Chapter 162 Shouping Incident, Finding the Real Murderer
The shadow of the crabapple tree in Shufangzhai slanted across the window paper, stretching the silhouette of the crape myrtle embroidered longevity screen to a considerable length. She held the silver needle between her fingers when she suddenly cried out, "Ouch!" as the needle's tip poked a crooked, tiny hole in the silk fabric. Xiaoyanzi, who was hunched over the table, flipping through the sword manual Yongqi had given her, jumped over at the sound. "What's wrong? Did you prick your hand?"
Ziwei raised her embroidery frame, her brows knitted together. "Look at the stitches." Moonlight shone through the window lattice onto the longevity screen. Hidden among the embroidered peonies were a few dark stitches, croaking together to form the Chinese character "煞." "I clearly remember it being fine up to this point yesterday. How could this be..."
Xiaoyanzi snatched the embroidery frame and traced the stitches with her fingertips. Her eyes instantly turned cold. "This thread is wrong." She turned around and fished out the silk thread she had picked up from the small stool in the drawer. After a quick comparison, she found that it was exactly the same as the one she found under the crabapple tree! And the stitches are so crooked, it's obvious that this wasn't your embroidery."
As he was speaking, Little Mosquito came in with some midnight snacks. He stumbled over the threshold as he stepped through the door, spilling the sweet-scented osmanthus cakes all over the floor. "Damn! Why are there stumbling blocks on the floor?" He squatted down to pick up the cakes and suddenly pointed under the bed and shouted, "Princess, look! What the hell is this?"
Little Swallow peeked out and saw a small cloth bag hidden under the bed. She opened it and found half a box of embroidery thread. The color was exactly the same as the dark stitching on the longevity screen, and the spools were stained with a hint of pale yellow pollen. "It's crabapple pollen!" Her eyes lit up, and she grabbed Ziwei and ran out. "Let's go! Let's go to the Imperial Garden!"
The midnight clappers had just sounded, and the faint fragrance of flowers lingered beneath the crabapple trees in the Imperial Garden. Little Swallow, groping in the grass by moonlight, suddenly felt something hard on her fingertips. Pulling aside the grass, she discovered a silver thimble with the Chinese character "Li" engraved on it. "Found it!" She tucked the thimble into her purse. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her and hurriedly pulled Ziwei behind the rockery.
Nanny Li came over with a lantern in hand, a ball of silk thread clutched in her hand. She cursed as she walked, "You silly girl! You can't even handle such a small matter! If the master finds out..." She walked to the crabapple tree and stuffed the silk thread into the hole. Just as she was about to turn around, Xiaoyanzi jumped out from behind the rockery, holding a thimble in her hand. "Nanny Li, why are you still awake so late at night? What good things are you hiding here?"
Nanny Li was so frightened that she dropped her lantern, her face as pale as paper. "Princess Huan Zhu? Why are you here?" She looked away and tried to pick up the lantern, but Ziwei stopped her. Ziwei's voice trembled, but she firmly blocked her way: "Mammy's thimble, how did it end up under the bed in Shufangzhai?"
"I... I don't know what you're talking about!" Nanny Li stubbornly stuck her neck out, but when Xiaoyanzi threw the ball of pollen-stained silk thread at her feet, her legs gave way and she knelt down. "Princess, spare me! It's... I've been possessed by a demon!"
The next morning, Shufangzhai was in an uproar. Little Table slammed the table and shouted, "How dare you tamper with our Shufangzhai? You don't respect the Four Great Scholars!" Then he performed a shadowless kick, but ended up hitting the table leg, causing him to grimace in pain. Little Stool brought a small stool, cleared his throat, and began to tell a story: "The story goes that the White Bone Demon transformed into an old nanny and wanted to harm our Ziwei Fairy, but he didn't know that Sun Wukong had already seen through it..."
