Changchun Palace.
Su Jinxiu sat gracefully by the window, slowly savoring the newly arrived tribute tea. Although the autumn wind outside carried a chill, her heart was burning with warmth.
Qiu Yue, a trusted palace maid, strode in from outside the palace, her face filled with barely suppressed excitement. She whispered a few words in her ear.
"Oh?" Su Jinxiu put down her teacup, raised an eyebrow slightly, and a faint but meaningful smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. "The gold-threaded seven-jeweled phoenix hairpin... is it lost?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Qiu Yue's voice was tinged with schadenfreude. "I heard that Kunning Palace is in complete chaos. The Empress was furious and severely punished several palace servants. Now she has locked herself in her bedchamber and is not seeing anyone."
"Hmph, serves you right!" Su Jinxiu snorted softly, her eyes practically overflowing with pleasure.
Lin Wanwan! You've finally met your match!
She knew the significance of that phoenix hairpin better than anyone. It was a powerful artifact used by her aunt to display royal majesty and suppress the Empress. Lin Wanwan had dared to lose it; this was tantamount to handing them a huge handle against her!
Losing a gift bestowed by the emperor is, at best, a dereliction of duty; at worst, it is a grave disrespect to the Empress Dowager!
Su Jinxiu could almost foresee the embarrassing situation that Lin Wanwan would face next.
She was secretly pleased with herself, plotting how to use this incident to maximize her benefits, when a eunuch's voice came from outside the hall announcing his arrival.
"Your Majesty, Ruolan, the head maid of Kunning Palace, requests an audience."
Su Jinxiu and Qiu Yue exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.
They arrived so quickly?
Su Jinxiu immediately concealed all the smugness on her face, and put on her gentle, quiet, and unassuming expression again, saying softly, "Please come in."
As soon as Ruolan entered the hall, she knelt down with a thud, her face filled with panic and helplessness, her voice trembling with tears: "Your Highness, Consort Xian! Please go and see our Lady! Our Lady... our Lady is about to fall ill from worry!"
Su Jinxiu immediately stood up, quickly stepped forward, and personally helped Ruolan up, her face showing just the right amount of concern and surprise: "What happened? Tell me slowly, what exactly happened to the Empress?"
Ruolan then recounted, with sobs, the story of the lost phoenix hairpin and how the Empress was furious, fearful, and remorseful, embellishing the details.
"...Her Majesty says that in this palace, the only sister she can trust and discuss countermeasures with is you. Please, Your Majesty, for the sake of our past relationship, please go and persuade our Her Majesty!" Ruolan said, about to kneel down again.
Su Jinxiu quickly grabbed her, her face full of "sincere" worry: "Look at what you're saying! With such a big thing happening to my sister, how can I, as her younger sister, sit idly by! Quickly, prepare the carriage, I'm going to Kunning Palace immediately!"
Her tone was urgent, and her expression was worried; anyone who saw it would have to praise her for her "deep sisterly affection."
When Su Jinxiu arrived at Kunning Palace with her entourage, the oppressive and tense atmosphere there only amplified her sense of pleasure.
The bedchamber was dimly lit and filled with a somber atmosphere.
Lin Wanwan sat on the soft couch, looking utterly lost. She had removed all her ornate hairpins and ornaments, and her long hair was loosely draped over her shoulders. Her beautiful face was now completely bloodless, and her eyes were red and swollen, filled with panic and helplessness.
Seeing Su Jinxiu enter, she seemed to see a lifeline, and suddenly stood up from the soft couch, running towards her barefoot.
"younger sister!"
Lin Wanwan grabbed Su Jinxiu's hand with such force that it seemed she wanted to crush her bones.
"Sister, you've finally arrived!" Her voice was hoarse, filled with heavy sobs, and her whole body was trembling slightly, perfectly portraying the image of someone who was "completely lost and helpless."
Su Jinxiu was startled by her appearance, but inwardly she sneered.
Lin Wanwan, where has your usual arrogance gone? Where has your sharp tongue that left me speechless in the Imperial Garden? It turns out, without His Majesty's protection, you're nothing but a crybaby!
Although she felt contempt in her heart, Su Jinxiu's face revealed immense tenderness and concern. She took Lin Wanwan's cold hand in her own and helped her sit down on the soft couch, gently comforting her:
"Sister, don't worry, don't get sick from worrying! No matter how big the problem is, I'm here for you. We'll figure something out together!"
Her voice, like the gentlest breeze in spring, carries a reassuring power.
However, under her "gentle" comforting words, Lin Wanwan cried even harder.
"A way? What other way is there?" Lin Wanwan shook her head in despair, tears streaming down her face like broken beads. "That's the 'Golden Seven-Treasure Phoenix Hairpin'! It was a gift from the Empress Dowager herself! Now... now it's just gone like this, without any explanation. How... how am I supposed to explain this to the Empress Dowager!"
