Chapter 159: Morning Light Reveals Clues, Code Words Deliver Warning
It was just dawn, and pale blue light streamed through the windows of Shufangzhai, casting dappled shadows on the blue brick floor. The petals of the crabapple trees in the courtyard were still stained with glistening dew. A few early-rising pigeons pecked at them, sending dewdrops tumbling down the petals, creating tiny splashes of water.
Little Swallow ran out of the house, her hair a mess, still in her lilac nightgown, the sleeves loosely rolled up. She stretched, her bones making a series of soft crackling sounds, and the corners of her eyes were still red from sleep. "Finally, it's daybreak!" she muttered, kicking a stone at her feet. The stone rolled under the crabapple tree, startling two early-rising sparrows.
"Slow down, Princess!" Mingyue chased out from the corridor, carrying a copper basin. Her hair was meticulously combed, and her lake blue palace dress set off her delicate features. "Be careful where you step, the floor is still damp." She placed the basin on the stone table in the corridor, dipped a handkerchief in warm water, and handed it to her. "Last night you said you wanted to learn how to draw patterns, so I've prepared all the silk thread."
Xiaoyanzi took the handkerchief and wiped her face roughly, water dripping down her chin onto her skirt. "Painting flowers is so boring," she shook the water off her hands, glancing towards the courtyard wall with sparkling eyes. "I have an appointment with Yongqi. We're going to the Imperial Garden to practice my new sword skills today." As soon as she finished speaking, she tapped the stone table with her toes and flew over the wall like a lithe swallow, leaving only a string of crisp laughter in her wake.
Mingyue shook her head helplessly and was about to turn around to pack up when Ziwei came out with a cup of hot tea. She was wearing a moon-white gauze shirt with a delicate embroidery pattern around the collar. Her long hair was tied up in a loose bun, with a few strands hanging down her cheeks, making her look even more gentle and charming. "Let her go," Ziwei handed the teacup to Mingyue, her fingertips warm and cool. "She's been bored these days preparing for the enthronement ceremony."
As the two were talking, Xiaodengzi came running over with a brocade box in his arms. His face was filled with panic, and he stumbled, almost falling on the threshold. "Princess! This is bad!" He swung the brocade box in his hand, and the things inside made a clinking sound. "The longevity screen you asked me to put away yesterday... suddenly has a lot of stitches on it!"
Ziwei took the brocade box and opened it, her face instantly pale. On the longevity screen, originally embroidered with "pine and crane longevity," someone had, at some point, embroidered several crooked characters for "sorrow" in dark silk thread. The stitches were dense and messy, as if crawling with black insects. Her fingertips trembled as she stroked the embroidery, her voice tinged with tears, "How could this happen... I clearly kept it in the camphorwood box."
Xiaodiao stamped her feet anxiously, the jade pendant on her waist shaking with her movements: "I don't know either! I found it when I unpacked the box this morning! If the Queen Mother saw this..." He was interrupted by Ziwei before he could finish his words. She took a deep breath and closed the brocade box with forced calmness: "Don't say anything, put it away first."
The morning mist in the Imperial Garden had not yet dissipated, and the air was filled with the moist fragrance of flowers. Yongqi, wearing a royal blue riding and archery outfit, was practicing with his sword with his back to the Moon Gate, the light of his sword tracing a silver arc in the morning light. Hearing movement behind him, he abruptly sheathed his sword and turned back to see Xiaoyanzi leaping down from the rockery, her hairband tracing a beautiful arc in the air.
"Why are you here just now?" The corners of Yongqi's mouth rose unconsciously, and the pearl on the sword tassel swayed gently with his movements. "I have created a new set of sword techniques and was just about to teach you." As he spoke, he reached out to take it, but Xiaoyanzi dodged it nimbly. She landed on the branch of the plum tree, and her skirt swept down a few dew-covered petals.
"Don't rush into sword practice yet," Xiaoyanzi said, squatting on a branch, swinging her legs and plucking at the plum blossoms with her fingers. "Let me ask you, does Nanny Li from Concubine Gao's palace always like to hang around the crabapple trees in the West Palace of the Imperial Garden?" She suddenly remembered what Ziwei had said last night, and her brows knitted into a knot. "I always feel like there's something wrong with that old woman."
Yongqi sheathed his sword, the dragon pattern on it gleaming faintly in the morning light. "Are you talking about that nanny with the mole on the corner of her left eye?" He walked under the tree and looked up at her. The morning light filtered through the branches onto his face, casting a faint shadow on his eyelashes. "A few days ago, I saw her secretly giving money to a young eunuch from the Imperial Household Department. I didn't think much of it at the time..."
Before he finished speaking, Xiaoyanzi floated down in front of him like a leaf, her finger tapping his chest. "Sure enough, there's something fishy going on!" A petal touched the tip of her nose, her eyes sharp as a sword. "Someone tampered with Ziwei's longevity screen. It must have been them!"
Yongqi held her wrist, his palm warm and dry. "Don't be impulsive," he said softly, looking at her eyes red with anger. "Without evidence, rashly complaining will only alert the enemy." He pulled out a jade pendant from his bosom and pressed it into her hand. The jade pendant was warm and translucent, engraved with delicate cloud patterns. "This is a talisman left by my mother. Keep it with you."
Just as Xiaoyanzi was about to speak, she heard footsteps in the distance. Qianlong, dressed in bright yellow formal attire, was approaching, surrounded by a group of eunuchs. Eunuch Su was whispering something beside him. She hurriedly tucked the jade pendant into her lapel and pulled Yongqi behind the rockery, leaving only her two eyes exposed to peek out.
