Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Aftermath of Falling into the Water

The palace doors were only opened after a long while. When everyone entered, Tan Yuanchu and Yun Ni were already fully dressed. Rong Zhaoyi looked up and saw the woman in a lake-green mandarin duck brocade palace robe, with her damp black hair hanging loosely over her shoulders. She was sobbing softly, her apricot eyes still reddened and moist with a faint listlessness.

The woman nestled in the man’s arms, looking up and saying something softly. The man nodded to her, adjusted her collar for her. The beauty’s delicate brows and eyes were filled with emotion, and the man too spoke in a low, gentle tone. It was a scene full of mutual affection.

Rong Zhaoyi didn’t feel the atmosphere inside the hall was warm, only felt an unspeakable stuffiness in her chest.

She had spent so much effort and time just to get His Majesty to develop a bit of resentment toward Yun Si, and now this whole falling-into-the-water episode had ruined it all!

Rong Zhaoyi was gnashing her teeth in hatred, but could only press hard into her palms to suppress the emotions in her heart from spilling out. She looked coldly toward the woman on the bed, even having a momentary suspicion that this was all a staged act.

After all, in Rong Zhaoyi’s eyes, Yun Si had a prior record.

Yun Si sensed a cold, sinister gaze. She leaned against Tan Yuanchu’s chest, quietly looked up, and when her eyes met Rong Zhaoyi’s, her apricot eyes trembled slightly as she burrowed even deeper into Tan Yuanchu’s embrace.

She did it on purpose.

Rong Zhaoyi immediately saw through her deliberate provocation. A fire burned in her chest with nowhere to vent, and she could only forcibly swallow it down.

Just as Rong Zhaoyi was about to grit her teeth to bits, Comsort De stepped forward. She looked worried, carefully studied Yun Si, and asked with concern, “Your Majesty, how is Yun Jieyu? Is she feeling unwell? Is it serious?”

The moment she spoke, the atmosphere in the hall abruptly became solemn. Yun Si inconspicuously raised her eyes, Consort De wore an expression of sincere concern, with not a trace of abnormality visible.

Yun Si’s heart kept sinking. Just one exchange, and she could already tell, Consort De was much harder to deal with than Rong Zhaoyi.

Everyone had a weakness.

Rong Zhaoyi, though favored and powerful, had exposed her weakness early on, she cared too much about that little bit of Tan Yuanchu’s affection. The moment she believed someone threatened her place in Tan Yuanchu’s heart, she would lose control.

Consort De, however, was different.

Since Yun Si had been granted her title, Tan Yuanchu had treated her with special favor in all aspects, yet Consort De’s attitude toward her had remained exactly the same. If not for today’s incident, one would almost think she simply didn’t care about it at all.

With the Empress absent, Consort De held the highest rank. From Consort De’s demeanor, Yun Si faintly caught a familiar feeling.

Yun Si couldn’t help but think of the Empress.

How similar was Comsort De’s current appearance to that of the Empress in her daily bearing? Perhaps even Consort De herself hadn’t realized it.

What she wanted, she had revealed from the very beginning.

Palace banquets were always personally overseen by the Empress, except for the Mid-Autumn Banquet, which the Empress would hand over to Consort De to organize. Consort De never declined. Back when Lu Cairen was still around, Yun Si had already noticed how much Consort De cared about whether the banquet she arranged was proper or not.

Or perhaps what she cared about wasn’t the banquet itself.

But that, through these matters, she could show everyone that the things she could do were no less than what the Empress could.

Consort De’s ambition was plain to see!

Yun Si’s fingertips lightly pinched into her palm. She buried her face against Tan Yuanchu’s neck, neither looking at anyone nor saying a word.

Tan Yuanchu turned his head. He didn’t answer Consort De’s question but asked coldly, “Where is the person?”

Xu Shunfu gave a signal, and very soon, the weeping palace maid was brought in. The consorts parted to the sides. With a thud, the palace maid was forced to her knees.

The two masters had been bathing when she had been crying outside the whole time. Now with her face full of tears, the moment she entered the hall, she kept kowtowing.

“Your Majesty, spare me! Your Ladyship, spare me! This servant didn’t mean it! I beg Your Majesty and Your Ladyship to see clearly! This servant truly didn’t mean it!”

The palace maid had always served at the temporary palace.

