Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 122

Chapter 122: The Only One Who Wouldn’t Is Xi Xiurong.

When news of the disturbance in Kunning Palace reached the Central Province Hall, the Imperial Guards had already begun to take action.

Xiao Rongzi realized something at once. He immediately took out the registry and began checking, page by page, the recent deliveries sent to Chu’an Palace, but could find no mistakes.

At that time, Liu Anshun was also in the hall. His face was cold and grim as he shook his head at Xiao Rongzi, his voice devoid of emotion.

“If they came targeting the Central Province Hall, how could they possibly let you find a flaw so easily?”

Liu Anshun lifted his head to gaze at the sky, a sigh escaping in the depths of his heart.

If it were ever discovered that the Central Province Hall had colluded with Chu’an Palace, Liu Anshun could well imagine what the outcome would be.

The Central Province Hall had, throughout history, only ever sworn loyalty to the Emperor.

A flicker of cold light passed through Liu Anshun’s eyes, concealed without the slightest hint on his face.
His voice was low and vicious, “Search every corner of the hall. If you find anything suspicious, dispose of it immediately.”

Witnesses?
Physical evidence?

Liu Anshun knew all too well, there was no way Su Jieyu alone could meddle in the Central Province Hall. There must be someone aiding her from the shadows.

Such methods, was Yun Si the only one who found them familiar?

Hadn’t that Consort De’s trademark always been leaving no proof of death?

A glint of cold malice hid in Xiao Rongzi’s eyes. Without a word, he nodded and silently withdrew.

Since Su Jieyu had set up a trap, intending to bring down both the Central Province Hall and Chuan Palace, she would never leave no trace at all, otherwise, how would the Emperor be able to “discover” that the two had connections?

Xiao Rongzi moved swiftly, not daring to waste a moment. Taking a few trusted men, he immediately began to search the entire Central Province Hall.

He had to get ahead of the Imperial Guards!

Inside Kunning Palace, the Empress was still unconscious, with the imperial physicians working with all their might to save her. Outside, undercurrents surged, and even the air seemed to carry a chilling severity.

Lu Dongxun led the Imperial Guards back, and, to be safe, ordered them to search all the palaces before focusing the investigation on the source of the poison.
There were only a few places from which medicine could come within the palace.

The Imperial Infirmary kept all its medicinal records on file, clear at a glance.

As for purchases brought in through the palace gates, ever since Xi Xiurong had nearly miscarried last time and the palace staff had been reorganized, no one dared to commit wrongdoing again so soon. Everything brought into the palace underwent strict inspection.

Following the trail of the investigation, Lu Dongxun arrived at the Central Province Hall.

Aside from the Imperial Infirmary, only the Central Province Hall could supply medicine, after all, all the affairs, great and small, in the palace passed through its unified distribution.

As he stepped into the Central Province Hall, Lu Dongxun’s gaze darkened slightly, and in his mind there involuntarily flashed the look the woman had given him before he left.

Her face had been so pale, her apricot eyes brimming with tears, holding both hope and unease as she looked at him, Lu Dongxun had thought, in that moment, there was no one in this world who could refuse her.

The Central Province Hall, having received the news, was far from quiet. Liu Anshun stood at the entrance with the palace staff guarding the doors. When he saw Lu Dongxun, he bent respectfully with courtesy.

“Lord Lu.”

Lu Dongxun cupped his hands. “Eunuch Liu, His Majesty has ordered me to investigate the case of Her Majesty the Empress’s unconsciousness. I must ask Eunuch Liu to grant me some convenience.”

Liu Anshun stepped aside at once.

“As it should be.”

Lu Dongxun swept his gaze over the people in the hall. All of them kept their heads lowered and eyes docile, but on closer inspection, one could see a few craning their necks to peek over. There was some nervousness, but not much, more of a bystander’s detachment, with not the slightest sense that the matter in Kunning Palace could have anything to do with them.

“Is everyone here?” Lu Dongxun asked.

Just as the words left his mouth, several people came quickly from the corner of the covered corridor.
Xiao Rongzi, leading a few eunuchs, approached in haste. His expression was unpleasant, and the moment he drew near, he said hurriedly,

“Eunuch, this servant is late. This fool suddenly got a stomachache, and I had to search high and low before I found him.”

It seemed as though he was speaking to Liu Anshun, but in truth he was explaining why he had arrived late.

Liu Anshun and Xiao Rongzi exchanged a fleeting glance without a trace of expression. Without even lifting his eyelids, Liu Anshun sighed and put on a courteous tone. “Lord Lu, everyone from the Central Province Hall is here. Whatever you need, the Central Province Hall will certainly give its full cooperation!”

But Lu Dongxun was not listening to these words. The instant he saw Xiao Rongzi, he suddenly realized something.

