Palace maid Shuoning

(Up)

Changmen Palace.

Zhou Zhengyin sat listlessly on the porch, watching the rain. His right eyelid had been twitching nonstop since he woke up this morning, and he felt inexplicably uneasy.

"Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has occurred at Yihua Palace!"

A young eunuch ran in through the palace gate, his voice high-pitched.

Zhou Zhengyin suddenly stood up from the stool.

The people under the eaves all gathered around.

The young eunuch, panting, said that Suihe had gone mad and was trying to kill Consort Rong in front of the Emperor.

"Good heavens! Is she out of her mind?" A palace maid exclaimed in astonishment.

"Who says otherwise? She's been a senior servant of Consort Rong, how could she..." Another eunuch shook his head.

"What else can happen? Suihe has lost her leg and has been transferred to the flower room. All her former dignity is gone. She harbors resentment and is trying to drag Consort Rong down with her."

As soon as Eunuch Qiao stepped out of the house, he put his hands in his sleeves, slowly added a sentence, and then frowned and sighed.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengyin was startled, and his ears rang.

He remembered Suihe.

It was the palace maid he falsely identified in the Department of Penal Justice.

Suihe wants to kill Consort Rong, but what about Jiang Shuoning? She's right next to Consort Rong.

His heart tightened suddenly, and he turned and ran into the rain.

The people under the eaves were chatting enthusiastically when suddenly a figure braved the heavy rain and ran frantically toward the palace gate.

Eunuch Qiao's expression changed, and he shouted in a high-pitched voice, "Dumb Slave, come back!"

Zhou Zhengyin didn't turn around and plunged headfirst into the rain.

Eunuch Qiao took two steps and then stopped, standing under the eaves watching the receding figure, both anxious and angry. He stamped his foot at the eunuch beside him:

"What are you waiting for? Chase after them!"

At that time, Yihua Palace was completely surrounded by guards.

In the heavy rain, eunuchs and palace maids knelt on the ground in the courtyard, all pale-faced and trembling.

Inside the main hall, Feng Xi rushed in, looking flustered, knelt down, and said in a trembling voice:

"Your Majesty, Granny Sun from the flower room is dead. She was discovered this morning by a palace maid. She had lost too much blood, and it seems she was murdered in her sleep. One of the palace maids said she saw Suihe enter Granny Sun's room at dawn last night."

As soon as he finished speaking, Bao Zhong bowed and quickly walked in, kneeling beside Feng Xi. He glanced at the Emperor's gloomy face.

"Your Majesty, Suihe has already died."

Upon hearing this, Consort Rong, who was kneeling at the head of the table, turned deathly pale again, as if all her strength had been drained away, and collapsed to the ground.

"Your Majesty, I don't understand why Suihe treats me this way..."

She closed her eyes slightly, two lines of tears sliding down her cheeks, and raised her hand to press against her heart:

"She has been with me for fifteen years and has always been gentle. I really don't understand what she did to drive her to such madness."

The Emperor lowered his eyes and gazed at her, remaining silent for a moment before speaking.

"Fifteen years. A palace maid who has served you for fifteen years, capable of such a thing. Even you don't understand why she did it, so how am I supposed to understand?"

Consort Rong trembled all over.

The Emperor's chest heaved heavily. He shifted his gaze from Consort Rong's face, sweeping it over the kneeling crowd, and said in a deep voice:

"All palace maids and eunuchs on duty in Yihua Palace who failed to supervise the Emperor and protect his mistress shall each be given thirty strokes of the cane and have their salaries reduced by half a year. Consort Rong shall be confined to Yihua Palace for three months and shall not leave without imperial decree."

He paused, his voice lowering by half an octave, but growing even colder:

"By imperial decree, Suihe has committed treason and rebellion, a heinous crime. Although he has been executed, his family cannot be spared. They shall be exiled to the northwest frontier and never be allowed to return to the capital."

The main hall was so quiet that only the sound of rain could be heard. No one dared to look up.

After speaking, the Emperor glanced at Jiang Shuoning and saw that her face was deathly pale and there was a cut on the right side of her neck, with blood staining the collar of her gray-white palace dress.

He saw what happened just now.

As Suihe lunged forward, Jiang Shuoning rushed up and grabbed the scissors with both hands. In the struggle, the scissors cut her neck.

The moment the guard subdued Suihe, she suddenly twisted her wrist and plunged the scissors into her own chest.

The Emperor's gaze lingered on her for a moment, then when he spoke again, his tone was somewhat indifferent:

"Jiang Shuoning has rendered meritorious service in protecting his master, so he is exempt from the thirty strokes of the cane. Jiang Shuoning, what reward do you desire?"

