Chapter 221: The Court is in Trouble, and the Warm Pavilion Confronts
The morning mist, like shredded silver yarn, had barely cleared when the bronze bells of the Hall of Supreme Harmony struck three deep notes. The sound waves struck the vermilion palace walls, shaking the bells on the eaves. Civil and military officials lined up according to rank. The patches on their court robes shone solemnly in the morning light, but they couldn't mask the tension that quietly permeated the ranks.
Mr. Chen from the Ministry of Revenue, his hands whitening as he clutched the memorial, stepped out of the queue. His aged voice was particularly harsh in the hall: "Your Majesty, I have a memorial to submit."
Qianlong sat upright on the dragon throne, the golden threads on his bright yellow robe moving with his breathing. He glanced at the steps below and said, "Speak."
"Recently, rumors have been rife in the capital," Lord Chen's Adam's apple rolled, his deliberately lowered voice piercing like a needle. "They all say that Princess Mingzhu Ziwei...is not a royal child, and that Princess Huanzhu colluded with the Fang family of Jiangnan to fabricate her origins and deceive Your Majesty! I know this is abrupt, but since this concerns the royal bloodline, Your Majesty implores a thorough investigation!"
"How dare you!" Qianlong slammed the dragon table, his red brush clattering down on the memorial, the ink splattering like a dark flower. "Ziwei's life story is documented by Xia Yuhe's handwritten letter, the jade pendant as proof of her love, and even the testimony of hundreds of people from the Jinan neighborhood! You're the one who personally adopted me as your daughter, and you dare to make a scene here?"
He abruptly stood up, his dragon robe sweeping across the incense burner, sending the sandalwood billowing. "Master Chen, where did you hear this rumor? Is someone using you to disrupt the palace and undermine my foundation?"
Lord Chen fell to his knees, his forehead trembling against the gold bricks. "Your Majesty, I am only concerned for the dignity of the imperial family. I have no other intentions! Your Majesty, spare my life!"
"The dignity of the imperial family is not earned by suspicion of one's own flesh and blood!" Qianlong's voice shook the pillars and beams. "Issue an order: Ziwei's life story cannot be questioned! Anyone who dares to spread rumors again will be lashed with thirty sticks and demoted to a commoner! Lord Chen will be fined one year's salary and confined to reflect on his mistakes!"
"Your Majesty... I accept your order and thank you..." Lord Chen collapsed on the ground, his back soaked with cold sweat.
The sandalwood incense from the imperial study lingered in the air. Qianlong's knuckles turned white as he held the secret report. The handwriting on the paper, "Madame Li bribed the eunuch Wang Xiaosan from Shufangzhai and the servant Liu Er from the imperial garden to spread rumors," was so painful to the eyes.
"What an audacious slave!" He slapped the secret report on the rosewood table, and the white jade paperweight jumped. "Su Peisheng!"
Eunuch Su bowed quickly: "Your servant is here."
"Put Nanny Li under guard first," Qianlong tapped the table with his fingertips, "and then go to Shufangzhai and tell Princess Huanzhu to behave herself. I will take care of it myself."
"Your servant obeys your order—" Before Eunuch Su could finish his words, the young eunuch came tumbling in, "Your Majesty! Princess Huanzhu... has broken into the Yikun Palace!"
Qianlong's brows knitted together, he grabbed his cloak and walked out, the hem of his robe sweeping across the threshold: "Get ready! To the Yikun Palace!"
In the warm room of Yikun Palace, the sweet warmth of incense filled the air. Noble Concubine Gao reclined on a soft couch covered in white fox fur, playing with her red gold and kingfisher feather hairpin. When she heard the palace maid announce that Xiaoyanzi had barged in, a sneer curled her lips. "She's come just in time! I'd like to see just how capable she is."
"Bang!" The door to the warm room was thrown open, and a cold wind swept in with fallen leaves. Xiaoyanzi, dressed in a lake blue palace dress, her skirt stained with grass debris, stood at the door with her fists clenched, her eyes filled with anger that almost set her hair on fire. "Noble Concubine Gao! How have we sisters ever gotten in your way? Why are you hiding in Yikun Palace and gossiping and spreading rumors?"