Others might not recognize Xiao Rongzi, but Lu Dongxun had seen him before at his younger sister’s side.

His breathing tightened ever so slightly.

No wonder the woman had been nervous.

So she truly did have someone in the Central Province Hall.

Xiao Rongzi and the woman had once worked together in Heyi Hall. Though their stations were now different, neither of them would ever abandon such a connection.

At his side, a soldier from the Imperial Guards spoke in a low voice, “My lord, shall we search?”

Lu Dongxun came back to himself, a flicker passing imperceptibly through his eyes. His voice held not the slightest pause or hesitation.

“Search.”

He said, “You take men to search the east side. I will personally lead a team to search the west.”

No one voiced any objection.

Lu Dongxun gave Xiao Rongzi a deep look. The west side he spoke of was precisely the direction from which Xiao Rongzi had just come around the corner of the corridor.
Before beginning the search, he turned to Liu Anshun.

“Eunuch Liu, please bring out the registries from all the palace halls for the past few months.”

Liu Anshun wore a look of concern, but he was not the least bit nervous. He only nodded. “Rest assured, my lord, this servant will have someone fetch them at once.”

Lu Dongxun, taking two Imperial Guards with him, went straight to the covered corridor, searching each side chamber along the way. Once they had passed the corridor, all three of them instinctively covered their noses.
One of the guards scowled.

“What is that smell? Did someone spill a chamber pot?”

Lu Dongxun also furrowed his brows tightly.

Beyond the corridor lay an open space, surrounded by crabapple trees, shrubs, and flowerbeds. Not far away should have been the latrine. Somehow, someone seemed to have knocked over the waste bucket.

The moment Lu Dongxun and his men stepped into the area, it felt as if they had walked into a cesspit. The stench surged up endlessly, turning their faces pale and making them want to retch.

Lu Dongxun’s eyes kept sweeping the surroundings. The soil was damp, and it really did look as though a latrine bucket or chamber pot had been overturned.
Yet he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.

One of the men said, “Hurry up and check. I can’t stand this much longer!”

Those who could serve as close attendants before the hall were without exception from good families. They could stomach blood, but filth was another matter entirely. After only a few moments, their faces were turning alternately green and white.

Lu Dongxun nodded, but then his peripheral vision caught a slight irregularity in the soil. Looking closer, he realized that what was out of place was the end of a sleeve protruding from the earth. His breath suddenly caught. Sweeping his gaze over the damp soil all around, a flash of insight came to him, he finally understood why the ground was wet.

And he also understood why the stench of waste hung so thick in the air.

If not for this, the moment they stepped in they would have been greeted by the smell of blood.

Lu Dongxun’s hand, hidden in his sleeve, moved almost imperceptibly to grip the hilt of his knife. As the other two prepared to step closer, he quietly moved forward and pressed his foot over that bit of sleeve.

In that instant, he could almost hear his own heartbeat, pound, pound, so hard it nearly made him lose his grip on the hilt. Someone tapped his shoulder, and his whole body tensed.

“My lord, there’s nothing over there. How about here?”

Lu Dongxun lifted his eyes, his tone steady and composed. “Nothing.”

The man, still pinching his nose, looked irritated.

“In that case, let’s get out of here quickly.”

Lu Dongxun gave a low reply and, falling one step behind, moved his foot subtly to grind the soil back over that bit of sleeve before following his colleagues away.

Before leaving, he glanced back. Behind the corridor, all was still and serene, flowers in full bloom, and apart from the stench, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Yet his heart sank lower and lower.

He had always known that once you entered the palace, it was as deep as the sea, but he had not realized that the court could be such a place that devoured people whole.

His younger sister had died within the palace’s hidden darkness.
And her?

She drew envy at every turn, plots and schemes came one after another, how much longer could she possibly survive?

Lu Dongxun did not know.
Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on his knife. Even now, he could not say what exactly he felt for her.

Was it only because of his sister that he thought she was different?
Or was it because the impression she made on him at their first meeting had been too deep, leaving him unable to forget?

When he returned to the front of the hall, Lu Dongxun accepted the registry Liu Anshun had sent over.
Treating it as evidence, he planned to take it back to Kunning Palace. Before doing so, he leafed through it once, but found nothing amiss.

Lifting his head, he looked, whether at Liu Anshun or at Xiao Rongzi, it was hard to tell.

“The smell in the back courtyard is far too strong. No matter how urgent things are, one shouldn’t be overturning a latrine bucket.”

It sounded as if he had found nothing and was making a relaxed joke.

Xiao Rongzi’s breathing, however, paused for a moment. He almost could not stop himself from looking up to gauge Lu Dongxun’s expression, when suddenly Eunuch Liu’s voice rang out, steadying him.

“The servants don’t know better. We’ve made Lord Lu laugh at us.”

