Chapter 22 The traitor Yinreng returned to the main hall and sat on the kang (heated brick bed)...
Yinreng returned to the main hall, sat on the kang (heated brick bed), and glanced at Chen He with a half-smile. "Chen He, your skills are still lacking. You are far inferior to your master."
Chen He's face turned pale and then red. In front of Yinreng, he slapped himself hard across the face and shouted, "This servant is useless! I've been hunting geese all day, but I never expected to get pecked in the eye by one!"
He actually knew all along that someone was going to cause trouble for Xian'an Palace. At the time, Lin Quan'an was recuperating outside the palace, and several lowly eunuchs had been openly and secretly inquiring about Xian'an Palace from him. Lin Quan'an was quite loyal; he kept them calm while having someone pass on a message to him. That's why he gave the eunuch some face and allowed him to return to the palace to serve again.
Of course, he didn't dare hide this from the Second Prince, and brought it up directly. The task then fell to him. He immediately approached his master, Zhao Chang, hoping to use his connections to investigate the matter thoroughly.
Although his master, Zhao Chang, was nominally the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department's workshops, he secretly acted as the emperor's eyes and ears. His master had even asked him, "Little Hezi, how do you plan to investigate?"
At that time, Chen He said, "I think we should investigate further." The matter originated from outside, so shouldn't we carefully investigate what those eunuchs who came to question us were involved in? Besides, he knew in his heart that if anyone wanted to smear Xian'an Palace, who else could it be but that man outside?
Zhao Chang glanced at him and said, "Since you've put it that way, then let's do it your way."
But as he left, he saw his master shake his head behind his back. At the time, he didn't understand what it meant, but now he understood: his master was saying that he wasn't skilled enough.
Chen He felt a mix of emotions, which ultimately coalesced into a nameless anger. He had sensed something was amiss when Cheng Gege spoke. The kitchen's affairs were easy to handle; daily records were kept, both those within the regular quota and those outside, and anyone with a discerning eye could easily find the details. As for spreading rumors about a dismissed eunuch, that was plausible, since he was expelled from Xian'an Palace, implicating the master. But how could everyone know that Cheng Gege had been implicated on her very first day?
There's a traitor inside Xian'an Palace!
Yinreng said calmly, "To repel external threats, we must first secure internal stability."
Chen He knelt down and said firmly, "This servant understands, this servant will definitely find the traitor." He bowed, his eyes flashing coldly, and left like a general heading into battle. Good heavens, he'd like to see who dared to cause trouble right under his nose!
In the west wing, Cheng Qianyue began to dream.
In her dream, Emperor Kangxi sat majestically on his dragon throne, surrounded by several indistinct, gloomy eunuchs. She knelt there like a little chick, listening to Kangxi's furious rebuke of her for corrupting the deposed crown prince, followed by his authoritative order for her to commit suicide. Then, several eunuchs presented her with items to make her act with dignity: a tray containing a gleaming dagger, poisoned wine emitting black smoke, and a very long white silk ribbon. Cheng Qianyue didn't want to die, so she scrambled to her feet and ran, desperately calling for help. Two junior eunuchs restrained her, while two others tightened the white silk ribbon around her neck.
"don't want!"
Cheng Qianyue woke up with a start, her heart pounding. For a moment, she couldn't tell where she was, and then she couldn't help but cry softly. A short while later, Ruoyun's concerned voice came from outside the tent: "Princess, what's wrong?"
Cheng Qianyue sobbed, "It's nothing, just a nightmare." She reached out and pulled up the bed curtains, seeing a hazy green view outside, and asked, "What time is it?"
Ruoyun said, "It's past midnight."
Cheng Qianyue did the math in her head; it was only a little past four. The dream was too terrifying for her to sleep, so she whispered, "Light the candles, I'm not going to sleep."
Ruoyun gave a soft "Ah!" and helped her get up. After Cheng Qianyue got dressed, Lin Quan'an brought in hot water. After pouring the hot water, he stood behind the screen and told her something: "When I got up to go to the tea room to boil water, I saw Eunuch Chen He leading people to the back."