"Why is the Emperor here?" she muttered softly, her fingers nervously picking at the cracks in the rockery. "Didn't they say they were going to discuss the war in the northwest this morning?"
Yongqi held her shoulder, motioning for her to be quiet. Qianlong paused beneath the crabapple tree, his gaze sweeping across the dewdrops on the branches. Suddenly, in a deep voice, he asked Eunuch Su, "How is Miss Fang doing in the palace these days?" Eunuch Su, bowing, replied, "Your Majesty, Princess Huanzhu is lively and gets along well with Princess Mingzhu, but..." He paused, glancing in the direction of Shufangzhai.
Qianlong frowned slightly, twisting the jade pendant at his waist with his fingers: "What is it?"
"Yesterday, a palace maid saw Nanny Li from Concubine Gao's palace lingering outside the Shufangzhai for a long time." Eunuch Su lowered his voice even more. "She even slipped a note inside in a sneaky way."
Behind the rockery, Xiaoyanzi's heart skipped a beat. Just as she was about to leap out to argue, Yongqi pinned her down. She stared, struggling, only to hear Qianlong snort coldly, "Understood. Pass down the decree that before the enthronement ceremony, no concubines are allowed to approach the Shufangzhai without permission." As he turned to leave, his gaze flickered towards the rockery, a subtle curve of his lips curling up.
The air in Concubine Gao's chamber was thick with incense, almost drowning out the scent of medicine. She reclined on a soft couch covered in white fox fur, coughing with a pale face, the gilded armor on her fingers digging deep into the brocade edge of the couch. Nanny Li was kneeling on the floor, massaging her legs, her forehead pressed to the ground, not daring to look up.
"Waste!" Concubine Gao smashed the jade bowl in her hand to the ground, and the white jade fragments splashed at Li Ma's feet. "You can't even handle such a small matter!" She gasped and pressed her chest, her silver pipe banging on the table. "How did the Shouping get discovered? I raised you for so many years, and you turned out to be a useless thing!"
Nanny Li was trembling all over, her voice tinged with tears. "Your Majesty, calm down! I underestimated that little bitch... but I have a backup plan!" She pulled a small rouge box from her sleeve, its body carved with a lotus pattern. "This is a rouge I specially mixed. I've added some 'good stuff' to it. If you sweat, you'll get a rash. I guarantee they'll make a fool of themselves at the enthronement ceremony!"
Concubine Gao took the rouge box and opened it. A pungent almond scent hit her face. She picked up a little with her silver hairpin and placed it on her fingertips. Looking at the bright pink, a sinister smile curled her lips. "Well done." She tossed the rouge box to Madam Li, her eyes as cold as ice. "Make sure they use it, or you'll swallow it all!"
Nanny Li kowtowed in response, refusing to stop even when her forehead was bruised. Sunlight streamed in through the carved window lattices, casting tiny specks of light on the floor, but it couldn't dispel the chill that filled the room.
As dusk fell, the lights in Shufangzhai lit up one by one, like stars scattered across the mortal world. Xiaoyanzi spread the longevity screen flat on the table and carefully picked at the malicious stitches with a fine needle. Candlelight danced on her focused profile, her eyelashes casting a faint shadow. Ziwei sat beside her, helping her thread the needle, her fingers trembling slightly with nervousness.
"Look at the stitches here," Xiaoyanzi suddenly stopped and pointed to one part for Ziwei to see. "It's the same silk thread we found in the Imperial Ancestral Temple last time. Both have a faint scent of almonds." Her brows furrowed, and she suddenly slammed the table. "I know! It's Madam Li! When she brought me some snacks the other day, I could smell this under her fingernails!"
Ziwei looked up in surprise, her eyes red in the candlelight. "No wonder... no wonder she always says the rouge in the palace is so good, she even specially sent two boxes." She stood up and was about to throw away the rouge, but was stopped by Xiaoyanzi. "Don't worry," Xiaoyanzi's eyes flashed with cunning. "Why don't we take advantage of her trick?"
As they were talking, Mingyue came in with a midnight snack, followed by a young eunuch, the one bribed by Nanny Li. He lowered his head, not daring to look at them, and staggered as he placed the tray on the table. A lot of the lotus seed soup spilled out onto the plate.
Xiaoyanzi pretended not to notice and handed him a piece of osmanthus cake. "Thank you for your hard work. Try this." She smiled, her eyes curved, but her fingers secretly clasped the silver needle hidden in her sleeve. "By the way, I heard your sister is sick? I'll ask Xiaodeng to bring some herbs to your house. Is that enough?"
The eunuch's hand trembled as he took the cake, and it dropped to the ground. He slumped to his knees, his face pale as paper. "Please spare me, Princess! Madam Li forced me to do this! She said if I didn't do it, she'd sell my sister to a brothel!"
Xiaoyanzi helped him up, her tone gentle but powerful. "Get up," she said. "I know you were forced into this." She pulled a silver ingot from a drawer and stuffed it into his hand. "Take this silver and take your sister away from the capital. Live a good life from now on and don't let anyone take advantage of you anymore."
The young eunuch wept bitterly, holding the silver in his hands. He kowtowed three times before hurriedly leaving. Ziwei looked at his back and whispered, "You're always so soft-hearted." Xiaoyanzi shrugged and rolled up the cleaned birthday screen. "You have to be ruthless when dealing with bad people, but you'll naturally be soft-hearted when it comes to good people."
Under the candlelight, the two smiled at each other. The crabapple tree outside the window swayed gently in the night breeze, as if guarding this moment of peace. And in the shadow of the palace wall in the distance, a pair of eyes watched all this coldly, like a venomous snake lurking in the dark night.
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