Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 343 The Mystery Ends (Part 1)

When Green Willow returned after finishing her errand, she handed the Cloud Garment back to Meng Shu, saying, "Your Majesty, everything has been taken care of."

Meng Shu gave a soft "hmm" and looked towards the door.

Before long, as the footsteps drew closer, Xia'er entered: "Your Majesty was right. As expected, Granny Yu came to inquire of me. As you instructed, I relayed the information without missing a single word. Before returning just now, Consort Mei sent Granny Yu to the Duke's mansion."

After listening, Meng Shu estimated the time and went out.

As they approached the Thousand Carp Pond, they happened to meet Consort Pei, who had just come out of the Phoenix Palace. Upon seeing Meng Shu, Consort Pei hurriedly stepped forward to greet her.

"This humble servant greets Your Majesty," Pei Yunu curtsied.

Meng Shu offered a gentle hand and said softly, "Imperial Consort Pei, you've just come from the Empress's quarters. Is Your Majesty feeling any better?"

Pei Yunu said, "Her Majesty the Empress is blessed with good fortune. She looks to be in excellent health. She said she will take the medicine again tonight and can stop taking it tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Meng Shu sighed lightly, seemingly unintentionally: "That's good. Her Majesty the Empress has always been considerate of us. She doesn't even let us taste the medicine ourselves when she's ill. She's truly kind."

Hearing this, Pei Yunu was slightly taken aback, and followed up with, "Who says it isn't? It's said that the sisters are sent to take care of the sick, but in reality, it's just to keep them company and chat to relieve their boredom. It's not hard work at all."

It was far from easy. Influenced by Consort Mei last night, Consort Pei had already formed a preconceived notion. Hearing Meng Shu's words, she became even more suspicious—she had gone to Fengyi Palace to attend to the sick, but had not allowed anyone to see the medicine bowl even once.

......

Just past noon, at Wutong Pavilion.

Granny Yu hurriedly lifted the curtain and came in, beads of sweat still on her forehead: "Your Highness, it has been confirmed that what Xia'er said was true. The nanny who came to the palace with Madam Jiang yesterday was indeed not a servant of the Marquis's residence."

“Tell me in detail.” Consort Mei’s eyes flickered as she exchanged a glance with Consort Pei.

Granny Yu lowered her voice and replied, "That woman's surname is Chu. She is a female doctor from the Southwest who specializes in treating women's ailments. The Duke had someone investigate and found out that she came to the capital about two months ago and has been staying in the villa of the Marquis's mansion in the suburbs of the capital."

Pei Yunu frowned, puzzled, "Could it be a witch doctor? If so... that makes some sense. But with so many skilled doctors in the Imperial Hospital, why would the Empress trust a witch doctor?"

Consort Mei suddenly stood up. "What's so strange about that? The Jiang family has been stationed in the southwest for so many years, they might have picked up some barbarian habits. This medicine is probably something that can't be brought into the open, but it could be an opportunity."

Princess Pei sensed something was amiss and was about to speak when Granny Yu added, "This servant told the Duke about what Her Highness noticed yesterday, and the Duke specifically summoned the royal physician to inquire. The physician said that southwestern witch doctors love to use poisonous insects in their medicines, and witchcraft and sorcery are of the same origin, which is unacceptable to orthodox medical practice."

"What witch doctor? She's clearly a sorcerer!" Consort Mei sneered. "No wonder the imperial physicians couldn't find anything wrong. How could ordinary imperial physicians possibly recognize all the heretical practices of these barbarian lands?"

Princess Pei quickly interrupted, "Your Majesty, be careful what you say! These words must not be spread. This matter needs to be discussed further."

Consort Mei, however, could no longer contain herself: "What else is there to discuss?"

She gritted her teeth and said, "If the Empress dares to use forbidden drugs, I will make her... Liuli, first send someone to keep watch near Fengyi Palace, and if anyone comes out, send someone to follow them."

......

On the shores of Yujin Lake, a cool breeze begins to rise, and wild geese fly in formation across the autumn sky.

The Emperor himself held the string, and an exquisite double swallow kite rose into the air, its wings embroidered with gold thread shimmering in the sunlight.

