She exclaimed, "Your Majesty, Cheng Zhao, Cheng Zhao is still resting in the West Side Hall!"
As she spoke, she ran towards the west wing hall. Upon hearing this, Gu Qilan's face turned cold and he didn't care about his posture and followed Ning Yuxi to the west wing hall with big strides.
Ning Yuxi felt as if her throat was being strangled, her heart hanging in her throat. She wished she could fly to the west wing hall immediately.
She stumbled all the way to the west wing hall, only to see that it was half burned. She ignored the billowing smoke and the crumbling roof and rushed straight in, but was grabbed by Gu Qilan who arrived a step later.
She struggled desperately to shake off the hand that was holding her. Gu Qilan's majestic voice came: "Concubine Yi, calm down. The house is burning like this and may collapse at any time. If you go in, you will die."
"I don't care, don't stop me, I want to save Cheng Zhao! Let me go!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Gu Qilan didn't move at all, and signaled the guard who followed him to go in and take a look. The guard wet his sleeves, covered his mouth and nose, and rushed in. A few minutes later, the guard came out.
"Your Majesty, the house has been basically burned down, and there is no sign of the Third Prince. I only found this." As he spoke, the guard raised something with both hands.
Ning Yuxi's heart skipped a beat when she saw the half-burned shoe in the other person's hand. She looked at the tiny shoe in disbelief, muttering, "No, it's impossible. Cheng Zhao must still be alive!"
After hearing the report from the guard, Gu Qilan felt a sudden pain in her heart and hugged Ning Yuxi, who was a little crazy. She felt so heartbroken that she couldn't breathe.
At this moment, someone in the group of concubines and palace servants following behind the two of them exclaimed, "Hey, it's the eldest princess and the third prince. The third prince is not dead."
The two of them were startled and quickly turned around to look for the sound. They saw two figures, one big and one small, squeezing in from the crowd. The big one was holding the small one's hand tightly.
It was the eldest princess and the third prince. The third prince was neat and clean, but the eldest princess looked rather disheveled. There was a burnt hole on the hem of her skirt, and her face was covered with black ash.
The two of them ran breathlessly to a place with fewer people. Ning Yuxi rushed forward and hugged Cheng Zhao, tears streaming down her face, "Cheng Zhao, Cheng Zhao, it's your mother who didn't take good care of you."
Seeing his mother's excited expression and tears, little Chengzhao's eyes also turned red unconsciously, and he obediently let his mother hold him.
At this time, the eldest princess beside her said, "Father, Empress Yi, my third brother is fine."
Gu Qilan breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the eldest princess in such a state of disarray and asked, "Shu Yan, what's going on? Isn't Cheng Zhao in the bedroom?"
"I just came out to change my clothes when I saw the small kitchen and the side hall on fire. I hurried over with the palace servants. When I got closer, I heard the cry for help from my third brother's wet nurse in the west side hall.
At that time, the front door of the West Wing Hall was already on fire, and it was impossible to get out. I ordered someone to open the back window to let my third brother and the wet nurse escape."
The eldest princess still looked frightened, but her tone was calm and her logic was clear. Although she was only eight years old, she already had the demeanor of a princess.
Gu Qilan nodded and looked at the wet nurse behind them. The wet nurse, Zhang Ma, stepped out and knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I was watching the Third Prince rest in the room when I discovered that the front door of the bedroom was suddenly on fire.
When I opened the door, I saw the raging fire. I couldn't get out at all. The windows were also engulfed in flames, but the back window had been sealed from the outside for some reason. It was the eldest princess who brought people to open the back window, allowing me to escape with the Third Prince.
After the words fell, everyone's eyes fell on the eldest princess. Ning Yuxi calmed down after hearing the words, wiped away her tears and looked at the eldest princess with a smile: "Thanks to the eldest princess for leading people to rescue Cheng Zhao and the wet nurse, how can I thank you enough."
As she spoke, she slowly let go of Cheng Zhao in her arms, walked forward with gratitude and took her hand.
Looking at the eldest princess's cat-like face and gray clothes, she took out a handkerchief and wiped the black dust off her face bit by bit: "Is the eldest princess injured? Let's call the imperial physician to take a look."
As she spoke, she gently flicked the dust off her dress, but she saw a few slight stains on the hem of her skirt, which seemed to be oil stains.
Gu Qilan ordered: "Come here, call the imperial physician to come and see the eldest princess."
The eldest princess quickly declined, "No need, Father, Madam Yi, I'm fine, I just got a little dusty. But my third brother, I'm afraid he's been frightened."
Her sensible appearance made Gu Qilan feel relieved. He had not paid attention to his daughter since the fall of the Liu family. Unexpectedly, Shu Yan was a good girl and acted like an elder sister.
It was found that today's fire was caused by a sudden fire in the small kitchen, which the palace staff did not have time to put out, resulting in the burning of the small kitchen and the nearby palace.
The person on duty in the small kitchen naturally could not escape. Although no one was hurt, a fire at a palace banquet was an unprecedented event. Moreover, it almost injured the third prince, so he must be severely punished.
Although it was the fault of the kitchen maid, the two supervisors, the Empress Dowager and Ning Yuxi, naturally could not escape punishment. They were each sentenced to copying scriptures and being confined to their homes. The Empress Dowager was confined to her house for one month and had her salary fined for three months, while Ning Yuxi was only confined to her house for one month.
Because the Queen was in charge of the kitchen for today's banquet, although the Emperor allowed her to supervise the banquet together with the Queen, the Queen was not someone who was willing to share power, and only let her be responsible for some matters related to receiving the relatives of princes and ministers.
The Queen pretended to ask her if she wanted to take charge of the kitchen matters, but she decisively refused. After all, problems could easily arise with meals, and she didn't want to cause herself trouble.
Who knew that in the end he still couldn't escape these right and wrongs.
The management of the harem affairs was temporarily handed over to Concubine Xin and Concubine Rong. The two of them would discuss the matter, and the Empress Dowager would step in if there were any undecided matters.
As soon as Ning Yuxi returned to Shuqing Palace, she summoned the two wet nurses who were accompanying Cheng Zhao at the time. One was Nanny Zhang, who was sent by her mother, and the other was Nanny Song, who was also honest and dutiful.
The two stood respectfully in the hall. Ning Yuxi asked Aunt Zhang, "What exactly happened at that time?"
She still felt that something was fishy. This kind of thing had never happened before at a grand banquet in the palace.
Moreover, the small kitchen in the Qingzheng Hall is not used for cooking. It’s just that the weather is cold now, and a large number of dishes will get cold when they are transported from the imperial kitchen to the Qingzheng Hall no matter how well insulated they are. So they will be taken to the small kitchen in the Qingzheng Hall to be kept warm first.
It is only used to warm the food, there is no need to fry or stir-fry. Logically, it should not come into contact with too much oil, but she smelled the smell of burning oil on the spot. Her nose is more sensitive than that of ordinary people because she needs to smell medicinal herbs, so she asked.
And...why are there oil stains on the eldest princess's skirt?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com