Chapter 91 It was time to get even with her

Yun Fenghuang was startled, and blurted, “Your Highness, do you suspect that His Majesty…”

“Officials of the Ministry of Punishments, the Highest Judiciary, and Imperial City Division also participated in the summer banquet.” Empress Ji pinched her forehead and said tiredly, “They thoroughly inspected the scene and the vicinity under the watchful eyes of the people, and concluded that someone shot my grandmother with a 3 dan bow (dan: a unit of weight, 1 dan ≈ 120kg) from a hundred steps away, but this murderer has not been found yet.”

A female from an ordinary family would not know what the 3 dan bow meant.

However, people in the north were good at horseback riding and shooting, and even women knew about it. Yun Fenghuang, guided by her father and brothers, practiced horseback riding and shooting when she was only about seven years old. At the age of ten, she could take a small bow and drove falcons and hounds to participate in hunting. Although her preys were mainly hunted by her falcons and hounds, she had the common sense. The first founder of this dynasty issued an order to divide bows into three grades. The first grade was the 9 dou bows (dou: a unit of weight, 10 dou = 1 dan). The second was the 8 dou bows. The third grade was the 7 dou bows.

In other words, those who could pull the 9 dou bow in the army were the most outstanding people. And 10 dou was equal to 1 dan. Therefore, the murderer who could pull a 3 dan bow must have extraordinary strength.

What’s more, passing through one’s head with an arrow in a hundred paces was not as difficult as piercing a willow leaf with an arrow from the distance of a hundred paces, but it was enough for one to make a name in the army.

… Emperor Chunjia was a figurehead. How did he get such a helper?

More importantly, how could he keep it from everyone for such a long time?

Yun Fenghuang frowned and carefully recalled what had happened after coming down from Pine Hill. Her pupils contracted suddenly and her voice lightened subconsciously, “Your Highness, I remember that His Majesty often practices riding and shooting. A few days before the summer banquet, in Yan Lan Palace, he asked Shan Xiang who served Noble Consort Gui to massage his shoulders for a while because he practiced excessively…”

Emperor Chunjia was also a Princedom before ascending the throne. Queen Mother Yuan, who had no children, loved Emperor Chunjia very much. Since he was young, Queen Mother Yuan invited famous teachers to teach him, hoping that he would be versed in literary and military arts. Therefore, he had a very good foundation in political and military aspects.

Moreover, because he was not allowed to take over the reins of government after ascending the throne, he paid attention to study except staying in the Imperial Harem. There were a lot of time and opportunities for him to make a comprehensive study. The Imperial Court and Harem would not highly praise a figurehead, so the Emperor cut no figure. However, it did not mean that the Emperor did not have the ability to pull the 3 dan bow to kill Duchess Ye!

In fact, the Emperor, who used to be a Princedom, had been living an extravagant life. He was in good shape physically. After inviting teaching, he was taught by many teachers. Moreover, he could enjoy good medicines and nutritious food. As a result, he would be stronger and more capable than others if he worked hard.

“However, the time is not right.” Empress Ji listened and shook her head slightly, “It’s a big event. At that time, important people of the Imperial Harem and Court were all present. People from all parties participated in the investigation, and they supervised each other. There was absolutely no cover! Otherwise, why was you detained in vihara and released until now?

She sighed, “To be honest, if you were not among the people who could prove that His Majesty was in Pine Hill, I would certainly suspect His Majesty… By the way, are you sure that it was really His Majesty who was in Pine Hill?”

Yun Fenghuang stunned and said, “Well… I didn’t find anything wrong at that time. Otherwise, since I have been detained for a long time, I would have said it directly.”

“It’s true.” It was not certain that whether Empress Ji was disappointed or melancholy. She sighed again, “You have always been clever. It’s impossible for His Majesty to find a substitute under my supervision. Even if he could get a substitute who looked similar to him, you would not be cheated by him.”

“Your Highness.” Yun Fenghuang clenched her fists quietly, rolling her eyes, and said in a low voice, “I think that His Majesty has been in the Imperial Harem all these years and has no contact with the outside world. He is strong in will but weak in power. However, Prince Regent…”

Empress Ji nodded, “I also doubt him, but I have no evidence. Now the rebellion of the three regions has not been settled, and there are a lot of rumors… Alas…”

After all, the Empress looked tired. After talking to Yun Fenghuang for a while, she was overtired and waved her hand to ask Yun Fenghuang go back to her palace. “The Imperial Harem is also not peaceful in these days. Let others tell you some other news.”

