Her guards

Chapter 106 is merely a matter of personal grudges and old scores.
"Because this matter is dangerous, I dare not trust anyone."

After Princess Heisei finished speaking, "Yang Luo," who had been standing quietly beside her, also spoke.

"The situation was very tense at the time, and I didn't have time to say much. I just whispered in the princess's ear as I fell down that someone was trying to harm her."

At this point, Mo Zheng looked up at Princess Heisei with admiration in her eyes.

"The princess is intelligent and wise, and reacts quickly, arranging everything properly."

Princess Heisei nodded slightly to her, then looked at everyone else: "So I immediately pretended to be injured, ordered Miss Yang to be locked up with me, and then, under the pretense of being disfigured and terrified, refused to let anyone approach or check my injuries. I only ordered the Imperial Guards to impose martial law on the National Academy and inform the Empress Dowager..."

At this point, Ling Yu suddenly asked, "The Empress knows too, right?"

Princess Heisei nodded: "I told my mother after she arrived..."

At this point, Ling Yu suddenly looked at the Empress, her brows furrowing slightly.

Is this an accusation that the Empress Dowager knowingly punished Miss Yang with caning despite her innocence...?
Although she was somewhat surprised by her mother's actions, it was probably to make the act more convincing and to see everyone's reactions clearly, which is why she did it.
She quickly continued.
"...I asked my mother not to reveal the truth, but to pretend that I was really injured and continue to investigate."

After saying this, he looked at the palace woman who had been beaten on the ground, and then at the palace woman Wu who had been dragged over and was kneeling on the ground.

"Now you should tell the truth."

The two palace women, one trembling and the other stunned, remained silent.

"Use torture," the Empress commanded.

The palace maids rushed forward and pressed the kneeling palace maid Wu to the ground, while the eunuchs snatched the cane from the instructor's hands...

"Please wait a moment, Your Majesty," Princess Heisei said again.

The empress remained silent, tacitly agreeing, while the eunuchs waited by with their canes.

“Miss Wu.” Princess Heisei looked at the palace maid Wu. “When I was ten years old, you came to serve me. I really don’t understand why you would want to harm me.”

Wu Gongfu looked at her, tears welling up in her eyes, but she kept her mouth tightly shut and didn't say a word.

“I will not torture you. You have been in the palace for many years and you know that you will not survive doing such a thing,” Princess Heicheng said, her face still covered in blood and dye, looking calm yet eerie. “What I can guarantee you is that if you tell me who ordered you, I will give you a quick death and spare you from torture.”

Wu, the palace maid, remained silent. Beside her, a palace maid who had been tortured lay prostrate on the ground, struggling to kowtow: "Princess, Princess, it was Wu, the maid, who instructed me. She gave me a lot of money and a land deed."

Wu Gongfu closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again to look at Princess Heicheng, forcing a smile.

“Princess, this matter has nothing to do with anyone else; it is a personal feud between this servant and the Empress,” she said.

The Empress said calmly, "When I entered the palace, you were just a palace servant of the eunuchs. I chose you to come to my side and spared your life, but this has turned into a personal feud?"

The palace maid Wu smiled and asked, "Why did you choose me to serve you, Your Majesty?"

She spoke in a different tone, and some of the others in the hall didn't react at first, but Princess Heicheng recognized it as her mother's native accent.

Although she was born in the capital and spoke the official language of the capital, her mother and maternal grandmother still often spoke in their local dialect.

“You are from the same hometown as me,” the Empress said coldly.

"Yes, then do you know why I entered the palace as a slave?" said the palace woman Wu. "It was your Chai family that seized my family's land! You forced my father and brother to their deaths, and my entire family of women and children were sold into slavery and brought to the capital. My sisters all died in the torment of slavery, and only I survived until you entered the capital..."

His voice suddenly rose as he looked at the Empress.

"You brought me to your side, gave me the status of a maid, and spared me from beatings. But, Your Majesty—I shouldn't have suffered all this; it's all because of your Chai family—"

"My younger sister."

Wu Gongfu looked at Princess Heisei, tears welling up in her eyes.

"She was only ten years old when she died. When I came to your side, you were also ten years old. I saw you sometimes happy and sometimes sad..."

She pressed her hand to her chest and cried out in pain.

"I really hate it—"

After saying that, she suddenly rammed into the guard standing next to her. The guard was caught off guard and watched as Wu Gongfu lunged at the long knife in her hand and slit her throat. She fell into a pool of blood.

.......
.......
"...Then the Wu maid committed suicide."

"...The maidservant only said that she was instructed by the maidservant Wu, and that there was no one else involved."

