Chapter 759 Unbearable
Before we knew it, it was the next morning.
When Shang Ruyi woke up, it was not yet fully light. Yuwen Ye had just finished practicing his sword in the garden and was wiping his sweat as he returned. At that moment, Shang Ruyi also got up, and Tu She'er and the others immediately brought her hot water and towels. After the two finished washing up, they sat down together for breakfast.
Yuwen Ye usually eats very quickly, probably because of his military background. He rarely spends time chewing slowly, especially when he has to go to court or go out on business. Often, he has already finished his bowl of porridge before Shang Ruyi has even had a few sips.
But today, he ate very slowly.
After finishing his meal, he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he rinsed his mouth and sat down with Shang Ruyi by the bedside to drink tea and rest, showing no intention of leaving.
Shang Ruyi asked, "Aren't you going out today?"
Yuwen Ye shook his head: "There's no morning court session today, and—"
As he spoke, he looked up at the outside again. Although there was no sign of anyone coming to summon them outside Qianqiu Palace, both of them were certain that Aunt Hui would find a way to let His Majesty the Emperor know about the death of that little palace maid, Jianchun. And since the Emperor had only recently ascended the throne, the fact that someone had died in the palace would surely make him inquire about it.
Therefore, Yuwen Ye stayed in Qianqiu Palace to prepare for dealing with this matter.
Shang Ruyi couldn't help but frown slightly and said softly, "It's better to leave this matter to me."
From childhood to adulthood, whether it was her father and mother who died young, or her aunt and cousin who loved her dearly, no matter how much these people cared for her, they all conveyed a message to her in their words and actions: a woman cannot be idle. Even if she cannot go to the battlefield to fight, as a human being, she should shoulder the responsibilities she should bear.
Moreover, she is now the Queen Consort of Qin.
Yuwen Ye had to attend court every day, train troops in the army, manage relationships with civil and military officials, and consider when to send troops and when to fight a decisive battle with the Eastern Capital. As the Princess Consort of Qin, her job was naturally to remove his worries and allow him to fight without burdens.
As for Chu Ruoyan's matter, as well as the actions of Aunt Hui and Yu Mingyue, that was something she should handle.
Moreover, if Yuwen Yuan were to intervene in this matter, the worst outcome would only be a "conflict" between her and Chu Ruoyan if Yuwen Ye was not present; however, if Yuwen Ye were present, the outcome would more or less affect Yuwen Yuan's opinion of Yuwen Ye.
After all, if you can't even manage your own small family, how can you manage a larger country?
Therefore, she didn't want Yuwen Ye to get involved in this kind of thing.
Hearing her say that, Yuwen Ye pursed his lips slightly, but still managed to suppress the faint smile. He coughed twice, covered his mouth, and cleared his throat before saying, "Do you really think I want to get involved in these things?"
"That--"
"I'm staying with you because you're pregnant."
"..."
"Once you have children, I won't bother with these things anymore; you'll have to handle them yourself."
Shang Ruyi pouted.
Pregnancy doesn't mean she's become stupid. Whether in the past or now, she believes she can handle anything. Yuwen Ye's words are clearly an insult.
Just as she was about to retort, they heard footsteps approaching. Looking up, they saw Chang Wan leading Eunuch Yu and two junior eunuchs in. Upon seeing them, Eunuch Yu immediately stepped forward and bowed, saying, "We apologize for disturbing Your Highness and the Princess."
Yuwen Ye said, "Eunuch, come here. Does Father have any instructions?"
Eunuch Yu replied, "Yes. His Majesty has summoned Prince Qin and his consort to the Liangyi Hall for an audience."
Finally, it's here.
The two had been preparing for a long time, so they didn't show much surprise at this moment. However, Shang Ruyi took a deep breath, slowly stood up, and the two straightened their clothes. Then, led by Eunuch Yu, they walked out of Qianqiu Palace together.
Before long, they arrived at the Liangyi Hall.
Today, since there was no court session, Yuwen Yuan had a rare moment of leisure. However, when he entered the Liangyi Hall, he could still smell a faint scent of ink in the cool air. He also saw several stacks of documents on the table in the hall, indicating that Yuwen Yuan had gotten up early to review memorials and read documents.
But now, he has put his paper and pen aside and rested his hands on the edge of the table.
On one side of the main hall, Aunt Hui and the two maids from the Hundred Blessings Hall stood by.
The two immediately stepped forward to pay their respects. Although Yuwen Yuan's expression was not very good, he still spoke gently when he saw Shang Ruyi: "Ruyi, I have long said that there is no need to kneel anymore. You are pregnant and should take good care of yourself."
Shang Ruyi said respectfully, "Thank you, Father Emperor."
Yuwen Yuan nodded, and when he looked at them again, his gaze became serious and solemn. He said, "You should know why I have summoned you here today."
Shang Ruyi deliberately turned to look at Aunt Hui beside her, and then said, "Your subject understands. It's because of Jian Chun's corpse in the dry well behind Baifu Hall."