Cheng Qianyue was applying a hot towel to her face when she heard his words. Her hand paused involuntarily, and her chaotic thoughts suddenly became clear. She murmured, "It was the people from Xian'an Palace who spread the gossip."
She sat blankly in front of the dressing table when she suddenly heard footsteps outside, and then Yinreng came in. "Why are you awake so early?" he asked, pulling her hand to sit on the edge of the bed.
Cheng Qianyue raised her head, asked nothing, and just looked at him with her wet eyes.
Yinreng felt he was almost melted by her pitiful eyes, and wanted to coax her, saying, "I heard you turned on your lights early, so I came to check on you. Why are you crying again?"
Cheng Qianyue couldn't smile despite his gentle words. Not wanting to spoil his mood, she quickly turned her face away to wipe her tears. Yinreng, however, reached out and turned her head back, personally wiping away each of her tears, and sighed with affection.
"Didn't you say you were going to write a letter of apology last night?" Yinreng changed the subject. "It was written first thing this morning. Do you want to see it?" Sure enough, Cheng Qianyue finally reacted upon hearing this. Her eyes gleamed with hope as she cautiously asked, "May this servant see it?"
Yinreng felt he had captured everyone's attention with just one sentence, so he smiled and said, "Of course you can see it. Why don't you have someone bring it over?"
Cheng Qianyue bit her lip. To be honest, she wanted to look but didn't dare to. Finally, she asked him, "Is he here to apologize on behalf of this servant?"
Yinreng nodded and ordered someone to bring the memorial from the study.
Cheng Qianyue grabbed his hand and said with her eyes lowered, "Don't let anyone take it. This servant dares not look. As long as this servant knows that you have apologized for this servant and said some kind words, that's enough." For the first time, she held onto Yinreng's hand tightly and said hesitantly, "This servant can only beg for your grace."
“Yes, go ahead,” Yinreng said.
With a sob in her voice, Cheng Qianyue said, "If I am no longer able to serve you in the future, could you please help take care of my family and send them the jewelry I usually use as a keepsake?"
Yinreng's heart skipped a beat at her dying words of entrusting her with his son. He was about to get angry, even though he had told her everything was alright, but she still didn't believe him. However, seeing her frightened look, he felt a pang of pity and finally agreed in a gentle tone.
Cheng Qianyue finally breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that as long as her family members were not implicated, she would accept being sentenced to death.
At this moment, Chen He strode in from outside, but instead of going into the inner room, he knelt outside the partition door of the gauze-covered cabinet and said, "Master, this servant has successfully completed the task and found out the truth."
Cheng Qianyue immediately stopped crying and looked outside.
Yinreng asked in a deep voice, "Who is it?"
Chen He hurriedly replied, "It was the lowly eunuch Xiao Yingzi. He took money from others and kept leaking information about our palace."
Yinreng simply said, "I understand."
Compared to Yinreng's unwavering composure, Cheng Qianyue was completely stunned upon hearing the news. She had actually guessed a few people in her mind, but she never expected that it would be Xiao Yingzi who betrayed her in the end. She dared to say that she had never done anything to wrong Xiao Yingzi. She had previously taken him to play slingshot, and because he often helped Ruoyun carry her meals and helped her move, she had also given him money every now and then.
Seeing her so dejected, Yinreng unusually refrained from further comforting her. Instead, he said, "It's because you don't act like a mistress that these disloyal servants were able to take advantage of you." Thinking about it, it made sense. In the months she'd been in the palace, he'd never seen her punish anyone, let alone utter a harsh word. He figured it was because she was too docile that the servants dared to bully her and spread rumors about her.
Cheng Qianyue wanted to refute him, but couldn't find the words. Finally, she said, "I'm good to them, which shows I'm kind. They sold my information for money, that's their bad behavior." She didn't admit she had done anything wrong; she could only say she was like a farmer who encountered a snake and got bitten.
