Feng Wan wiped her eyes with her handkerchief, "Alright, I didn't punish or blame you, why are you crying?"
The young palace maid sobbed twice, her voice trembling as she explained, "Your Highness, I truly didn't mean to..."
"I know, I didn't say you did it on purpose. Besides, the gilded ball is no longer hot, it didn't hurt me at all," Feng Wan said gently, her words full of understanding.
The young palace maid stared at her in disbelief, her eyes wide: "This servant didn't hurt Your Highness? That gilded ball..."
Her gaze unconsciously drifted to the gilded ball lying on the ground. Just now, it had burned a lock of Lady Jieyu's hair, so why did Lady Jieyu say it wasn't burning anymore?
"What, you don't believe me? If you don't believe me, pick it up and try it." Feng Wan still had a smile on her lips.
The little palace maid's mind went blank, and she was somewhat at a loss. However, Feng Wan's patience quickly ran out. Her phoenix eyes, which had been smiling like crescent moons, were now filled with icy coldness.
Her tone turned cold: "I'm telling you to pick it up."
The young palace maid picked up the gilded ball from the ground as instructed, holding the handle with both hands, but a more stern command floated down from above: "I'm telling you to hold it and try it out!"
The little palace maid fell backward and slumped to the ground, looking up at Feng Wan in despair.
Seeing that she was really not going to do it, Feng Wan turned to another palace maid running beside her and said, "Aren't you two good sisters? Why don't you try to help her?"
"This servant...this servant did nothing wrong, Your Highness..." The little palace maid was very aggrieved and frightened, tears streaming down her face.
"Oh, you don't want to help her try, then you should just tell her to listen and try it herself."
The innocent palace maid hesitated for a moment, then turned around and grabbed the hands of the palace maid who had made the mistake, forcibly pressing them down to cover the gilded ball!
"ah--"
The woman's cries of pain echoed throughout the palace, startling Zuo Huan, who had just climbed onto the back wall. He frowned, and a vein throbbed on his forehead.
Because the woman's voice was so shrill, he couldn't tell if it was Consort Wen or someone else. But thinking that the Emperor had gone to Consort Wen's place tonight and wouldn't come here, and that Prince Xiaoqiaochuan had left a message saying he would see him at Lanxinzhai, a sense of panic arose in his heart.
Without a moment's delay, Zuo Huan leaped into the backyard of Lanxinzhai. Dressed in a black outfit, he used the shade of the trees to easily slip to the west window of Consort Wen's bedroom.
As he always did when he came, he grasped a withered branch that flew out of the window and tapped it lightly twice on the window paper as a signal.
Inside the hall, Feng Wan, who was reprimanding a rash palace maid, glanced at the west window, then turned back to look at the maid's hands, which were now scalded and bloody. She covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, disgusted by the smell of roasted meat.
"Look at you, you silly girl. Since you've already tested that the gilded ball and found it to be scalding hot, why are you still holding onto it for so long?"
The palace maid who committed the offense was already in so much pain that she was about to faint, and she had no strength left to reply.
Feng Wan shook her head with a hint of regret and instructed the innocent palace maid, "Alright, take her away to apply the medicine. There's no need for anyone to serve me here tonight."
The innocent palace maid helped the offending palace maid to her feet and then took her leave.
After seeing the two off, Feng Wan went to the west window and opened one of the windows. Immediately, a figure in black flashed past and jumped in. She then casually closed the window again.
After landing, Zuo Huan immediately looked around. Seeing that the Prince of Qiaochuan didn't seem to have been there, he turned to Feng Wan and asked, "What happened just now?"
Feng Wan knew he was asking about the cry of pain from the offending palace maid, but she didn't take it seriously at all, and just smiled and said, "It's nothing, just a palace maid making a mountain out of a molehill."
Knowing that it wasn't Feng Wan who was in trouble, Zuo Huan had no intention of asking any further questions. He nodded to show his relief: "It's good that nothing happened."
Feng Wan raised her hand and gently lifted Zuo Huan's chin: "What, are you worried about me?"
Zuo Huan was about to say "Of course," but then he suddenly remembered that tonight wasn't for passionate flirting with her. He gently brushed Feng Wan's restless fingers away, his tone heavy:
"Perhaps someone already knows about our affair."
Feng Wan was taken aback, the tenderness in her eyes vanishing instantly: "Who?"
"King Xiaoqiaochuan, Li Qingchen."
"How is this possible!" Feng Wan refused to believe it.
Her master had only given her the order to seduce Zuo Huan, the deputy commander of the Forbidden City, a matter that occurred just a few days ago, and she had been extremely cautious each time. After all, regaining the emperor's favor was no easy feat, and she didn't want to give anyone another handle to use against her, thus becoming a prostitute for all to have again.
“The Prince of Qiaochuan doesn’t go to the palace every day, and even if he did, he wouldn’t come to the inner palace. How could he have found out?”
Faced with Feng Wan's question, Zuo Huan couldn't answer it either. He turned his back to her, his expression serious: "I don't know either, but he deliberately left me a note today."
"A note?"
Zuo Huan pulled the crumpled note from his sleeve and handed it to his side. Feng Wan eagerly took it and quickly glanced at it.
"Will you meet me at Lanxinzhai tonight at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM)?"
She read the words aloud in disbelief, and just as she finished speaking, there was a loud "bang" behind her, followed by a gust of night cold air rushing in!
Feng Wan turned her head and saw the candlelight on the lamp tree flickering violently, creating a dizzying blur of light and shadow. Before she could figure out what was happening, Zuo Huan suddenly pulled her behind him to protect her.
She stopped behind Zuo Huan and then realized that the west window had opened again and another person had flown in!
The man turned around, and Feng Wan recognized his master immediately when she saw the blue-faced ghost head on his face.
"Who are you?!" Zuo Huan shouted sharply, making a move to step forward and fight the unidentified person, but Feng Wan grabbed his arm from behind.
"Don't lay a hand on me! This is my savior."
Zuo Huan was stunned. "My savior?"
He had no idea that the charming and alluring woman behind him was Feng Wan; he only assumed she was Wen Chan, the daughter of the Wen family, the woman he had long admired.
A young lady from a wealthy family, raised in seclusion in the past and now in the palace, is always treated with the utmost respect and privilege. How could she possibly encounter danger or have a savior?
Feng Wan didn't know how to explain for a moment, and only looked at her master with a hint of resentment: "Why did you come at this time?"
Based on her understanding of her master, who was always meticulous in his actions, how could he have ordered her to seduce Zuo Huan and then put her in this inexplicable situation?
The atmosphere inside the hall was tense, but Feng Wan's so-called "master" seemed completely oblivious to the awkward situation. He took two steps forward, getting closer to Zuo Huan and Feng Wan, and slowly and calmly pulled off the ghost head mask, pinching the lower edge of it.
Although Feng Wan called him "Master", she had never seen what he looked like under the mask. Now that he had taken off the mask and revealed his true face, she and Zuo Huan were both stunned.
"It's you?!"
The two spoke in unison.
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