Palace maid Shuoning

(Up)

Jiang Shuoning was taken aback upon hearing this, and turned to look at Zhou Zhengyin, asking in surprise, "Baozhong taught you to read?"

Zhou Zhengyin nodded frankly:

"Yes. That day, after Eunuch Baozhong took me out of Yihua Palace, I told him that my aunt was willing to teach me to read and write. So he came to Changmen Palace every two nights to teach me to read."

Jiang Shuoning's heart stirred slightly. She suddenly lowered her eyes and smiled, as if she understood something.

Just as they were about to speak, Baozhong's voice came from above their heads.

"I knew he would come to be with you."

Bao Zhong was dressed in a dark blue round-necked robe, wearing a steel fork hat, holding a blue umbrella, and his pale face was covered with a layer of mild anger.

He glanced at Zhou Zhengyin and muttered under his breath, "That ignorant fool, he still doesn't learn his lesson."

Zhou Zhengyin lowered his eyes, his voice muffled: "I feel uneasy sitting in Changmen Palace while my aunt is being punished."

Bao Zhong's chest heaved slightly. He glanced at him, then ignored him and subtly tilted the umbrella towards Jiang Shuoning's head, his expression indifferent.

"After kneeling for so long, have you figured it out yet?"

Jiang Shuoning looked up at him, raindrops streaming down her eyelashes, her voice husky and stubborn, soaked by the rain:

"I don't want to speculate on His Majesty's intentions. Even if His Majesty keeps forcing me to kneel, I will not go to see him."

Upon hearing this, Bao Zhong suddenly squatted down and grabbed her chin. His fingers were icy cold, but the force he used carried a long-suppressed anger.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Zhengyin panicked and immediately grabbed Bao Zhong's wrist: "Eunuch Bao Zhong, what are you doing?"

Bao Zhong didn't look at him, nor did he let go. His eyes burned with a fierce intensity as he stared into Jiang Shuoning's eyes, forcing out each word through clenched teeth: "Shuoning, you know the Emperor's meaning..."

"What? Do you want me to become the second Wei Xuanshi?" Jiang Shuoning interrupted him, his voice cold and crisp, like a knife cleaving through the rain.

Bao Zhong's hand, which was gripping her chin, trembled slightly, and the pressure on his fingertips loosened for a moment, but he did not withdraw it.

Jiang Shuoning sneered:

"Consort Rong harbors resentment towards me, and she may well be aware of today's play. I understand what the Emperor said. But why? Why should I obediently follow the path he deems appropriate?"

I know that becoming one of his concubines is the best way to rise in society, and perhaps it's the right thing for them. But I, Jiang Shuo, would rather not take that path.

Zhou Zhengyin knelt to the side, rain streaming down his chin. He suddenly understood what this punishment of kneeling and the phrase "the second Consort Wei" meant.

There are already enough concubines in the palace, why did that person choose to select the aunt?

His heart felt as if it had been squeezed tightly by something.

Jiang Shuoning stared at Bao Zhong and continued:

"I've observed the concubines in this palace for years, and they're all the same. They eagerly await the Emperor's favor, hoping their wombs will bear children so they can rise in status through their offspring."

They acted as close as sisters to each other in public, but in private they schemed against each other, framed each other, and wouldn't stop until they had brought each other to ruin.

It's funny, really. When they first entered the palace, weren't they all vibrant and full of life? But after living in this deep palace for a few years, they were like completely different people. They became unrecognizable, their hearts filled with malice.

Their entire lives were spent fighting for one man. But then again, who turned them into this? Wasn't it that man, second only to the emperor, above all others, who held the power of life and death over everyone…?

"Enough!" Bao Zhong suddenly leaned forward and covered her mouth with his hand, the force so strong that she fell backward.

The umbrella tilted to one side, and rain poured down on his face and body. He stared intently at her, his eyes filled with anger and some deeper emotion, his voice low and sharp, almost as if it were being ground out of his throat.

"Are you crazy? How dare you say such things?"

The rain grew heavier and heavier, leaving only a vast expanse of white water and the sound of rushing water between heaven and earth.

Bao Zhong's hand was still covering Jiang Shuoning's mouth, his fingertips trembling slightly, as he squeezed out each word through his teeth:

"...You must never say those words again. I've always known the Emperor's thoughts. I was just unsure of yours..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a tear fell from Bao Zhong's hand, scalding his hand that was gripping Jiang Shuoning's chin, causing it to tremble slightly.

He looked into Jiang Shuoning's tear-filled eyes, his heart aching. He slowly released his grip and lowered his voice, saying:

"Then we must find a way to discourage the Emperor from pursuing this idea..."

(under)

Suddenly, a thought surged up from the bottom of Zhou Zhengyin's heart, shot straight to his throat, burned his eyes, and made his voice so hoarse that it almost cracked.

