Chapter 347: The Moon Hidden the Sword, the Childish Words Shock the Heart
The candles in the east courtyard burned until the third watch. The soothing incense in the bronze crane incense burner had long since dissipated its last wisp of smoke, leaving only the faint scent of milk in the air. Mianrui, freshly taken away by his wet nurse for feeding, clutched the corner of Xiaoyanzi's nightgown, his cheeks flushed in sleep. Xiaoyanzi reclined on a large apricot-yellow brocade pillow, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the contours of her son's delicate face. Her gaze, piercing the crimson window lattice, was fixed on the charred ruins of the west courtyard, swallowed by the night. The pale moonlight cast the remains of the charred window frame on the ground, casting dark, clawing shadows like countless prying eyes.
“Squeak—”
The door hinges creaked softly, and Yongqi stepped through the curtains. The hem of his moon-white uniform was stained with dew and dust, and the bloodshot under his eyes was particularly evident in the candlelight. He walked quietly to the bedside, leaning over to check on the sleeping Mianrui before taking Xiaoyanzi's hand. The warmth from his palm, with the slight chill of the outside air, strangely soothed her tense nerves.
"Are you asleep?" His voice was very low, hoarse from staying up late.
"Waiting for you." Xiaoyanzi leaned into his arms, her nose brushing against the crisp scent of pine and ink on his collar, the scent of him just coming out of his study. Yongqi's arms immediately tightened, supporting her waist and back firmly. "Over in the West Courtyard...what did the Shuntian Prefecture Governor say?"
Yongqi led her to the outer room, where they sat down on the heated kang. Xiao Zhuozi tactfully served her two cups of warm ginseng tea before quietly retreating, closing the door behind her. Yongqi then pulled something carefully wrapped in oil paper from his sleeve. Unwrapping it, he saw a silver hairpin, half burnt black and deformed. A faint "Cui" character could be discerned on the hairpin's end.
"We dug it out from under the collapsed main beam in the study." Yongqi's fingertips caressed the cold edge of the broken hairpin, his eyes sharp as knives. "Xiao Cui... we found her. She was in the dry well outside the back corner of the palace. She was dead when she was fished out. The coroner examined her and found a broken neck. She was pushed into the well from behind and hit the wall. There are also bruises on the back of her head from a heavy object, probably a stone." He paused, his voice deeper. "Madame Li confessed. She bribed Xiao Cui to soak reeds in pine oil and dumped them in the corner of the study and in the rose bushes at night. Xiao Cui was also the one who started the fire. Afterwards... Madame Li personally tricked Xiao Cui into the well, pushed her in, and then threw a large stone to silence her."
Xiaoyanzi's hand, holding the teacup, trembled imperceptibly, and a few drops of warm tea sloshed out, soaking the cuffs of her gown. She paid no attention, staring at the broken hairpin. Her voice was like a taut string, "She insists she was the one behind it, and that Zhihua had nothing to do with it?"
"Hmph," Yong Qi scoffed, slamming the broken hairpin down heavily on the table. "Do you think I'm a three-year-old? How could a servant like Li Ma have the audacity and the money to bribe people? And what motive did she have to burn the box of 'tea' in the study? Her eyes flickered as she confessed, and her words were incoherent. It's clear she was taking the blame for someone else!"
The wind outside suddenly picked up, whistling through the cracks in the charred wood and rustling the window paper. Xiaoyanzi set down her teacup, her cold fingertips unconsciously twisting the silk ribbon of her nightgown. Her voice dropped even lower, barely a whisper. "Yongqi, I saw a dark figure on the top of the west courtyard wall. He was wearing a guard's uniform of thick indigo cotton, and around his waist... was a crescent-shaped jade pendant."
Yongqi's arm around her suddenly stiffened, and an oppressive chill instantly emanated from his body: "Crescent jade pendant? Did you see it clearly?"
"No mistake!" Xiaoyanzi raised her head, her eyes gleaming with the cold light tempered by the vicissitudes of her past life. "The black shadow's movements are extremely agile; he's definitely not a palace guard. That jade pendant is the mark of the guards at Emin's palace! Two years ago, during his southern tour, at Emin's Hangzhou villa, all his flamboyant guards wore one of these around their waists!"
"Emin?" Yongqi's brows were twisted into a knot, his knuckles turning white from the force. "He's an outsider, what is he doing reaching into the backyard of Prince Rong's mansion? Zhihua and him..."
"Have you forgotten?" Xiaoyanzi dipped her fingertips in some cold tea on the table and quickly drew the character "Chen." "Zhihua's father, Chen Bangzhi, was a fellow Jinshi (imperial scholar) with Emin! They were close friends, and Emin almost married her daughter off to the Chen family! This fire might be more than just a backyard fight for favor! What exactly is that box of 'tea'?"
Yongqi's eyes instantly became deep, with a sharp insight: "Emin... Good Emin! He wants to use the Chen family to disrupt the palace, and even..." He didn't say the rest of the words, but when their eyes met, they saw the cold light in each other's eyes - shaking the foundation, and even getting involved deeper.
