Chapter 424 Love Letter
It was getting late and the dew was heavy. A cold wind suddenly blew outside Xiyan Palace, and the lanterns in the corridor suddenly went out.
Concubine Rou always had trouble sleeping at night, so she opened the window to get some fresh air. Suddenly, she saw a few ghostly green lights floating in the yard, drifting silently, sometimes far away, sometimes near.
A gust of cold wind blew by, the ghost fire went out, and a faint whimpering sound came from the darkness, like a woman sobbing, or the wailing of a wronged soul.
Concubine Rou's pupils dilated, she screamed and fainted from fright.
The next day, Concubine Rou fell ill with a high fever. Her entire face turned red and she kept talking nonsense.
Jinse was very anxious and quickly sent someone to call the imperial physician.
At first, the eunuch on guard tried to make excuses and was unwilling to call the imperial physician, until Jinse gave him a heavy purse, and he finally went to run errands.
They waited for most of the day before an imperial physician finally arrived.
Although the person came, the attitude of the imperial physician was much worse than before. Although Jinse was angry, she had to endure it all for the safety of her own queen.
The imperial physician gave a perfunctory prescription and left.
After taking the medicine, Concubine Rou's fever subsided, but she was still drowsy.
That night, there was a sudden knocking sound outside her bedroom, and then the candle in the room was blown out, plunging it into darkness.
The maid who was on night watch was woken up. When she opened her eyes, she saw a figure with disheveled hair flash past the window. The maid was so scared that she screamed and fainted.
Concubine Rou was frightened again, and her condition, which had just improved, relapsed.
For several days in a row, many palace maids and eunuchs saw ghosts and heard them calling for their lives. For a while, everyone in Xiyan Palace was in a panic.
Huipin got the news and came to visit Concubine Rou in person.
When she saw Concubine Rou's appearance, her brows immediately furrowed.
"How did you take care of her? How did you let the imperial concubine become so seriously ill?"
Jinse's face was also haggard. She knelt down and apologized, "Empress Hui, it's not that I haven't served you wholeheartedly, but there have been ghosts in Xiyan Palace recently. Your Majesty has been unable to sleep peacefully every night, and her illness has been recurring."
Huipin was surprised and puzzled. "Haunted? Why would there be a ghost out of nowhere?"
Jinse said with hatred, "Someone must be plotting against my queen. Concubine Hui, you have a kind heart, please save my queen!"
Huipin looked embarrassed. "The matter of ghosts is of great importance. I cannot make the decision, but I can report to Concubine De and ask her to take charge of this matter."
At present, the harem is managed by three concubines: Defei, Shufei and Xianfei, but in fact, Defei is the leader. The other two concubines are not in good health and have gradually stopped taking care of things.
Jinse was immediately grateful and nodded repeatedly.
Huipin indeed reported the matter to Defei very quickly.
The matter of ghosts can be big or small. Now that the matter has been reported to her, she can no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb.
Otherwise, if the matter gets out of hand, she will be held accountable by the emperor.
Thinking of this, Concubine De said, "Since that's the case, let's go to Xiyan Palace and take a look. I'm old and have never been afraid of ghosts and gods, but I want to see who dares to play tricks behind the scenes."
It just so happened that Zhao Zhaoyi came to pay her respects to Concubine De. Seeing that they were going to Xiyan Palace, Zhao Zhaoyi showed concern and went with them to see what was going on.
Seeing Concubine Rou, they were all secretly shocked.
She had lost a lot of weight and her cheeks were flushed red.
She was so frightened that she muttered nonsense.
Defei came forward and directly brought the head of the court, Xu Guozhen.
With so many eyes watching him, Xu Guozhen became more cautious than ever and did not dare to be careless at all.
De Fei asked, "How is Concubine Rou doing?"
Xu Guozhen replied respectfully, "Noble Concubine Rou has a high fever caused by a shock. I will prescribe some medicine to calm her nerves and reduce her fever, but she must not be frightened again. Otherwise, even the best medicine will be of no use."
Concubine De summoned the palace maids from Xiyan Palace and asked about the specific details of the haunting in recent days. Everyone told her story one by one.
A palace maid looked as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Concubine De was displeased. "Just say whatever you want to say. Why are you hesitating?"
The palace maid then spoke in a low voice, "I once encountered a wronged spirit who said he was from Diannan Prefecture and was killed by the King of Diannan. He wanted to seek revenge on the Imperial Concubine..."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expressions changed and the atmosphere became subtle.
Concubine De sneered in an ambiguous manner, "This wronged spirit has traveled a thousand miles to the capital to seek revenge. He's certainly far enough away not to worry about getting lost and finding the wrong person."
The purpose of this wronged ghost is so clear that it actually arouses suspicion.
We are all smart people, who can't see the twists and turns here?
Zhao Zhaoyi's eyes flashed.
The palace maid was so frightened that she trembled and dared not speak again.
Huipin continued, "The affairs of the previous dynasty should not be discussed casually in the harem. This ghost seeking revenge sounds alarmist, but in reality, I'm afraid it's just someone deliberately creating mystery. In my opinion, it would be better to search Xiyan Palace. If someone is stirring up trouble, they will definitely leave clues."
Zhao Zhaoyi agreed, "Noble Concubine Rou has been frightened many times. I'm afraid the problem lies in her bedroom. We should first search her bedroom thoroughly and eliminate any hidden dangers."
Defei thought it made sense, so she agreed and sent palace servants to start the search.
Jinse's face was not looking good, but the order for the search was issued by the highly respected Concubine De, and it was for the sake of her own queen's health, so she had no right to object.
In order to avoid suspicion, she couldn't even participate and could only wait.
Half a minute later, the palace maid who had searched Concubine Rou's palace came out hurriedly with a strange look on her face.
De Fei asked, "But what dirty things were found?"
The maid hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping herself. "Your Majesty, I did find some things, but... I dare not dispose of them carelessly. I beg you to move over and take a look for yourselves."
Her appearance made everyone more suspicious.
Everyone immediately stood up and went into the inner room.
On the dressing table, there was an open red lacquered wooden box, which contained a stack of letters and other miscellaneous items.
When Jinse saw the box, her face changed instantly and she seemed to become very nervous.
Zhao Zhaoyi caught a glimpse of Jinse's expression and the corners of her lips curled up quickly.
It seems that their plan succeeded.
De Fei stepped forward and asked, "What is this?"
The palace maid whispered, "I have some knowledge of literature. I just took a peek and saw that those letters seemed to be love letters between the man and her..."
Several people's expressions suddenly changed.
De Fei angrily scolded, "How dare you! Lu Qiao, how dare you slander the Imperial Concubine? Who gave you the courage?"
Lu Qiao knelt hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I wouldn't dare to say such nonsense even if I had ten times the courage. If you don't believe me, you can check the letters yourself."
Concubine De picked up the letter with a sullen face.
The paper of several letters has turned yellow and the few words on them are a little blurred, but it does not affect the overall reading quality. The deep affection is evident on the paper.
What Luqiao said was true. This was clearly a love letter written by a lover to Concubine Rou!
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