Chapter 724: Chapter 724: Ominous Premonition
Realizing they had misunderstood, Lian Hua hurriedly said, "Oh dear, I just wanted to leave the palace for a bit of fun, not what you’re thinking. Oh well, forget I said anything."
Being heavily pregnant, she found it difficult even to leave Canglan Court, let alone the palace. She knew that His Majesty and Nanny Qi would never permit it.
Lian Hua was merely enthused by what His Majesty had described about the reopening day of the scholars in Taiyuan Prefecture; he had seen the prices of goods, whether the people lived in sufficiency, and had bought her rattan and clay dolls upon seeing them. From his words, she discerned many delightful sights, and she longed to join in, having not had the chance to indulge in such pleasures for many years...
She sniffed, pricking up her ears, and said, "Shaded Eyes seems really upset, like she’s coming over here. Cough, cough, get ready!"
Cui Laner scolded a few times on her side, noticing that the people did not react at all and seemed to be whispering among themselves, with an eunuch coughing. Her face flushed with anger; she was sure now, these servants really didn’t respect her at all, and this was unacceptable!
"Fine then, a bunch of dog servants, ignoring my presence! I shall see who you are," she said angrily, wanting to walk over there.
Daying Jia was also reprimanding, but then she noticed that the servant’s figures seemed familiar, particularly catching a glimpse of them as they turned around quickly, she grew certain they resembled the bane’s servants.
However, on closer reflection, she thought something was amiss; the eunuch was wearing a Managing Eunuch’s belt, not the Young Eunuch’s belt she remembered, and if the bane was involved, how could his servants dare to appear here.
With this thought, she felt somewhat relieved, but still grabbed Cui Laner’s arm, "Hold on, Sister Cui, that man is wearing a Managing Eunuch’s belt, he might be someone of importance." It was best to be cautious.
"So a Managing Eunuch isn’t a servant?" Cui Laner, overcome with anger, retorted directly at Daying Jia, "Sister Jia, don’t get me wrong, but ever since you were demoted to Daying, where has your courage gone? You’re now like a turtle hiding its head, letting others bully you, and now even the servants dare to trample over us, can you bear it?"
This remark struck Daying Jia to the core, deeply wounding her heart; these days had indeed been too suffocating for her, being looked down upon by everyone as if she were no more than a petty servant. She had had enough!
A surge of blood rushed to her head, and she immediately replied, "You’re right, Sister Cui, even if he’s the Managing Eunuch, he is still but a servant, and we are the masters!"
Especially since they were on the side of justice, this thought brought back some of her former boldness. She immediately let go of Cui Laner’s arm and led the way, shouting, "You servants have quite the nerve, not paying respect upon seeing me and Talented Lady Cui, come here this instant and bow!"
Kong Yinyin, having caught bits and pieces of Lian Hua’s conversation, ultimately had her attention drawn to the loud scolding of Cui Laner and Daying Jia. Knowing Cui Laner’s long history of unreasonable bullying, she knew dealing with her would be challenging.
Although Beauty Lian might not need her protection, for some reason, she feared for Beauty Lian being affronted. Seeing the two approaching, she found her legs moving involuntarily towards Cui Laner, and before she knew it, she had positioned herself in their path.
Seeing this, Cui Laner became even more invigorated and quickly moved forward, loudly saying, "Kong Yinyin, are you trying to defy your superiors by stopping us?"
Kong Yinyin timidly said, "Talented Lady Cui, Daying Jia, you..."
"Move aside!" Cui Laner, reaching out, shoved her, causing Kong Yinyin to stagger.
Daying Jia, quickening her pace to the point of almost overtaking Xiao Jizi, was about to reach the forefront when she saw that the group, which had been facing away from them, finally turned around, their faces stern and frosty.
Daying Jia paused, startled, "It’s you!" A foreboding feeling suddenly rose in her heart.
The first thing she saw was Xiao Jizi.
Xiao Jizi sneered coldly, and together with Xiao Linzi, stepped aside to make room, while Xiao Qing moved to the back, tightly guarding the back of the person in the middle.
Lian Hua came out, her face wearing an icy smile, "Daying Jia, I haven’t seen you in a long time, how comes your mouth still smells so awful."
Xiao Yinyi hadn’t provoked anyone, yet they were aggressively bullying her, so she wouldn’t be polite anymore!
Initially, they had wanted to wait a little longer, to see their arrival and scare them to death.
But after hearing Kong Yinyin’s voice, they couldn’t restrain themselves and turned around earlier than planned.
As Daying Jia saw who it was, her eyes widened as if she had seen a ghost, her complexion instantly turned pale, she stepped back abruptly, bumped into Cui Laner, her heart shattered with fear, and she let out a piercing scream, "Beauty Lian!"
Cui Laner also recognized the person, and was shockingly overwhelmed. When she saw the slightly visible bulge under Beauty Lian’s ample palace attire, her entire being was not okay, she said in disbelief, "Beauty Lian, aren’t you, aren’t you..." about to die?!
Daying Jia’s mind snapped to clarity, she raised her voice to stop Cui from speaking, "Sister Cui!"
While confined these days, she had not been idle; the rumor of Beauty Lian losing the Imperial Heir and nearly dying, she had played a part in spreading it. If it went out and Beauty Lian didn’t die, she would have to pay a steep price!
The loudness of their voices carried very far.
The concubines nearby Qianqiu Hall, following the voices, were all startled within their hearts: Beauty Lian has appeared?
Qing Ya, who had been wandering for a long time intending to return to Huafu Hall, faintly heard the words "Beauty Lian". She abruptly turned her head towards the direction of Qianqiu Hall...
A single stone stirs a thousand waves. The words "Beauty Lian" accompanied by the scream of Daying Jia quickly spread throughout the entire Harem, like a giant stone thrown into a calm lake, whipping up towering waves surging around...
At the same time in the palace above, the ministers were all shocked into exclamations, "The Imperial Heir is unharmed?!" as if in disbelief, needing to confirm once more.
In the forefront of the crowd, Minister Fan, with a smile on his lips and a cheerful expression on his face, stroked his beard and looked very serene and benevolent.
As soon as he, like Minister Fan who had known the news earlier, found out that the Imperial Heir was in trouble, Xie Qing was extremely worried and spent sleepless nights. As his business was nearly done, he rushed back to the Capital City overnight.
Later, during a private audience with the Emperor, he was immensely distressed, looking pained and worried. It was then that the Emperor spoke to him, hinting that the Imperial Heir was all right and expressed his intention to completely clean up the government. Only then did he truly feel relieved. Afterwards, he devoted all his efforts to running the Imperial Censorate in cooperation, and did not mention the matter of the Internal Guard Bureau confiscating the Guo family’s assets again, channeling his passion into investigating corrupt officials, to the extent that he even quit the tobacco pipe and did not feel troubled by it.
Despite having received the news earlier, when Xie Qing heard the Emperor at the Longevity Event in court today, he still felt overwhelmingly joyous, tears streaming down his face, excitedly exclaiming, "Heaven bless our Emperor, Heaven bless our Emperor!"
His hanging heart was finally put to rest with these golden words.