"Go to hell, Sun Wukong!" Xiaoyanzi smiled and stuffed a piece of osmanthus cake into his mouth. She turned to Yongqi and Erkang and said, "Although Nanny Li admitted it, she must have been instructed by someone." She took out a thimble from her purse. "This thimble is made of silver. Ordinary Nannies can't afford it."
Yongqi picked up the thimble and examined it carefully. Suddenly, he said, "The carving technique here looks like the style of the Imperial Household Department." He pondered for a moment and said, "I'll go find out who has received a thimble like this recently." Erkang looked at the ball of silk thread and said, "The crabapple trees in the Western Palace are only grown in abundance near Concubine Gao's bedroom. Perhaps..."
Ziwei suddenly held Xiaoyanzi's hand, her fingertips cold: "Why don't you tell the emperor? I always feel uneasy."
Xiaoyanzi patted the back of her hand and said, "Don't worry, I'm here." Her eyes rolled and she suddenly leaned close to Yongqi's ear and said a few words. After listening, Yongqi nodded repeatedly, turned around and walked out.
The midday sun was warming. Concubine Gao was lying on a soft couch, having her legs massaged by a maid. Nanny Li stood trembling beside her, holding a cup of freshly brewed Biluochun tea. "Is everything done?" Concubine Gao took a sip of tea without even raising her eyes.
"It's... clean," Li Ma's voice trembled. "The stitching on the longevity screen is very hidden. No one will find it." As soon as she finished speaking, a young eunuch ran in in a panic: "Your Majesty! Princess Huanzhu and Princess Mingzhu request an audience!"
Concubine Gao put her teacup down heavily. "What are they doing here?" She was about to ask the maid to stop them when Xiaoyanzi came through the curtains, holding the thimble in her hand. "Your Highness, you are in such a good mood! I wonder if this thimble belongs to your palace?"
Nanny Li was so frightened that she fell to her knees, crying out, "Your Majesty, please spare me! I didn't mean to do that!"
Concubine Gao's face turned pale as she forced herself to remain calm, saying, "It's just a thimble. Losing it isn't unusual." She was about to wave them off when Yongqi arrived with the head steward of the Imperial Household Department. The steward, holding a ledger, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this thimble was given to Madam Li last month and is registered in the register."
Xiaoyanzi suddenly smiled and pulled out the ball of silk from her sleeve. "What about this silk? The pollen on it is from the Western Manor Crabapple Tree. They only grow a lot of it outside the Empress's bedroom in the entire palace."
Concubine Gao's face instantly turned the color of liver, and she pointed at them, speechless. Ziwei sighed softly, "Your Highness, we sisters have never thought of becoming enemies with anyone. Why are you trying to harm us like this?"
As dusk fell, Xiaoyanzi swung her legs against the beauty bench in Shufangzhai, watching Ziwei remove and re-embroider the hidden stitches. Yongqi sat nearby, whittling a wooden sword, oblivious to the sawdust falling on his royal blue dragon robe. "Hey," Xiaoyanzi suddenly said, "Do you think Concubine Gao will give up?"
Yongqi handed her the sharpened wooden sword. "With the Emperor protecting her, she won't dare to do anything wrong again." He looked at Xiaoyanzi playing with the wooden sword, and his ears suddenly blushed. "Next time... next time I'll teach you horseback riding and archery. It's more comfortable to run on the grassland than in the palace."
Little Swallow's eyes lit up: "Really?" She was about to agree when she saw Little Stool rushing in with a kite in hand and telling a story: "It is said that Sun Wukong rode on the somersault cloud..." Before he could finish his words, he was dragged out by Little Table, and the sound of fighting was heard in the yard.
Ziwei put down the embroidery frame, looked at the twilight outside the window and chuckled: "It's great to have you here." The moonlight climbed up her temples, making her pearl hairpins sparkle, and in the shadow of the palace in the distance, the fragments of the teacup that Concubine Gao broke were shining coldly.
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