roccoschili Chapter 466 They might not even look up to me.
Chapter 466 They might not even look up to me.
"Your Majesty, as expected, Eunuch Jing went to Zhaoqing Palace overnight. It seems that His Majesty wants to summon Granny Yu for questioning."
Green Willow tiptoed into the study and reported in a low voice.
Since the Emperor left, Meng Shu had been standing by the window. Upon hearing the reply, she raised her hand and picked up the note with the three characters "Qing Zhi Fei" written on it. The Xuan paper was as thin as a cicada's wing. She gently brought it to the candlestick, and the orange flame licked the writing, instantly turning the three characters into charred ashes that fell into the charcoal brazier beside her.
Green Willow used her silver chopsticks to stir the cold ashes and asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, based on these two paintings, we've only made the Emperor suspicious of the eldest daughter of the Duke of Qing's family background. Will this really implicate Consort Qing?"
"I never expected to accomplish anything overnight. Planting a little suspicion in his mind now is enough."
Once suspicion takes root, it will seep deeper and deeper into the cracks.
Meng Shu turned around, and the moonlight shone through the window and fell on her face, half bright and half dark. "Besides, Granny Yu took care of Qing Zhitong for so many years. Perhaps she had already noticed some things, but just didn't say anything."
As she spoke, she walked back to her desk, picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and with an unusual sharpness in her strokes, quickly wrote three characters on the Xuan paper.
Qu Qingge.
This is Qu Jieyu's given name.
......
Granny Yu felt somewhat uneasy the whole way from Zhaoqing Palace.
At this moment, kneeling on the cold gold brick floor of the Funing Palace, she could clearly feel the chill emanating from the Emperor.
After a long while, a question came from above: "Does Granny Yu remember when Zhifei's heart palpitations started?"
Physician He had just left a quarter of an hour ago. On the imperial desk was Consort Qing's pulse record from early May, which read: "On the seventh day of the fifth month of the second year of Zhenghe, the chief complaint was: Consort Qing had restless sleep, palpitations, and occasional shortness of breath. Palpation revealed: ...the pulse was thin, weak, and rapid, especially the cun pulse, which dispersed upon deep pressure and occasionally stopped...the diagnosis was deficiency of heart qi, complicated by cold stagnation."
However, Physician He truthfully reported that palpitations are very easy to fake.
Simply by deliberately holding one's breath and concentrating before taking a pulse, and then showing signs of shortness of breath at the right time, one can fool the eyes of ordinary physicians.
“Your Majesty, Consort Qing has been frail and sensitive to cold since childhood. I remember very clearly that she developed palpitations when she was seven years old,” Yu Mama replied carefully.
Before the Emperor could ask any more questions, she continued to explain: "The reason I remember is because that year she... had an argument with the eldest young lady and fainted in the plum garden. After waking up, she developed palpitations. The eldest young lady has always regretted it and is always more courteous to the second young lady."
“Zhitong and Zhifei are siblings from the same mother, but their personalities and appearances are quite different.” The Emperor suddenly raised his eyes and looked at her. “Granny, rise and answer.”
Granny Yu dared not slacken in the slightest. She slowly rose, supporting herself on the cold gold brick, still bowing her back.
She vaguely sensed that the real interrogation was only just beginning.
Half an hour passed, and only the Emperor's occasional questions and Granny Yu's low replies could be heard in the hall.
As the Emperor's words shifted, Granny Yu's thoughts swirled, as if she had returned to her days in the Duke of Qing's mansion.
After a long while, until the Emperor fell completely silent, the ticking of the water clock was exceptionally clear in the hall. She finally made up her mind, knelt down with a thud, and when she looked up, her eyes were filled with turbid tears.
She tentatively said, "Your Majesty, over the years I've often thought back to when the eldest young lady was alive. That year she suddenly fell ill at night and passed away abruptly, but now, thinking back carefully, everything about her seems eerie..."
Before she could finish speaking, she lowered her head.
