"Your Majesty, I truly only heard it secondhand. Whom do you want me to talk about? If Your Majesty still refuses to believe me, I will only prove my innocence by dying." Hongjiao knew she couldn't mention Consort Yi. Even if she did, Consort Yi might not protect her; instead, offending her would mean certain death. At this moment, her only option was to grit her teeth and deny everything, hoping for a sliver of hope.
When Consort De saw that Granny De had returned with her entourage, she ignored her and looked at the little eunuch, Xiao Zhengzi, who was following behind Granny De.
"This servant greets Consort De!" Little Zheng glanced at Hongjiao lying on the ground out of the corner of his eye, then immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Consort De.
"Little Zhengzi, do you know why I summoned you for questioning today?" Consort De said sternly, knowing he was timid, as he bowed upon arrival.
"This servant knows. This servant deserves to die for spreading such rumors. I beg Your Highness Consort De to punish me." Little Zheng knew in his heart that he would be punished by Consort Hui even if he went back. It would be better to let Consort De deal with him before going back, so that he could avoid Consort Hui's punishment.
"Speak, how could you say such a thing? If the Emperor finds out, he wouldn't be too much to drag out and beat to death," Consort De said, looking at Xiao Zhengzi.
"I heard it from somewhere else," Xiao Zhengzi said, his eyes gleaming. He had overheard it while gambling, never expecting that a few casual words would cause such a big problem.
"Where?" Consort De shouted angrily. A bad feeling crept into her heart; these servants were passing the buck among themselves, and it seemed they really couldn't find out who was spreading these rumors.
"It's the place where we usually gamble with other eunuchs. Please, Your Highness, have mercy! We only play games like dominoes and pai gow with them when we're not on duty," Xiao Zhengzi said through gritted teeth. They were clearly breaking the rules; palace regulations forbade eunuchs from gambling in groups.
Consort De was surprised to hear this and thought that if the investigation continued, she would question every eunuch and maid in the palace.
"Hurry up and tell me, who told you this?" Seeing Consort De's dejected look, Granny De had no choice but to ask herself.
"It's Xiao Kangzi and Xiao Luzi. They're both from Consort Rong's palace." Xiao Zhengzi thought to himself: I'm sorry, I had no choice but to reveal your identities.
Hongjiao, who was lying on the ground, was much calmer now. She was right. As long as she insisted that she heard it from someone else, would Consort Daode still beat her to death for not remembering who it was?
"Little Zheng, you may go back now. I will not punish you. If I find out that you have uttered even a single lie, even Consort Hui will not be able to protect you," Consort De said wearily, waving her hand.
Xiao Zhengzi kowtowed several times with deep gratitude, then immediately bowed his head, turned around, and left.
Granny De looked at Consort De, then at the red banana she had mentioned, and wondered if she really couldn't remember who told her.
"Your Majesty, I only heard it from someone else. Please forgive me!" Hongjiao immediately begged for mercy.
Consort De found that after investigating the whole area, she couldn't find anyone to blame. If everyone were to be punished, it would probably implicate more and more people in the palace.
Meanwhile, Yikun Palace had been keeping an eye on the movements of Yonghe Palace.
"The red bananas haven't been released yet?" Consort Yi asked.
"Not yet. I'm afraid they've already used torture. Master, should we go and beg for their lives?" Cuiwei said.
"What are you saying? Hongjiao is no longer a member of my Yikun Palace. If you need her, it should be the responsibility of Chief Steward Hai of the Imperial Household Department." Consort Yi said, holding a pink-painted porcelain bowl and drinking chilled bird's nest soup.
“I don’t know why Hongjiao got involved. I never said anything to her,” Cuiwei said. She and Hongjiao served Consort Yi together, and they had a good relationship. Now that she heard that Hongjiao had been summoned by Consort De for questioning, she was a little worried about her.
"I remember now. That **** was talking to you about that matter. Did Hongjiao come over to deliver Xueyan and other things? Could it be that she overheard our conversation?" Consort Yi was quite shrewd; otherwise, Emperor Kangxi wouldn't have entrusted her with half of the power to assist in managing the harem.
Cuiwei's eyes widened, and after a moment's thought, she exclaimed in surprise, "That's possible. Oh dear, how could this girl be so bold? She didn't even leave the master's place today, but went out to talk on her own?"
Consort Yi said urgently, "How utterly foolish! That girl Hongjiao dared to not inform me. Now that she's been captured by Consort De, she's really got our throats in her grasp. What if she calls for me out?" With that, Consort Yi slammed her hand on the carved begonia tea table, causing the colorful teacups on it to fall to the ground and shatter into pieces.
“Your Majesty, please calm down. Hongjiao has indeed acted cleverly this time, but she is also a sensible person. Your Majesty and that person in Yonghe Palace have been locked in a bitter struggle for years. If she dares to reveal our existence, she herself will be doomed. Hongjiao is not that foolish; I predict she will hold out to the bitter end. Besides, the rumors have already spread throughout the palace. As long as Hongjiao insists that it is just hearsay, Consort De cannot really take her life,” Cuiwei analyzed.
Consort Yi thought Ye's words made sense. She wasn't worried about Hongjiao's life, but rather about Consort De reporting the matter to Emperor Kangxi, and how she would deal with it.
"Here's what we'll do," said Consort Yi. "Go to the Imperial Household Department and talk to Chief Steward Hai. Tell him that I miss Hongjiao and ask him to send someone to Yonghe Palace to fetch her."
"Yes, this servant will go right away." Cuiwei replied hastily. She was genuinely worried about Hongjiao, so she didn't dare to delay and turned to leave Yikun Palace for the Imperial Household Department.
In Yonghe Palace, Consort De sighed to Granny De and said, "I didn't expect Hongjiao to be such a strong-willed person. You just had someone prick her finger with a needle, but she still won't say anything."
Granny De said, "This servant's mouth is so sharp."
Consort De looked at the afterglow of the setting sun shining through the window and said, "Do you think we really wronged her?"
Granny De shook her head and said, "In my opinion, she doesn't seem to be innocent. Maybe she really does know. Otherwise, she could have just made up a story and bought herself time to notify Yikun Palace to come and rescue her. But she just stubbornly insists that it's not wrong, which makes me think that she knows that once she speaks out, she will only face certain death."
Consort De nodded. "Why not hand him over to the Ministry of Justice? Don't blame me for being ruthless."
Granny De nodded. Suddenly, a palace maid came in to report that people from the Imperial Household Department and Consort Yi's office had arrived and were requesting an audience with Consort De.
"Hehe, they've come after all. Let them in." Consort De adjusted her sleeves and the nail guards on her hands.
A moment later, a junior steward named You, under the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Department, entered together with Cuiwei from Yikun Palace.
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