Chapter 75: The Truth that Came from the Palace Maid’s Mouth
“N-no… Please, don’t kill me! I really didn’t see anything! Empress niang niang died from difficult childbirth… the dragon fetus died in her belly… nonono… the dragon fetus only died after it was born… I’m begging you…” The palace maid knelt on the ground and kowtowed like her life depended on it as incoherent fragments of speech spilled from her lips.
“How exactly did the dragon fetus die? How did the Empress die? Speak!” The maid’s words contained hints that cause Ye Junqing’s heart to abruptly chill. He lifted the maid by her collar and demanded answers from her.
“Ah… no! Sun momo! Eunuch Zhen! Yun er… Wuuwuu… why did you kill them… wuuwuu…” The maid continued to shake her head madly as tears spilled out of her eyes. Her appearance was that of someone who had been traumatized by something they had seen.
“Who are they? How did the Empress die!? Answer me! Speak!” Ye Junqing felt like it was getting hard to breathe, as if something was pressing on his chest. The truth? There was really a truth? Then how exactly did Moxin die?
“The Empress… Pff!” The maid suddenly pressed her chest with both hand and her wan yellow face twisted with pain. Following that, she felt a salty fishy taste rise in her throat and coughed out a mouthful of black blood.
“What’s happening to you? Hey! What’s wrong!? You still haven’t told me how the Empress died! Hurry up and tell me!” Ye Junqing quickly sealed the maid’s main arteries in an attempt to preserve her life, but the poison had already reached her heart, so black blood continued to spill out.
“The Empress… the Empress was…” The maid’s voice gradually weakened. Ye Junqing hastily leaned over to put his head next to the maid’s mouth, but he still couldn’t hear the last words the maid whispered.
Ye Junqing slowly let go of the maid’s corpse and allowed it to fall onto the ground. His heart felt frozen. Even though he hadn’t been able to hear what the palace maid said last, he had heard enough to be certain of one point – Moxin’s death wasn’t as simple as it appeared! As for what secrets were hidden behind this, he vowed that he’d definitely find out everything without leaving a single rock unturned.
If Moxin really did die due to someone’s scheme, he swore to the Heavens that he would definitely cut those people who hurt Moxin into ten thousand pieces!
Ye Junqing looked coldly at the already dead maid. He was certain that the person who wrote this letter wanted him to see this palace maid. Since the palace maid was already dead, the person who wrote the letter was the only clue he had left. When Ye Junqing thought up to here, he took a deep breath and tucked the wrinkled letter into his clothes before turning to leave.
“Master, it was this subordinate’s negligence for not noticing that someone had entered the Esteemed Prince’s room.” In the shadows, Yin Xue looked towards Yao Mowan with a guilt-ridden expression.
“It’s not your fault.” A trace of cold flashed through Yao Mowan’s eyes as she watched Ye Junqing leave.
“Master, this subordinate will go in to find out what exactly happened!” Yin Xue was just about to rush into the side room when Yao Mowan stopped her.
“You can’t go in. I’m afraid there’s probably other people here as well. Let’s return first. We don’t want to alert the snake by carelessly hitting the grass,” said Yao Mowan mildly before turning to leave. Upon hearing this, Yin Xue looked around but didn’t sense anyone around. Still, she didn’t dare to disobey orders.
Back in Guan Osprey Palace, Yao Mowan was sitting at the table in her bedroom as she gazed at the dragon bird candle thoughtfully.
“Master, should Yin Xue go steal that letter?” Yin Xue knew what Yao Mowan was thinking about and suggested this.
“No need. Even without looking at that letter, this consort can guess what’s on it. There’s nothing else to do here so you can withdraw now.” Yao Mowan’s voice contained no trace of blame. There was no reason to blame Yin Xue. After all, there was no way to split oneself in two. Yin Xue has had it hard looking after her and the Esteemed Prince at the same time.
“Understood!” Yin Xue sensed Yao Mowan’s tolerance and was inwardly grateful. She turned and instantly disappeared.
The room fell silent. Yao Mowan held a silver stir stick and lightly adjusted the candle wick. The light in her eyes gradually darkened. If her guess wasn’t wrong, the letter contained information related to her death. If it weren’t for that, there was no reason for Ye Junqing to go to the old site of the Cold Palace. However, there were still people in this Imperial Palace that knew about her cause of death? Who would it be? And what was their motive?
