Palace maid Shuoning

(Up)

Inside the Imperial Household Department's duty room, the charcoal fire burned brightly, casting a dark red glow through the copper cover. The air was filled with the faint scent of agarwood, so intoxicating that it made one feel drowsy, yet one dared not relax.

At that moment, Feng Xi sat upright in a round-backed chair, holding a teacup in his hand. The lid of the bowl was gently covered with foam on the rim. He glanced at Zhou Zhengyin, Xiao Shunzi, and Eunuch Qiao kneeling on the ground, then looked away and took a sip.

Bao Zhong stood behind Feng Xi, his hands hanging down, his waist slightly bent: "Godfather, the people have been brought."

Feng Xi put down his teacup, which Bao Zhong took from him. He then turned to face the kneeling people and stood motionless to the side.

"Xiao Shunzi," Feng Xi said in a high-pitched voice, drawing out the words.

Xiao Shunzi quickly raised his head, a smile plastered on his face: "What are your orders, sir?"

He was puzzled. Wasn't he supposed to be transferred to Consort Liu's palace to serve? Why were the mute servant and Eunuch Qiao brought along? Did they intend to transfer the mute servant there too? Or had Eunuch Qiao suddenly changed his mind?

Why is there such a useless person everywhere?

Feng Xi didn't look at him, but lowered his head to straighten his cuffs: "I'm asking you, were you at Changmen Palace the whole day on the second day of the Lunar New Year?"

Xiao Shunzi's lips twitched.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, he took the pair of coral earrings he had found in the backyard on New Year's Eve morning to sell. He went to sell them to Eunuch Zhu, who was in charge of delivering messages to the palace, and they split the profits 20/80.

He received twenty taels, spent two taels on a new set of clothes, and left eighteen taels. He gave five taels to Eunuch Qiao, used ten taels to ask Eunuch Qiao to pull strings to get him a job in another palace, and kept three taels for himself.

Finally, Eunuch Qiao arranged for him to go to Consort Liu's quarters. Consort Liu was currently favored by the emperor, so going there would naturally give him confidence. He was so happy that he couldn't sleep for several nights.

"Replying to Your Excellency, this servant has been at Changmen Palace the whole time," Xiao Shunzi said respectfully, glancing to the side.

Bao Zhong's lips curled into a smile: "Who can testify?"

Xiao Shunzi was taken aback. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Eunuch Qiao had been transferred to the Imperial Household Department to help out and wasn't there. He turned to look at Eunuch Qiao, who had lowered his eyelids. He then looked past Eunuch Qiao at Zhou Zhengyin.

He spent the day at Changmen Palace and only went to see Eunuch Zhu at night. He had also bullied this mute man during the day, and the mute man could testify on his behalf.

"Father-in-law, the mute servant can testify for me. That day, I washed the chamber pot with the mute servant." Xiao Shunzi pointed.

Zhou Zhengyin's hands, braced on the ground, had his fingertips digging into the cracks in the brickwork, and his jaw was clenched into a tight line. He remembered Xiao Shunzi's usual bullying attitude towards him, and the insults he had hurled at Jiang Shuoning this morning.

Thinking of this, he dug his thumbnail into the pad of his index finger, breaking the abscess on his fingertip and oozing a little turbid fluid, but he felt no pain.

Bao Zhong's gaze fell on Zhou Zhengyin, and his voice was neither loud nor soft: "Dumb servant, was Xiao Shunzi at Changmen Palace on the second day of the Lunar New Year?"

Xiao Shunzi and Eunuch Qiao both looked at Zhou Zhengyin. Feng Xi also narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on Zhou Zhengyin's hunched back.

"You just need to nod or shake your head," Baozhong said.

Zhou Zhengyin didn't look at Eunuch Qiao, nor at Xiao Shunzi. After a moment's hesitation, he shook his head.

Seeing this, Xiao Shunzi hurriedly spoke up, "Dumb servant, you dare to lie in front of Eunuch Feng? Tell the truth!" Seeing that Zhou Zhengyin didn't move, his voice changed, "On the second day of the Lunar New Year at noon, I poured your bowl of porridge into the chamber pot and forced you to eat it, have you forgotten?"

He stopped abruptly as soon as he said it.

Feng Xi put down his teacup with a soft sound. The room suddenly became very quiet.

