Chapter 20 Tonight, it seems like someone else is helping...
The emperor's gaze turned cold, and even though it lasted only a brief moment, it was noticed by the seasoned courtiers and imperial relatives. They knew that the pink jade that Miss Lin had handed over was not so simple; it might not have even been found. But no one knew the specifics, and at this juncture, no one dared to ask.
The latter half of the festival banquet remained gloomy due to the emperor's "cold" attitude. But in any case, this year's Luhua Festival palace banquet ended smoothly.
After leaving Zhengxin Gate, the Lin family returned to their carriage.
Today we chose a large horse-drawn carriage, and even the whole family of five can sit inside without feeling crowded.
The carriage moved steadily forward, and the eyes of Lin Yansen and the other three all fell on Lin Qingdai at the same time.
Lin Qingwu was the first to speak: "Dai Dai, didn't His Highness ask me to give you that jade? How can you say you found it?"
Lin Qingyu asked curiously, "When did the Second Prince give you the jade?"
Lin Qingwu: "On the day we went to Zhangxi Town, didn't I go to Huaxi Temple by myself? The Second Prince went too."
"It seems like he was waiting for me there specifically."
Zhuo Shuming: "He definitely has ill intentions. Every time I see him, it's like seeing a sinister snake; my fingers and the back of my spine go cold, and I can't control myself at all."
Lin Yansen: "...Madam, please say less. That is the Second Prince of the current dynasty."
"Do you even want to live?"
Zhuo Shuming glared at him coldly, but ultimately did not insult the second prince again.
Lin Qingdai then spoke: "Father, Mother, have you ever heard of the forbidden medicine in the palace that covers red makeup?"
Lin Yansen racked his brains: "Where have I heard that before?"
After a few breaths of silence, he suddenly clapped his hands hard, unable to hide his excitement. "I remember now, it's a forbidden drug in the palace, banned by Emperor Ming because it was too vile."
"Dai Dai, why are you suddenly bringing this up?"
Lin Qingdai pulled a book out of the drawer of the carriage; it was the book she had put there before leaving.
She turned to the page she had seen earlier and then handed it to her father.
Sour apricot wine mixed with brown fruit, then garnished with powdered jade, is called "covering with red makeup".
As this line of text came into view, Lin Yansen began to recall the events at the Luhua Banquet. Dai Dai seemed to have specifically mentioned sour apricot wine and brown fruit, in addition to the Second Prince's jade...
It's already very clear what Dai Dai went through before.
Lin Yansen's anger was intense from the moment it appeared.
“Song Yunlan…”
Lord Lin's cursing was delivered with the force of a dragon crossing the river, and some of his words were unfamiliar even to Lin Qingyu, a commoner in the marketplace.
"Alright."
After he had been cursing for a while, Zhuo Shuming gently stopped him.
Lord Lin was as obedient as ever, stopping as soon as Zhuo Shuming finished speaking.
The three children burst out laughing.
Zhuo Shuming ignored him and turned to Lin Qingdai: "Where are you hurt? In the future, if something like this happens, you should discuss it with your family."
Zhuo Shuming's voice was very soft, but Lin Qingdai knew that her mother was angry this time.
Knowing she was in the wrong, Lin Qingdai softly replied, "I won't dare to do it again."
"At that time, Dai Dai was just fantasizing that 'Dai Dai was overthinking things and the Second Prince wasn't that bad.'"
Having grown up together since childhood, there's bound to be some bond between us.
Zhuo Shuming was silent for a moment, then reached out and patted Jiaojiao's little head. "You handled it very well. Your parents are very proud of you."
This is not an exaggeration.
When faced with an emergency, the beloved child not only escaped unscathed but also refused to suffer any injustice, using the emperor's hand to punish the villains.
From beginning to end, the Lin family never "held their ground when they were in the right."
His Majesty will think the Lin family is sensible and will likely have a higher opinion of them.
Lin Qingdai shook her little head and rubbed it against Zhuo Shuming's palm.
“Without my parents’ support, Dai Dai would never dare to do this. Besides, it seems like there are other people helping me tonight.”
“When Mingyue brought me out, a squad of imperial guards had been taken down.”
"It looks like he's one of the Second Prince's men."
Who is it?
Lin Qingdai pondered repeatedly, but still couldn't find an answer.
"Don't think about it. Since they've already helped, they must be friends, not enemies."