Concubine Gao slowly sat up, adjusting her hairpin, her pearls and jade jingling. "What's so mad about this, Princess Huanzhu? I'm just resting in my own palace, how can you be considered a rumormonger?" She glanced at Ziwei behind Xiaoyanzi, seeing her hand clenching a handkerchief beneath her moon-white skirt. A hint of pride flashed in her eyes. "Oh, Princess Mingzhu is here too? Breaking into the palace so early in the morning, have you forgotten all the palace rules?"
"Palace rules?" Xiaoyanzi took a step forward, the gold bricks clanging under her feet. She shook out a few pieces of paper from her sleeve and slammed them hard on the flower table beside her, scattering the papers all over the floor. "Here are Wang Xiaosan and Liu Er's confessions! They said it themselves that it was Nanny Li from your palace who gave them money to spread rumors! You still want to deny it?"
A confession floated to Concubine Gao's feet. The words "Madame Li" pierced her, causing her face to turn pale. She hurriedly clutched the brocade of the soft couch and forced herself to say, "It's just two servants' nonsense. Do you think you should take it seriously? Don't you even realize you're being used as a pawn?"
"As a pawn?" Xiaoyanzi sneered and approached, her nose almost touching hers. "From the unlucky stitches on the longevity screen, to the manipulation on my sword tassel, to today's filthy rumors, how long have you been planning this in Yikun Palace?!"
Concubine Gao was speechless, her lips trembling and unable to speak. The palace maids and eunuchs in the warm room fell to their knees with their heads almost touching the ground, afraid of startling their master by even breathing.
"The Emperor has arrived—" the eunuch's loud chant suddenly pierced the silence. Concubine Gao's body softened, nearly sliding off the couch. When Xiaoyanzi turned around, she saw Emperor Qianlong striding in, draped in a cloak, his guards escorting an old maid with disheveled hair. It was Nanny Li.
As soon as Nanny Li entered the warm room, she collapsed to her knees, her knees banging against the golden bricks with a dull thud. "Your Majesty, spare me! This is all my fault, and it has nothing to do with the Imperial Concubine!"
Qianlong didn't look at her. His gaze fell on the pale-faced Concubine Gao. His voice was as cold as ice: "Concubine Gao, I have tolerated you time and again because I remember you were the daughter of a general. But you hid such dirty thoughts in the Yikun Palace and even dared to slander my daughter!"
Concubine Gao hurriedly rolled off the bed and knelt, her voice trembling: "Your Majesty! I didn't know! It was Nanny Li who acted on her own initiative. I was deceived by her!"
"Deception?" Qianlong kicked away the confession at his feet. "She was your wet nurse, and she'd been with you for over twenty years. Without your tacit consent, how dare she stir up trouble in the palace?"
Nanny Li cried heartbreakingly, "Your Majesty! This is all my fault! Please punish me and spare the Imperial Concubine!"
Xiaoyanzi watched this farce, her anger gradually subsiding, and she quietly touched Ziwei's hand. Ziwei shook her hand back, and the warmth from her fingertips dispelled the previous chill.
Qianlong stared at the kneeling figure, his brows knitted into a "川" shape. He shouted in a clear voice, "Issue the decree! Concubine Gao is jealous and framed. Her title of Concubine is stripped and she is demoted to Concubine Gao. She is confined to Jingren Palace and cannot leave without an imperial decree! Nanny Li is to be lashed with forty strokes of the cane and expelled from the palace. She is forbidden to set foot in the capital ever again!"
"Your servant... I accept your command and thank you..." Concubine Gao collapsed on the ground, gazing at the familiar beams of the Yikun Palace. The last glimmer of light in her eyes faded. As Nanny Li was dragged away by the guards, her cries gradually faded. Only the lingering scent of sandalwood filled the warm room, finally dispelling the foul atmosphere.
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