"Wait," Xiaoyanzi held down his hand as he was about to get up, "Now we only have Nanny Li's confession and this piece of material," she pointed to another palm-sized piece of indigo cloth with burnt edges on the kang table. The strong smell of pine oil mixed with the burnt smell had not yet dissipated. "If we move directly to E Min, there is insufficient evidence and it would be bad to alert the enemy. Why not..." She leaned close to Yongqi's ear, lowered her voice and said a few words quickly, with a cunning and cold light in her eyes.
Yongqi's tense jawline relaxed slightly after hearing this, and he pinched her slightly cold cheek. "You have a lot of tricks up your sleeve." His fingertips touched the faint blue shadows under her eyes, and his tone softened again. "But you are still in confinement and your body is weak. You are not allowed to take risks yourself. Leave everything to me."
"I understand, Your Highness." Xiaoyanzi smiled and pushed him, trying to dispel the solemn atmosphere. "Go and rest for a while. Look at the bruise under your eye, it's heavier than a panda's."
The two had just blown out the candles in the outer room and were about to retire when they heard Xiao Chongzi's deliberately low but frantic voice coming from outside the courtyard: "Prince! Princess! Over in the west courtyard...the concubine has fainted!"
In the darkness, Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi exchanged a glance. Without needing to speak, they both saw understanding in each other's eyes. Xiaoyanzi fumbled to put on a coat and said, "I'll go take a look. You..."
"I'll go with you." Yong Qi took her cloak without question and carefully tied the ribbon at her collar. The dark-patterned hem of the cloak and the lotus embroidery thread shone coldly in the dim light. "It's a good opportunity to see what she's up to this time."
---
The lights in the main room of the west courtyard were brightly lit, almost blindingly, highlighting the oppressive atmosphere within. Zhihua, wearing a half-worn moon-white satin cheongsam, her hair in a loose bun, her face as pale as paper, slumped limply on the chaise longue by the window, her fingertips nervously twisting a tear-soaked silk handkerchief. A few shards of shattered porcelain cups lay scattered on the floor, and brown medicine had spilled, leaving a dark stain on the carpet and emitting a bitter odor.
"Waste! A bunch of useless things!" She growled in a low voice, her chest heaving violently with anger and fear, completely losing the gentle and calm demeanor she usually maintained. "Didn't I tell you to watch the box burn to ashes with your own eyes? How could it be buried under the beam and not completely burned? And that idiot Xiao Cui, she couldn't even hide her body properly, and someone actually pulled it out of the well!"
Nanny Li knelt beside the cold medicine stain, her body shaking like a sieve. Cold sweat mixed with dust on her forehead made her look particularly disheveled in the candlelight. "Old slave... I clearly pushed the box containing the account books into the innermost fire of the study with my own hands... The fire was so fierce, who knew that the beam would collapse and just... just crush a corner of the box... As for that girl Xiao Cui, I did it according to your instructions. After pushing her in, I also brought a large rock to smash her down, to ensure that she... there was no chance of her surviving..." She suddenly remembered something and looked up in horror, her cloudy old eyes filled with despair. "Concubine! That piece of material... Last night, I went to the back corner gate to meet the person delivering 'tea' from Emin's residence. I was so flustered when I came back that I forgot to change my coat that was stained with pine oil... Will... will the people from Shuntian Prefecture find out?"
"Shut up!" Zhihua grabbed a soft pillow on the couch and threw it hard. Her eyes were as fierce as a poisoned knife. There was no trace of her weak and frail appearance. "Useless old thing! Are you afraid now? What were you doing before? Lord Emin gave the things to us for safekeeping. It shows trust! It shows reliance! If it falls into the hands of the prince..." She stopped talking abruptly. The sound of heavy and orderly footsteps and the heart-wrenching metal friction of the guards' scabbards were heard outside the door.
“Bang—!”
The door was flung open with such force that the frame vibrated. Yongqi's tall figure stood in the doorway, against the light from the corridor. The golden dragon on his dark-colored official robes seemed to come alive in the dim light, and the pressure he emanated from him made the air in the room stagnate. Behind him, two sword-wielding guards held their swords at their waists, their eyes like hawks scanning the mess within the room.
"Prince...Prince?" Zhihua sat up hastily like a frightened rabbit, her silk handkerchief falling to the ground, panic and grievance instantly filled her face, tears came and fell, "Why are you here? I...I am scared, thinking about those fires and dead people, I haven't slept all night, and my heart is really stuffy..." She struggled to get off the bed and get closer to Yongqi, but the guard stepped across and stopped her in place with an expressionless face.
Yongqi's gaze was like an icy blade, sweeping across the trembling Li Ma Ma on the ground, finally settling on her. His voice was low, but it carried a heavy pressure of impending storm, and every word struck her heart: "Li Ma Ma, the pine oil reeds in the study, the body in the Xiao Cui Well, and this..." He raised his hand, and Xiao Dengzi behind him immediately bent down and presented the indigo rag, the key piece of evidence, to Li Ma Ma. The strong smell of pine oil from the cloth hit her face. "This is the material used exclusively by the guards of Emin Mansion... Explain it clearly to this prince. If even one word is untrue," he paused, his cold gaze sweeping across Zhihua's face, which had instantly lost all color, "you know the consequences."