"Then... was my mother's death also a result of murder?"

He looked up, tears welling in his eyes, shifting back and forth between Bao Zhong and Jiang Shuoning. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his lips trembled uncontrollably.

"Granny Yu said that I was thrown into the imperial mausoleum not long after I was born. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau divined that my mother was an unlucky woman and that I was born to bring disaster to the country and the nation."

Later, that person sent an imperial edict and a cup of poisoned wine, and that was it—my mother was gone. All these years, I've always thought of myself as a jinx reincarnated. But judging from what my aunt just said…”

He paused, his voice suddenly lowering, but he emphasized each word:

"Is the divination performed by the Imperial Observatory truly the will of Heaven, or is someone using divination as a pretext to commit murder?"

Jiang Shuoning and Bao Zhong were both startled, exchanged a glance, and then looked at him together.

Zhou Zhengyin's eyes were full of expectation, like a drowning person grasping at two straws.

After a moment of silence, Baozhong spoke first:

"I don't know about your mother's affairs. That happened seventeen years ago, before I entered the palace."

Jiang Shuoning slowly shook his head: "Me too. Perhaps..."

"Perhaps it's true, just as the Imperial Observatory said, isn't it?" Zhou Zhengyin interrupted her, his shoulders trembling slightly.

He raised his hand, trying to grab Jiang Shuoning's sleeve, but then withdrew it mid-air.

Then, with tears in his eyes, he forced a smile that was more like a grimace, his voice so soft it was as if he were talking to himself:

"Perhaps my mother was an exception. There are still good people in the world, right? I believe it. I really believe it. I'm a jinx. I killed my mother, and later I killed the old woman who raised me, Granny Yu. I accept it. I accept it all."

He repeated it over and over, the more certain he became, the more it seemed like he was stabbing himself in the heart with a knife.

Jiang Shuoning looked at his helpless and sad eyes, and felt a mix of emotions.

He preferred to believe the Imperial Observatory's ominous statement rather than face the fact that his mother had been framed and killed.

If the decree ordering his execution and the cup of poison handed to him were the will of Heaven, he could only accept his fate.

But if it was man-made, it would mean that his mother had died for seventeen years in vain, and he had suffered for seventeen years.

Besides, who would willingly admit to being a jinx? But if it's truly more bloody than being a "jinx," he'd rather choose the former.

Zhou Zhengyin quickly wiped his eyes and smiled at the two of them, saying, "I was just imagining things, you don't need to comfort me. I'm fine."

He tucked the umbrella into Jiang Shuoning's hand: "I need to go to school and learn to read. Aunt, I'm leaving now; I don't want to cause you any trouble."

Before he finished speaking, he had already turned and rushed into the rain.

Jiang Shuoning watched his hastily fleeing figure, her lips pressed tightly together, and after a long while, she whispered:

"How could my words... possibly remind him of his mother?"

Bao Zhong withdrew his gaze, his voice deep and slow:

"He's not stupid, in fact, he's very smart. It's just that he'd rather pretend to be stupid than face the bloody truth that comes out when it's torn open."

Zhou Zhengyin stumbled and ran towards Changmen Palace in the pouring rain, his face streaked with sweat and tears.

My aunt's words were stuck in my head like a nail, and I couldn't get them out.

"They are as affectionate as sisters in public, but in private they scheme against each other, frame each other, and won't stop until they have destroyed each other."

Then, Bao Zhong's words from behind the artificial hill at Panting Lake echoed in my mind:

"If this palace is truly as simple as you think, why did a fire suddenly break out while you were peacefully staying in the imperial mausoleum?"

Further on, before Granny Yu perished in the flames, she held his hand and, with her last breath, spoke:

"Your Highness, if you remain mute, no one will harm you anymore."

For so many years, he had never dared to think about it too deeply. But today, his aunt's words were like a key, unexpectedly unlocking the door that had been locked for seventeen years.

He dared not push it open, but the light shining through the crack in the door already revealed what was inside.

As Eunuch Qiao was walking towards the backyard with an umbrella, he saw a soaking wet figure rushing in from afar. Startled, he quickly went to meet the figure, holding the umbrella over the man's head, his brows furrowed in worry.

"Where have you been again? Look at you, you look like you were pulled out of a well."

Zhou Zhengyin shook his head blankly, walked past him and headed straight for the backyard, his steps unsteady as if he were stepping on cotton.

Watching his staggering figure, Eunuch Qiao couldn't help but mutter to himself:

"They're all such a handful. One's always running around, and the other's too old to get out of bed, and we still have to worry about him dying in the house. What kind of mess is this..."

Zhou Zhengyin's figure, which was walking forward, suddenly stopped in his tracks.