Chapter 12 The Twelfth Kill

There is more than one kitchen in the East Courtyard.

In addition to the large kitchen that only cooked for Zhou Xunran, there was also a small kitchen that cooked for the servants. Xiaoyu first took a look around the small kitchen, where the chefs and the maids who cut vegetables and cooked the fire were busy.

It was almost dawn, and the servants in the East Court had to eat breakfast so that they would have the strength to go out to work.

Compared to the small kitchen, the large kitchen was much quieter. Chef Zhang was standing in front of the chopping board, chopping vegetables expressionlessly.

The kitchen only serves Zhou Xunran, and he doesn't eat much, so Chef Zhang naturally doesn't need to worry.

"Hey, Xiaoyu is here, but has the prince told you what you would like to eat?" Chef Zhang said with a smile when he saw Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu was looking for the herbs she needed in the kitchen. "No, I saw that the prince had been coughing for the past two days, so I came here to make him some medicine soup. Chef, do you have any basil leaves?"

She wants to make basil and salted pork porridge.

Chef Zhang said, "Yes, let's not talk about anything else. Our kitchen has the most complete range of things in the palace. You can find whatever you want."

Xiaoyu smiled and raised her thumbs up: "As expected, you are the chef Zhang!"

As she spoke, she walked towards where she had stood last time while cooking.

"You are flattering me. We prepared so much just to give the prince more food." Chef Zhang said, pointing to the pot that was burning on the other side. "I am going to make breakfast for the prince. The pot and chopping board are both in use. Miss Xiaoyu, you go over there."

Xiaoyu was a little surprised. The last time she came to the East Courtyard and said she wanted to cook for the prince, Chef Zhang was very cooperative from beginning to end. He even took out the chopping board and knife that were never allowed to be touched and let her use them as she pleased.

This time I just used his pot to cook porridge, and he rejected my request?

Xiaoyu calmly withdrew her gaze and came to the place Chef Zhang pointed to. Fortunately, although the location was different, all the ingredients for the casserole were available.

It was not laborious to make the basil and salted pork porridge. Xiaoyu spent half an hour until the rice porridge in the pot was bubbling. She then wrapped the handle of the casserole with a thick cotton cloth, poured the porridge into the bowl, and covered it with the bowl lid. Then she stood up with a smile, "Grandma, I'm leaving first. Please clean up here."

The fire-maker waved her hands and said, "Leave it all to me, young lady, just take care of it."

Chef Zhang had already prepared Zhou Xunran's breakfast, but no one in Qingwu Court came to bring the food, which meant that Zhou Xunran was busy at the moment, or didn't want to eat. Chef Zhang, as usual, asked someone to keep the fire burning to ensure that the food would not get cold.

When Xiaoyu was about to leave, she didn't know if she heard it wrongly, but she heard Chef Zhang snort in contempt.

She thought it was strange. Why did Chef Zhang, who was so kind and smiling to her before, now behave insincerely towards her?

Forget it. It’s more important to deliver porridge to my junior fellow apprentice.

Xiaoyu put the bowl of porridge on the tray and walked out with it.

The big kitchen and the small kitchen were not far from each other. After such a long time, it was already dawn. The people in the small kitchen had already collected the food boxes from the servants and were gathering in groups of three or four to wash the food.

As she passed by them, Xiaoyu heard a woman talking about Madam Zhang in the West Courtyard. She slowed down her pace and listened carefully.

"That's right. Although Madam Yao looks frail and can fall down easily in the wind, she has a loud voice. Last time my daughter brought them food, she heard her quarreling with Madam Zhang. Both of them had red faces and thick necks. It seems that even a beauty can be the same as us when she gets angry."

Someone immediately asked, "Aren't they sisters? Why are they fighting?"

The woman who had spoken first said, "What else could women quarrel about? Of course it's about men."

"Because of the prince?"

"Of course they are. They have been in the palace for almost half a month, but they haven't even seen the prince. They must be very anxious. Madam Yao is a dancer. She wanted to dance for the prince to win his favor, so she wanted Madam Zhang to accompany her dance. Madam Zhang didn't want to, so they had a quarrel. In the end, the sisters fell out and left in a bad mood."

"Why wouldn't Madam Zhang be willing? Maybe the prince has taken a fancy to both sisters and wants to have sex with them at night."

"Oh, shut up, our prince's body is so bad that it would be troublesome for him to have sex with two women, let alone two women."

The two of them looked at each other, covered their mouths and laughed secretly, without even noticing that Xiaoyu was walking behind them.

Xiaoyu walked back with the porridge, thinking about the conversation between the two old women. She always felt that there was something wrong with Madam Yao. Maybe Madam Zhang's death was indeed related to Madam Yao. What's worse, Madam Yao was trying to get rid of the suspicion by blaming Sixteenth Sister.

Now that Madam Zhang and Sixteenth Sister are gone, she is the only woman left in the West Courtyard. If my junior brother wants to find a woman, he can only find Madam Yao.

No, she had to tell the news to Chief Steward Wang as soon as possible.

Xiao Yu hurried back to Qingwu Courtyard.

Unlike when she left in the morning, there were six more guards in the courtyard, guarding the gate and the wall, and two standing at the bedroom door.

When she approached the door, she saw Zhou Yi, whom she hadn't seen for two days, coming out of the room. "Guardian Zhou, what happened? Why are there so many guards?"