She cried uncontrollably, her words filled with endless fear of being punished by the Empress Dowager.
As Su Jinxiu gently patted her back to help her catch her breath, a fleeting, almost imperceptible glint of joy and calculation flashed in her eyes.
Explain? Of course you can't explain!
Losing something so valuable, the Empress Dowager will surely take this opportunity to get rid of you, a thorn in her side!
She felt incredibly relieved, but her words were even more "sincere" as she comforted her: "Sister, calm down. The thing was lost in the palace, so it must still be there. Perhaps some careless servant just accidentally put it in the wrong place, and will find it in a little while?"
"Impossible!" Lin Wanwan immediately denied her statement, crying out, "I've already had Ruolan lead people to search the entire Kunning Palace from top to bottom, even the rat holes, but there's nothing there! It must be... it must have been stolen by some damned thief!"
A calculating glint flashed in Su Jinxiu's eyes.
They stole it? That's even better! The Empress's rule is lax, and there's a traitor in the palace. This crime is far more serious than simple dereliction of duty!
She "enthusiastically" began to analyze various possibilities for Lin Wanwan, from the oversight in the warehouse management to the theft by palace servants, and whether outsiders had infiltrated... Her analysis was logical and clear, as if she were really racking her brains to come up with a plan for Lin Wanwan.
However, every possibility she analyzed ultimately pointed to one conclusion—Empress Lin Wanwan could not escape blame.
As Lin Wanwan listened to her "analysis," she grew increasingly desperate. Finally, she collapsed onto the soft couch, muttering to herself, "It's over...it's all over...the Empress Dowager will never let me go..."
Seeing Lin Wanwan's completely devastated state, Su Jinxiu knew it was time to offer her real "advice".
She gripped Lin Wanwan's hand tightly and said with an extremely serious expression, "Sister, crying won't solve anything now. I'm telling you something from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you won't take offense."
Lin Wanwan raised her teary eyes and looked at her dependently: "Sister, tell me, I'm listening."
“Sister,” Su Jinxiu lowered her voice, her expression grave, “this matter is of great importance, and I’m afraid it can’t be kept from the Empress Dowager. Think about it, with such a commotion, it’s impossible that Cixi Palace wouldn’t have heard about it. Rather than waiting for our aunt to send someone to interrogate us, it would be better… it would be better if we took the initiative to ‘confess’ sooner.”
She patiently persuaded her: "Think about it, it's always better to admit your mistake than to be exposed. If you act even more sincere, your aunt is always kind-hearted. Considering it's your first offense and you're so terrified, perhaps... perhaps she can be lenient with you?"
What a clever "well-intentioned" reminder!
These words sounded perfectly reasonable, completely putting themselves in Lin Wanwan's shoes. But in reality, they were the most vicious death warrant!
She was urging Lin Wanwan to hurry up and go to Cixi Palace to offer her own neck to the Empress Dowager's blade!
Looking into her beautiful eyes, which were filled with "sincerity" and "concern," Lin Wanwan felt a cold smile in her heart.
Su Jinxiu, the fish has finally taken the bait.
Moreover, the bites were faster and harder than she had imagined.
This performance of "sisterly affection" by the two of them on the same stage was truly wonderful.
Seeing the look on Lin Wanwan's face—a mixture of being persuaded and hesitant—Su Jinxiu knew it was time for her to leave. She had said what she needed to say; staying any longer would only seem contrived.
She stood up, tidied Lin Wanwan's disheveled hair one last time, and made a final "sincere" farewell.
She held Lin Wanwan's hand and solemnly promised, "Don't worry, sister. This matter is very important. I will keep it a secret and will not tell anyone a single word. Just relax and calm down. Maybe it's just a false alarm and we'll find it soon."
After she finished speaking, she offered a few more words of comfort before turning around and slowly leaving with her maid.
The door to the sleeping quarters was closed again.
The hall fell silent instantly.
Just moments before, Lin Wanwan had been crying her heart out, as if the sky had fallen. But the moment the palace doors closed, all the panic, fear, and vulnerability on her face vanished without a trace.
She slowly sat up straight and carefully used a handkerchief to wipe away the carefully disguised tear stains on her face.
She watched Su Jinxiu's departing figure, her eyes, which had just been filled with tears, now held only a cold, death-like smile.
Keep your mouth shut?
She dared to bet that within half an hour, Su Jinxiu would transform into the fastest "informer," embellishing everything that had happened here and "reporting" it all to the Empress Dowager in Cixi Palace.
An even bigger storm is coming.
She had already laid out her net, waiting for them to walk right into it.
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