Chapter 191: Night Visit to Chuxiu Palace, Spider Silk Reveals Traces
Dusk, like a piece of ink-soaked velvet, slowly enveloped the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City. Beneath the crabapple tree in Shufangzhai, Xiaoyanzi was tiptoeing to hang a lantern from the eaves. The evening breeze lifted the hem of her moon-white palace dress, revealing the dark hems of her tight-fitting trousers beneath. Yongqi stood beneath the tree, holding a lantern to illuminate the area, his brow furrowed slightly. "It's windy tonight, be careful not to fall."
"Don't worry, I'm very good at light work!" Xiaoyanzi turned around and blinked at him, and tied a slipknot on the lantern rope with her fingertips. "We'll use this as a signal later. Brother Xiao Jian and I will go to Chuxiu Palace to investigate, and you guys will meet us here." She landed lightly and patted the dust off her hands. The silver crabapple hairpin in her hair flashed with a cold light - that was the hidden weapon Xiao Jian specially made for her for self-defense.
Ziwei emerged from the room carrying two bowls of lotus seed soup, whispering, "Be careful on your journey! Nanny Li is a vicious person, perhaps she has spies." She handed one bowl to Yongqi and the other to Xiaoyanzi, tapping the bottoms of the bowls three times with her fingertips—their agreed-upon code for "everything is cautious." The soup was warm, and the aroma of osmanthus mingled with a hint of mint wafted out. She had the kitchen add the calming herbs.
"Don't worry, sister." Xiaoyanzi took a sip of the lotus seed soup and smacked her lips. "Yours is still the best, much better than the one in the imperial kitchen!" She glanced at the lotus pattern embroidered on Ziwei's cuffs, and remembered that in her previous life, this pattern was always stained with tears, but now it was embroidered full and bright, and her heart was warmed.
Just as the first bell rang at midnight, Xiaoyanzi and Xiaojian had already sneaked up to the rockery outside Chuxiu Palace under cover of darkness. Xiaojian, dressed in black and with a short knife at his waist, whispered, "There's half an incense stick of time until the guards at the eastern corner gate change shifts. Let's go in through the drain." He parted the ivy vines clinging to the stone wall, revealing a hole barely wide enough for one person. "There's a trap inside. Follow my steps."
Xiaoyanzi nodded in agreement, the soft sword at her waist jingling with her movements. She suddenly recalled the embarrassment of her first foray into the palace in her previous life. She couldn't help but turn her head to glance at the lights of Shufangzhai in the distance. The lanterns there cast a warm yellow glow, reminiscent of the window frames of her Jiangnan home. Xiao Jian noticed her distraction and reached out to press her shoulder, "Don't be afraid, I'm here this time."
As the two entered the cave, they heard whispers emanating from within. Nanny Li's shrill voice pierced the stone wall: "...The red needles are soaked in itching powder. Just scratching their skin will itch them for three days and three nights. They'll make a fool of themselves in front of the Empress Dowager, and we'll see how the Emperor will still love them!" Another voice responded, "Don't worry, Nanny. Although Manager Liu has been arrested, the needles hidden in the stage pillars have been collected. We'll wait until the Empress Dowager comes to watch the show the day after tomorrow..."
As the voice faded, Xiaoyanzi and Xiao Jian exchanged a glance, peeking through a crack in the stone wall. They saw Li Ma sitting at a table, taking inventory. On the table sat a rosewood box filled with embroidery needles tied with red silk thread, the ends of the needles stained with pale yellow powder. Standing next to them was a young eunuch, none other than Eunuch E's trusted confidant who had helped Steward Liu deliver things at the stage a few days earlier.
"Do it!" Xiao Jian shouted, and a stone flicked from his fingertips, hitting the candlestick. The room was instantly plunged into darkness. Xiaoyanzi seized the opportunity to jump through the window, unsheathing her soft sword and placing it against Li Ma's neck. "Tell me! Who are you going to give these needles to? Who else is helping you?"
Nanny Li was terrified. She groped for the table and tried to ring the alarm, but Xiao Jian kicked her chair over. "Behave!" He lit a tinderbox, and the flames illuminated Nanny Li's pale face. She rolled her eyes and said stubbornly, "Who are you? You're trespassing into the imperial concubine's bedroom. Aren't you afraid of losing your head?"
"Losing your head?" Xiaoyanzi sneered, the tip of her sword leaving a faint bloody mark on her cheek. "Compared to your attempt to harm someone with a poison needle, our little sin is nothing." She glanced at the incense burner in the corner and suddenly remembered something. She used her sword to pick up the needles in the wooden box and sniffed them. "This powder smells of sulfur. It's the special itching powder from Wangji Pharmacy in the West Market. Last year, someone used it on Sister Liu Hong - do you think we can't find out?"
Nanny Li's shoulders trembled violently, her eyes frantic. Xiao Jian seized the opportunity to press down on her waist, causing her to collapse to the ground, her words incoherent. "Yes... Noble Concubine Gao ordered me to do this... She said that if Princess Huanzhu and Princess Mingzhu were embarrassed, the Emperor would dislike them..."
"Where's the evidence?" Xiaoyanzi asked, picking up the handkerchief she had dropped on the ground with the tip of her sword. The magnolia flower embroidered on it was exactly the same as the pearl flower pattern that Concubine Gao often wore.
"In...in the secret compartment under the bed...there's the token the imperial concubine gave me..." Nanny Li, sweat breaking out on her forehead from the pain, pointed to the carved bedpost. Xiao Jian bent down and pulled out a gilded token from the secret compartment. It was engraved with the four seal characters "Chuxiu Palace Order" and a small "Gao" on the back.
"Done!" Xiaoyanzi sheathed her sword and gestured to Xiao Jian, "Let's retreat!" As the two jumped out of the window, they heard the footsteps of patrolling guards in the distance. They hid in the shadow of the rockery in the night, leaving only the lantern swaying on the top of the crabapple tree, shining brightly in the dark night, which was particularly reassuring.
When they returned to Shufangzhai, Ziwei and Yongqi were sitting under the lamp waiting for them. Seeing the token and wooden box, Ziwei gasped: "How dare they use poison needles to harm people." Yongqi clenched his fists: "Tomorrow I will present these to the Emperor. Let's see how he can still tolerate Concubine Gao!"
Xiaoyanzi shook her head and put the token on the table: "No hurry, we have to wait for the most appropriate time." She picked up a red silk needle and looked at it carefully under the light, "The red silk thread at the end of the needle is dipped in wax and will melt when it encounters heat. When the empress dowager watches the opera the day after tomorrow, the lanterns on the stage will definitely use warm light. By then..." A cunning light flashed in her eyes, and she leaned close to the three of them and whispered a few words, which made Yongqi nod repeatedly, and Ziwei couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.
The moonlight from outside streamed in through the window lattice, illuminating the token and needle on the table, and also illuminating the tacit understanding in the eyes of the four people. The lantern in Shufangzhai was still lit, like a warm star, quietly guarding the coming dawn in the deep palace.
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