Jing Yao chatted with Yun Xi all the way, but he never told Yun Xi his purpose for coming to the palace. He only said vaguely that he had something to give to the emperor.
The two made an appointment to leave together later. After arriving at the palace gate, they went their separate ways.
Guided by the palace servants, Yun Xi made her way to Zhaohua Palace. Seeing Yu Zhu looking extremely nervous, she squeezed Yu Zhu's hand and whispered to comfort her,
"Don't worry. This is the palace. I won't be in any danger."
However, upon hearing Yun Xi's words, Yu Zhu didn't relax her vigilance. Looking at the palace servant walking far ahead, she whispered to Yun Xi,
"Miss, that's exactly why this servant is worried! This servant even regrets not telling the prince before we left."
Although Yu Zhu had only been to the palace a few times, she disliked the atmosphere here very much.
There were too many rules here, and the people living here were extremely noble. One single mistake could cost one's life!
This tense and panicked feeling made her feel out of breath.
Yun Xi patted Yu Zhu's hand and didn't try to comfort her anymore. She only instructed,
"Later, you stay close to me. No matter what you hear, don't say a word. Do you understand?"
On normal days, Yu Zhu always protected her and was afraid that she would be wronged in the slightest.
Although she was touched, in a place like the palace, she didn't want Yu Zhu to get into trouble because of this!
"I understand, Miss."
Yu Zhu nodded seriously, clearly aware of the stakes involved.
Yun Xi secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Just as they passed by a pavilion, they suddenly heard a commotion ahead. Several palace servants were scurrying around, seemingly chasing something.
"Hold her down! Don't let her run away again!"
A palace servant shrieked. Several accompanying servants then grabbed a person and slammed her to the ground with a loud thud!
Then, there came a beast - like roar. The person on the ground suddenly broke free from the maids' restraints and rushed straight towards Yun Xi.
"Ah! Miss, get out of the way quickly! That seems to be a madman!" Yu Zhu exclaimed in a hurry.
As she spoke, they saw a disheveled and dirty person, wearing tattered clothes that made it hard to tell if it was a man or a woman, suddenly charge towards Yun Xi! The next moment, that emaciated hand tightly grabbed Yun Xi's wrist with such great strength that Yun Xi couldn't help but frown.
A pair of sunken eyes stared intently at Yun Xi through the dirty hair, and the person let out inarticulate sounds from time to time.
Looking at that face full of scars, terrifying and hideous, Yun Xi was startled and felt a pang of horror in her heart.
She froze on the spot and couldn't move for a moment.
"Let go of our miss!"
Seeing this sudden monster - like person grabbing Yun Xi and fearing that Yun Xi would get hurt, Yu Zhu immediately stepped forward and slapped the person on the head.
However, no matter how much Yu Zhu slapped, the person still tightly held onto Yun Xi's wrist and refused to let go. She continued to make inarticulate sounds, as if trying to say something.
Seeing the scarlet blood flowing down the person's forehead, Yun Xi felt a pang in her heart and quickly grabbed Yu Zhu's wrist.
"Stop hitting! She's already injured!"
Upon closer inspection, Yun Xi determined that the person was a woman.
As if instinctively, Yun Xi immediately took out the handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped the blood from the woman's forehead. Then she asked Yu Zhu for the ointment and was about to apply it, but the woman suddenly opened her mouth and bit Yun Xi's arm.
She bit down hard until blood flowed from Yun Xi's arm.
"Miss!"
Yu Zhu exclaimed. Together with the palace servants who had now rushed over, they tried to pull the madwoman away from Yun Xi.
But no matter how they slapped the woman or tried to pry open her mouth, she tightly bit down on Yun Xi and refused to let go.
Seeing a palace servant raise a stick high, Yun Xi's face showed a look of shock and she was about to stop him. The next moment, the stick came down hard on the woman's back! The woman then let go and fell to the ground.
The woman was once again held down by the palace servants. They tied her hands and feet and dragged her away on the ground.
Frowning, Yun Xi didn't care about the pain in her arm. She stepped forward to block the path of the palace servants and asked politely,
"May I ask who she is?"
In response to Yun Xi's question, the palace servants exchanged a look and hung their heads. None of them dared to answer.
"Your Highness, don't get too close. This person has gone mad!"
At this time, the palace servant who had been leading the way walked over. First, he blocked Yun Xi's view, and then he sternly scolded the other servants,
"Hurry up and take this madwoman away and keep a close eye on her! If you alarm Concubine Wei again, you'll be in big trouble!"
Hearing the scolding, the servants quickly dragged the woman away.
However, listening to the sobs, Yun Xi felt extremely sad.
Yun Xi took out a bag of silver and gave it to the leading servant. The servant glanced at her, secretly weighed the bag in his hand, and then put the silver bag into his sleeve.
With a kind smile, he explained to Yun Xi,
"This servant only heard that she was originally a maid beside the Empress Dowager. She was punished for a crime. Her tongue was cut out and her face was disfigured. She was locked in a dilapidated wooden house in Kunning Palace. Now she's out of her mind. Who would have thought that a few days ago, there was a fire in Kunning Palace. The wooden house was burned down, and this madwoman ran to Zhaohua Palace. She almost scared Concubine Wei to death!"
"Originally, Concubine Wei wanted to kill her, but the people of the Empress Dowager took her back. Who would have thought she'd come again today!"
Hearing the servant's words, Yun Xi felt a complex mix of emotions. For some reason, her heart ached.
Yu Zhu was helping Yun Xi clean the blood from her arm. Seeing that her face looked pale, she immediately offered a pill.
"Miss, is your heart disease acting up again? Take one quickly!"
However, looking at the pill in Yu Zhu's hand, Yun Xi shook her head.
"No need. It's not that serious yet."
Since Qi Rong forced her to exercise every morning, her health had improved greatly, and her heart disease rarely flared up.
So, although Yu Zhu always carried the medicine, she rarely took it anymore.
Yu Zhu put the pill away. With tears in her eyes, she looked at Yun Xi's wound and said angrily,
"This madwoman bit so hard! If it had been any deeper, the bone would have been visible!"
After a moment's thought, Yu Zhu said to Yun Xi,
"Miss, why don't we go back to the mansion today? We can come to the palace another day to apologize to Concubine Wei."
Yu Zhu felt sorry for the wound on Yun Xi's hand and didn't want her to face unknown dangers at this time.
But before Yun Xi could answer, the leading servant had no intention of letting them go. He quickly smiled and said,
"Your Highness, Zhaohua Palace is just ahead. Why don't you go in first? This servant will then order someone to bandage your wound. It'll be more convenient that way."
Yun Xi knew she had no right to refuse. She nodded slightly and said,
"It's just a minor injury. I won't trouble you, sir."
She didn't want to arouse Concubine Wei's dissatisfaction because of her actions.
As Yun Xi spoke, she asked Yu Zhu to simply bandage the wound. After making sure it had stopped bleeding, she tucked her injured arm into her sleeve.