The Job of an Imperial Concubine

Chapter 54: Interrogation (审问)

“Your Majesty, this slave has investigated these few slaves. Previously, they had come into contact with some servants of the other masters. However, after investigation, such contact was normal, seemingly innocent.”

“The less suspicious it seems, the more problematic it is.” The empress threw down a chess piece, bringing the chessboard before her into disarray. “Since such a matter occurred in the harem, Heyu, summon the other imperial concubines here to examine these daring slaves. When everyone gathers fuel, the flames grow higher. Perhaps we will find the culprit before long.”

“Your Majesty is wise.” Heyu performed a ceremony of paying respects. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, “Should we also tell Chongyi Zhao?”

“Since this involves Chongyi Zhao, naturally we should let her know.” The empress picked up a white chess piece and played with it. “It’s rare to have a child, yet it has already been lost. She should know how she lost it.”

“This slave will now go.” Heyu sneered inwardly. Who knew if Chongyi Zhao could accept reality right now? It was difficult to get pregnant in the imperial harem. Fortunately, His Majesty allowed her to keep it, but she herself was unable to protect the child. And now she involved Her Majesty into receiving the emperor’s questioning.

Once Heyu arrived at Xihe Palace, she was hit with unspeakable sorrow. She recalled Chongyi Zhao’s fox cloak that was stained red that night. Heyu adjusted her expression, and it wasn’t until it was sad enough that she approached the eunuch standing guard at the doors.

“Isn’t this Miss¹ Heyu? This one will perform a ceremony of greeting for your honored self²,” said Fu Bao, watching Heyu lead two other palace maids over. He quickly put on a smile and walked forward to receive them. “What kind of special occasion brings your honored self here?”

“Eunuch Fu is too polite. I am under Her Majesty the empress’ imperial decree to visit Chongyi Zhao.” A pause. Deep concern in her eyes, she asked, “How is Chongyi Zhao?”

Fu Bao noticed that the two lower-ranked palace maids behind her held trays with items. And he understood those were things the empress bestowed. He allowed those two to enter the palace doors. However, on his face was a trace of bitterness. A sigh left his lips. “What can be done? Originally, it was an extremely joyous matter. Who would have known this would happen?” He scanned the surroundings, lowered his voice, and said, “Our master hasn’t had an appetite these past few days, and she has grown a lot thinner. The hearts of us slaves fill with pain upon seeing it.” 

“Don’t us servants just hope that our masters do well?” Heyu also sighed. “Recently, Her Majesty the empress has worried deeply about Chongyi Zhao. As such, she had me come visit. If it wasn’t because Her Majesty was busy investigating Chongyi Zhao’s miscarriage these past few days, she would pay a visit herself.”

“To have dragged Her Majesty into this, this slave will pay respects to Her Majesty here.” Then Fu Bao turned to face Jingyang Palace, performing the full ceremony of paying respects. Afterward, he continued to escort Heyu into the residence. Once they reached the main chamber, he turned to her in a smile. “May Miss Heyu sit and have some tea. I will go inside and inform Master.”

“Eunuch Fu, do as you please.” Although Heyu was the head palace maid of the empress, she did not dare to actually sit down in another master’s palace. She only stood in the main chamber in wait, taking in the decorations all around. These decorations didn’t break protocol, but they were all exquisite, and it was evident that the emperor favored Chongyi Zhao immensely.

“Miss Heyu,” said Yunxi, coming out from the inner chamber. They both paid respects to each other. “Master has invited Miss Heyu inside.”

Once she had entered the inner chamber, Heyu was met with the image of Chongyi Zhao lying in bed. Her dark locks were let down, scattered around her. It contrasted with her pale face, decreasing the beauty but increasing the frailness.

“Greetings to Chongyi Zhao.” Heyu approached the bed and performed a ceremony of paying respects.

“Miss Heyu is too polite. Yunxi, give her a seat.”