Lu Dongxun said nothing more and turned to leave the Central Province Hall.

The Imperial Guards who had been searching the other palaces also returned. Nothing had been found in Chu’an Palace. Aside from that string of agate beads in Kunning Palace, there was nothing, by any measure, suggesting Chu’an Palace was anything but spotless.

Lu Dongxun’s hand tightened around the registry, veins standing out on the back of his hand.

After the Imperial Guards left, a palace servant in the Central Province Hall glanced around and said in a low voice to Liu Anshun,

“Eunuch, Xiao Songzi is missing.”

Liu Anshun appeared completely unaware, only furrowing his brows and speaking curtly, “Missing? When you find him, send him to see me!”

Xiao Rongzi kept his head lowered and said nothing.

He knew very well, no one in the palace would ever find Xiao Songzi again.

The palace servant saw his face grow cold and dared not speak further.

As the doors of the Central Province Hall were about to close, Liu Anshun lifted his head, glanced at the darkness outside that seemed ready to swallow a man whole, and his eyes remained calm.

—

In Kunning Palace, everyone was waiting for the Imperial Guards to return. As time dragged on, even the air seemed to grow restless and uneasy.

Yun Si appeared unwell, brows drawn faintly as she lowered her head listlessly.

Only Qiu Yuan could see that the handkerchief in her mistress’s hand was being clenched until it was wrinkled all over.

It was not known how long had passed before the sound of footsteps came from outside. Lu Dongxun returned with the Imperial Guards. Upon entering, he cast an almost imperceptible glance at the woman, she seemed quite uncomfortable, even the color of her lips pale.

No one noticed; he quickly withdrew his gaze without sparing Xi Xiurong another look, and respectfully presented the registry.

“Your Majesty, this is the registry this minister brought back from the Central Province Hall.”

Xu Shunfu received it, and Lu Dongxun dropped to his knees with a thud. “This minister is incompetent and could not find who harmed Her Highness the Empress.”

At these words, before anyone else could react, Su Jieyu blurted out, “Impossible!”

Her sharp cry startled the crowd, leaving them uneasy as they looked at her. Su Jieyu ignored everyone else, glaring angrily at Lu Dongxun.

“You came back from the Central Province Hall, how could you have found nothing?!”

The Central Province Hall was no ordinary place. Liu Anshun was an old servant who had attended the late Emperor. Catching him in wrongdoing was nearly impossible.
From the start, they had set the trap so that if no incriminating evidence could be found, they would simply create some.

Su Jieyu thought of how the personnel in the Central Province Hall had been placed there by Qi Guipin, and she suddenly looked toward her.

But she did not expect Qi Guipin to have her head lowered, her face lifeless, as though lost in thought, completely unconcerned with the shifting situation in Kunning Palace.

When Yun Si heard Lu Dongxun’s words, she finally loosened her grip on her handkerchief. Then she suddenly looked up at Su Jieyu.

“Su Jieyu seems very certain the Central Province Hall would produce results?”

Panic stirred in Su Jieyu’s heart.
How had the Imperial Guards not found Xiao Songzi?

Wasn’t he supposed to be discovered, leading to proof that Yun Si had colluded with the Central Province Hall to harm the Empress?

Where had things gone wrong?

Su Jieyu realized that in this moment everyone was looking at her, and because of Yun Si’s words, suspicion seemed to be taking root. The taut string in her mind suddenly snapped.

No longer caring about evidence, she raised her voice, “Xi Xiurong, why pretend to be innocent?”

“Back then, Liu Anshun saved you, let you stay in the Central Province Hall for two years, and then had you sent to serve in Heyi Hall. Everything went smoothly for you all the way. Do you dare say you’ve never had dealings with the Central Province Hall?!”

The entire palace erupted in whispers, Xi Xiurong and the Central Province Hall?

Yun Si seemed utterly incensed, her chest rising and falling sharply as her face turned cold.

“How dare you!”

“The Central Province Hall has always been loyal only to His Majesty. If this palace could so easily sway its loyalty, would that not be treating the Imperial family’s authority as nothing? What exactly is your aim?!”

As she finished, Yun Si clutched Tan Yuanchu’s sleeve, biting her lip uneasily as she looked at him, as though afraid he might believe Su Jieyu’s words.

Tan Yuanchu took her hand and, with only a cold glance at Su Jieyu, said,

“Even at the brink of death, you feel no remorse.”

Su Jieyu had not expected him to be so resolute in disbelieving her. Her heart ached fiercely, and she began to cry.

“Every word I’ve said is true! If Your Majesty doesn’t believe me, you can go investigate! Who in the entire Central Province Hall doesn’t know that when Yun Si was there, Liu Anshun treated her exceptionally well, never letting her do a bit of work? In name she was a servant, but she lived more comfortably than a mistress!”

