall was completely silent, with only Liu Cairen's laughter echoing between the beams and pillars, making people's hair stand on end.
"She's crazy. Liu is crazy," Emperor Yongping ordered coldly. "Liu is harming the heir to the throne and stirring up trouble among the concubines. She has been given poisoned wine and all the palace servants have been beaten to death. Fang'er, who knew about this but refused to report it, has been demoted to a lowly slave and permanently exiled to the laundry department. Yunguan has been stripped of her second-class maid status and expelled from the palace."
Li Qingping looked at the unfinished game in front of him and sighed.
Although this matter seems to have subsided, there are actually more waves surging underneath.
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