Chapter 22 - 2#
Besides Chen An’s letter, she had actually written another letter. It wasn’t very long, and it could be vaguely seen that Talented Lady Yao was trying to remind someone to be careful of the Empress Dowager.
But since this letter was still here, it meant that it had not been sent out.
The remaining small bag-like thing was a bag of medicinal dregs, and the medical records of the Imperial Hospital stuffed inside.
The dregs should have been brought out by Talented Lady Yao.
The medicine was unclear, but the handwriting on the medical records was completely different from Talented Lady Yao’s. This should be the medical records of the Cishou Empress Dowager that were left in the Imperial Hospital at that time.
It was stolen by Chen An.
The medical records clearly recorded… an extra medicine.
To get medicine from the Imperial Pharmacy, there must be a doctor’s prescription. This extra medicine was added by the doctor who was instructed by the Empress Dowager at that time.
But before he could deal with this medical record, a part of it was stolen by Chen An.
This evidence, of course, was not enough to confirm the Empress Dowager’s suspicion.
But it was enough to arouse the late emperor’s suspicion.
What’s more, Talented Lady Yao had another witness.
She remembered the appearance of the doctor at that time. And that doctor, just before the late emperor’s death, suddenly died violently.
Jingzhe carefully checked and confirmed his identity, which matched.
Besides these things, the scattered small things were some money left by Talented Lady Yao, and a thick stack of paper.
Jingzhe originally thought it was a new letter, but when he opened it, there was nothing written inside.
Would Talented Lady Yao leave useless paper in that box?
Jingzhe didn’t think so.
But no matter how he looked at it, it was just ordinary paper. Could it be that some special method was used to hide the message that she wanted to convey?
[Does the host want to complete task four?]
The system had been silent for a long time, and its sudden speech startled Jingzhe, who was half-asleep and thinking about things.
“Why did you suddenly remind me?”
[Tasks all have deadlines.]
The system said honestly.
Jingzhe: ?
You didn’t say that!
Task four was about Talented Lady Yao’s secret. Now, it has basically been solved by Jingzhe, except for that stack of paper…
Jingzhe always felt that there was something hidden in it, but he didn’t dare to try it easily. After all, the paper looked a little fragile. If he messed with it a few more times, it might break.
If he had to answer now…
What was the secret that Talented Lady Yao was hiding?
“The secret of the Cishou Empress Dowager’s death, her and Chen An’s actions, and…” Jingzhe frowned, and after a while, he said hesitantly, “her guilt towards Emperor Jingyuan.”
It was related to the unsent letter, and perhaps to the stack of blank paper that had not been deciphered.
After Jingzhe answered, the system did not react immediately.
He was a little worried, was he still wrong?
And this task was also ridiculous. It had a deadline and didn’t say it earlier… and he had to answer it himself!
Can’t it judge by itself?
This system seemed to be worse than the monsters in the storybooks.
The system that was silently complained about by Jingzhe finally made a sound, [Congratulations to the host, you have passed, task four is complete.]
Jingzhe didn’t have time to be happy that he didn’t have to be tortured by the punishment buff, and was first hit by the two words “passed”.
“Just passed?”
The system comforted: [It’s already very good. This task is very difficult. In fact, it was a task issued for King Rui.]
According to the previous probability judgment, it was already beyond expectations that Jingzhe could complete it.
Jingzhe wiped his face and said faintly, “You damn liar.”
Although it was not explicitly stated, Jingzhe had always thought that task four was a task that the system had adjusted and released that he could do. In the end, it was still for King Rui?!
However, thinking carefully about Talented Lady Yao’s experience, it was also obvious why this task was important.
The secret that Talented Lady Yao was hiding would ruin the Empress Dowager’s reputation.
As her son, King Rui wanted to ascend the throne and seize power, so he must not have such a stain.
However, it was not easy to complete a task. Jingzhe couldn’t say that he was not happy at all. He was still a little satisfied and fell asleep with his mouth pursed.
The system was also a little happy.
Although it didn’t have the emotion of happiness in the first place.
But the host could finally complete a task, and the system could also save a little power.
…
The investigation into King Rui’s attack was still ongoing, but there were no leads at all.
For the past half a month, King Rui had been staying behind closed doors.