She kept crying out for “Your Ladyship” to spare her, causing the gathered consorts to frown uncomfortably. Even if Yun Jieyu was now favored, she was still merely a fourth-rank; she hadn’t reached the third-rank title of “Your Ladyship.”

Rong Zhaoyi swept a cold glance at the sobbing palace maid. Hearing her repeatedly call “Your Ladyship,” she only felt deeply offended.

But no matter how uncomfortable everyone felt inside, since Tan Yuanchu didn’t speak up to correct the palace maid’s form of address, they could only hold it in.

Yun Si tilted her head, her cheek lightly brushing against Tan Yuanchu’s shoulder.

Your Ladyship?

People outside the main palace really did speak more pleasantly, and didn’t need to be so strict about rules and propriety.

Tan Yuanchu noticed the woman glance at the palace maid. He lowered his head to look at her, and in the end, as if he hadn’t noticed anything at all, he said nothing and didn’t stop the palace maid either.

The palace maid was still crying.

“There was water all over the waterside pavilion, this servant just slipped by accident and bumped into Your Ladyship. This servant called out for you to move, truly, it wasn’t intentional! I beg Your Majesty and Your Ladyship for mercy, please spare me just this once!”

She kept kowtowing to the two of them, her forehead thudding against the wooden floor with dull bangs.

She cried very pitifully, and her forehead was already bruised and swollen.

But everyone present had seen great fires in the palace, and corpses far more tragic than this. Naturally, not a single person felt the slightest bit of pity. All of them frowned as they looked at the palace maid, a thoughtful glint flashing in their eyes.

One had to know, they had only arrived at the temporary palace yesterday. It had been no more than a single day.

Just who could have so quickly managed to instruct someone from the temporary palace?

The move had been too decisive and clean. Even if the target this time wasn’t themselves, it was hard not to feel a chill down the spine. Today it was Yun Jieyu, what if tomorrow it were themselves? Could they avoid it?

Even if they were pleased to see Yun Jieyu suffer, at this moment, they truly hoped the culprit could be found.

Otherwise, with such a person lurking in the shadows and no one knowing who it was, they would all be forced to stay on guard constantly. This supposedly relaxing summer stay at the temporary palace was likely to turn into a time of sleepless anxiety.

Tan Yuanchu didn’t even spare the palace maid a glance. He directly gave Xu Shunfu an order,

“Go investigate who she’s been in contact with these past two days.”

Xu Shunfu accepted the order and withdrew.

Yun Si, still buried in his arms, felt a bit unwell. She raised her hand and pressed at her forehead, leaning against Tan Yuanchu’s shoulder. After crying for so long, her voice was a little hoarse, carrying a touch of muffled coquettishness.

“Your Majesty, she’s giving this concubine a headache.”

The crying in the hall came to an abrupt stop. That palace maid bit her lips desperately, not daring to let out a single sound.

But Yun Si slowly lifted her gaze and looked at her unhurriedly. She sniffled, weakly leaning against Tan Yuanchu’s chest.

“When this concubine was underwater, the water kept seeping into my mouth, making me wish I could just die then and there, so I wouldn’t have to suffer any longer.”

Her voice was very soft, drifting faintly through the hall, yet everyone felt a sudden chill in their hearts.

Tan Yuanchu gently stroked the woman’s back. Her spine was thin and fragile, and for no reason, the image flashed in his mind of her face in the water, so pale, as if it were about to dissolve. Tan Yuanchu didn’t even lift an eyelid and gave a cold order,

“Drag her out.”

The palace maid looked up in disbelief, her face full of terror, and cried out miserably, “Your Majesty, spare me!”

Lu Yuan hurriedly gestured, and several palace attendants stepped forward, grabbed the maid by her arms, and began dragging her out. The maid struggled constantly, her feet scraping along the floor, the mud on her soles staining the ground, leaving behind a trail of grotesque marks in the hall.

Yun Si lightly furrowed her brows. Still buried in Tan Yuanchu’s arms, she seemed extremely unwell, her lips growing even paler. Tan Yuanchu frowned and raised a hand to cover her ears.

Yun Si looked up and met his eyes. Tan Yuanchu said lightly, “Too noisy.”

Seeing this, Lu Yuan grew ruthless, directly pressing a cloth over the maid’s mouth. Even as she was dragged out of the hall, only a few faint, terrified whimpers remained.

