Chapter 44: This Servant is from Lingsxue Pavilion

The fire in Linlang Palace had just been lit when it was extinguished by the eunuchs of the Imperial Guard.

The Imperial Guard was stationed in the front court and could not enter the palace. The inner palace of Dayan was guarded by eunuchs from the Imperial Guard, this department, like the Imperial Guard, was directly under the Emperor’s control and was headed by his confidants.

Although the Emperor was somewhat restricted in the previous dynasty, Helian Qi firmly held the security of the palace inside and out.

Jin Zhong, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Guard, had been secretly following Caiye under the Emperor’s secret order, preparing to stop her from harming Changchun Palace…

He followed her all the way to Linlang Palace.

Although he was very shocked, it didn’t stop him from catching her red-handed.

…

After three rounds of drinking, the music and dance were in full swing.

Consort Zhuang’s entourage and the eunuchs of the Imperial Guard arrived in a large group.

“Your Majesty, this concubine was so afraid that she would never see Your Majesty again!” Consort Zhuang bowed with tears in her eyes.

She had recently caught a cold and was sleeping soundly in her palace.

She was woken up by the sound of the fire…

Consort Zhuang was shocked, angry, and scared, she immediately went to find the Emperor.

The eunuchs of the Imperial Guard threw the bound eunuchs and palace maids on the ground, Jin Zhong, the eunuch in charge, bowed and reported, “Your Majesty, these five people tried to set fire to Linlang Palace, thanks to Your Majesty’s wise and insightful command, we captured them!”

All the concubines were shocked. What? Linlang Palace almost caught fire?

Helian Qi was also very shocked, Linlang Palace?

His eyes darkened, he helped Consort Zhuang up and asked with concern, “Are you and the princess alright?”

“The princess and I are fine. The fire was just lit and then extinguished.” A warm feeling of gratitude arose in Consort Zhuang’s heart, she looked at Helian Qi with sweetness in her eyes, “Thank you for protecting this concubine. If it weren’t for the people Your Majesty sent coming in time, this concubine might have been in trouble…”

Helian Qi patted her hand reassuringly, then turned to the palace maids and eunuchs, his eyes were cold and sharp, “Who ordered you?”

Lady Xue was surprised in her heart, how did the plan fail?

But her expression didn’t change at all. The daughter of a Duke had learned etiquette since she was young, she couldn’t show any abnormality on the surface.

“This servant was momentarily confused, I took the money she gave me…”

“This servant was just following Caiye’s instructions…”

The four palace maids and eunuchs all pointed at Caiye.

Two of them were third-rank cleaning palace maids from Linlang Palace, they were responsible for letting Caiye and the others into Linlang Palace.

The other two were errand eunuchs from the Internal Affairs Department, they smuggled fire powder into the palace while they were out on errands.

Noble Consort Shu looked at the remaining Caiye, “Where do you work?”

“This servant is from Lingsxue Pavilion.” Caiye answered tremblingly.

All the concubines gasped and looked at Ning Wanyin.

“Lady Ning, why did you try to harm Consort Zhuang?” Noble Consort Shu asked in feigned shock.

Ning Wanyin said calmly, “Although she’s from my palace, she doesn’t listen to me. Xia Yong—”

Xia Yong stepped forward and stated, “Caiye went to Lady Xue’s palace this morning.”

“This concubine has never seen her, you are Lady Ning’s eunuch, you are lying and slandering this concubine.” Lady Xue was not afraid at all, she directly denied it.

“Xia Yong is my man, I heard him report this matter earlier. What were you doing seeing a palace maid from Lingsxue Pavilion?” Helian Qi looked at Lady Xue coldly.

Lady Xue’s eyes flashed…

The Emperor had already discovered that Caiye was suspicious and sent…

People are watching, no wonder she was caught red-handed.

But even if you know Caiye went to Qionghua Garden, so what?

“Your Majesty, please investigate!” Lady Xue bowed, “This concubine has never seen this palace maid, and I don’t know when she came to Qionghua Garden.”