 “Thanking Chongyi Zhao.” Heyu gingerly sat on the edge of an embroidered stool. She did not dare to completely sit. Catching how Chongyi Zhao maintained such a smile that was hard to look at, Heyu announced what the empress had bestowed. Then she said, “All along, Her Majesty the empress worried about Chongyi Zhao’s miscarriage. Two days ago, she captured a few suspicious eunuchs and palace maids. Today, she will have them interrogated. Will Chongyi Zhao come for a look?”

The moment Zhuang Laoyan had heard the word “miscarriage,” she grew even more pale. And once she had heard that some eunuchs and palace maids had been captured, the look in her eyes changed. She propped herself into a sitting position and stared at Heyu. “Who are those people?!”

Heyu met her gaze. In her pupils seemed to hide a terrible beast. One that could rip apart people at any moment. She slowly looked away. Said respectfully, “Chongyi Zhao will know once your honored self goes.”

“I shall bother Miss Heyu to pass on a message to Her Majesty the empress. I will be attending.” Zhuang Laoyan forced herself to keep calm. However, she was unable to hide the hatred in her voice.

“The interrogation will start in one hour. This slave will now go to inform Her Majesty.” Heyu rose to her feet and paid respects to Zhuang Laoyan, admiring the empress for her incredible foresight. This Chongyi Zhao indeed wouldn’t be able to hold herself back from participating. For now, what had happened was unclear. At the very least, the details could disgust her.

Once Heyu had left, Zhuang Laoyan wiped the small beads of sweat on her forehead with a handkerchief. Took out the handheld brazier hidden beneath the blankets. Smiling, she said, “Yunxi, help me dress and apply makeup. Later, we will get to see a show.”

“Yes.” Yunxi smiled as she received the handheld brazier from Zhuang Laoyan. In a little while, it would be anyone’s guess who would be scheming who.

Noble Consort Shu sat in front of a mirror, gazing at her reflection. “Lingsha, who do you think the empress would throw the blame on?”

“This slave is slow-witted and cannot guess.” Lingsha inserted a small plum blossom hairpin into Noble Consort Shu’s hair. “But this slave thinks even if Her Majesty picks someone randomly, in the end the emperor has to believe it. Not to mention, she must have evidence.”

Noble Consort Shu laughed in ridicule. “Previously, she lost so much face. She must be suppressing a lot of anger in her heart. We will now see what kind of show she’ll put on. In any case, even though Zhuang Laoyan lost her child, she still received the emperor’s tender affection. But the empress has lost both face and self-confidence. On the contrary, I am hoping for her to frame me. Otherwise, how can I find something to use against her?”

In Qianzheng Palace, Feng Jin practiced calligraphy. Noticing Gao Dezhong’s arrival, he set down the brush. “What happened?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, Her Majesty the empress will be interrogating the slaves who committed crimes. She has invited many masters to participate.” Gao Dezhong glanced at the characters Feng Jin had written. Each stroke was swift and fierce, possessing an acute spirit that could not be expressed in words.

“She’s actually smart.” Feng Jin thought of something and asked, “Will Chongyi Zhao be attending?”

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“This slave heard that Her Majesty the empress had her personal head palace maid specially invite Chongyi Zhao. Not long after that head palace maid left, Chongyi Zhao rushed to Jingyang Palace.”

Out of reflex, Feng Jin frowned. He called for someone to help him wash his hands. “Since that is the case, We will also take a look.”

Jingyang Palace’s side hall. A few imperial concubines sat according to rank, their gazes falling upon the six kneeling eunuchs and palace maids. No one spoke. Even Consort Rou, who once had a bad relationship with Zhuang Laoyan, kept her eyes to herself. 

“Your Majesty the empress and the other masters present, these six people are the outrageous slaves,” said the supervising eunuch of Jingyang Palace, Ming Lu, performing a ceremony of paying respects to the masters. “May Your Majesty and the other masters start the interrogation.”

The empress glanced at Zhuang Laoyan. As if she were trying to see her expression. But she could only see her pale face, as though she didn’t even have the energy to interrogate. In the end, she turned her gaze to the others. “What do you sisters think?”

“Naturally, Your Majesty the empress should be the one deciding things.” Noble Consort Shu’s tone proved deferential. She completely side stepped her attack.