"At times like these, not bringing this up is the greatest help we can give our friends."
Lin Qingyu said this.
Lin Qingdai smiled at her brother, "Brother is absolutely right."
After a whole day of fussing and being briefly irritated by the medication, Lin Qingdai was utterly exhausted.
Back home, I quickly washed up and went to sleep.
However, the palace was far from peaceful at this moment.
Ninglu Palace is a palace located next to the Council Hall. In the past, emperors would come here to rest when they were tired from working.
Everything here was arranged according to his preferences.
Every time he comes here, he can relax quickly.
Tonight, however, I was unable to.
The blazing firelight illuminated the hall, but it failed to dispel the coldness on the emperor's face.
The empress sat gracefully beside him, dressed in palace attire, exuding elegance and grace.
Several imperial concubines and princes stood not far from him, not deliberately arranged according to rank, but some things seemed to be engraved in their bones. At this moment, their rank could be discerned.
Princess Showa knelt weakly before him, her face pressed to the ground, in a posture of absolute submission.
“Raise your head.”
After a long silence, the emperor finally spoke.
Princess Showa raised her head slightly, "Your Majesty."
Although she was the adopted daughter of Prince Jingxian, she never dared to call the emperor her uncle.
An orphan, no matter how you look at it, doesn't deserve it.
"As far as I know, you and Dai Dai are not very familiar with each other. Why did you suddenly invite her for drinks?"
"I heard from the palace servants that you also refused Qingwu's offer to accompany Daidai."
"Back then, Qingwu must have been very angry, right?"
The emperor spoke slowly, in his usual low and aloof tone.
If it weren't for his extremely unpleasant expression, no one would dare say that he was furious at this moment.
Princess Showa was terrified, so terrified that she could hardly breathe, let alone speak. She could only bite her tongue hard to calm herself down.
"His Majesty."
She finally spoke again, taking all the blame: "It was Showa's fault."
"Showa has been secretly in love with the Second Prince for a long time, but His Highness only has Lin Qingdai in his eyes and heart."
"Driven by jealousy, I decided to find a man to humiliate Lin Qingdai."
At this point, even Princess Showa herself couldn't tell whether it was true or false.
Because she was indeed very jealous of Lin Qingdai.
Even though she held the title of princess and lived in a magnificent palace.
But in everyone's eyes, Lin Qingdai was still the most noble and inviolable.
"Everyone loves her."
Why?
"Because her surname is Lin? She was just born into a better family than others."
Princess Showa acted so naturally that no one suspected she was acting, and even the Second Prince was momentarily taken aback.
"Jealous of Dai Dai? Now you have a motive to hurt her."
"Then tell me, what's the story behind this jade?"
At this point, the emperor finally raised his voice.
Xiao Qi handed the jade to him at the opportune moment, but the emperor glanced at it with disdain.
"The pink jade of my Xun Kingdom is so precious that even the Imperial Concubine does not possess it."
"Tell me, who dropped this jade? And why did it end up with Lin Qingdai?"
"Who said that?"
The emperor knew perfectly well that Lin Qingdai's claim of finding it was a way of saving face for the royal family.
Someone in the palace gave her this pink jade, and then, through Showa's connections, presented her with sour apricot wine and brown fruit, thus urging the creation of "Covering the Red Makeup"...
In the confined space, Dai Dai was like a delicate flower trapped with no way to call for help, and could only be taken from and exploited by others.
Princess Showa: "This jade..."
She wanted to say that the jade was a gift from her to Lin Qingdai, but Her Majesty wouldn't believe her if she said that.
Regardless of whether she had the means to give such a valuable jade to Lin Qingdai, even if she did, Lin Qingdai would not accept it.
And everyone present knew this.
The Empress didn't press her further, and lazily said, "Your Majesty, this jade was dropped by me."
"It's been missing for quite some time now."
The emperor's gaze swept over her: "Is that so?"
After a few pauses, he suddenly laughed out loud: "Wu Ying, you really know how to drop things."
In full view of everyone, the emperor addressed the empress by her full name, showing her no respect whatsoever.
The Empress's delicate face showed a hint of grievance: "Does Your Majesty blame me for not taking good care of the gift you sent?"
Emperor Taining looked at her feigned vulnerability and couldn't help but sneer.
"Xiao Qi, what's the situation with the Silver Shield Division?"