......
Outside the palace, at the residence of Governor Han, located in Yongchang Ward.
In the latter half of the day, Marquis Zhenbei and his wife, along with the ladies of the Song and Shen families, arrived with invitations. Old Madam Han, along with her granddaughter Shuyi, received them in the front hall for half the day. Now, in the dead of night, the vast mansion was brightly lit, but the absence of people created a desolate silence.
After having two cups of wine at dinner, Madam Han, supported by Suqin, slowly strolled to the pavilion in the inner courtyard to rest. The evening breeze, carrying the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms, swept past the pavilion pillars, causing the silver strands at her temples to flutter slightly.
“Madam,” Suqin spread out a soft cushion and helped her sit down on the stone bench. She couldn’t help but say, “Everywhere in the capital looks nice, with gold bricks paving the ground and painted beams and carved pillars. But this house is too big. At night, it feels like there’s nothing under your feet. It’s so desolate.”
Upon hearing this, Madam Han smiled slightly, a hint of melancholy etched on the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.
She looked up at the night sky; the moon was mostly obscured by clouds, and the stars were sparse, far less beautiful than the night sky in northern Xinjiang.
Thinking of what her son had said before she left for the capital, Old Madam Han raised her hand and said, "Go and call Shuyi here. I have something to say to her."
Han Shuyi had just finished practicing a set of boxing moves and was covered in sweat. Before she could even change her clothes, Aunt Qin hurriedly brought her over.
"Grandmother." She composed herself, curtsied, and performed the gesture quickly without making a single mistake.
She was raised in the Han family since she was two years old. She knew that she was the adopted daughter of the Han family, but she always held the old lady who raised her in her heart.
“Your father and I didn’t want you to enter the palace either.” Old Madam Han patted the stone bench, gesturing for her to sit down. “But at the banquet in Cining Palace, the Emperor not only didn’t blame you for your rudeness, but also praised you for being ‘frank,’ and the Empress Dowager even bestowed upon you a phoenix adorned with red gold and pearls…”
Han Shuyi said anxiously, "Granddaughter doesn't want to go to the palace. It's all square and cramped there. I've only been there for a few hours and I already feel suffocated. Besides! The Empress looks like she's smiling at me, but there's not a trace of warmth in her eyes. Who knows what she's thinking?"
Madam Han didn't suppress her temper. After she had finished speaking, she slowly said, "If you don't want to enter the palace, then you don't have to. Your father thinks the second son of the Shen family is quite good and has a stable temperament. He is willing to betroth you to the Shen family. If you agree, I will have Suqin go to the Shen family tomorrow to let them know. Before the imperial decree comes down, we can finalize this marriage as soon as possible."
"Shen Yichuan?" Han Shuyi seemed to have heard something strange, and her heroic eyebrows furrowed even more tightly.
"His granddaughter didn't want to, and he just stood there like a stone!"
She recalled the last time they hunted side-by-side, and he only said three sentences—
'Strong wind'
'Slippery road'
There are deer ahead.
Han Shuyi couldn't help but shiver, quickly shaking her head. Unable to speak any further, she simply squatted down, burying her face in the soft satin skirt of Old Madam Han's knees, just like when she was a child and had been wronged, and let out a muffled groan.
The old lady raised her hand to stroke her sweat-dampened hair and sighed.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, she warned in a deep voice, "Even if the Emperor really wants to issue an edict, he won't be in such a hurry. If you really don't like the second son of the Shen family, we can choose someone else. There are countless young men from prominent families in the capital; there's bound to be one that suits your taste."
But your father will absolutely not allow you to get together with that servant of the Marquis of Lin'an's household!
Han Shuyi was startled, and the tips of her ears turned red. But when she thought of that person, she remained silent for a while and then lowered her eyes dejectedly.
Her lips moved, a mixture of grievance and self-mockery in her voice: "Grandmother really thinks too highly of her granddaughter. She... might not even think much of me."