Upon hearing the new news, the emperor frowned slightly as he sat in his carriage.

"So many old stories and people from all these years are being brought up at this moment..." he said, shaking his head. To say that no one was pulling the strings behind the scenes is simply laughable.

"Your Majesty," a guard outside the carriage whispered, "we're almost at the Imperial Academy."

The emperor reached out and slightly lifted the carriage curtain, revealing the palace city towering in the mountains ahead.

Although the Empress only informed him after leaving the palace, how could he be kept in the dark about the movements within the capital?

Especially after Princess Heisei's incident.

He immediately stopped the court assembly and, in order to travel more quickly, did not use the emperor's entourage or carriages, nor did he bring any eunuchs. Instead, he quietly and rapidly left the palace through a side gate in a small carriage, escorted by a dozen imperial guards.

When he heard from his guards that Princess Heisei was unharmed, he ordered the carriage to slow down.

But even if it's slow, we'll still get there eventually...
Should I go to the Chinese Academy?
Although Princess Heisei was not injured, she must have been greatly frightened. Alas, this is the first time in her life that this child has encountered such malice...

However, going to the National Academy would inevitably mean meeting that Miss Yang.
The emperor lowered his hand that had been holding the carriage curtain and looked down.

“Let’s go back to the palace,” he said. “Tell the Queen to bring the princess back to the palace. Since it was someone from the palace who committed the crime, bring her back to the palace for questioning. Don’t frighten the children.”

……

.......
When the accompanying girls left the foreign academy, there were many cars and people outside.

The Empress did not make a grand display of her ceremonial staff when she went out, but she also did not try to conceal her presence. All the noble and powerful families in the capital knew about it, especially the families of the young ladies who were her companions, and they immediately rushed over in a panic...

However, despite their panic, the family members didn't say much when they saw their young lady come out. They picked her up and left, as matters involving the royal family could only be discussed behind closed doors.

There were many people and cars outside the Chinese Academy, and they quickly dispersed.

Jiang Rui knew that no one from her family had come to pick her up. Her mother was staying at home, her younger sister was still young, and her uncle and aunt were not respectable people in the capital and had no connections, so they probably didn't know the news yet. As the thought flashed through her mind, she saw someone riding a horse galloping towards her from ahead...

It is the sky.

A smile bloomed on Jiang Rui's face, and her previously uneasy and slightly melancholy heart calmed down. She had Yunxiao.

She hurried to meet her, but then turned back as if remembering something. Sure enough, she saw that Liu Chan had no family members to pick her up either, only a coachman waiting by the side with his carriage.

But "Liu Chan" didn't get on the bus; instead, she stood there looking towards the National Academy.

Not long after the palace maid Wu committed suicide, a eunuch rushed in from outside and whispered a few words to the empress. The empress sneered and ordered that the corpse of the palace maid Wu, the surviving palace maids, and Consort Li and the princesses be taken back to the palace.

They didn't intend to take "Yang Luo" away.

However, because it involved such a big matter, "Yang Luo" did not come out with them, and the young ladies of the Yang family were all left at the National Academy.

The Empress stopped asking questions, but the Imperial Academy still wanted to investigate further. The Lady of Ding'an, who had come to fetch her in a panic, was also invited inside.

Therefore, "Liu Chan" didn't leave; she wanted to see Miss Yang to confirm her safety.

This "Liu Chan" gives off a strange vibe; he's obsequious, arrogant, rude, and impolite, yet also incredibly loyal...

"Miss Liu," Jiang Rui couldn't help but call out.

Yang Luo looked at her.

"Don't be reckless and say things you shouldn't," Jiang Rui said.

Yang Luo looked at Jiang Rui with a complicated expression. In her previous life, when she first learned about Jiang Rui, Jiang Rui was already dead, and she didn't know what kind of person Jiang Rui was...

During the Empress's interrogation, everyone else kept silent, wishing they could disappear. Only this Miss Jiang stopped her from going to her death. Moreover, she had a verbal dispute with her, and Miss Jiang could be described as verbally and physically abusive. There were also rumors that she coveted Miss Jiang's fiancé.
Logically speaking, Jiang Rui should be more pleased than others to see her get into trouble and have bad luck.

Yang Luo sighed inwardly. This Miss Jiang is truly a kind-hearted person.

No wonder he was killed by Zhu Yunxiao.

As soon as Yang Luo had a thought, she heard a male voice calling her name.

"Ah Rui—"

Yang Luo looked up and saw Zhu Yunxiao jumping off his horse.

He glanced past Jiang Rui at her, but after just one look, he immediately looked away and returned his gaze to Jiang Rui.

(End of this chapter)