As soon as she finished speaking, her senior palace maid, Yinzhu, understood her intention and knelt down, “Your Majesty, please allow this servant to speak. This servant is an old acquaintance of Caiye, she came to talk to this servant today. But she only spoke to this servant for a few words, I don’t know anything else…”

Ning Wanyin looked at Caiye, “I instructed that palace maids from Lingsxue Pavilion cannot have private meetings with others. Violators will be punished with fifty lashes and sent to the Sinful Servants’ Quarters. You risked being punished just to talk to her?”

Everyone looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

Indeed, this was too unreasonable.

Lady Xue was not afraid at all, she said calmly, “Caiye, as long as you tell the truth, although you have committed a capital crime today, considering your merit in pointing out the real culprit, this concubine will definitely take care of your nine generations.”

Caiye trembled and kowtowed, “Thank you, Lady Xue! This servant dares not fail to report the truth… Your Majesty, please be aware, all of this… was instructed by Lady Ning. She threatened this servant with the lives of my entire family, this servant dared not disobey! This servant knows that I deserve to die, the concubine is willing to protect my family, this servant cannot frame the concubine anymore…”

“Lady Ning told me to bribe eunuchs and palace maids to set fire to Linlang Palace. This morning, she suddenly told me to go to Qionghua Garden…”

“This servant is lowly, how could I see Lady Xue. So I went to Qionghua Garden and talked to a palace maid I knew…”

“Your Majesty, please be aware, this servant was forced. Lady Ning knows where my family lives, this servant only begs for my family’s safety, this servant is willing to die…”

The palace maids and eunuchs from Changchun Palace and Lingsxue Pavilion had all been investigated by Ning Wanyin for their nine generations.

If she was really threatened by Ning Wanyin with her family, and Lady Xue guaranteed her safety, it would be reasonable for her to betray her on the spot.

For a moment, everyone’s eyes fell on Ning Wanyin.

Lady Xue sneered in her heart: Ning Wanyin, you only have this much skill, you want to fight me, you’re too naive.

But on the surface, she looked shocked, “So that’s how it is… Ning Wanyin, you have such a vicious heart…”

“Your Majesty, please be aware, if my mistress had any intention of harming Consort Zhuang, how could she report it beforehand…” Lianrui quickly knelt down to clarify.

Lady Xue said coldly, “Of course it’s because her target wasn’t Consort Zhuang, but me. She’s setting up a big scheme, crying wolf, framing this concubine for trying to harm Consort Zhuang…”

She looked at Helian Qi with a wronged expression, “Your Majesty, please avenge this concubine! Ning Wanyin is vicious, she deliberately set up a trap to frame this concubine, this Caiye is her palace maid, she just deliberately found an excuse to go to my palace, and it became my instruction…”

“Does that mean that in the future, if anyone’s palace maid commits a crime, they can just find an excuse to go to someone else’s palace beforehand, and then frame them?”

Noble Consort Shu seized the opportunity and stepped on her, “Your Majesty, Lady Xue makes a good point. Lady Ning said that Caiye was instructed by Lady Xue, but there’s no way to verify whether Caiye has seen Lady Xue. On the other hand, Caiye set fire to Linlang Palace, she was caught red-handed, the evidence is conclusive.”

“Lady Ning, as the person in charge, should be put to death.”

Jieyu Cen watched the drama quietly. She originally wanted to befriend Ning Wanyin, but since Ning Wanyin wasn’t Lady Xue’s opponent…

Then she wasn’t worth befriending.

Concubine Wen’s heart was pounding. Fortunately, Ning Wanyin didn’t agree to befriend her, otherwise, she would have been implicated in today’s events…

Lady Fang was in a good mood: Ning Wanyin ruined her good deed, it was satisfying to see her die!

Wei Yingya thought to herself, I told you so, I guessed she wouldn’t live past three chapters!

All the concubines were either watching coldly, or gloating, or taking advantage of her misfortune.

Only Helian Qi frowned and looked at Ning Wanyin:

“Do you have anything to say in your defense?”