Chapter 56 Part 1

After Pei Xiaoyuan left, Xuyu sat alone in the room for a while, and finally tiredness catching up with her.

She hadn’t slept for two nights in a row. She got up and went into the house to take a nap. When she woke up, it seemed like it was afternoon. The surrounding was quiet. Except for a few chirping birds in the distance, there was no other sound in her ears.

She did not get up immediately, still closed her eyes and sorted out the many unexpected things that had happened in the past few days, one by one, in her mind.

Suddenly, she thought of Wei Yiniang.

She hadn’t seen her since Pei Xiaoyuan searched Pingkang Lane that night. Her father had interrogated everyone around her to find out about her background, including Chengping, Yuwen Zhi, and even Qingtou, an insignificant servant. For some reason, she suddenly had a feeling that perhaps, after that night search, Wei Yinniang had also entered her father’s sight. If it was really as she thought, maybe Wei Yinniang had also been interrogated by her father.

Thinking of this, she immediately got up, put on her clothes, walked out of the courtyard, opened the door, and was about to ask the Hu woman to bring some water for washing, when she was startled.

Standing outside the door were seven to eight girls of about the same age as Zhu’er from the Ganliang county governor mansion. They were all pretty and respectful, obviously well-trained maids. Not only that, the eunuch Yang Zai’en, who used to serve in the West Hall of Ziyun Palace, was also there. However, he had changed his usual palace eunuch attire and wore a round-necked robe that was neither blue nor green, tied with a belt, and only short of gluing a beard on his face, he looked like a steward in a wealthy family. He and the maids seemed to have been waiting here for some time, but he was meticulous and had no impatience on his face. When he saw Xuyu unexpectedly pause after opening the door, he walked to her with a smile and bowed, “Young Master is up? His Majesty likes the painting of the Queen Mother of the West that you made, so he specially granted eight maids for you to use. In addition, His Majesty knew that the mansion previously granted to Master Pei Erlang still needed to be repaired, so he sent this servant to supervise this matter, so that Master Pei Erlang would not have to be disturbed by such trivial matters and could work for the court with peace of mind.”

As he spoke, the maids came forward and lined up to salute her.

Xuyu understood immediately. The emperor wanted to send Yang Zai’en to her side. Whether it was to monitor her or not was unclear, but if he saw something, he would definitely pass on the message to the palace. As far as she knew, Yang Zai’en was Zhao Zhongfang’s apprentice, and now he was also a high-ranking eunuch in the palace. Being assigned to serve a court painter like her would certainly arouse suspicion. However, using this pretext to station him here would not only avoid raising doubts but also make it appear that the emperor was especially favoring Pei Xiaoyuan.

Xuyu was a county princess in the prince mansion when she was young, she was also accustomed to living with a group of servants. But after growing up with her grandfather for so many years, she was used to doing everything by herself. Now she didn’t need so many people to serve her. She was speechless for a moment, then reacted and said, “I don’t need anyone here. Master Pei also shouldn’t need Eunuch Yang to repair his house. You should take the people back.”

But how could Yang Zai’en be sent away so easily? If it weren’t for the presence of the maids, Xuyu could tell that he was practically on the verge of kneeling before her and pleading. He insisted that he was acting on the emperor’s orders and couldn’t return to the palace until his task was completed.

How could she not know that her father emperor was not a tolerant person. An old person like Zhao Zhongfang who had been with them for many years was driven away just like that. Yang Zai’en was just a palace eunuch, it was not good to embarrass him, so she could only give up for the time being. After hurriedly washed and tidying up, and when she came out again, she found that she still underestimated the people sent. In addition to those maids, there were also kitchen staff, gardeners, rough servants, and even the guards originally arranged by Pei Xiaoyuan in the house had changed faces. Now the leader was a middle-aged guard officer named Zhang Dunyi, who was personally selected by Jinwu General Han Kerang.