Jiang Shuoning kowtowed, her wound being pulled open, but she forced herself not to move, her voice slightly hoarse:

"This servant dares not ask for a reward. I only wish that Your Highness is safe and sound. Suihe has been by Your Highness's side for fifteen years, and suddenly she has done such a crazy thing. Your Highness herself has been frightened."

"This humble servant dares to beg Your Majesty, in consideration of the undeserved calamity Her Highness has suffered, and not to let this matter discourage Her Highness."

The Emperor glanced at her, remained silent for a moment, and spoke in a low voice, revealing neither his joy nor anger:

"You do seem to care about your master."

Jiang Shuoning lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to reply, only feeling that gaze falling on her head, as if weighing something.

After a long while, the Emperor spoke again:

"If you haven't decided what reward you want, then wait until you have."

After saying that, he turned his gaze to Bao Zhong: "Take Jiang Shuoning to the Imperial Hospital. Convey my imperial decree that she risked her life to protect you, and that the Imperial Hospital should prepare the best medicine so that no scars are left."

Bao Zhong kowtowed: "Yes, Your Majesty."

After the Emperor finished speaking, he rose and walked out of the palace. He paused as he passed Consort Rong, but ultimately did not look down at her, and continued walking towards the palace gate.

Feng Xi quickly opened his umbrella and chased after him.

(under)

Palace Gate

The emperor had just sat in his sedan chair when he suddenly said out of the blue, "Luckily, it wasn't my face that was injured."

Feng Xi was stunned for a moment, and before he could think about the meaning of those words, he shouted, "Start the chase!"

The sedan chair slowly lifted up, and Feng Xi followed beside it, still pondering those words in his mind.

It wasn't his face that was injured... Was the Emperor feeling sorry for Jiang Shuoning?

Or was it just something he said offhand?

He glanced up and stole a look at the Emperor's expression, but couldn't discern anything.

As the rain subsided, the puddles on the palace road reflected the hazy sky, and the sedan chair slowly drove away in the rain and mist.

Meanwhile, Zhou Zhengyin was running desperately along the palace road. Rainwater got into his eyes, and he raised his hand to wipe them haphazardly.

My mind is filled with thoughts of her.

He remembered the day Granny Yu perished in the fire; he knelt before the ruins, weeping uncontrollably.

At that time, he felt that no one in the world would ever be kind to him again.

But then he met Jiang Shuoning.

She wasn't as gentle as Granny Yu; she was like ice.

When you give someone medicine, you should kneel to receive it; when you give someone meat, you should kneel to eat it; when you give someone new clothes, you should speak to them.

She said there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Her kindness towards him always came with conditions.

But he's already used to it.

He was even a little afraid that one day she would stop making demands of him.

He ran in the rain, telling himself that he would do anything as long as she was safe and sound today.

Speak politely, kneel properly, and do whatever she asks of him.

He didn't need her to be nice to him; he just wanted her to still be there and still be willing to make demands of him.

Suddenly, he slipped and fell to the ground. As he got up, a sharp shout came from the front of him:

"What kind of lackey is this, disturbing His Majesty's presence and running around on the palace road!"

Zhou Zhengyin froze upon hearing the words "Imperial Procession".

Is it the emperor who threw him into the imperial mausoleum when he was one year old?

Is it the emperor who ignored him for seventeen years?

Was it his father, the emperor who stripped him of his princely status?

Feng Xi strode forward and kicked him, demanding, "Tell me, which palace's eunuch are you from?"

As he spoke, he lowered his eyes and stared intently, his eyes widening as big as copper bells.

The imperial sedan chair slowly approached from behind Feng Xi. The Emperor sat in the sedan chair, his gaze fixed straight ahead, his voice devoid of any emotion:

"Enough, Feng Xi. He's just a servant. Running around on the palace path shows no manners. I'll teach him a lesson later."

Feng Xi quickly bowed and replied "Yes," then glared at Zhou Zhengyin and lowered his voice, "Why aren't you going back to your Changmen Palace? Do you want to die?" After saying that, he quickly followed the sedan chair.

Zhou Zhengyin slowly raised his head. The sedan chair passed by him, the person inside always looking straight ahead, leaving him with only a dignified profile.

The word "slave" pierced his ears, causing a dull pain in his chest.

When he was a child, Granny Yu said that of all the princes, he was the one who most resembled the emperor.

He just looked at it, and it doesn't resemble it at all. Not at all.

The rain hit his face, and he couldn't tell if it was rain or tears.