People outside thought that King Rui was scared, and the entire mansion was sealed off. Others could not easily enter or leave the mansion.
And inside the Prince Rui’s mansion, it was a different scene.
When King Rui was attacked before, the mansion was indeed in chaos for a day, but later the situation was stabilized.
Emperor Jingyuan’s sudden outburst was indeed beyond King Rui’s imagination. This had not happened in the “past”, so he was also unprepared and was caught off guard, so he suffered a blow.
Now that he was vigilant, even though he had encountered two more assassinations later, King Rui was safe and sound.
In the main courtyard, Princess Rui had just left. The decoction was placed on the side, and King Rui had not yet drunk it.
Chen Xuanming hurried over and bowed to King Rui, “Your Highness, are you planning to make a move early?”
What he was holding in his hand was the order that King Rui had changed.
King Rui’s face was pale, and there was a faint smile on his handsome face. He said in an orderly manner, “Come, sit.”
Chen Xuanming was not polite and sat down.
“Mr. Chen, do you think that His Majesty has discovered my intentions this time?”
Chen Xuanming pondered for a moment, nodded, and then shook his head.
“In the past, the late emperor favored the prince, which many people knew. Even if the prince really has no intention of the throne now, that one on top will not let down his guard. But thinking that the prince is惦记着the throne and having the intention of rebellion are two different things… I don’t think that the emperor has discovered the prince’s preparations.”
Even a fool would not believe that King Rui would be willing.
But being unwilling and actually rebelling were different.
King Rui also thought so.
Thanks to his “previous” memory, his development after he came back was very secretive. He didn’t even tell the Empress Dowager many things, for fear that the Empress Dowager would hold him back.
Now it seems that King Rui’s preparation was right.
King Rui: “The reason why His Majesty attacked me is probably to warn the Empress Dowager.”
Chen Xuanming’s eyes darkened, and he said softly, “Your Highness, before the great cause is accomplished, I hope that the Empress Dowager will be more patient.”
King Rui covered his forehead with a headache and sighed and shook his head, “Some words, if I, as a son, say them, my mother may not be able to listen. I have already invited Mrs. Huang to the palace.”
As soon as he heard that it was Mrs. Huang, Chen Xuanming nodded.
This Mrs. Huang was quite famous in the capital.
She had always been known for her strict temperament, and she was even more merciless in disciplining the young masters and ladies in her family. If there was anyone in this world whose words the Empress Dowager could still listen to, it would be her mother, this Mrs. Huang.
Regardless of why Emperor Jingyuan made a move, it also indirectly hit King Rui’s power in the capital.
However, it had not yet hurt the foundation.
Otherwise, wouldn’t King Rui’s rebirth be in vain?
King Rui: “Disperse all the manpower. The places that were previously prepared to take root have all been checked. Don’t let anything happen again. It’s better to be slower than to leak the news.”
“But the batch of craftsmen who disappeared before…”
Chen Xuanming was a little hesitant.
After all, that batch of craftsmen were all specially recruited, but in the end they were all gone.
Did Emperor Jingyuan really know nothing?
King Rui’s voice lowered, “Actually… that batch of craftsmen were not abducted by others.”
Chen Xuanming suddenly realized that it was King Rui himself who had made the move.
He took advantage of the chaotic situation to fish in troubled waters and transferred that batch of craftsmen to the place where he really wanted them to go.
Obviously, King Rui did not want too many people to know about this matter. Then it was unknown how much of the loss was caused by King Rui.
As King Rui said, Mrs. Huang successfully entered the palace to see the Empress Dowager two days later.
It was unknown what they talked about in the Palace of Longevity and Health, but from the words that Mrs. Huang sent back, King Rui was somewhat relieved.
The Huang family had always been a strong supporter in this matter and had never held them back.
However, this experience also made King Rui vigilant.
After he came back, many things had changed, which meant that he could no longer completely follow the memories of the past.
Otherwise, it would be a waste of this luck of returning to the past!
…
In the middle of summer, the weather was hot and the cicadas were chirping endlessly. This season was annoying, and even a few more words could lead to a quarrel, making people irritable. Jingzhe had already heard about two or three quarrels in the past two days.
These were all heard from Gusheng and Shien.
And Yunkui.
He was also one of the reasons for the gossip.