There were too many questions and it made her head hurt a little. This was the most troublesome matter she had encountered since her rebirth. She couldn’t let Ye Junqing know about her true cause of death. It still wasn’t the right time. From the looks of it, she had to find this person before Ye Junqing had the chance to investigate!
The next day, Yao Mowan found out from Ting Yue right after she woke up that the side room where the Cold Palace used to be had been burned to dust. That fire was so large the nearby pine and cypress trees burned down as well.
“This servant really doesn’t understand, it’s just an old abandoned side room, why did it suddenly catch on fire? There was no thunder last night so it definitely wasn’t a natural fire. But who would be bored enough to go there to start a fire? If they got caught, they’d definitely die.” Ting Yu worked on setting out the bowls and chopsticks as she chatted.
“There was a fire? Where?” A cold voice suddenly appeared behind them. Ye Junqing was standing outside the palace doors and his eyes were filled with coldness.
“Ah… replying Prince, it was the side room of the Cold Palace,” replied Ting Yue.
“You may withdraw now.” Yao Mowan waved and had Ting Yue withdrew, then walked leisurely over to sit down at the table.
“Who do you think set the fire?” Ye Junqing walked to Yao Mowan and asked her in a low voice. His eyes no longer had contained their usual idleness. Yao Mowan had predicted this, that was why she had tried all she could to prevent Ye Junqing from finding out about the truth. The sooner he found out, the more his heart would hurt.
“How would I know?” Yao Mowan simply responded with a question.
“There’s probably no event that occurs in this palace that you don’t know about!” Ye Junqing had always believed this.
“Prince truly views Mowan highly, but perhaps Mowan will end up disappointing Prince. Mowan really doesn’t know about this matter.” Yao Mowan lowered her eyes and continued eating as she replied in a mild tone.
“With Yao Yu’s incident, you were able to hit three birds with one arrow. Not only were you able to frame Yao Suluan and make Yao Zhenting think that he lost his son, since this matter happened in the Inner Palace, it’d be hard for Yao Zhenting not to blame His Majesty for it. Based on this, you seem to be trying to ruin their relationships. If you were an outsider, this prince would still be able to deduce the reasons behind your actions, but you happen to be Yao Zhenting’s daughter, Yao Suluan’s younger sister, and Ye Hongyi’s most cherished consort. This prince just can’t figure out why you would want to do this? Unless…” Ye Junqing hesitated as that thought flashed through his mind again. If that really was the case, his heart would break.
“Unless what?” Yao Mowan wanted to know how much of the situation Ye Junqing had managed to deduce.
“Unless you hate them. Unless you hate them because of Moxin!” Ye Junqing swallowed hard. He had spent the entire night picking apart what he knew and this was the conclusion he had come to.
“Prince really has a strong imagination. Eldest Sister had died of difficult childbirth. Wouldn’t it be strange for Mowan to hold something like this against His Majesty? As for Father, he had never cared about Mowan so it’s true that there’s no feelings between us, but it’s not so bad as for there to be hatred. And as for Yao Suluan… she has always bullied Mowan since childhood. Now that Mowan has gained power, of course Mowan is returning the favor. Mowan knows about the feelings Prince has towards Eldest Sister, but Eldest Sister has already passed away. Prince should learn to let go.” Yao Mowan lifted her eyes and looked towards Ye Junqing solemnly.
“I knew that you wouldn’t admit it!” Ye Junqing was vexed with himself after hearing Yao Mowan’s pompous words. How could he have forgotten how two-faced this woman was? It was harder to trick the truth out of her than it was to touch the sky.
“Mowan is the type to elaborate in detail everything she knows ah! However, if Prince doesn’t believe, then there’s nothing Mowan can do. I’d like to ask you to help with something after we finish eating,” said Yao Mowan lightly.
“Don’t you feel any shame!? How can you still ask? No! I’m busy!” Ye Junqing couldn’t help but give a sigh. There really was a benefit to having thick skin. If it were him, he’d never be able to reject someone’s request, then turn around and ask that person for help.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira’s Corner]Enjoy~
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