Green Ivy called out a few times, and Zhao Shucai slowly opened her eyes. She found that it was still dark, the lights were on in the room, and Xiao Guozi, Uncle Fu, and Bi Qiao were there.
Fu Bohou was behind the screen.
"The princess is awake?" Bi Qiao asked softly as she saw her open her eyes.
Zhao Shu asked Green Ivy to help her up, and called out, "What's wrong?"
“Princess,” Bi Qiao said angrily, her tone chilling, “Aunt Yue is dead.”
"So fast." The outcome was expected, yet its speed was unexpected. She frowned. "Do you know who did it?"
“It’s Aunt Lan.” Xiao Guozi said solemnly. Aunt Lan had given him a surprise tonight, and he hadn’t expected to succeed so quickly.
Zhao Shu sneered, "Any other discoveries?" Aunt Lan was probably being used as a pawn. How could she have succeeded so quickly? Zhao Shu didn't believe it for a second.
"With the encouragement of Concubine Jiao and several other concubines, Concubine Yue got up to use the night pot and found it missing. She was helped out of the room by her maid and was killed by a falling tile in the corridor, which hit her right in the temple. I checked the tile and found that it had been tampered with and contained lard. Someone saw Concubine Lan lingering there, and lard was also found in her room."
Xiao Guozi recounted everything he had investigated, not a word was missing or added.
"Aunt Yue has been in the manor for many years. Although she has no children, she has still worked hard. Since she is gone, let her be buried with dignity. However, the manor has been in disrepair for many years and is now struggling to make ends meet. Alas, we can only ask her to suffer."
As they spoke, Uncle Fu and Xiao Guozi exchanged a quick glance. Although they had only known each other for a short time, they were perfectly in sync and said in unison, "Yes, this servant will definitely pass on the princess's words. However, since the Empress Dowager is currently in the manor, this servant thinks it is not appropriate to make a fuss about it. Disturbing the Empress Dowager would be a sin for the manor."
"Let's do as Uncle Fu says. By the way, the aunties were frightened. Go tell them to skip a month of morning exercises." After she finished speaking, she lay down again. It was so annoying to be woken up.
"Yes," Bi Qiao replied. Seeing that Zhao Shu had already lain down, she gave a wink to the others beside her and then withdrew.
Inside the room, Zhao Shu tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She got out of bed, walked barefoot to the bedside, and opened the half-closed window completely. It was almost dawn, and it was pitch black.
A gentle breeze blew by, much like the legendary eerie winds, but would Zhao Shu be afraid?
In the darkness of night, along a secluded path in the Garden of Flowers, faint lights emanated, their dim yellow glow flickering in the night.
"Sister, I'm so scared." Her voice trembled slightly, and it was clear that she was telling the truth.
"Afraid? Now that I'm afraid, I've already done it." The cold laugh was forced from her, as she suppressed her fear. Just a moment ago, she was nothing more than a weak woman.
However, there's always a first time.
Practice makes perfect.
After a long silence, the first person to speak asked nervously, "Will the princess be angry?"
"No." He forced himself to calm down, reason prevailing in his mind.
"If you listen to your older sister, then it's fine." This shows that she is not a person with her own opinions.
The next day, Aunt Yue was carried out of the palace in a thin coffin. Everything she owned was burned, and even her maids were sold.
The Garden of Beauties is deathly silent, as if in mourning. However, those with a discerning eye know that this is merely an illusion. The Garden of Beauties is now like a hellish realm, and whether one can live to see the sun rise tomorrow is uncertain.
Upon hearing Bi Qiao's report, Zhao Shu said, "Princess, everything has been cleaned up. The people in the manor have also been instructed not to mention Aunt Yue again."
If the Prince Yong's mansion were a lake, then the people in it would be pebbles. Unfortunately, Aunt Yue was shattered before she could even make a splash in the mansion.
Early in the morning, the father and daughter arrived at Sendai-in. The Empress Dowager was already waiting in the open space by the lake. "Greetings to the Empress Dowager," Zhao Shu said, taking a few steps forward and getting close to the Empress Dowager.
Prince Yong lagged a few steps behind, saying, "Your subject greets Your Majesty."
"We're not outsiders, why bother with all these formalities? Ah Jun, come and teach your grandmother Tai Chi." The Empress Dowager wasn't wearing makeup today, and her fingers were bare, without any jewelry.
The Empress Dowager, dressed in plain clothes, looked much more relaxed, as if she had prepared specifically for practicing Tai Chi.
“Alright, Ah Jun will now go to the Pope Grandmother.”
Unlike the relaxed atmosphere at Sendai-in, at the Lin family's house, a crisp 'slap' rang out, the sound of being slapped in the face.
"What did you say? The Empress Dowager is coming?" Lin Xiuxue's frantic voice made Baihe, who was kneeling on the ground, tremble.
"Yes." Lily's voice was very soft; she tried her best to make her presence as inconspicuous as possible.
She raised her head slightly and secretly glanced at Lin Xiuxue, who was now glaring angrily with a murderous aura that seemed almost tangible.
"Crack!" A nearby vase smashed on the ground, shattering into pieces. "You Zhao Shu, you actually tried to ruin my tea party! I'll never forgive you!"
Just as she finished speaking, the old woman's voice came from outside the door, "Miss, the Xie family's daughter, the Wang family's daughter, the Sun family's daughter, and the Huainan Marquis's daughter have all sent people to the mansion, saying they want to see you."
Lin Xiuxue immediately knew what was going on, and she shouted frantically, "I won't see him!"
"Miss..." The old woman outside the door was about to say something when a muffled 'bang' sounded, the closed door shook, followed by the sound of porcelain shattering on the ground.
"I said I wouldn't see you, are you deaf?" she roared hysterically.
Zhao Shu suddenly withdrew her investment, leaving her with no money to hold a tea party of the same scale as in previous years. This time, to save face, she begged and pleaded until she finally managed to get three thousand taels of silver from her mother, spending as much as eight hundred taels on pastries alone at Yipinju.
However, everything is over, everything is over!
As expected, the old woman couldn't get Lin Xiuxue to come out, and stood awkwardly in front of the head maids. "Our young lady is not feeling well and is quite inconvenient. May I ask what business you ladies have with our young lady?"
"So Miss Lin is ill. It's so hot in the summer, so you'll have to take good care of her. I'm sorry to have troubled you. By the way, my young lady is also feeling unwell, just like Miss Lin. I suppose she won't be able to come to the tea party. Please apologize to Miss Lin on her behalf." The speaker was a maid from the Sun family.
After the Sun family maid finished speaking, the others chimed in, "Our young lady is also not feeling well, so she won't be coming to the tea party. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, our young lady thinks that since the summer heat will have subsided by then, and it's a festive occasion, it would be perfect for the sisters to get together on that day."
"Yes, yes, that's what my young lady means too. Then we won't bother you any longer, Granny. It's very hot, Granny, please take good care of Miss Lin. We are of humble status, so we won't bother Miss Lin any further."
The daughters of several prominent families in the capital all claimed to be ill, and the daughters of other minor noble families and meritorious families naturally followed suit. In a short time, half of the noble ladies in the capital were sick.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
