Chapter Twenty-Six: The Death of the Noble Person
After Cixin sorted out his emotions, he slowly told me what happened:
"Actually, the day before Shen Guiren died, he went to Anshou Palace alone to see the Queen Mother and Concubine Xian Niangniang, I don't know what happened in the palace at that time, but since I came back from there, the noble person has not been in a good state. I always sit alone in the room in a daze, and my biggest reaction is to occasionally pull me and ask me to take her home or something...... It's all my ......."
I looked at her red and swollen eyes, and I was speechless for a while, but handed over the handkerchief in my sleeve, and at this time, it might be better to let her cry a good time.
After crying for a while, Cixin wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and continued: "I always thought that the noble person was just homesick, or that the Queen Mother scolded her, but I never thought that the noble lady had already known her end, why didn't I find out at that time, I should have found out, Second Miss, do you know?" The nobles of my family do not want to stay in the palace even if they die. β
"I know, I know......" I comforted softly.
"I don't want to stay in the palace either."
"No one wants to, do you have anything left behind?" I asked in front of Compassion, since Shen Guiren knew his fate early on, he would definitely leave some last wishes.
"The noble man only left two letters, one for the emperor, and the other one, she asked me to take it home to my wife, as for what was written in the letter, the slave maid did not read it."
"Nothing else?" No, the letter to Li Yu, I don't have to guess to know, it is nothing more than hoping that Li Yu will save his face at his mother's house and send his coffin back to his hometown.
"No, not long after the noble man handed over the letter to me that day, the emperor and Aunt Liu Xin came to Qixiang Palace......"
"Do you know what they said?"
"I don't know, the noble man gave an order, no one was on duty in the courtyard that night, and after Aunt Liu Xin left, the slave maid entered the room, just ......" Speaking of this, Cixin couldn't help crying again, and continued to say intermittently, "It's just when the slave and maid go in...... Nobleman, nobleman, she has gone ......"
I reached out and patted Ci Xin's back gently, and couldn't find the right words to comfort her for a while, I didn't expect that I, as a woman who used to be a blood-stained woman in the harem, would have such a day of distress for others, I couldn't help but laugh at myself in my heart.
"Is it poisoning?" Even though I knew the cause of death, I asked it on purpose, and only then could I move on to the next question.
"Yes," Cixin lowered her head, and after being silent for a while, she suddenly looked up and said as if she remembered something: "When Aunt Liu Xin left, she specially ordered the slaves and maids not to be silent, so the only people in the entire Qixiang Palace who knew the cause ......of the nobleman's death were me and Li Lei's father-in-law, but they still didn't want to stay alive."
"Why are you the only ones left?" Compassion is still alive, presumably because the noble person had made arrangements before he died, but what about this Li Lei?
"Li Lei's father-in-law is Aunt Liu Xin's hometown, and Aunt Liu Xin naturally won't hurt his life, besides, they also want Li Lei's father-in-law to send the nobleman back to his hometown." I see.
"In that case, why don't you go back with Li Lei's father-in-law?"
"Second Miss thinks that after this matter is over, will the Queen Mother really spare my life?" Compassion looked up at me and said word by word, with emotions in my eyes that I couldn't understand.
"But the emperor has already promised Shen nobles."
"The second young lady was naΓ―ve, she didn't kill me immediately because the noble man had just died, and the queen mother didn't want to refute the emperor's face, but there was a harem, and the harem never believed in the living." Cixin said coldly: "It's just that I pity my nobles, who live tremblingly every day, but in the end they can't even protect themselves." β
Yes, the harem has never believed in the living, how can I not know that I pity my previous life for living transparently, how can I be so kind now......
"The noble man has already gone, and I naturally don't want to continue to stay in the palace, so I want to sneak out of the palace with the nobleman's coffin, and then the second lady will see the next thing." After Compassion finished speaking, he stopped talking, leaving me to think stupidly.
I see, I said that how could there be no news about the death of Shen Guiren in this palace, and it turned out that it was concealed early in the morning. After saying this with compassion, although I couldn't find the purpose of the Queen Mother's set-up, I was finally able to make the whole incident clearer.
In the final analysis, the queen mother set up a bureau to force Shen nobles to unite with Concubine Xian to frame me, the emperor could only force Shen nobles to death in order to keep the name of the queen mother, Aunt Liu Xin emptied Qixiang Palace in order to conceal the news, and then sent the body out of the palace under the pretext that the nobles were recuperating. What a seamless plan, I shook my head with a smile and sighed at this wonderful court drama.
"So, you really don't know what the Queen Mother said to the nobles that day?"
"The slave didn't dare to hide the young lady, and she didn't mention it after the noble man came back that day."
"Did the noble man tell you about me before he died?"
"No, I didn't."
Despite this, I still feel that Shen Guiren's death is not so simple, and it must have something to do with me, but I can't find out. That's it, I patted my head, it's better to let it be, I don't believe that I can repeat the mistakes of my previous life with the script.
In order to take care of my loving feelings, I ended this Q&A and just found some valuable items in my bag for her to ensure that she could live outside the palace. Anyway, it is common for palace maids to disappear in the palace, and the queen mother naturally will not bother for a mercy, and she can be regarded as a free body when she leaves this palace gate.
"Miss Xie Er." Compassion didn't shirk it, and after thanking him, he put away what I had given.
Li Lei's father-in-law was waiting for me three miles east of the city as promised, and when I put my compassion into his hands, the two suddenly knelt down.
"Miss Xie Er."
"Get up, and the days to come will be up to you." After I had lifted them up, I walked towards the carriage of the noble man. Standing by the window, he whispered: "I can't imagine that I can give you a ride like this, and I hope you don't have to enter the imperial city again in your next life." β
"Go ahead, don't be late." I turned to them and said.
"Yes. Second Miss take care. After Li Lei got into the carriage, he jumped on it himself.
"Rack, frame, ......" I watched the carriage gradually move away, and the original sadness was suddenly swept away, and this ending was probably what she wanted.
"Second Miss......" The coachman on the side suddenly called me.
"Let's go back."