After hesitating, she seemed to comfort Yun Fenghuang, “No matter what happens, I will always value you. Those Concubine Messengers will soon return. Among those selected girls from poor but good families, there must be some obedient people.”

Yun Fenghuang responded softly and said a few words to show her care about the Empress’s health before leaving.

A gust of wind blew after she went out. Yun Fenghuang realized that the cool perspiration redoubled on her back.

“Rong Hua Yun… Oh, Pin Yun now. Because you get the promotion of Pin before her, people in the Imperial Harem call her Little Pin Yun.” The maid of Yan Fu Palace, who led the way and accompanied her to go out, said, “Miao Cai, the maid of Little Pin Yun died. It was said that when she and Xi Jing went back to the Imperial Harem to take pills for seasickness that day, they saw a cat on the way. When she stepped forward and played with the cat, the cat scratched her on her head and cheeks. Therefore, she asked Xi Jing to send pills alone to Small Ying Zhou.”

However, before Xi Jing went back to Small Ying Zhou, Duchess Ye was shot!

At that time, there was a mess on the island. The maid was overlooked.

It was recognized that the patron of Yun Fenghuang was the Empress. But even Yun Fenghuang was detained in vihara, questioned and grounded for several days just because she happened to meet the Emperor on Pine Hill. As the Emperor’s die-hard supporters, the two daughters of Duke Yi also fell under suspicion. They were detained separately and repeatedly questioned.

Of course, Noble Consort Shu was of high status, so she and her sister Yun Qingman came out much earlier than Yun Fenghuang. After staying in Small Ying Zhou for two days, they were sent back to Tong Xia Palace after the Emperor took over the reins of government.

Moreover, Yun Qingman got a promotion as comfort.

After Yun Qingman went back, she received the news that Miao Cai was suspected of rabies and could not continue to stay in the Imperial Haram. Then Miao Cai was moved to a special place for the sick and disabled servants.

The rabies was curable at this time. The simplest method was to apply the brains of the animal hurting people to the wounds, and the person would get cured.

However, most of the cats in the Imperial Haram were ordered by Queen Mother Ji to put in to catch snakes, rats and insects. Without Queen Mother Ji’s permission, who dared to catch and even kill them?

Moreover, cats were similar in appearance, and they scattered in the whole Imperial Haram. Miao Cai must be scared when she was scratched. Therefore, it was difficult for her to recognize the cat that scratched her. To say the least, even if Miao Cai could recognize the cat, it would be difficult to catch that cat immediately.

All in all, her condition worsened after she was sent out, and she died a few days later.

The maid of Yan Fu Palace whispered, “After all, she grew up with Little Pin Yun. Little Pin Yun was very sad when she knew that. Before Miao Cai died, she wanted to see Miao Cai, but was stopped by Noble Consort Shu.”

Yun Fenghuang thought that of course Noble Consort Shu would stop Yun Qingman. There were two reasons. The first one was that the place where Miao Cai was at that time must be black, cold, damp and dusty. It was not a place where Yun Qingman, who grew up in the lap of luxury, could enter. The second one was that when the Emperor took over the reins of government, Noble Consort Shu and Yun Qingman, as representatives of the royalists in the Imperial Haram, should keep a low profile after they were released from Small Ying Zhou. Miao Cai was just a maid. They did not need to care about her under the circumstance.

Yun Fenghuang smiled lightly, “It’s really pitiful… Alas. If I had known that, I would have asked Xi Jing to take the medicine alone. Unexpectedly, Miao Cai died.”

The maid of Yan Fu Palace said softly, “Miao Cai was destined to be short-lived. After all, Sister Xi Jing is safe.”

“I am also curious about how Xi Jing did it?” Yun Fenghuang thought.