The other imperial concubines present kept quiet. As for Shurong Ye and Noble Imperial Concubine Yan, they were even more cautious and did not attend. Who knew whose head the blame would be placed on?

“Lift your heads. This palace wants to see the kind of hateful faces daring to plot against the imperial princes.” The empress did not force them. Then, she turned and looked at the people kneeling. “If you people say who the mastermind is, this palace will only punish you lightly. Otherwise, conspiring to kill imperial princes will mean execution of eight clans affiliated with yours and your own³.”

Trembling, the six people raised their heads. Consort Xian softly said in surprise, “Isn’t that Lianqiao, the palace maid that used to attend to Consort Rou?”

Consort Rou’s countenance was ugly. “I’ve long since dismissed her to Shangyi Bureau to wash clothes since she did not wait on me well. She does not have any relationship with me.”

Consort Xian smiled in a mild manner. “I’ve never mentioned that she has any connection with Younger Sister. I merely found her familiar. Younger Sister is overthinking things.”

A cold snort, and Consort Rou no longer spoke. She knew that Consort Xian was an ally of the empress. At present, if she made a big fuss, it would be disadvantageous to her. However, she did not know who incited Lianqiao to do this. If the empress used this against her, she would be in trouble.

“Your Majesty, this slave has been framed! This slave doesn’t know why this happened. This slave does not want to harm Master Zhao and begs Your Majesty to look clearly.” Lianqiao dared not look at anyone. She merely kept kowtowing. Soon after, blood stained her forehead.

“Someone restrain her.” Expressionless, the empress stared at Lingqiao, who kept kowtowing. In a cold voice, she said, “If she faints from kowtowing, then who can this palace interrogate?”

Noble Consort Shu sneered inwardly. Right now, the empress did not wear her benevolent mask, staring with indifference at the bloody-faced Lianqiao. Back when Consort Rou had dismissed this palace maid from her residence, perhaps she had suspected her to be a spy inserted by other people. But who in fact inserted her into Consort Rou’s palace?

She lifted her head. Looked at everyone in the room. Noble Consort Shu couldn’t discern anything suspicious from anyone. At this moment, the empress’ list of suspects would not lack herself. A person who manipulated everyone from behind the scenes truly was someone with great measures.

“Xiao Jing’er, I recall your family consisted of your parents and two younger brothers.” The empress’ supervising eunuch raised and swished his horsetail whisk. Tone normal, he said, “Her Majesty the empress is benevolent. If you answer honestly, Her Majesty will allow you to keep your life. But if you don’t speak, it may implicate your parents.”

After the eunuch Xiao Jing’er had heard those words, he blanched and kept saying, “Your Majesty is a wise person. This slave truly did not know that the eating utensils of Master Zhao were tainted. The things handed to the masters are all distributed well. How could we slaves dare to do anything without permission?”

The empress rubbed her forehead. Waved. And she ordered for Xiao Jing’er to be dragged away.

Hearing the mournful cries of Xiao Jing’er, the remaining five people quivered. Because they all knew that after Xiao Jing’er was dragged away, he would not return.

“You people still won’t talk? Could you all have emerged from rocks? Are you not afraid of implicating your parents?” said Ming Lu, arching a brow, tone sarcastic.

Just when the empress was about to say something, footsteps rang from outside.

“His Majesty has arrived!”

The empress was struck speechless. The emperor came?

THANK YOU CHRISTIGALE FOR THE 3 KO-FIS! Since I don’t know which of my novels you read, I will be shouting you out for all of them in the novel chapters. You rock!

I want to thank all of you for the heartwarming good wishes. You are all very sweet, and my eye has basically fully recovered ?

Oh boy, the emperor is here!

Edit: I AM SO EFFIN SORRY! I’ve been spelling Zhuang Laoyan’s name wrong for fifty odd chapters holy crap. It’s Laoyan not Luoyan. Fk… Okay learn from my mistake guys. Don’t ever abbreviate your characters’ names and then copy and paste names from another document. Because if you ever mispelled one name, it’ll be wrong from now on. AHHHH (is having a breakdown) ….I’ll be spending a lot of time fixing the names of past chapters. Please let me hide in a hole now…

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