Song Ya Pavilion had a small stream drawn in. In the heat of summer, the sound of the stream’s gurgling used to bring comfort. But today, no one found it pleasant.

Hearing the sound of water from outside, one of the consorts couldn’t help but swallow hard, not daring to imagine what scene might be unfolding beyond.

As Yun Si swept her eyes over the consorts’ faintly fearful expressions, she paid them no mind, or rather, deep down, she welcomed such a scene. Only fear would eventually turn into respect, rather than them daring to speak so freely every day about how she was once just a palace maid.

From outside came the sound as if someone was being held down in the water, struggling continuously, splashing violently.

Yun Si slowly lowered her eyelids. She clearly knew whose person that palace maid was, but she didn’t believe that maid would die without confessing.

Since the Imperial selection, Tan Yuanchu had not come to the temporary palace for two years. No matter how loyal someone was, after such a long time and being so far from the main palace, how much loyalty could truly remain?

That bit of loyalty, under the threat of death, was hardly worth mentioning.

Yun Si knew that she would eventually confess. But Yun Si felt it wasn’t enough. The palace maid had indeed been instigated by someone, but the one who had truly pushed her into the water was this very maid.

Since they all thought it was no big deal, that they could casually disregard her life just to test the waters, then let them also taste what it felt like to be suffocating and on the verge of death.

The only thing Yun Si didn’t know was, who would this palace maid name?

Yun Si didn’t believe it would be Consort De.

The steward of the temporary palace knelt outside the hall with sweat pouring down his forehead. He glanced at Chuncui, then quickly averted his gaze, not daring to look again.

These people from the main palace seemed to have no compassion at all. They pressed Chuncui’s head down into the water, not allowing her to lift it. Their movements showed not a shred of hesitation. After a while, when they saw her struggling less, they would pull her up by the hair just long enough for a single breath, then push her down again, repeating this over and over.

It was August, scorching hot, yet the steward was soaked in cold sweat.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit resentful deep down, how could Chuncui dare to harm Yun Jieyu?!

Yun Jieyu had moved into Song Ya Pavilion, didn’t that alone already say enough?

The steward cursed idiot in his heart, but didn’t even dare to turn his head. The constant sound of water chilled him to the bone.

It was unclear how much time had passed when the steward finally heard a hoarse, desperate cry:

“…I’ll talk! I’ll talk… cough cough cough… this servant will tell… cough please, spare me… this servant will speak…”

The sound of water behind him finally stopped.

Xu Shunfu arrived unhurriedly and, upon seeing the scene, ordered Luoyuan to bring the maid back into the hall.

Yun Si heard the commotion and looked up, seeing Chuncui being dragged in, her whole body limp and disheveled, collapsing onto the ground in exhaustion as she coughed continuously. Water streamed down her, forming a mess on the floor. She looked so wretched that one of the consorts uncomfortably covered her mouth and took a step back.

Chuncui lay there as if she were about to cough up her internal organs. After a long time, she finally struggled to her knees:

“Th-this… this servant… will speak…”

Yun Si swept her gaze around the hall, feeling no joy in her heart at all. She discreetly glanced at Consort De, sure enough, there wasn’t the slightest trace of panic on Consort De’s face.

Yun Si slowly lowered her eyes.

Chuncui trembled all over. She lifted her head and looked around the room, and finally, her gaze landed on one person. Everyone followed her line of sight—and were all stunned.

Chuncui cried out, “It was her… it was Liu Yunu… she gave this servant silver… and told this servant to do it…”

“This servant didn’t dare at first, it was only because she said no one would die that this servant dared to go through with it!”

“This servant has told you everything! I beg Your Majesty and Your Ladyship for mercy!”

Liu Yunu’s face turned pale with panic. Her voice suddenly rose in pitch.

“Nonsense!”

“When did I ever order you to do that?!”

She lunged forward to slap Chuncui, but Lu Yuan quickly stepped in and blocked her. “Liu Yunu, let’s at least hear what she has to say first.”

Stopped in her tracks, Liu Yunu broke into a cold sweat. Her panicked eyes darted around the room, and seeing suspicion in the others’ faces, she suddenly knelt before Tan Yuanchu.

“Your Majesty! Please see clearly! This concubine has no enmity with Yun Jieyu, why would I try to harm her?! What would I possibly gain from it?!”