Jingming and Lvliu stood at a distance to one side, afraid of disturbing the emperor's mood.

Donggua then led a group of palace servants aboard the painted boat and quickly arranged tea and refreshments.

Once the kite was steadily suspended in the clouds, Meng Shu looked up and met the Emperor's smiling eyes.

"I heard that when you and Consort Chun were in Lin'an, you often went to the estate to fly kites. Today, let me see Shu'er's ability to ride the wind."

The Emperor handed the spool to Meng Shu. Meng Shu's fingertips touched the warm rhinoceros horn carvings on the spool, and she said with a smile, "This concubine does not have such skills. It is Mingyue and Ruizhu who are the most skilled."

The Emperor chuckled softly, his warm breath brushing against Meng Shu's ear: "Hold it like this, let out the line slowly, and reel it in steadily." As he spoke, his large palm gently covered the back of her hand, guiding her to gently release and reel in the line.

After a short while, with the combined efforts of the two, the kite flew higher and higher.

Upon seeing this, Meng Shu naturally had to offer a few words of praise, while secretly calculating the time in her mind, thinking about how to make the kite fall down as soon as possible.

Perhaps the kite was flying too high, when a southwest wind suddenly rose over the lake, the kite suddenly sank, its golden feathers swirling as it hurtled toward the northwest. The spool of string was burning hot in Meng Shu's palm, and before she could stop, the string snapped with a "snap".

"Oh no!" Meng Shu looked annoyed as she watched the kite with its broken string zigzag across the lake and eventually drift away to the west bank, disappearing without a trace.

Upon seeing this, the Emperor chuckled and said, "It's alright, Jingming, take a few men and go look for him."

After speaking, he took Meng Shu's hand and boarded the painted boat to rest.

Jingming, who was standing nearby, accepted the order and immediately led several guards in pursuit of the kite. After passing the Nine-Bend Bridge, Jingming instructed the guards to split up and search, while he himself followed the bluestone path into the woods to the west.

Before they even got close, they suddenly heard the voices of maids coming from inside the palace wall behind the tree.

One of the voices said, "Can you smell it? These past two days, I've been delivering charcoal to the Empress's palace, and there's always a strange, fishy smell coming from the medicine shed in the side hall. It's awful."

Another maid chimed in, "I smelled it too. I don't know what kind of medicine they're brewing, but the smell makes me nauseous."

"Stop talking about these things! How dare you gossip about the Empress's palace? If outsiders find out, you'll be in big trouble," the third maid warned nervously.

"It's just gossip, do you think we'd actually dare to spread it around? Oh, by the way, the monthly bonuses were distributed at the end of last month..."

As the voices faded into the distance, Jingming became suspicious. He was about to go around the palace wall to find out what was going on when he saw the kite tangled in an old locust tree.

With this slight delay, the maids could no longer be found. After summoning the guards and retrieving the kite, Jingming deliberately took a detour near the Phoenix Palace and happened to spot Liuli sneaking around behind a tree.

Jingming seemed to be deep in thought. After thinking for a while, he finally suppressed the urge to go forward and find out what was going on, and hurriedly returned to the painted boat with the kite.

The aroma of tea wafted through the air inside the painted boat.

Meng Shu was pouring tea for the Emperor when she saw Jing Ming's unusual expression upon his return, and she knew that the matter had been accomplished.

Although unaware of any unusual activity at Fengyi Palace, Meng Shu remained uninvolved throughout. Ideally, she could use someone else to entice the Emperor to investigate personally. If that didn't work, there was always Consort Mei.

......

I thought there wouldn't be any results before returning to the palace, but to my surprise, Consort Mei's actions this time were extremely efficient.

Just as the hour of Xu (7-9 PM) arrived, Consort Chun hurriedly arrived at Bilangxuan with her entourage.

Upon seeing Meng Shu, Consort Chun took her hand and asked, "Shu'er, do you know what happened?"

"Xiao Nianzi found out that not long ago, Consort Mei invited the Emperor to Fengyi Palace, and even the Empress Dowager was alarmed. When I came here, I saw that Physician He was also taken to Fengyi Palace."