Chapter 49

  Wu Ruoxi and Nalan Mingyue did not live in the main house of Ruiyuan, but each lived in a wing room on either side. Outside the house were layers of green bamboo, which rustled softly in the wind, blocking out any remaining warmth from outside.

  The pink-clad maid kneeling on the ground kept kowtowing, and Nalan Mingyue's entire body stiffened. This pink-clad maid was none other than her newly assigned second-class maid, Pink Butterfly.

  Quan Pei looked at Fen Die and asked: "Who told you to do this?"

  The whole person of Fen Die was trembling, and words could not be spoken clearly: "Slave, slave......"

  Xiao Yue scolded from the side: "Speak properly, if there's even half a sentence of lies, I'll beat you until your skin splits and flesh bursts!"

  Fen Die was really a timid little girl, Xiao Yue just scared her and she almost fainted, trembling even more, and even burst into tears: "I'm not willing to do this, I'm not willing to do this, it's all Nalan Gege who told me to do so! Please, Fu Jin, spare my life!"

  Nalan Mingyue's eyes widened in shock, she really didn't expect Fei Cai to suddenly say that. Flustered and panicked, she pointed at Fei Cai and hastily defended herself: "This girl is talking nonsense! This girl is talking nonsense! I didn't! I didn't!"

  Ruan Wan and Yin Zhen didn't say a word, the maids in the house all lowered their heads, only the sound of Fen Die's crying and Nalan Mingyue's pale excuses could be heard. Nalan Mingyue finally knelt down: "Fu Jin, I really didn't, I really didn't!"

  The maid looked at Nalan Mingyue with a timid expression: "Don't blame me, milady. You didn't say that the madam and master would be delighted if Wu Gege had a miscarriage? It's just perfect that I've done it for them, killing two birds with one stone!"

  Nalan Mingyue had said so, but she didn't have the courage to do anything. Fen Die was her person, and in one mouthful, she bit down and determined it was what she did. She even didn't know how to defend herself for a moment, only feeling indignant and afraid. With a swish of her hand, she grasped Fen Die's hair and slapped her face: "Why are you harming me! Why are you harming me!"

  This situation is really not good-looking. Xiaoyue beckoned to a maid beside her, and immediately the maid came up and pulled Nalan Mingyue away.

  In just a few moments, the powder butterfly was pulled out of her hair and her face turned red and swollen. There was also a scar on her cheek from Nalan Mingyue's fingernail scratch, making her look disheveled. She could only cry timidly: "It's this slave's fault, I shouldn't have spoken out of turn about the princess."

  Nalan Mingyue was still unsatisfied and wanted to break free from the constraints of her circumstances, as if only this could prove her innocence.

  A calm voice sounded: "You said it was Nalan Jie, then tell me when and where did Nalan Jie ask you to do this and how did she say it?"

  Fen Die heard Quan Pei's question, and seemed to have calmed down a bit after a moment of trembling. After half a beat, she said: "It was last night, in the house, when I called the slave girl to come before me and instructed her that at the time, follow Gege to Wu Gege's place and let the slave girl take care of things, get rid of Wu Gege's child in her belly."

  Next to her was Nalan Mingyue's sharp rebuke, until Quan Pei spoke again, she couldn't help but quiet down.

  "How did Nalan Xue know you?"

  The maid grasped her clothes and rubbed them repeatedly: "On the day she just arrived, Gege praised me for being sensible."

  Ruan Wan smiled slightly, her eyes filled with indifference and coldness: "So you're saying that in just one day's time, you've become Nalan De's confidant, and she entrusted such an important matter to you? But looking at you now, you don't seem like a reliable person either. And Nalan De doesn't appear to be foolish, so why wouldn't she use her trusted Zi'er instead of using you?"

  Nalan Mingyue listened to Quan Yu and didn't have the expected kick in the teeth, but instead questioned this butterfly, and a few strands of hope ignited in her eyes.

  The powder butterfly trembled even more: "I'm just a slave, I don't understand the meaning of the masters."

  Quan Pei lazily gazed at the butterfly on the ground, smiled and said: "You're quite bold, randomly slandering and framing Master. Do you think the Fourth Young Master's residence is a place where you can do as you please? First, take her down and give her twenty boards, let her sober up, then we'll question her later."

  The butterfly hastily lifted its head, revealing a pair of small deer-like moist and timid eyes: "Madam wronged the slave!"

  The maids from both sides didn't care about these things and dragged her away forcibly.

  "Tell Wu Shi to take a good rest, we've made enough noise here already."

  He nodded and got up, walking out with Tong Quan. Nalan Mingyue, still kneeling on the ground, heard a few disjointed sentences: "I'll go take care of something outside, you can be alone for now."

  "Go, Dad..."

  Until the footsteps and voices gradually disappeared, Nalan Mingyue collapsed to the ground. In her life, she had never been as frightened and flustered as just now. If Furen really would take advantage of the situation to make things difficult for her, then she was doomed to bear the crime of harming her child. She looked up at the roof and let out a long sigh, thinking that having such a wise and discerning Furen was actually a blessing in disguise. Zi'er hastily helped Nalan Mingyue up from the side, unable to stop herself from sobbing softly: "Slave is scared to death..."

  Wu Ruoxi lay in the inner room with a mix of emotions in her heart, touched her belly, and soon fell asleep again.

  The butterfly's stubbornness was somewhat unexpected, no matter how it was beaten, it wouldn't loosen its grip, and insisted that Nalan Mingyue was the mastermind.