Xiao Shunzi's face paled, and his voice lowered: "This servant was just joking with the mute servant. But everyone else in Changmen Palace can testify that this servant was really in Changmen Palace that day..."

Bao Zhong slowly began, "This is the first time I've heard of pouring porridge into a chamber pot and forcing someone to eat it. Is this some kind of joke? Interesting."

Xiao Shunzi shrank his neck.

(under)

Feng Xi snorted coldly and called out, "Come in."

An elderly eunuch, hunched over, walked in and stood next to Xiao Shunzi, his voice hoarse: "Father-in-law..."

Xiao Shunzi looked up and his face turned pale. It was none other than Eunuch Zhu, the one who had bought the coral earrings from him.

He took eight taels.

"Where are the things?" Feng Xi asked.

Eunuch Zhu took out the pair of coral earrings from his pocket and held them in his palm. The color was excellent and the quality was superb.

Bao Zhong put down his teacup, stepped forward to take the teacup, and turned to hand it to Feng Xi: "Godfather, this is the pair that Miss Suihe of Yihua Palace lost. I heard that Consort Rong bestowed it upon her on her birthday."

Feng Xi picked them up and examined them, then nodded: "Yes, I remember these earrings. I personally picked them out for Consort Rong last year."

Bao Zhong smiled slightly: "But why did these earrings end up in Changmen Palace?" As he spoke, he glanced at Zhou Zhengyin.

When Zhou Zhengyin saw that gaze, something suddenly connected in his mind.

He secretly met with a palace maid.

Spike lotus.

The earrings are tasseled with lotus leaves.

Baozhong wasn't referring to Jiang Shuoning. He was referring to Suihe.

He suddenly looked up and glanced at Bao Zhong. Bao Zhong had already looked away, the smile still on his lips, but it was as if nothing had happened.

Zhou Zhengyin lowered his eyes, his heart pounding in his chest, as if it were about to jump out of his throat.

It wasn't her. It wasn't her.

Feng Xi handed the teacup to Bao Zhong, picked it up, skimmed off the foam, and casually said, "It's already noon. The Emperor is having lunch at Yihua Palace today. Go and change your shift, don't be late."

Bao Zhong accepted it with both hands and nodded slightly: "Yes."

He turned and walked past Zhou Zhengyin, pausing briefly in his steps, his voice so low that only Zhou Zhengyin could hear him:

"You've got some nerve, daring to even try and get close to Miss Suihe."

Zhou Zhengyin didn't look up. He already understood.

Baozhong went out the door.

The charcoal fire inside crackled once.

Feng Xi then looked at Xiao Shunzi again. The lid of the bowl lightly scraped against the rim of the cup, producing a crisp sound. He took a sip of tea and slowly asked:

"Xiao Shunzi, tell me, how did you get these earrings? What did you get in return? And what are you hiding from someone?"

Xiao Shunzi understood the meaning behind the words and hurriedly kowtowed, thumping his head repeatedly.

"Your Excellency, please understand! I'm innocent! I found the earring in the backyard; it wasn't anything special..."

Grandpa Qiao kept wiping away his sweat. Perhaps the charcoal fire was burning too brightly, because his back was soaked with sweat.

Feng Xi ignored Xiao Shunzi, turned to look at Zhou Zhengyin who had been keeping his head down, and smiled:

"We were thinking that the mute servant was beaten and scolded every day. Anyone else would have been beaten to death or starved to death long ago. But the mute servant was able to endure it. It turns out that someone was bringing him medicine and food every day."

Zhou Zhengyin lowered his head and pursed his lips tightly.

"The person in my family dislikes nothing more than someone who squanders an opportunity." Feng Xi's voice suddenly turned cold, and the teacup slammed heavily onto the table.

Everyone felt a shiver run through them.

Feng Xi's gaze swept over Eunuch Zhu, Xiao Shunzi, and Eunuch Qiao one by one, finally landing on Zhou Zhengyin, and he smiled contemptuously:

"Since you're willing to cover for someone, then go to the Censorate to tell the truth."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shunzi, Eunuch Qiao, and Eunuch Zhu all knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, saying in unison:

"Father-in-law, spare my life..."

Zhou Zhengyin turned to look at them; all three faces were filled with genuine terror. He frowned. What kind of place was the Censorate?

Why do they act like they've already died when these three words are mentioned?