tallest building

Chapter 301 Investigating Whistleblowers

It hasn't rained continuously in April in the capital for many years.

I thought the downpour wouldn't last all day, but the initial torrential rain actually kept the sky overcast the next day, and a light drizzle began to fall.

This rain lasted for seven days, filling the ditches and moats inside and outside the city.

When Dong Gang came to the palace to find Xiao Shunzi, he learned that Xiao Shunzi had been stung by bees a few days ago and was covered in welts, but fortunately, he had been lying in bed for a few days and was out of danger.

“Your Highness,” Xiao Shunzi said, the marks from the bee stings on his face still not completely faded. He pulled out a cloth bag from his pocket, inside which were the things Wen Mingqian had thrown back at him. “This is what Madam Wen asked me to return to you.”

"How did you handle this?" Dong Gang immediately became unhappy. "I told you to ask her for a token, and if you couldn't get it, fine, but how could you make her return it to me?"

"Your Highness, please calm down. It's not that I haven't been diligent, it's just that..." Xiao Shunzi looked miserable; heaven knows how wronged he was.

"What is this?!" Dong Gang said irritably. These past few days, it's been raining nonstop, as if the heavens have gone mad, preventing him from entering the palace.

He was so frustrated at home that he could only vent his anger on the maids around him.

"Your Highness, if I may be so bold, this matter is probably not going to work out," Xiao Shunzi said cautiously.

"What did you say?!" Dong Gang roared. "Why not? I've never had trouble getting whoever I wanted!"

"That day, Lady Wen asked me to return the things to the Prince Consort, and said that Consort Hui had specifically called her over to talk. She said that you are not close to the First Princess, which means that you must have someone else outside..." Xiao Shunzi said, "It's obvious that the news has been leaked somewhere, so Consort Hui called Lady Wen over to give her a warning."

"Such a thing actually happened?" Dong Gang was quite surprised to hear this; he had no idea.

"So, Lady Wen really does care about her reputation. How could someone with her temperament endure such humiliation? She immediately returned the things while crying," Xiao Shunzi said. "In my opinion, she might not be heartless towards you; she was just forced into it. After all, women are different from men; they can't stand being told what to do!"

Xiao Shunzi said this, of course, to please Dong Gang and prevent him from blaming him for all the blame.

Sure enough, after hearing his words, Dong Gang immediately turned his attention elsewhere: "Who's so blind as to ruin my plans?! They're asking for trouble!"

Dong Gang certainly wouldn't be afraid of Consort Hui and her daughter; otherwise, he wouldn't have deliberately distanced himself from the eldest princess, or at least he would have pretended to.

In his eyes, the eldest princess was like a dead fish, devoid of any vitality.

Especially in bed, just one look at her flat, thin body is enough to give me nightmares for days.

He didn't even want to touch it, always feeling that it was uncomfortable.

“Oh dear, Your Highness, this servant doesn’t know about this. But since Lady Wen said so, there must be something like this,” Xiao Shunzi said. “That day, this servant saw that she looked terrible and even cried. She must have suffered some great injustice!”

Dong Gang was naturally heartbroken to hear this, as Wen Mingqian was now the apple of his eye.

Of course, Dong Gang has had many people in his heart, but Wen Mingqian is the most important one right now.

"Now that Consort Hui is not in the palace, help me find out who betrayed me." Dong Gang hates nothing more than encountering obstacles on his quest for pleasure. "No messing around allowed! Otherwise, I'll find someone more capable."

"Don't worry, don't worry, with your words I will do my best," Xiao Shunzi hurriedly said. "To be honest, I hate this person too."

"Let's catch this ghost first and figure out how to get rid of it." A ruthless glint flashed in Dong Gang's eyes. "We'll talk about what happens after that."

When the accumulated rainwater was dried by the sun, it emitted a fishy, ​​foul odor. Therefore, for the first few days after the rain stopped, the palace was filled with this unpleasant smell.

Even with a large amount of green tangerine incense burned in the Empress's palace, she still felt there was an unclean smell.

Yu Lu then said, "Please be patient, Your Highness, and let the ground dry a little more."

"This rain has lasted far too long! Many of the flowers in the Imperial Garden have died!" Chunying said. "Even those that haven't died refuse to bloom again, so we can't put any flowers in the Empress's room."

“Yes, the peonies are usually at their best at this time of year, but not this year,” another palace maid said.

The Empress was already in a bad mood, and she had a natural love for peonies, so most of the clothes she wore and the utensils she used were decorated with peony patterns.

She believed that the peony was the queen of flowers, and also symbolized herself.

"Kneel down and slap yourself!" Yu Lu noticed the Empress's displeasure and immediately reprimanded the palace maid, "Who gave you permission to spout such nonsense?!"

The palace maid realized she had spoken out of turn and immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness.

The Empress said, "Those who are so ignorant of etiquette need not serve me anymore."

As soon as she said that, the people below immediately understood, and two eunuchs came up and dragged the palace maid away.

The palace maid was still crying and begging the Empress for forgiveness when Yu Lu came out and slapped her twice, saying, "Shut up! You're already lucky. If it were a few years ago, your soul would have already crossed the Bridge of Helplessness by now."

The palace maid fell silent upon hearing this and dared not cry out again.

Just then, Consort Yun and the Ninth Princess came to pay their respects to the Empress, but upon seeing this situation, they found it difficult to go in.

Yu Lu stepped forward and said with a smile, "Her Majesty is taking a nap right now. Why don't you two come back later?"

Consort Yun then took her daughter to Princess Duanmin's place.

Princess Duanmin was already slightly pregnant at this time, and was sitting there eating the snacks that the imperial kitchen had just sent over.

Upon seeing them, he quickly smiled and offered them seats: "It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. Come and try these freshly made snacks."

“The princess looks better and better,” Consort Yun said as she sat down. “Unlike me, when I was pregnant with Linglong, I was vomiting so badly that I couldn’t eat anything. I vomited for six or seven months straight, except for the last two months when I didn’t vomit.”

“Being able to eat a lot isn’t a good thing either,” Princess Duanmin shook her head and said, “I heard from the palace nannies that after six months I can’t eat too much, otherwise the fetus will grow too big and it will be difficult to give birth.”

“That is something we must be wary of.” Consort Yun nodded. “Linglong was as thin and small as a cat back then, but I didn’t suffer too much.”

He added, "The princess hasn't been able to go out much these past few days. Now that the weather is clear, and it's not good to go anywhere else, she should at least take a stroll in the courtyard."

"That's right, I was so bored inside. It never rains for days on end on the grassland. I heard that the moss on the walls has grown to a foot and a half tall, and it will take many days of sunshine to dry it off."

“Didn’t the princess say she wanted to go to Bowang Mountain? Now I’m afraid we’ll have to wait a little longer. Although the rain has stopped, the mountain roads are slippery, so please be careful,” Consort Yun said worriedly.

“I’m not in a hurry to go. The weather isn’t very hot yet. It will be cool on the mountain when it gets hot. Besides, Consort Hui and the others are already on the mountain, and I don’t want to join in the fun,” Princess Duanmin said.