Xiao Qi bowed and replied, "General Zhao is already waiting outside the hall, awaiting His Majesty's summons."
"Let him in."
"promise."
The Imperial Guards of Xunyang were under the jurisdiction of the Silver Shield Division.
Li Jiajing, who was stripped of his official position, was originally one of the three giants of the Silver Shield Division.
Zhao Xinkuo strode into the main hall. Even in his casual clothes, he could not hide his cold and fierce general aura.
"Your humble servant pays his respects to Your Majesty."
Emperor Taining: "Have the imperial guards who fainted in Yanghe Hall woken up yet?"
Zhao Xin bowed and reported, "Not yet."
"But I have made a discovery."
As he spoke, Zhao Xin took out a token from his inner jacket pocket.
"Someone forged General Zhang's token to mobilize soldiers to the Yanghe Hall. As for what they did, we'll have to wait until the guards wake up to find out."
Xiao Qi took the token and presented it to the emperor.
The emperor examined the surface texture closely with his hand, and thought, "It does seem to be real."
"What did the imperial physician say?"
Zhao Xin: "The imperial physician said that the symptoms of the unconscious guard resembled those of being drugged, but it will take time to investigate the ingredients of this drug. At present, we have only confirmed that this drug is not on the list of the Imperial Hospital."
"interesting."
There seemed to be many clues, but at this moment, not a single useful one could be extracted.
Just as the emperor was deep in thought, Consort Qi, Zhao Ning, suddenly knelt on the ground. Her movement was abrupt, and her knees hit the ground without any cushioning.
"Mother."
The Third Prince, Song Yunhua, worried that his mother had hurt herself, and couldn't help but cry out.
The emperor looked over impatiently, and Wu Ying's eyes flickered, a coldness flowing out.
"What is it?" the emperor asked in a low voice.
"I have something to report."
"Speak."
"When my personal attendant went to the Imperial Kitchen to get pastries, he saw several maids heading in the direction of Yanghe Hall."
"They...they..."
Consort Qi seemed somewhat afraid, and her speech began to falter.
Emperor: "Speak."
This single word seemed to be squeezed out through gritted teeth.
Consort Qi let out a short breath: "They said those maids were extremely fast-moving and looked like they knew martial arts."
"One of them looks somewhat familiar."
“Go on.”
"That maidservant, she was..."
In the Empress's palace.
Just as he was about to utter this sentence, the emperor stopped him.
"You may all leave."
"Your Majesty, the Second Prince and Showa will remain."
The crowd dispersed, and Ninglu Palace returned to tranquility; one could even hear a pin drop.
After a moment, the emperor spoke first, "Wu Ying, is there anything else you want to say?"
Wu Ying stared coldly at the emperor, and after a few moments, she smiled, "What does this concubine need to say?"
"I have only lost a piece of jade."
Even now, Empress Wu is still stubbornly denying everything.
The emperor was utterly enraged. He picked up the jade pendant and threw it at her. It was too fast; Wu Ying had no time to react, and the pendant struck her face without any cushioning.
It then fell to the ground and broke into pieces.
After leaving Ninglu Palace, Consort Cen and Consort Qi walked together at the forefront.
They were to walk together through the long, dark corridor, and then each go their own way at the end.
As a breeze ruffled Consort Cen's hair, she suddenly smiled and asked, "Did you really encounter Empress Wu's people?"
The sound was faint, barely audible to the two of them.
Consort Qi looked up at her in the direction of the voice; her face was fair and her lips were curved in a smile.
He exuded an air of composure and ease, with none of the trembling and timidity he had shown when kneeling before the emperor.
Does it matter?
It's not important.
The important thing is that His Majesty believed it, and Empress Wu will pay the price for everything she did.
Consort Cen paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Aren't you afraid she'll hold you accountable later?
Consort Qi: "How could I not be afraid? But if I don't fight, what good will my fate be?"
When the emperor is alive, having a son is a source of reliance.
Once a new emperor ascends the throne, having a son is like having a sword hanging over one's head; when it will fall depends entirely on the new emperor's mood.
"Cen Jingxi, if you were ever in a high position, would you let Yunhua and me off the hook?"
Consort Cen paused for a few breaths, as if seriously considering her question: "I will."
Upon hearing this, Consort Qi subtly curved her lips into a smile: "I can do that too."
But she didn't trust the Empress and the Second Prince, so they had to dismount.
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