In the Ningfu Palace.
The Imperial Concubine Shu had been idle these days. Since the emperor returned to the capital from Qishan, he seemed to have become even busier. Before the Imperial Concubine De entered the palace, she would occasionally brew some ginseng soup for Sikong Ting. Sikong Ting would drink the soup she made after his daily work. However, since the arrival of the Imperial Concubine De, Sikong Ting had become much colder towards her. After all, everyone knew that the Imperial Concubine De was the emperor's favorite now. As the former "favorite" and the first-ranked concubine in the harem, there was no need for her to put herself in an awkward position.
Therefore, she had been much quieter recently. She would enjoy the flowers and do some embroidery during the day, and that would be how she spent her day.
Of course, this was not the real reason for her quietness.
Ying'er brought a bowl of soup and placed it on the table beside the Imperial Concubine Shu. She said carefully, "Your Ladyship, this is the coix seed and chicken soup sent today."
Hearing this, the Imperial Concubine Shu frowned, swept the bowl of soup onto the ground, and scolded, "How many times have I said not to take the things he sent? Why did you bring it here?!"
Ying'er was so frightened that she knelt on the ground and trembled, "It was the wet nurse from the imperial kitchen who told this servant to fetch it. This servant didn't know until she got there..."
The Imperial Concubine Shu roared angrily, "You stupid girl! If you get involved with him again and I get into trouble, you won't be able to escape either!"
Ying'er was startled and quickly kowtowed several times, saying, "Please calm down, Your Ladyship. Please calm down. This servant will never dare to do it again."
Just then, a maid rushed in慌慌张张 from the door. Seeing Ying'er kneeling on the ground, she was startled and didn't know whether to speak or not while standing at the door.
The Imperial Concubine Shu glanced at her and asked, "What's the matter?"
The maid came to her senses and quickly knelt on the ground, saying, "Reporting to Your Ladyship, the Imperial Concubine De requests an audience."
"The Imperial Concubine De?!" The Imperial Concubine Shu was startled and asked, "What does she want?"
The maid said, "The Imperial Concubine De only said that she has something important to discuss with Your Ladyship."
The Imperial Concubine Shu snorted coldly and said, "Important matter? I'm afraid she's here to humiliate me, right?"
The maid lowered her head, too scared to say a word.
The Imperial Concubine Shu looked at her and said, "Go and let her in. I'd like to see what this 'important matter' of hers is."
"Yes." The maid bowed and rushed away in a hurry.
Qin Huaiqiu was sitting in the sedan chair, boringly picking her nails. "It's been so long. Why isn't she coming out yet? It's getting dark. I'm still waiting to go back to the palace and go to sleep early." Then she yawned.
Ziyun said, "Shall this servant go and urge her again?"
Qin Huaiqiu spat, "Urge what? If she doesn't come out in a while, we'll just barge in. I've done it before. Letting her announce this time is already giving her face."
Ziyun snickered a few times and said, "Yes."
"Your Ladyship, the Imperial Concubine De." A maid trotted over, bowed beside the sedan chair, and said, "Please follow me. My lady requests your presence."
Qin Huaiqiu casually tidied up her clothes, jumped out of the sedan chair, and said to Ziyun, "Follow me in."
The two of them followed the maid into the Ningfu Palace and walked through the corridor to a small pavilion. Qin Huaiqiu looked up and saw the Imperial Concubine Shu sitting in the pavilion. It was brightly lit around her, and she was embroidering something.
Qin Huaiqiu smiled and said, "Sister Shu has such good taste. It's already dark, and you're still busy?"
The Imperial Concubine Shu replied, "I'm not like you, sister. You only know how to dance with swords and guns all day long."
Qin Huaiqiu laughed a few times and didn't really care. She walked forward, sat down opposite the Imperial Concubine Shu on her own, and said, "It's a pity that I'm the daughter of a military general. I'm only interested in dancing with swords and guns. I'm not as elegant as you, sister. Thinking about it, I'm a bit too abrupt."
The Imperial Concubine Shu snorted from her nose and spat, "Why do you have something else in your words in front of me, sister? What's the purpose of your visit? Can't you just say it directly?"
Qin Huaiqiu didn't want to beat around the bush with her anymore, so she said, "To be honest, sister, I really have something to ask you this time."
The Imperial Concubine Shu raised her eyebrows but didn't say a word.
Qin Huaiqiu continued, "Do you still remember the incident when my maid, Qin Lan, was kidnapped in the Yushan Palace during our stay in Qishan?"
The Imperial Concubine Shu's eyes flickered. She lowered her head and continued her embroidery, saying, "I've heard a bit about it."
