"Ouch, my waist!" Ning Yuxi felt a pain in her waist as soon as she lay down.
"What's wrong?" Gu Qilan asked hurriedly.
Ning Yuxi waved her hand: "It's okay, it's okay. I lay down too quickly and got hurt." Why did the mattress on her bed not feel as soft as before?
Gu Qilan said helplessly: "You are already a mother of four children, and you are still so impatient."
The emperor spoke to her again, giving her all the necessary instructions regarding food, clothing, housing and transportation before returning.
After seeing the emperor off, Luoying and Ruyi were about to help her rest. Ning Yuxi asked, "Luoying, have the mattress and other things on my bed been changed?"
Luoying smiled and said, "My Lord, not only the bedding but even the bed has been changed. You gave birth in a hurry and didn't have time to go to the delivery room, so the bedding was soiled. Later, the Emperor directly asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to send a new bed."
Ruyi's face was filled with joy as she continued, "Yes, Master, the Emperor had everything in the house replaced and rearranged to match the original, and even added many more things."
Only then did Ning Yuxi realize that the things in the house were indeed new, and there were many more valuable ornaments. However, because the layout was the same as before, she didn't notice it for a while.
The emperor has a conscience.
"Do you still have the mattress that we replaced before? That one is softer." She had always used the current mattress, which was not very soft. It was too soft and uncomfortable for her to sleep on, but now she felt a softer one was more comfortable.
The one she replaced was the one she slept on for half a month before giving birth. I guess Ruyi and Luoying were afraid that her waist would feel uncomfortable if she continued to sleep on a hard bed in the late pregnancy, so they changed it to a softer one.
Hearing her say this, Ruyi and Luoying were a little confused. Luoying said, "Hasn't it always been like this before? I know you don't like the bed to be too soft, so I have always used this one."
"Have you always been using this? Have you never changed to anything else?" Ning Yuxi asked in surprise.
Ruyi and Luoying looked at each other in confusion, and then nodded affirmatively. All the master's personal belongings, including the bed, were arranged by the two of them.
Luoying was sensitive. Seeing Ning Yuxi's eyes lowered and she remained silent, as if she was thinking about something, she asked tentatively, "Master, is there anything wrong?"
Ning Yuxi looked up at Luoying and said, "In the half month before I gave birth, I felt that the bed was much softer than before. I thought you had changed it."
Luoying: "No, I know you don't like beds that are too soft. How could I change it without your order?"
Ruyi also said that she has never changed it.
That must be someone else. Ning Yuxi was sure that it had been replaced. She had been sleeping on a hard bed like hers for many years, so she could immediately feel it when she slept on a softer one. But at that time she thought that Ruyi and Luoying had replaced it because they were afraid that she would feel uncomfortable in the late pregnancy.
I felt quite comfortable at the time, so I didn't ask.
Now that it wasn't the two of them who exchanged it, it must have been someone else. As for why someone else exchanged her mattress, she must have had her own purpose.
Everyone in Shuqing Palace knew that she didn't like others touching her things at will. Things like making the bed were done by Ruyi and Luoying, and no one would dare to bring bad luck upon themselves. Now that she showed up, it must have been intentional.
"Where did those soiled bedding go? Can they be found again?" Ning Yuxi asked.
Ruyi said hurriedly, "I asked her to throw away the rosary. I'll go ask her now."
"Wait." Ning Yuxi stopped her, "Call her over and I'll ask her in person. Don't alarm others."
"Yes." Ruyi didn't ask why, and just did what the master said.
After a while, Ruyi brought in a little palace maid. Nianzhu was a third-class palace maid in her palace and had always been honest and hardworking.
Although Nianzhu was puzzled as to why her master suddenly wanted to see her, she thought that she had not done anything wrong recently and decided not to think too much about it and just performed the ceremony obediently.
"I, the servant, am here to pay my respects to my master. I wonder what you have asked me to do."
Ning Yuxi didn't waste any words and said directly, "I called you here to ask you something. Just answer honestly. Were you the one who took care of the bedding and other things that were soiled when I gave birth?"
Nianzhu: "My Lord, Sister Ruyi did give those things to me to deal with. I was going to throw them away, but I met Cuiyu on the way.
She stopped me and said she had a few soiled clothes to throw away and could help me deal with them. I then handed all the things to Cuiyu.
Hearing this, Ning Yuxi frowned slightly. She felt that this jade seemed somewhat familiar, but she couldn't remember it for a moment.
Seeing this, Luoying whispered to Ning Yuxi, "Master, Cuiyu has only been in Shuqing Palace for a year. She is young and a little rash in her actions.
Over a month ago, you were walking in the courtyard at night, and Cuiyu accidentally bumped into you while doing something. The Emperor happened to see her and scolded her, forcing her to kneel in the courtyard for an hour.
Ning Yuxi remembered. No wonder she felt the name Cuiyu was familiar. It was that time when she was taking a walk in the yard and Cuiyu was carrying something and walking in a hurry and almost bumped into her. She didn't want to punish her, but unfortunately the emperor saw it. The emperor felt sorry for the baby in her belly, so he scolded Cuiyu and made her kneel down.
She couldn't refuse the emperor's honor. After all, the emperor had good intentions and was doing it for her, and Cui Yu was indeed a little impulsive, so she didn't plead for mercy.
Afterwards, Ruyi sent her some medicine and the problem went away.
Now it seems that it has not passed.
She had a hunch that the bedding incident was related to Cui Yu. Although she didn't know what the specific incident was, she knew there must be something wrong.
Her premature birth this time was a bit strange. She had been paying attention to it and strictly followed the imperial physician's instructions for care, but she still gave birth prematurely for no apparent reason.
Ning Yuxi sent Nianzhu away and asked Luoying to go to the dirty room to check the records.
The dirty room is where all kinds of garbage are handled in the palace. Dirty bedding and other things are usually burned on the spot, but the bedding used by concubines are all made of high-quality silk and the fabrics are very expensive. The people in the dirty room will register these valuable items when they are sent for disposal.
Which palace, what, and who took it will all be recorded in the book.
Once it is confirmed that it is Cui Yu, we will investigate her thoroughly.
Around dusk, Luoying quietly came back carrying a big bag.
"This is..." Ning Yuxi asked in confusion.
Luoying replied, "Master, this is the dirty bedding that was thrown away that day!"
"The squalid room steward, Nanny Wang, saw the expensive bedding and became greedy. Instead of burning it, she secretly kept it."
"I checked, and it's in the records of the dirty rooms that it was Cuiyu who threw away these dirty beddings."
Luoying finished speaking in one breath, and at the end, she quickly opened the big bundle, and inside was the bedding that Ning Yuxi used on the day she gave birth!
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