Of course, all of them came here in the name of the emperor’s generous gift to Pei Xiaoyuan. If it weren’t for the completely confused Qingtou and the Hu Amu, Xuyu felt that Pei Xiaoyuan was no longer the owner of this mansion, as he was completely sidelined.

She couldn’t send the people away, so she had to give up. After packing up, she hurriedly went out. She knew that Yang Zai’en must have sent people to follow her. Because she was worried about Wei Yinniang, she didn’t care about these things and directly rode to Pingkang Lane.

In the past, she hadn’t known, but now she was aware that there was another entrance to Yinniang’s residence. She made her way back along the original path and knocked on the small door. After a long moment, the door creaked open slightly, and a tall, sturdy maid with an unfamiliar face peeked out, sizing her up. When she asked for Lady Yumian, the maid coldly shook her head, saying that she wasn’t there, and then made to close the door without another word.

Xuyu became more and more suspicious. She forced the door open and quickly walked through the courtyard and up the stairs. However, the maid caught up with her from behind and blocked her at the stairs again.

The sturdy woman had a lot of strength. Xuyu was unable to move after she twisted her wrist. She endured the pain and held the stair railing with her hands, shouting upwards: “Sister, are you there? It’s me! Ye Xuyu!”

The sturdy woman scolded her in a low voice and wanted to drag her out by force. At this time, the door on the small building opened, and someone ran out, leaned out of the railing and shouted angrily: “Let her go!”

Xuyu looked over and saw that it was Wei Yinniang.

The woman still looked a little reluctant, but she didn’t dare to go against Wei Yinniang’s wishes, so she let go of her hand. Xuyu went up to the small building, while Wei Yinniang also hurriedly met her. When Xuyu approached her, she was taken aback.

Although it had only been a few days since they last saw each other, Wei Yinniang looked as though she had been gravely ill. Her clothing was disheveled, a shawl loosely draped over her shoulders, with the ends hanging past her hands. She wore a wrinkled, everyday pale blue cotton skirt. Her hair, uncombed, was messily gathered into a lazy bun, with most of her long locks falling haphazardly over her shoulders. Her face was pale, lips devoid of color, and she looked extremely exhausted.

“Sister, what’s wrong with you? Come inside quickly!” Xuyu didn’t wait for her to say anything. She supported the person and walked inside. When she entered the bedroom, she smelled medicine and saw the messy bedding on the bed. It was obvious that she was sick in bed, and only got up and ran out when she heard her voice.

After entering, Wei Yinniang dismissed the maid and wanted to kneel down to pay her respects, but Xuyu stopped her and helped her sit back on the bed. She asked, “I haven’t seen you for a few days. How come become so sick? What happened?”

At this time, Wei Yinniang’s spirit seemed to be much better. She smiled and shook her head, “What could have happened? It’s just the weather has suddenly warmed up. I was careless one night and didn’t protect myself from the cold. I accidentally got sick a few days ago, so I became lazy and just lay down. I’m already taking some medicine and will be well in two days. Don’t worry, sister.”

She responded naturally, not avoiding Xuyu’s gaze. But intuition made Xuyu didn’t believe it: “Did His Majesty ask you anything a few days ago?”

Wei Yinniang still shook her head: “His Majesty is busy with all kinds of affairs, how can he have time to think of me? It’s really nothing, don’t worry, sister!”

At this time, the medicine concoction that was simmering on the small stove in the room was boiling and overflowing. Seeing this, Wei Yinniang wanted to stand up, but Xuyu pushed her back to sit down, and went up to pick up the small medicine pot and put it aside to cool down. Then she used a small tong to cover the charcoal and reduce the fire. She said casually: “When I came last time, I saw that you had several servants here, why are they gone? Where did the person who answered the door just now come from…”

At this moment, she accidentally saw a small bottle on the table nearby, which seemed to be used to hold medicine for wounds. It seemed the bottle hasn’t yet to be opened, as the wax seal with the name of the medical officer of the Imperial Medical Bureau was still on the bottle cap.

Xuyu was startled, picked up the medicine bottle and looked at it for a few seconds.