“For so long, everything has gone her way, do you truly feel no suspicion of her at all?!”

At the words “everything has gone her way,” Tan Yuanchu felt only irony.

He had seen with his own eyes the path the woman had walked, through repeated brushes with death, shunned by all, her life nothing but hardship. How could anyone call that “everything going her way”?

Not long ago, she had nearly miscarried right beside him.

Now she had even been framed for plotting to harm the Empress, and everyone seemed eager to take her life!

And yet Su Jieyu dared to call all this “everything going her way”?

As for Liu Anshun supposedly treating the woman exceptionally well, Tan Yuanchu had never taken it to heart.
He had always understood her, winning someone’s favor was never difficult for her.

Liu Anshun had managed to remain in charge of the Central Province Hall for so long; clearly, he was no fool.

He would never do something that dug his own grave.

Yun Si, too, felt sickened by Su Jieyu’s so-called “everything going her way.” People only saw her current glory, forgetting entirely how humble and low she had been in the beginning.

Seeing Tan Yuanchu’s complete lack of reaction, confusion surged suddenly in Su Jieyu’s eyes.

She could not understand, why, after things had been said to this extent, the Emperor still trusted Yun Si so much.

She had nearly staked her life on this, and yet had not shaken Yun Si’s place in his heart in the slightest.

Su Jieyu collapsed limply to the ground, utterly unwilling to accept it!

Then, from the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught sight of the string of agate beads that had been found suspicious.
Like grasping at the last straw, she cried out,

“Xi Xiurong, if you think yourself innocent, then how do you explain that string of agate beads?!”

Before Yun Si could speak, a weak yet steady voice came from behind the crowd,

“If you want an explanation, this Palace can give you one.”

The voice was all too familiar. Su Jieyu spun around abruptly, and Yun Si also lifted her gaze. The pearl curtain of the inner hall was lifted, and the Empress emerged, supported by Bai Zhi. Her face was visibly pale and frail, and Bai Zhi’s eyes were red and swollen, unable to stop wiping away tears.

Yun Si pressed her lips together lightly.

As the Empress was helped forward, Yun Si bent to offer a salute, but Tan Yuanchu stopped her.

“You’ve only just woken, what are you doing coming out?”

The Empress could not help but cough, and only after a long while did she speak in a low, weak voice. “If I don’t come out, Xi Xiurong will be accused of plotting to harm me.”

Of all possible evidence, nothing was more powerful than that single sentence from the Empress.

Su Jieyu had not expected that not only did the Emperor not suspect Yun Si, but the Empress had never suspected her either. She could not help raising her voice,

“Your Highness!”

The Empress turned her head toward the disheveled Su Jieyu and, with some weariness, closed her eyes.

Bai Zhi, however, was in no mood for such restraint. She wished she could tear Su Jieyu apart with her own hands.

“Shut your mouth! How do you have the face to address Her Highness?!”

The Empress stopped her, her voice neither loud nor soft, yet it carried clearly throughout the hall.

“Xi Xiurong has always been cautious. When she sent this string of beads to me, she reminded me to have the Imperial Physicians examine it and confirm it was harmless before I wore it.”

As soon as her words fell, Su Jieyu’s whole body went rigid, and she dared not meet the Empress’s eyes.

But the Empress would not let her continue deceiving herself. “I had the Imperial Physicians look at it. When the beads were delivered, there was nothing wrong with them.”

Any problem could only have arisen within Kunning Palace.

The Empress lowered her gaze to the Su Jieyu who had been frequently entering and leaving Kunning Palace in recent days, a self-mocking curve tugging at her lips.

With Consort De’s downfall as a precedent, why had she not learned her lesson?

Su Jieyu’s repeated obstinacy and resentment, she had seen it all with her own eyes. How could she ever have hoped that Su Jieyu would truly learn from her mistakes, truly come to know remorse?

Her poor judgment had first cost her own child, and had nearly cost the Empress her life as well.

A faint metallic taste rose in the Empress’s throat. She had always been able to endure; swallowing it back, she said softly,

“In this time, only you have often stayed in Kunning Palace after paying your respects.”

Who had plotted against her was self-evident, she had long since known the answer in her heart.

Su Jieyu’s face turned ashen. She still tried to argue, “Your Highness would rather believe her than believe me?”

“She might have had you examine the beads precisely to make you drop your guard!”

The Empress looked at her calmly. “If she truly had the means and intent to harm me, why bother tampering with the beads at all?”

Would she need to tamper with them if she were afraid people might not suspect her?

Su Jieyu was abruptly struck dumb.

The Empress closed her eyes, no longer looking at her. She merely stated the matter with quiet certainty.

“Anyone in this palace might wish to harm me, anyone but Xi Xiurong.”