Chapter 754 Corpse
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi immediately sat up from the bed, but because she got up too quickly, she felt dizzy and almost fell back down.
Tushe'er rushed forward and supported her: "Your Highness, be careful!"
Shang Ruyi took her arm, took a deep breath to calm herself down, nodded, sat up straight, and asked, "Where is she? Where was she found?"
Tushe'er's face showed a mixture of regret and anger as he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "It was found in an abandoned dry well behind the Hundred Blessings Hall."
"A dry well?"
Upon hearing those two words, Shang Ruyi's face darkened again. The ominous premonition that had been lingering in her heart for the past few days finally materialized into reality. She said in a deep voice, "The person is already—"
Tusheer said, "He's dead."
"How did he die?"
"I don't know yet. It was a eunuch from Baifu Palace who heard about it and secretly came to tell me."
"Help me up, I'll go take a look."
Upon hearing this, Tushe'er was so frightened that she hurriedly pressed down on Shang Ruyi: "Your Highness, you can't go. That thing is unlucky. What if it comes after you?"
Shang Ruyi was both annoyed and amused: "What's so unlucky about it?"
Seeing that she was about to get up again, Tushe'er was unwilling to let her go. He forcefully pressed her back down and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, you are pregnant now, which is different from usual. You cannot go to see those people."
"..."
Hearing this, Shang Ruyi finally came to her senses.
Actually, she wasn't too concerned about this. Besides, back in Fufeng, she burned tens of thousands of soldiers of the Longxi Army to death with a single arrow. According to the army, she herself was cursed, so why would she be afraid of the corpse of a little palace maid? But Tushe'er wouldn't let go, and since she was in the early stages of pregnancy, there might really be something wrong with her.
After thinking for a moment, he called over Wo Xue: "Go and take a look. If anything seems amiss, report back to me immediately."
Wo Xue accepted the order and turned to leave.
Although she was petite, she walked quickly and soon arrived at the back of the Hundred Blessings Hall, where a crowd had already gathered. Several eunuchs were pointing and gesturing around the well, while two palace maids stood to the side, pale-faced and clearly too frightened to speak. Several other palace maids were with them, offering words of comfort.
A corpse lay on the ground near the well.
Wo Xue recognized that it was Jian Chun, who served at Jin Yu Yuan. Although she hadn't seen her many times, her memory was much better than that of ordinary people. Even though the face was stiff, deathly pale, and the eyes were wide open and bulging, and although it looked like it had been dead for several days, it still had the expression of fear before death, which was quite frightening. Yet, she still recognized it easily.
At a glance, it became clear that Jian Chun was lying on the ground with his neck twisted at an odd angle.
Wo Xue squatted down, about to reach out and touch it, when the little eunuch beside her immediately said, "What are you doing? This is dirty."
Wo Xue didn't speak, but pinched her neck with two fingers and immediately felt something. She turned to look at the people beside her and asked, "Who found this?"
One of the palace maids, her face deathly pale, said, "I, we..."
"How was it discovered?"
"Yes, I saw it by accident."
"careless?"
Wo Xue raised an eyebrow, then glanced at a basket beside the palace maid, filled with tattered vegetable leaves, and seemed to understand something. Turning her head to look at Jian Chun's corpse, she noticed one of her hands was clenched into a fist, as if she were holding something.
Just as Wo Xue was about to reach for it, she heard footsteps behind her and a familiar voice said, "Make way, all of you make way!"
Looking back, I saw Aunt Hui leading a few eunuchs over.
Upon seeing her, Aunt Hui hesitated for a moment, but immediately said, "Stop making a fuss here, everyone move aside." Then she directed the eunuchs behind her, "Go over there quickly and carry her to the back."
Several eunuchs rushed over immediately and pushed Wo Xue aside.
Wo Xue struggled to her feet, but Aunt Hui had already walked up to her. Before Wo Xue could dodge, she bowed to her and said, "Aunt Hui—Master Han."
Aunt Hui smiled and said, "Miss Wo Xue, what brings you to the Hundred Blessings Hall?"
Wo Xue said, "I heard something happened here, so I came to check it out."
Aunt Hui said, "Whatever happens here has nothing to do with you. Besides, it's best not to get involved in such matters."
Wo Xue smiled and said, "The matter of Baifu Palace is naturally unrelated to this servant. However, this place is not far from Qianqiu Palace, and the noise here is disturbing the Princess Consort's peace. Therefore, I was specially sent to take a look, lest something really happens and it affects the Princess Consort's pregnancy, and the Emperor will blame us."
A shadow crossed Aunt Hui's eyes when the princess's pregnancy was mentioned.
She said coldly, "Then you should go back and serve the princess. Don't talk nonsense or spread rumors that might disturb the princess."
As they spoke, several eunuchs had already lifted the corpse onto a wooden plank, covered it with a white cloth to conceal the deceased's gruesome face, and were about to leave. Wo Xue thought for a moment, then deliberately turned her back to the eunuchs, blocking their path, and smiled at Aunt Hui, saying, "I just don't know how Aunt Hui plans to handle this matter. This is what the Princess Consort asked me to inquire about."
Aunt Hui frowned: "Does the Princess know that someone has died here?"
Wo Xue said, "Yes."
Aunt Hui thought for a moment and said calmly, "Once I find out the identity of the deceased and the cause of death, I will naturally report to the Princess. But it seems," she said, turning her head to look at the dry well again, "that these little palace maids sneaked here to play and accidentally fell in. When you go back, tell her gently. If you really frighten the Princess, it will be because you did not serve her well enough."
Wo Xue smiled and said, "Yes."
Aunt Hui said, "Get out of the way."
Wo Xue replied, "Yes."
After she finished speaking, she turned to the side, letting the eunuchs walk past her. However, as the wooden plank carrying the corpse passed by her, a gust of wind suddenly blew by, and a stiff hand slid off the plank and hung in mid-air.
Aunt Hui frowned: "Cover it up quickly, don't let anyone see it."
One of the eunuchs obeyed the order and hurriedly stepped forward to tuck the hand back under the white cloth.
Aunt Hui turned and glanced at Wo Xue, then at the frightened palace maids and eunuchs around her, and asked, "Who just discovered the body in the well?"
The two palace maids were so frightened that they could only tremble as they stepped forward to answer. Aunt Hui said coldly, "Come with me. I have some questions for you."
The two had no choice but to lower their heads and follow.
Wo Xue remained silent, staring intently at their departing figures, a sharp, cold glint suddenly flashing in her eyes.
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