Zhou Yi hid his right hand behind his body and said with a smile, "The Secretary of the Privy Council and the Privy Envoy are here to discuss important matters. The matter is urgent, and the palace is still waiting for a reply, so the prince asked them to come directly."

Xiaoyu was not interested in what he said. "Will the prince be able to come out for a while? He hasn't eaten yet. How can he be so hungry?"

"It's okay. I've already told the kitchen to deliver breakfast as soon as the meeting is over."

Zhou Yi is different from Lin Kun who is always cold and indifferent. Even when he doesn't speak, he always has a smile on his face, which makes people feel comfortable with his smile.

Xiaoyu spoke more unconsciously: "The prince is not in good health, we have to pay more attention to the three meals a day. Here, this is the basil and salted meat porridge I cooked this morning. Guard Zhou, after the prince has finished his meeting, you can bring it in and let the prince drink it as soon as possible."

Zhou Yi did not reach out to take the tray: "Why don't you deliver it yourself?"

Xiaoyu joked, "Why, are you still afraid that I will poison the prince?"

Zhou Yi: "The girl is joking."

He stretched out his left hand to take the tray. "Are you going out for something?"

Xiaoyu nodded: "Go find the chief steward. Use both hands to catch it. One hand can't hold it."

"It's okay, I can handle it."

Seeing that he could hold the tray steadily with one hand, Xiaoyu hurried to find the steward and turned away without paying attention to his abnormality.

Unexpectedly, she missed the opportunity.

The chief steward left the house a quarter of an hour ago and no one knew where he went.

Xiaoyu was worried about this matter, and thought that Zhou Xunran was in a meeting and probably wouldn't need her, so she simply sat at the gate of the mansion, waiting for the chief steward to come back.

She waited for less than a quarter of an hour before the butler came in through the side door.

Xiaoyu jumped up from the ground and walked towards him: "General Manager! I have something to tell you."

The only thing they had in common during the past two days was the death of Madam Zhang in the West Courtyard. After hearing what Xiaoyu said, the chief steward asked directly, "Is it about Madam Zhang?"

The little fish nodded.

The chief executive said: "Needless to say, the truth has been revealed."

"So soon? How did Mrs. Zhang die?" Xiaoyu asked anxiously.

The chief steward walked forward along the gravel road. "It was Madam Yao who drugged Madam Zhang and dragged her to the beam with a rope after she fainted, pretending that Madam Zhang committed suicide. After Madam Zhang's body was found, she wanted to put the blame on Madam Cheng, killing two birds with one stone. This way, she would be the only woman left in the West Courtyard."

This result is similar to what Xiaoyu guessed.

"What about Madam Yao? How is your Highness going to deal with her?"

This matter could not be hidden from her, so the chief steward told the truth directly: "Originally, they were going to be beaten to death. But after all, they were awarded by the emperor, so they had to go through with it. The prince asked me to send the two wives, Zhang and Yao, to the Ministry of Justice, along with their confessions. As for the subsequent judgment, it depends on the Ministry of Justice."

Xiaoyu breathed a sigh of relief, as if this matter had nothing to do with Sixteenth Sister.

"General Manager, you are so efficient. In just one night, you found out that Madam Yao was the mastermind behind this. At that time, I thought she was pitiful and weak, and I really didn't expect her to be so cruel."

Wang Dachang showed a trace of embarrassment on his face. "No, I didn't find anything overnight. It was when Master Wang woke up in the morning that he asked me to call Madam Yao. The two of them talked in the room for a few words, and then Madam Yao confessed everything."

"What did they say?"

The chief steward shook his head: "I don't know."

Xiaoyu had never imagined what words would make Madam Yao admit to the murder. She said in admiration, "Your Majesty is really amazing."

The chief eunuch was also proud of it, "That's right, otherwise, if it weren't for the prince, there would be so many things going on in the court, how long would it take to finish them?"

Xiaoyu nodded in agreement, and brought out her real purpose: "General Manager, what about Madam Cheng? How is she now? Can I go and see her?"

The smile on the chief steward's face immediately returned to calm: "Although this matter has nothing to do with Madam Cheng, it is a fact that she quarreled with Madam Zhang. The prince ordered that she be confined in Yiren Courtyard to reflect on her mistakes. No one can see her in the next three months. Xiaoyu, the prince does not like people who disobey his orders, so you'd better not have any ideas, understand?"

Xiaoyu wanted to say that she was different from others, so her junior brother would not be angry with her. Then she thought of what he said before, that after all, he was the Regent King, and he was in charge of so many people, so he should try his best not to let outsiders know that he was his junior brother.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Chief Steward."

Xiaoyu decided to wait until this incident had passed before going to see Sister Sixteen.

However, it seemed that she had overlooked some details.

Xiaoyu thought about it for a long time, and when she returned to Qingwu Courtyard and saw Zhou Xunran, she suddenly realized that what the general manager meant was that Sixteenth Sister would be locked up in Yiren Courtyard for the next three months, and no one would be able to see her.

The palace was heavily guarded, and Xiaoyu was well aware of this, and I believe that Sixteenth Sister felt the same way. Otherwise, she would not have gone seven days without seeing her junior brother after entering the palace as a concubine.

That is to say, for at least these three months, Sixteenth Sister cannot leave Yiren Courtyard, and thus cannot assassinate her junior brother.