She thought that Xi Jing was really cruel. At that time, she just quietly asked Xi Jing to accompany Miao Cai back to the Imperial Haram and then stop Miao Cai, avoiding the maid telling Yun Qingman the details of her meeting with Yun Qike. As for the methods, she suggested that Xi Jing could involve the grumpy concubines such as Yuan Lianniang or Zhao Yuan Ji in. Anyway, people of Zi Quan Hall could not get involved in it. Moreover, Xi Jing should find an excuse to explain afterwards… However, she did not expect that Xi Jing directly killed Miao Cai.

To build a relationship with Yun Qingman, Yun Fenghuang got a lot of private help from Miao Cai.

Of course, Yun Fenghuang gave Miao Cai many benefits.

Then Yun Fenghuang said something to show her sorry for Miao Cai. After that, she asked the maid what else happened in the Imperial Haram these days.

“… Zhao Yuan Ji fell in status.” The maid was a little weird when she said it. It was a kind of expression that she wanted to say but could not bear to say. “… She is Pin Ji now, ranking equally with you.”

This greatly surprised Yun Fenghuang. She asked, “Why?”

The maid looked at Yun Fenghuang who was surprised, and said, “… Because of harming a concubine.”

Yun Fenghuang was stunned for a second and then asked, “Harming a concubine? Who was harmed? Concubines in the Imperial Haram are not powerful. Any of them does not deserve to be hurt by a high-ranking consort like Zhao Yuan Ji.”

“…” The maid opened her mouth and finally changed the topic with a forced smile. “Do you want to go back to Hu Zhu Palace immediately? The person serving His Majesty just came over and asked people to pick you up. Perhaps His Majesty will see you.”

Were you sure that he went to see me instead of killing me?

Yun Fenghuang shrunk her head. She would like to stay in Yan Fu Palace, but it was impossible. She hesitated for a while. Finding that she could not know more from this maid, she had to return to Hu Zhu Palace with frustration.

After the Emperor took over the reins of government, everything seemed to be different. The path from Yan Fu Palace to Hu Zhu Palace was remote and desolate before. After just a few days, it was repaired entirely. Although it was impossible to tidy up all the palaces and pavilions along the way, at least within the range that could be seen on the palace road, they were all tidied up, and took on a new look.

This made Yun Fenghuang sadder…

The Emperor just started to take over the reins of government, and hadn’t made any achievements yet. It was uncertain that whether he would continue to take over the reins of government. But the trend in the Imperial Haram had changed so much!

She always felt that her prospects were dim after she went back…

She walked slowly and racked her brain to figure out the countermeasures.

Xi Le was also terrified. She suggested in a low voice, “My Lady, since His Majesty may go to Zi Quan Hall later, shall we go back quickly?”

If they went back earlier, the Emperor would not need to wait for a long time. Otherwise, they would be doubly guilty!

“I’m worried that if we return early, we will meet Jie Yu Yue first rather than His Majesty!” Yun Fenghuang sighed and said sadly, “Although she is pregnant, I believe she will make troubles for us once we return Hu Zhu Palace.”

Xi Le suddenly felt that it was better to walk more slowly.

It could be seen that Yuan Lianniang was sometimes more terrible than the Emperor…

“Wait. I should go to visit Noble Consort Shu first.” Yun Fenghuang said after thinking for a while. She still felt that it was very unsafe to go back to Hu Zhu Palace. She stopped and made her decision, “Fortunately, I met Shizi Yun on the summer banquet. Noble Consort Shu has only a biological brother. She must value him very much!”

However, when Yun Fenghuang and Xi Le turned around and walked a few steps, they heard the sound of Jing Whip (a whip to signal for silence) in front of them. Before they found a place to hide, a group of people surrounded the Emperor appeared in their sight.

Enemies often crossed each other’s path… Yun Fenghuang sighed silently and had to give up the idea of dragging Noble Consort Shu into troubles. Then she saluted on the roadside to greet the Emperor with Xi Le.

“Pin Yun?” The imperial carriage stopped in front of her, and Emperor Chunjia opened the bead curtain. He was smiling and asked, “Do you want to go back to Hu Zhu Palace? I just want to see Lianniang. I can give you a ride.”

“…” Yun Fenghuang suddenly thought that a while back in Tai Chu Palace, when she was sitting at the imperial carriage directly, the Emperor once questioned her with “the virtue of a concubine who rejected to take the imperial carriage with the emperor” and was refuted by her grand words… Well, did he want to get even with her?

How should she answer now?