Wei Yinniang also noticed the bottle at this time, and hurried over, took it back from Xuyu, and threw it into a box. She looked up and met Xuyu’s puzzled eyes, and explained with a forced smile: “It’s just a fake Imperial Medical Bureau medicine I bought outside. Just for backup——”

Xuyu’s eyes fell and stopped on her hand.

She had noticed that since they met, Wei Yinniang’s hands were always covered by a shawl. That was fine, but even when she reached out to grab the bottle just now, she was still covered it with the shawl. Now Xuyu became suspicious and asked, “Sister, is your hand injured? Let me take a look.”

Wei Yinniang’s face changed slightly when she heard that, and hurriedly stepped back to avoid it, but was grabbed by Xuyu, who forcibly lifted up her shawl, and she was immediately shocked.

Yinniang’s delicate hand, once so skilled in playing string instruments, was now painful to look at. Her slender fingers had turned black and swollen.

Xuyu took the opportunity to force herself to look at her other hand, and it was also the same.

Obviously, these were injuries left by torture.

Xuyu couldn’t help but gasp.

“Who is it? Who did this to you, sister?” Xuyu was heartbroken and furious, but before she finished her words, she suddenly understood in her heart.

“It’s my father. It’s him! Right? He forced you to tell him about me?”

Wei Yinniang’s expression had regained her calm at this time. She pulled her injured hand back from Xuyu’s grasp and said, “His Majesty has already shown me mercy. He didn’t mention anything else, nor did he hold me accountable for the matter with Li Yan. Otherwise, given what I did, even if I chopped in half and thrown into the streets, I would have no complain. Sister, you don’t have to take it to heart, and don’t get into pointless conflict with His Majesty because of me. If that happens, I will really be guilty of a thousand deaths.”

After she finished speaking, she knelt down and kowtowed solemnly.

Xuyu felt anxious and could only stood there in a daze for a moment. She helped Wei Yinniang up from the ground and helped her sit up in the bed. She held her bruised hands and asked, “Are you really alright? Have you asked a doctor to check it?”

She had heard that people who had been subjected to torture often ended up with broken finger bones, and even if the skin and flesh recovered, their hands would be completely disabled, and they would not even be able to do daily tasks like holding a bowl or chopsticks.

“It’s really nothing serious.” Wei Yinniang smiled and moved her fingers. “Look, there is no bone damage, just some flesh wounds. I have also seen a doctor, and he’s already applying medicine. It will heal in two days.”

Her fingers were quite flexible, and it seemed that she had no serious injuries.

Not only that, Xuyu saw that she wanted to get the needle and thread to make her feel completely at ease, saying that she could even do embroidery, but Xuyu hurriedly dragged her back.

“No need. Don’t move your hands and heal your injury quickly.” She looked at the box where Wei Yinniang had hidden the medicine.

“I think that was the medicine prepared by the imperial physician in the palace. It should be better than those sold outside. Did my father send it to you later? Sister, why didn’t you use it?”

When Wei Yinniang heard this, she paused at first, but soon nodded and explained that there were two bottles, and she was already using the other one, so this bottle was unopened and put aside for the time being.

Only then did Xuyu finally feel somewhat relieved. She gazed at Wei Yinniang, hesitating, but in the end, she pressed down the countless words swirling in her heart. After sitting with her for a moment longer, she helped Yinniang to lie down and simply told her where she currently staying, urging her to come find her if needed. After saying her farewells, Xuyu left and headed toward the palace.

Because of her painting of the Queen Mother of the West, her name had been added to the palace register, and she was able to enter the inner palace where Ziyun Palace was located without any hindrance.

She came to Ziyun Palace, but stopped again at the steps where she previously fell. She looked ahead at the dim palace door that could not let in light even in the daytime, and fell into hesitation. At this time, an old palace eunuch limped out from behind the palace door, dressed in eunuch’s clothes, and walked towards Xuyu with a smile on his face.

It was Zhao Zhongfang.

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