Qin Huaiqiu said, "At that time, Qin Lan was knocked unconscious from behind and then taken away to the mountains. According to the distance between the two places, the emperor has already helped me question all the maids and eunuchs on the way. We didn't find any problems."
The Imperial Concubine Shu looked up at her.
Qin Huaiqiu looked at her and smiled, "But I found that the way passed by the palace where you were staying at that time. So I came to you, sister, to ask about the situation at that time."
The Imperial Concubine Shu sneered and said, "I was taking a nap at that time. I don't know what happened. You've come to the wrong place, sister."
Qin Huaiqiu said, "It should have made quite a commotion to take an unconscious person out of the palace during the daytime. Are you really sure you didn't hear any noise, sister?"
Hearing this, the Imperial Concubine Shu was angry and roared, "Qin Huailian, what do you mean?"
Qin Huaiqiu quickly shook her head and said, "I don't mean anything else, sister. I'm just making a reasonable guess."
The Imperial Concubine Shu scolded, "If you want to make a reasonable guess, why don't you go to the Dali Temple? What are you doing here with me?"
Qin Huaiqiu sighed and said, "To be honest, sister, Qin Lan almost got raped at that time. This is really hard for a woman to talk about. Qin Lan has been my maid since I was a child. I have to think more for her."
She took out the palm-sized rag from her bosom and said, "When Qin Lan struggled, she tore this piece off a little eunuch. I saw the style and thought it should be the uniform of the eunuchs in the palace. So I'm comparing it with the clothes of eunuchs in each palace to find out."
She was just making this up to stimulate the Imperial Concubine Shu. The rag was just a piece of cloth she randomly tore from a piece of fabric with a similar color in the storage room of the Kunning Palace. But it was already night, and the light was not as bright as during the day. If the Imperial Concubine Shu was suspicious, she could take the rag and compare it carefully. After all, although they were eunuchs, the fabric of their clothes was of high quality, much better than this unknown rag.
But the Imperial Concubine Shu had a guilty conscience and didn't think of this at all. She just said, "There's no one you're looking for here. There are more than ten thousand eunuchs in the palace. You can go and compare in other places."
Qin Huaiqiu sighed and said, "You're right, sister. I was really too worried. At first, I didn't want to ruin Qin Lan's reputation. But now that I can't find any evidence on my own, it's better to leave this case to the Dali Temple, right?"
The Imperial Concubine Shu's movement paused.
"After all, the officials in the Dali Temple must be better at investigating than I am. If they compare and find out which eunuch in the palace has a torn piece of clothing or has changed a set, they should be able to find out... But this will ruin Qin Lan's reputation. Sigh."
The Imperial Concubine Shu's movements became obviously unnatural. She put down her embroidery, picked up the teacup, and took a sip. She said, "Although servants are servants, for a girl, once her reputation is ruined, it will be hard for her to get along in the palace in the future..."
"But I think we can't let Qin Lan suffer this injustice in vain." While saying this, Qin Huaiqiu was carefully observing the changes in the Imperial Concubine Shu's emotions. She said, "Sigh, I'd better order someone to send this evidence to the Dali Temple."
The Imperial Concubine Shu paused for a moment and then suddenly sneered, "Are you sure this cloth is the uniform of the eunuchs? If not, that's a crime of deceiving the emperor."
Qin Huaiqiu was not afraid of telling lies at all. She dusted the rag in her hand and said, "I've lived in this palace for almost half a year. I still know what clothes the eunuchs usually wear. You don't have to worry, sister. However, I came to bother you so late today. One reason is that I want to give Qin Lan an explanation as soon as possible. The other reason is that this matter involves the people of Loulan. I also want to solve this problem of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country for the emperor as soon as possible."
The Imperial Concubine Shu trembled all over. Carelessly, the plum blossom needle pierced her finger. She gasped, and it was not clear whether it was because of the pain or something else. Her face turned deathly pale.
"Sister?" Qin Huaiqiu called out.
The Imperial Concubine Shu's eyes flickered. For some reason, she got angry and roared, "Since you know it's already late, why are you still lingering here with me?!"
Qin Huaiqiu paused for a moment and was not angry. She stood up and said, "Since there's no one I'm looking for here, sister, I won't bother you anymore. I think you're right. It's better to leave this kind of thing to the Dali Temple for investigation."
Qin Huaiqiu bowed to the Imperial Concubine Shu again and said, "It's already late at night. I'm really sorry for bothering you today. I'll leave now. You'd better go to rest soon, sister."
After saying that, Qin Huaiqiu turned around and walked away quickly. Seeing the expression on the Imperial Concubine Shu's face just now, Qin Huaiqiu's face turned a bit colder. She walked a few steps to the sedan chair, pulled the curtain, and said coldly, "Back to the palace."