Yun Si covered her lips and gave a light cough. She lifted her eyes and countered, “Exactly. You have no enmity with me, so why would you want to harm me?”

Liu Yunu was rendered speechless, her eyes flickering with guilt.

In the palace, who ever needed a reason to harm someone?
More often than not, it was simply because you stood in their way, threatened their gain.

Yun Si currently held the emperor’s favor. If there was a chance, who wouldn’t want to drag her down?

Xu Shunfu respectfully reported, “Your Majesty, this servant found that someone saw Chuncui go to Cuishang Pavilion yesterday.”

Cuishang Pavilion was where Liu Yunu had been assigned to stay during this trip to the temporary palace.

Xu Shunfu’s words supported Chuncui’s testimony.

Liu Yunu suddenly fell silent. Her face flushed red from holding back, but not a single word came out. Beads of cold sweat slowly seeped from her forehead.

Everyone was stunned.
No one had expected this matter to involve Liu Yunu.

After all, one was Yun Jieyu, who enjoyed the Emperor’s deep favor, while the other was Liu Yunu, a woman obscure and neglected within the palace. The two had never had any past grievances, who would think to link them together?

Only Yun Si wasn’t surprised.

She had long known that Liu Yunu was one of Consort De’s people. And in the palace, this wasn’t exactly a secret. Attendant Liu’s background was widely known, and with her low status, she could only survive by clinging to Consort De, she couldn’t be of much further use to her.

Better to push her forward in a situation like this, so she could at least serve one final purpose.

But one thing was strange, on what grounds was Defei so confident that Liu Yunu wouldn’t confess and implicate her?

At this point, everyone recalled the exchange between Liu Yunu and Yun Jieyu. They couldn’t help but glance discreetly around the room. It was true that Liu Yunu held no personal grudge against Yun Jieyu, but within the palace, there were plenty who did.

Now that it was discovered Liu Yunu had ordered Chuncui, then… who had instructed Liu Yunu?

Everyone’s minds were spinning with speculation.

But no one expected that just moments later, Liu Yunu, who had so firmly denied everything before—would suddenly lower her head in defeat.

“It… it was out of jealousy. This concubine envied Yun Jieyu for receiving His Majesty’s favor. I was blinded in a moment of weakness and did this terrible thing. This concubine admits her mistake. I beg His Majesty and Yun Jieyu to show mercy, this concubine won’t dare again!”

Suddenly, Liu Yunu took all the blame upon herself.

She was trembling with fear, tears pouring down her face as she crawled toward Tan Yuanchu. She clutched at the hem of his robes and sobbed.

“Your Majesty, this concubine knows she was wrong, please spare me!”

Even putting Yun Si aside, the others found Liu Yunu’s behavior highly suspicious.

Her change in attitude was far too abrupt, making it even more doubtful that she was the true mastermind behind this.

Yun Si squeezed Tan Yuanchu’s hand, and he looked over at her, just as she said,

“Earlier you said you had no enmity with me and would never harm me. Now you claim you did it all out of jealousy. Your statements completely contradict each other. This concubine truly doesn’t know which to believe.”

She said she didn’t know what to believe, but everyone could hear that she didn’t believe for a moment that Attendant Liu was the real instigator.

At that moment, Consort De suddenly spoke up,

“This palace maid kept insisting Liu Yunu gave her silver. I wonder, has Eunuch Xu managed to confirm that?”

Xu Shunfu, who had remained silent all this while, nodded. He glanced at the Emperor before speaking,

“This servant found a pouch of silver in this palace maid’s room. Not just silver, but also some jewelry, it appears to be the latest style from the palace.”

Yun Si noticed the hesitation and strangeness in his words.

Xu Shunfu had someone bring the items forward. When she saw the so-called jewelry, Yun Si suddenly turned her head to look at Rong Zhaoyi.

Sure enough, Rong Zhaoyi’s expression changed. She looked at Tan Yuanchu and said,

“Your Majesty, this matter has nothing to do with me!”

Lying on the tray was a jade hairpin inlaid with a lotus flower and tempered pearl. It was indeed the newest style in the palace, who didn’t know that whenever such items appeared in the Central Province Hall, they would be delivered first to the Changchun Palace?

What mattered most was that everyone had seen Rong Zhaoyi wear this lotus hairpin.

The last time she went to Kunning Palace to pay her respects before leaving the palace.