Yunkui didn’t know what he had done wrong, but he was punished by his master and still couldn’t get out of bed.
When he was resting in the afternoon, Huiping hurried to find him.
“Jingzhe, Yunkui said he has something to talk to you about and wants you to go over.”
Jingzhe frowned slightly, and had a feeling for no reason.
This matter might be related to the palace maid he had run into before.
He didn’t really want to go and made an excuse to refuse, but the next day, Yunkui actually came to find him, limping.
There was no choice, the two of them could only go to Yunkui’s secret place.
Jingzhe looked at him sweating from the pain and still having to walk, and couldn’t help but say, “Your master beat you to make you focus, and you still came to find me… Aren’t you afraid of something happening?”
Yunkui said dejectedly, “At the end of this month, she will be leaving the palace.”
June had arrived.
When July came, new people would come in.
“And then?” Jingzhe pointed out sharply, “She can leave the palace, what about you? Since it’s already at this point, what are you still dreaming of?”
That’s right, the palace maid could leave the palace smoothly, which meant that their relationship was written off and no one would find out.
But it also symbolized that there would be no more contact in the future.
How could someone who had left the palace still have contact with the palace?
Yunkui begged Jingzhe, “I’ve already thought about it. I’ll try my best to get transferred to the procurement department in the future. As long as I can, I’ll still be able to see her. Jingzhe, please help me this time. Go and see her for me and tell her this, okay?”
Yunkui originally wanted to go himself, but his master not only beat him, but now there were people in the Zhidian Division staring at him, not allowing him to go out.
He couldn’t run even if he wanted to.
Jingzhe: “But you’ve already come to find me. Doesn’t your master know your intentions?”
Yunkui choked, he actually knew.
But he just wouldn’t give up.
Jingzhe sighed and said to Yunkui, “I won’t help you. I’m not a member of the Zhidian Division yet. If your master wants to do something to me, it will be easy. However, if you really want to try, I will find someone to help you.”
He stared at Yunkui’s ecstatic face and warned.
“I can’t guarantee success, I can’t guarantee that I can see her, and I won’t pass on troublesome things like letters and tokens. Think for yourself if there are any ordinary things or words that she will know when she sees or hears them.”
Yunkui thought hard and finally told Jingzhe a sentence.
Then, Jingzhe mercilessly extorted a sum of money from Yunkui.
If you want to ask someone to do something, how can you do it without money?
He went to Zheng Hong.
Zheng Hong was a shrewd person. When he heard that Jingzhe wanted to find a palace maid for someone, he vaguely guessed something and said while picking his teeth, “Don’t get yourself into trouble. This is a troublesome matter, I don’t dare to do it.”
Jingzhe: “Just pass on a message, no gifts, no letters, no traces.”
Zheng Hong weighed it, and then looked at the money that Jingzhe had brought. In the end, money moved people’s hearts, and he still accepted it.
He was very fast. He had just received the things the day before, and the next day he sent back a message.
Only three words.
“Want to see the sea.”
Jingzhe didn’t try to understand the meaning of this, and just told Yunkui this sentence.
At that time, Yunkui was still lying on the bed, in so much pain that he couldn’t get out of bed.
Because he had insisted on running out before, the wound on his buttocks had opened again, and he was directly lying down. But after hearing Jingzhe’s words, Yunkui cried with snot and tears, looking very ugly. The sound of his crying spread outside, and even Shien, who was passing by, couldn’t help but come in to take a look.
Shien: “Yo yo, what’s wrong, Yunkui is crying like this?”
Jingzhe: “He’s crying from the pain.”
He said calmly.
The message that Yunkui asked him to pass on was to go hiking. The palace maid’s reply was to go to the sea. Seeing that Yunkui was both happy and crying, he probably agreed.
Jingzhe didn’t want to get involved in this matter anymore, so he pulled Shien and retreated.
Shien: “So mysterious, what are you two doing behind my back?”
Jingzhe: “Do you want to find out why he was beaten?”
He saw through Shien’s purpose at a glance.
Shien chuckled.
“Isn’t that right? His master is the one who dotes on him the most.”
Yunkui’s master was called Jiang Jinming. Yunkui was indeed not bad. He had encountered such a troublesome and unlucky person, but he could still think for him with all his heart.