Yinreng was momentarily speechless at her words, finally saying, "Fine, fine, they're bad, utterly bad." He even joked, but before leaving, he couldn't help but add, "But you should also reflect on your actions. What will you do if something like this happens a few more times?"
Cheng Qianyue sat on the bed, still unable to come to her senses even after Yinreng left. Yes, what would she do if it happened a few more times? She turned her head weakly, looking at Ruoyun standing beside her and Lin Quan'an kneeling under the pillar. Her gaze drifted outside, and thinking of the group of rough eunuchs in the backyard, she couldn't help but shiver.
She thought she had learned another lesson today. In the palace, personal connections were limited, merely icing on the cake; the only keys to success were power and money. If someone took all the benefits, even those closest to her might betray her without hesitation.
"Have you told anyone about what's going on around me?" Cheng Qianyue asked softly.
Ruoyun quickly knelt down and said in a deep voice, "Princess, this servant has never betrayed her mistress." She was the princess's personal maid. If the princess lost face, then she, as the personal maid, would lose even more face. So how could she have the nerve to tell outsiders about something like the princess being cheated?
Lin Quan'an went even further, kneeling and crawling to her feet to pledge his loyalty, saying, "If it weren't for you, this servant might be dead. If this servant were to betray his master, he would be worse than an animal."
Cheng Qianyue took a deep breath, slowly closed her eyes, and whispered, "If there was anything wrong, I will let it go, but such a thing must never happen again. If I fall, you who serve me closely will probably not fare well either."
She realized she couldn't rely solely on personal relationships to make them obey; she also needed power and threats. There's a saying, "a combination of kindness and severity," and she thought she should learn it well.
Ruoyun knew immediately that Cheng Gege didn't believe them, but there was no use saying anything more at this point. She exchanged a glance with Lin Quan'an and said helplessly, "Yes."
After a while, Jing Shun came in from outside, bowed and said, "The traitor in Xian'an Palace is to be tortured. Second Master has ordered all servants to go and witness the execution."
Cheng Qianyue nodded and waved to them, saying, "Go on." She didn't want them to serve her right now; she just wanted some peace and quiet.
At this moment, the court cane was set up in the front courtyard. Xiao Yingzi had already been punished, and now she was being punished in front of all the eunuchs and maids of Xian'an Palace.
The surrounding eunuchs all had bruises on their faces. They had just entered through the side door that morning when they were dragged to the back room and beaten without being asked a single question. Later they learned that one of them had betrayed his master, which was why they were in this predicament.
They didn't know if the prince would take a dislike to them and send them back to the Imperial Household Department. If that happened, they would be completely finished. Therefore, they felt no sympathy for Xiao Yingzi lying on the long bench. Instead, their eyes were filled with venom, and they wished they could kill him themselves.
The eunuch used all his strength to execute him; the paddle struck the man with a dull thud, and soon his waist and abdomen were a bloody mess. Little Yingzi's mouth was stuffed with a tattered rag, and each blow made a whistling sound, like the winter wind, but he quickly lost the strength to utter a sound.
Chen He coldly watched, his face grim as he swept his gaze over the group of palace maids and eunuchs, and said sternly, "Watch closely, this is what happens to a disloyal servant!"
Jing Shun, holding a tray of more than a dozen silver ingots he had collected from Xiao Yingzi's residence outside the palace, circled around and sneered, "If you have the guts to take money from outsiders, you should at least have the life to spend it."
After the final sixty strokes of the cane, Xiao Yingzi was barely breathing. He had been pushed off the ground whole, and if it weren't for the fear of staining the ground with blood, there wouldn't even be a mat for him. The eunuch casually wrapped him up and dragged him out.
After Chen He finished his business, he returned to the main hall to report. Yinreng casually handed him two memorials and said, "We will not continue to investigate this matter. Send this up." One memorial was about Cheng Qianyue, and the other was about someone bribing a eunuch in Xian'an Palace.
He thought that he was just a bald prince now, and it was enough for him to just clear out Xian'an Palace; the rest was not his concern.
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