"Are there not more Muyao flowers in the Imperial Garden?" she asked. Why not pick the Muyao flowers in the Imperial Garden and instead travel such a long distance to that New Garden to pick them?
The palace maid gave a scornful laugh. "The flowers in the Imperial Garden are for admiring. Only the Muyao flowers in the New Garden are used for dyeing cloth."
"A servant from the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau?" Nan Shiying raised an eyebrow.
That was true. The mastermind behind this was not foolish enough to use their own palace staff.
"Yes!"
The palace maid's tone shifted. "What is the point of Your Ladyship delaying us here?"
Nan Shiying's gaze swept past the palace maid, landing on Ji Hong. She smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you can investigate, but what if there is no body in this dry well?"
"Then I will grant you justice!" Ji Hong frowned slightly, his expression turning grim. Unlike before, Nan Shiying showed no trace of guilt.
A bad premonition suddenly surged within him.
"Not enough!"
Just a simple "granting justice"?
"What do you want then?" Ji Hong asked in a deep voice.
"Her!" Nan Shiying pointed at the palace maid's nose and said to Ji Hong, "Hand her over to me."
A flicker of fear flashed in the palace maid's eyes, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to remain calm, repeatedly comforting herself: It's fine, it's fine. The body of the Xunyuan Marquis's wife is in the well. She saw it with her own eyes!
"Impossible!"
How could a palace maid be allowed to be taken back to a prince's manor by Nan Shiying?
Nan Shiying was not angered. She simply leaned back and then smiled at everyone, "Then I shall see who dares to step forward."
Her stance suggested she was about to jump into the well to commit suicide!
But this laughable threat made no one present dare to act rashly. If she died, even if she were convicted of killing an official's family today, everyone would still have to face Ji Jinmo's wrath.
When the Regent was angered, it truly meant a thousand miles of floating corpses.
Especially for those aligned with Ji Hong. Recalling the rolling heads and piled bones from a few years ago, some timid individuals wished they could immediately rush forward and escort the palace maid back to the prince's manor in Nan Shiying's stead.
"You..."
Ji Hong was furious, but even he could do nothing about Nan Shiying's almost shameless act.
Nan Shiying rested her hands on the edge of the well, her demeanor nonchalant. Her body was languidly tilted back, her slanted eyes sweeping over everyone present, finally settling quietly on Ji Hong.
Ji Hong’s face darkened, and the atmosphere became somewhat stagnant.
Beneath the falling snow, the clear sky gradually turned overcast. The Princess of Dali stood in a corner, observing the fleeting worry in Nan Shiying's eyes.
This one has really gotten into character!
Although Nan Shiying tried her best to conceal it, Ji Hong still detected a hint of outward fierceness and inner guilt in her defiance. Was she acting this way because she knew he wouldn't hand the palace maid over to her?
Ji Hong couldn't quite figure out whether her強勢 (qiángshì - strong posture) was an act or if the fleeting guilt was the genuine emotion.
However, he felt it was a good time to take a gamble.
Thinking this, he suddenly spoke, "Very well, as you wish."
"If there is no body of the Xunyuan Marquis's wife in this dry well, then I shall allow you to take this palace maid back to the manor for interrogation."
"A promise is a promise," Nan Shiying said with a provocative smile.
Ji Hong suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "Naturally."
Nan Shiying stood up, brushed the dust from her skirt, and walked to the side, gesturing for everyone to proceed.
Ji Hong waved his hand, and guards rushed towards the dry well. One guard removed his heavy armor, tied a rope around his waist, and the other guards, holding the other end of the rope, lowered him into the well.
At the muddy bottom of the well, no body was found. However, beneath the mud, the guard did discover piles of white bones. But... at this moment, it was better to avoid trouble. If the Dali delegation saw so many old white bones in a cold palace dry well of the Linyuan Imperial Palace, who knew what gossip they would spread about the Linyuan royal family in secret.
Furthermore, who knew whose bones these were in the dry well, and who was responsible for their demise? If this were to implicate any noble figures in the palace, their lives would not be enough to atone.
With these thoughts, the guard not only did not retrieve the bones but pushed them further down into the mud.
Everyone waited anxiously by the well, only to hear the guard's voice from below, "Pull me up!"
The guards pulled the rope, drawing the guard out of the well.
"How was it?" Ji Hong asked.
The guard replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, there was no body inside."
"What did you say?" Ji Hong, although he had anticipated this possibility, still found it incredibly ironic when he heard it. Embarrassed and enraged, he couldn't control his emotions, and his thoughts were evident on his face.
Nan Shiying let out a scoff. She slowly walked over to the palace maid, seized her chin, and said, "I wonder who gave you the audacity to frame me. You deserved to die, but I am benevolent, and I can give you a chance."
"Tell me, who is your master? Who sent you to frame me? Speak, clearly, in front of His Majesty and the civil and military officials!"
The hand gripping her chin felt like steel, as if it had pierced into her jaw. Compared to the pain in her chin, the fear in the palace maid's heart was like a surging tide, engulfing her in endless waves, making her almost suffocated.
She suddenly burst into tears, "Your Majesty, Your Ladyship, everything I said is true. I truly saw the Princess's maid kill the Xunyuan Marquis's wife and throw her into this dry well. Perhaps, perhaps I misremembered. It wasn't this dry well, it was the other two, the other two!"
Nan Shiying smiled and casually said to Ji Hong, "If Your Majesty still has doubts, then as she says, you can go and check the other two dry wells."
After speaking, she turned to the palace maid and said, "If there are no bodies in those two dry wells either, I will pull out all ten of your fingernails."
Hearing Nan Shiying's sinister and cold words, everyone present couldn't help but shudder.
Ji Hong glanced at Nan Shiying and waved at the guards. The guards, understanding his intent, went to inspect the other two dry wells. Moments later, they returned with their report: "Reporting to Your Majesty, there were no bodies in the other two dry wells either."
As these words were spoken, the palace maid's legs went weak, and she sank to her knees on the snow-covered ground.
Nan Shiying squatted down and slowly raised her hands, which were slightly damp with snow and red from the cold. Then, she casually pulled out a hairpin from her head and, smiling, said, "Don't be afraid. I was only speaking figuratively just now. How could I bear to pull out your fingernails? I will only..." As she spoke, her hand slowly rose and then fell heavily. At the pause in her speech, she fiercely inserted the hairpin into the palace maid's fingernail groove and then forcefully pried upwards, her voice pouring out: "Pry off your fingernail."
"Ah!" A shrill cry, like a cuckoo weeping blood, tore through the sky, startling the accumulated snow on the surrounding treetops into a sudden downpour.
Looking at the palace maid's dislodged fingernail, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.