Aunt Hui hurriedly smiled and said, "Your Majesty, this matter should have been investigated and dealt with by this servant; however, this servant failed to handle it properly, causing Your Majesty to know about it and to inquire about it in the midst of your busy schedule. It is all this servant's fault."
Shang Ruyi and Yuwen Ye exchanged a glance but remained silent.
This is something they could have come up with.
The death of a palace maid in the palace did not necessarily have to be reported to Yuwen Yuan. However, if Aunt Hui wanted to bring the matter to the emperor's attention, she had hundreds of ways to make the emperor "accidentally" find out about it. In return, she would only be accused of "improper handling".
As expected, Yuwen Yuan waved his hand dismissively.
He looked at Yuwen Ye and said, "That dead Jianchun, I heard, was a palace maid from Jinyuyuan. I should have asked her mistress, but—after thinking about it, I'd rather ask you two before making any decisions. What happened to Jianchun?"
After saying that, he looked at Shang Ruyi with a flickering gaze: "You, you all, do you know?"
Before Yuwen Ye could speak, Shang Ruyi immediately stepped forward, bowed her head and said, "Father, I know about this matter."
"Oh? When did you find out?"
"It was yesterday, after the palace servants of Baifu Palace dragged the body out of the dry well."
After saying that, she deliberately turned to look at Aunt Hui again: "I specially sent my maid Wo Xue to check. Aunt Hui should have met with her at that time, right?"
Aunt Hui smiled and said, "Yes."
Yuwen Yuan asked, "Then, do you know why this palace maid died in the dry well behind the Hundred Blessings Hall?"
Shang Ruyi calmly said, "Your subject had never seen Jianchun before, so I do not know the cause of her death. But I heard from Woxue that when Aunt Hui saw the body yesterday, she told her that Jianchun had sneaked off to Baifu Hall to play and then accidentally fell into the well and died."
As she spoke, she looked at the two palace maids standing behind Aunt Hui: "You both heard this yesterday, didn't you?"
The two palace maids were the ones who discovered the body earlier. They were indeed not far from the well yesterday. Although they were terrified, because it involved a life, and Aunt Hui was the one investigating the matter, they heard their conversation clearly.
At this moment, when the Princess Consort of Qin asked, the two of them naturally dared not be negligent and hurriedly nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes."
Aunt Hui's face immediately darkened.
Her intention in saying those words yesterday was to provoke Wo Xue into fighting her, or to frighten Wo Xue into reporting back to Shang Ruyi, causing them to lose their temper and intervene in the matter, thus making a big fuss about it. However, she did not expect that not only the Princess Consort of Qin, but even that little palace maid Wo Xue was so calm and composed. Despite several attempts to test and provoke them, they remained unmoved. And now, Shang Ruyi is trying to cover up the matter by taking advantage of what she said yesterday.
This won't do.
Thinking of this, Aunt Hui immediately forced a smile and said, "Yesterday, I was just making wild guesses."
She continued, "Since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has been kind and benevolent, treating everyone in the palace well. I believe that these palace maids should be grateful and will not cause any unsavory incidents."
She emphasized the word "unbearable" several times.
Yuwen Yuan's brows furrowed slightly.
Indeed, since ascending the throne, his rule has been characterized by external tensions and internal laxity. After all, it was a chaotic era, with war raging everywhere and warlords vying for power. He needed to devote the greatest amount of energy to resisting external enemies, whether it was Xue Xian's army advancing eastward to Fufeng or Wang Shao and the Turkic alliance that later occupied Taiyuan, the birthplace of the dynasty. Internally, especially in the palace, the people were all like frightened birds, trembling with fear, because of the harsh rule of Chu Yang. He had to let them know that he was a different emperor from Chu Yang and would not treat the people in the palace so harshly in order to give them confidence in this new dynasty.
His governance has always been consistent, even during times of plague.
But unexpectedly, this happened.
Moreover, the one who died was none other than the concubine of the Prince of Qin in the Golden Jade Garden, someone who served the former princess. This is why he didn't go directly to Chu Ruoyan, but instead summoned Yuwen Ye and Shang Ruyi first to inquire about her.
He absolutely would not allow such an "unseemly" thing to happen in the palace.
Upon hearing the harsh word "unbearable" from Aunt Hui, Yuwen Ye frowned slightly and said, "Aunt Hui, you are exaggerating. If this little palace maid really did fall into the dry well and die by accident, it was her own carelessness. My father is kind-hearted and cannot bear to punish her, and I will not punish her severely either. Simply return the body to her family and give them a few taels of silver for funeral arrangements. How can you say it's 'unbearable'?"
Aunt Hui immediately smiled and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I may have been a bit harsh. But—if that palace maid really did fall into the dry well by accident and died accidentally, and no one else was to blame, I would never have dared to say such a thing."
"..."
"Unfortunately—"
Yuwen Ye stared intently at her: "What's the pity?"
Aunt Hui said, "It's a pity that the coroner examined the palace maid's body and it seems that she did not die in an accident."
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