  On the small table made of purple sandalwood, a bronze incense burner in the shape of two dragons playing with a pearl was placed, inside which high-quality peony incense was lit. On the low-footed imperial couch, a white jade cooling mat was spread out, and the Fourth Mistress sat on it, sipping tea lightly. In a Qinghua porcelain basin, a stem of Weizi orchid was blooming proudly, somewhat resembling the Fourth Mistress herself.

  Li Shencong was another eunuch in charge of the inner court, aside from Su Peisheng. He stood with his hands hanging down below his chest and replied respectfully: "....Fen Die is a new servant who entered the Imperial Household Department this year. She has never worked as a maid for anyone else before. Her family consists of only an elderly mother and a young brother. Her background is relatively clean..."

  Since you're still relatively clean, how could you have done something like this?

  Gaunt Li Shencong had a somewhat bookish air, and his every gesture seemed to have some literary flair. Quan Pei sized him up: "Have you read books?"

  Suddenly asked such a question, Li Shen's answer was natural and uninterrupted: "I used to help the emperor sort out books in the palace, so I had time to read a lot myself."

  "Can be seen in the study room or is the receiver heavy."

  "The Empress has passed away, the Emperor loves books, and there are many libraries in the palace. I'm just a humble servant working in a remote place, but because I happened to be liked by Eunuch Li Dequan, I got assigned to this position."

  In this way, Li Shen Cong is also a person with a relatively clean background.

  Quan Pei stopped talking at this point and only instructed: "Keep a close eye on Fen Die, ask her whatever you need to ask, until she tells the truth."

  Li Shen responded with a respectful "yes".

  The mistress of the house called all those curious maids together and, without saying much, ordered the rougher servant women to take them away. The remaining maids were frightened and didn't know if they would be next.

  Xiao Yue turned around and saw Li Shenzi who had just come out of the house, walking forward to greet him: "Hello, Director Li."

  Li Shen smiled and replied, "Are you going to add a few more maids?"

  Xiao Yue smiled and said: "I was just about to tell you that those few maids are not reliable, so I put them in charge of rough work."

  Li Shen looked at the unusually obedient maids standing behind him and secretly admired them, responding: "I'll have it sent over to you in a moment."

  At the beginning, Li Dequan had talked to him and he still remembered it clearly: ".....it's not nonsense from my mouth, that Fourth Imperial Concubine is not a simple person, who knows what will happen in the future, you and I are cousins, we are our own people, you have also read some books, burying you in the palace is really not right, so this time I especially recommended you to do something, in the future if I need your help, just hope you can help a little bit......"

  At that time, he didn't take these words to heart, but today when he looked back, these words were indeed not empty talk, and his footsteps quickened unconsciously.

  Pure and virtuous Princess Dong E's consort, Fu Jin, was lying on the kang with a headache, her spirit not very good. The maid whispered a few words in her ear, and her face suddenly turned bad: "What's the point of pretending to be noble?!"

  Ya Tou brought up the freshly brewed medicine, and Dong E Shi looked at it with disgust and pursed her lips: "Put it down first." When she heard that Shizi was coming in from outside, her face became even more weak and gentle. However, Shizi only spoke a few words to her before getting up and leaving. She told Ya Tou to go and investigate, and after a while, Ya Tou came back and said: "He went to Miao Ce Fu Jin's house."

  She snorted, this cheap person always clinging to the young master, she wanted to see how long Miao Shi could be arrogant without giving birth to a son!

  It wasn't until the sky turned dark that Yongzheng returned from outside. The maid helped him change his clothes, and he sat down beside Guan Pei to talk: "I went out to make some arrangements for tomorrow's affairs. No one has gone to Wang Rong's house yet, I don't know if tomorrow's trial will go smoothly."

  It's said to be so, but I'm afraid it will stir up more waves again.

  Yuanyuan's long fingers lightly supported her chin, seeing Yongzheng wearing a sky blue casual dress walking out from behind the screen, smiling and saying: "It's refreshing to wear like this."

  "Is that so? I don't think so," he said, sitting down beside Guan Yue and holding her hand in his palm. "Pink Butterfly still won't tell the truth?"

  He always liked to put Guan's hand in his own and gently squeeze it, as if there was a kind of inexplicable tenderness inside.

  "She didn't say it outright, but I'm guessing more than half of it was written by someone from the Pure King's palace."

  "How do you say this?"

  "Feng'er's case can be fabricated, but the fact that Feng'er startled Madame Wu is undeniable. They were afraid that we would frame Madame Wu for a miscarriage and pin it on Feng'er, so no matter what, Feng'er would be guilty. Therefore, they took action first and made it look like a dispute between concubines, causing Madame Wu to miscarry. Now the mansion is not as tightly sealed as before, and news can't get out easily. Even if something happens, it won't implicate Feng'er. They have eliminated the hidden danger."

  His hand paused: "Their hands are long enough!"

  Quan Pei smiled lightly, her slender fingers gently tapping the furrowed brow of Yun Chen: "It can be extended, but not necessarily retracted. It's not certain that Fu Er Gun will be bound by law, but it must also make the Chun Qin Wang Fu shed a few pounds of blood."

  It's hard to say whether the Emperor really wanted to deal with Fuerdun, but sending Yinxiang out on horseback made people feel that it was just a show. After all, Yinxiang was young and had a complicated relationship with Pure Prince, making it difficult to handle.

  His eyebrows gradually relaxed, his fingers grasped the jade scepter, and a bright light flashed in his dark eyes: "Are you inviting me again?"

  Ruan Yu's eyes sparkled with a smile like a blooming poppy, her bright eyes were filled with vibrant flowers, she stretched out her arm and placed it on Yongzheng's shoulder, her silk sleeves slid back like water, revealing her slender white jade-like arm: "What do you say, Your Majesty?"