"Your Highness, please spare me! Your Highness, please spare me!" Nanny Li's psychological defenses completely collapsed. Her wrinkled forehead banged against the cold tiles, tears streaming down her face. "It was Concubine! Concubine instructed this old slave to do it! She asked this old slave to bribe Xiao Cui to soak reeds in pine oil, and then throw them in the corner of the study and in the rose bushes in the dead of night... It was Xiao Cui who set them on fire! Afterwards... Afterwards, Concubine was afraid that Xiao Cui would not keep her mouth shut, so she forced this old slave... This old slave They tricked Xiao Cui into the dry well at the back corner gate and pushed her in... They even ordered the old slaves to bring rocks and smash her... That piece of material was the pine oil I accidentally rubbed against myself when I went to the back corner gate to meet the person delivering 'tea' to E Min's residence last night... That box of 'tea' wasn't tea at all! It was the account book of Lord E Min's embezzlement of grain transport silver! The concubine said that as long as the account book was burned and the blame was put on the princess for arson, it would... it would make you, the prince, completely dislike the princess, and the West Courtyard would..."
"You are slandering me!" Zhihua screamed and pounced over like a cat whose tail was stepped on. Her carefully manicured nails made a whistling sound as they scratched at Li Ma's face. She looked like a mad woman, "You old and vicious slave! You are greedy and murderous, and now you dare to accuse your master when the truth is revealed!" Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were crazy. The demeanor of a talented woman that she had carefully maintained was gone.
"Enough!" Yongqi slammed the rosewood table beside him, causing the remaining teacups on it to jump up with a harsh sound. He stared at Zhihua, who looked like she was mad. The last trace of tolerance caused by lingering memories disappeared from his eyes, leaving only cold disappointment and deep-seated disgust. "Chen Zhihua, you disgust me so much." He stopped looking at her and turned to the guards. Every word was like an ice cone, with unquestionable determination. "Madame Li will be taken to the Shuntian Mansion prison and strictly guarded. No one is allowed to visit without my order! Concubine Chen," his cold eyes finally fell on Zhihua's stiff face, "is confined to the West Courtyard from today. Without my order, you are not allowed to step out of the door! All servants in the West Courtyard, regardless of gender, will be taken away by Shuntian Mansion immediately and interrogated separately. No collusion is allowed!"
"Yongqi! You can't do this to me!" Zhihua was mercilessly grabbed by the arms and dragged into the inner room by the guards. Her desperate screams pierced the silence of the night. "I am Mian Yi's mother! I gave birth to your eldest son! You can't be so cruel! Mian Yi can't live without her mother..." The heavy door slammed shut before her, blocking out her shrill cries and completely blocking out the last ray of light from the west courtyard. She collapsed to the ground, her own twisted and miserable reflection in the bronze mirror, tears streaming down her face. Resentment, like the most poisonous vine, instantly wrapped around her heart - it was over, all over! Hateful! She only regretted not having been a step earlier, so that the bitch and her pair of annoying offspring would perish in the sea of fire together!
---
In the warm room of the east courtyard, soft candlelight was relit, and the faint aroma of medicine filled the air. Xiaoyanzi, who had just been half-supported and half-carried by Yongqi, leaned against the soft pillow and sipped the calming soup that Mingyue had brought again. The wet nurse gently placed the baby, who had eaten and drunk enough and was sleeping soundly again, back in the cradle beside her. Beside the cradle, Mianrui and Mianxin, who had been awakened, lay there, their big black eyes curiously looking at their little brother in the cradle. Mianrui said to his sister in a whisper, "My brother is asleep, Xin'er, keep your voice down." Mianxin immediately covered her mouth tightly with her chubby little hands, revealing only a pair of smiling eyes curved into crescents, and nodded vigorously.
Xiaoyanzi closed her eyes wearily, listening to the children's even, gentle breathing and feeling the warmth of Yongqi's hand as he sat beside her bed. The tension in her heart, strained for a day and a night, finally relaxed slightly. Yet, beneath this moment of peace, a surviving undercurrent surged. Atop the highest eaves and brackets of Prince Rong's mansion, a shadow, darker than the night itself, lurked like a true ghost, blending seamlessly with the shadows of the rubble, silently and motionlessly. The shadow's cold gaze pierced the gradually brightening morning light, locking onto the window lattice in the east courtyard, still shimmering with warm candlelight. The crescent-shaped jade pendant at the shadow's waist, reflected a cold and eerie light against the dim sky. It flickered, like the silent baring of a venomous snake's fangs before a fatal strike, coldly declaring that this war, waged in the name of love, entangled in the vengeance of two generations and a raging lust for power, was far from over.
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