Chapter 57: Oh my...

Chapter 57: Oh My

After Ye Wanwan had not been seated for long, Zhao Yi finally arrived. Following closely behind him was the newly promoted Lady Ji. Tonight, Zhao Yi had summoned Lady Ji to attend to him in bed, and judging by the undisguised flush of romantic fulfillment on her face, she had clearly already served him.

"Your Majesty," Ye Wanwan rose to greet him.

"Rise," Zhao Yi reached out and helped her up.

Lady Ji followed right behind, her eyes shifting, brimming with languid charm, and speaking in a delicately affected, pinched voice, "This concubine greets the Noble Consort."

Ye Wanwan's hands clenched slightly. This overly sweet and affected voice made one want to slap her across the face.

"Get up."

Zhao Yi then walked inside to check on the Empress Dowager and Jiang Feixue. Ye Wanwan sat back down in her seat, and Lady Ji took the seat right beside her.

As Lady Ji picked up her teacup to take a sip, she nearly dropped it altogether, letting out an "Oh my!"

Clutching the cup tightly to her chest, still looking startled, she hurriedly apologized to Ye Wanwan, "Please forgive me, Noble Consort. This concubine... this concubine suddenly felt weak and her hand slipped, causing such an unseemly display."

So, why on earth would she be so weak and frail that she couldn't even hold a teacup steady?

In the inner court, people's motives were unfathomable, yet this crude and obvious trick was flaunted as if she were afraid others wouldn't see through it.

Ye Wanwan looked with an indifferent expression at Lady Ji's coy, blushing act. She did remember this Lady Ji. After all, this face, which screamed of seductive allure, was quite recognizable. Moreover, because Lady Ji loved to show off and was utterly ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, she was one of the few people Ye Wanwan had easily crushed to death.

Back then, Ye Wanwan cared deeply about Zhao Yi, and suffered intensely because she herself could not attend to him. Yet Lady Ji, not content with merely holding the Emperor's favor, was always fond of flaunting it, displaying her coquettish charm with all the brains of a gnat. Every single move she made stepped squarely on Ye Wanwan's fury—if she didn't crush such a person, who else should she crush?

But now, Ye Wanwan no longer cared about Zhao Yi, and naturally would not feel jealousy or resentment over such matters. Looking at Lady Ji again with a changed mindset... what a brainless idiot. Even if she didn't lift a finger, Lady Ji would deserve to lose if she managed to survive in the palace.

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When Zhao Yi walked out, Lady Ji immediately stood up to welcome him with a seductive expression. In contrast, Ye Wanwan, sitting nearby, remained motionless like a statue frozen in frost, her face clearly showing a terrible mood.

Why was Ye Wanwan in a bad mood? Zhao Yi understood clearly in his own mind, believing he had completely fathomed her feelings.

Zhao Yi neither comforted Ye Wanwan nor showed excessive intimacy toward Lady Ji. Instead, he sought out Leng Yunfang, gave a few instructions, and then headed back to prepare for the morning court session.

Unable to fight off her drowsiness, Ye Wanwan dozed off for a moment. When she jerked awake, she momentarily lost track of where she was.

Qing Sha bent over and whispered, "Your Lady, the Empress Dowager has already returned, and the Noble Lady has also gone to sleep."

In the end, she was the only one left sitting here.

"How is the investigation going?"

Qing Sha shook her head, "There is no clue as yet."

Ye Wanwan remained in a daze for quite a while before collecting herself. "Let's return."

Back in her own bedchamber, she didn't even care about breakfast; she collapsed onto the bed and fell fast asleep, waking up to find it was already afternoon.

Her stomach was growling with hunger, so she hastily got up to find something to eat. Just as she was in the middle of eating, progress was made in the case.

Last night, someone had witnessed Lu Fugui running in a panic from Eunuch Li's quarters, looking as if he were fleeing from something, terror stamped all over his face. He hadn't even looked where he was going and had tripped several times.

This Eunuch Li was Li Hu, the adopted son of Yuan De, the Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Presence. Not only had the investigation led straight to Li Hu, but a blood-stained garment had also been discovered in his quarters.

"I heard that this Li Hu, relying on the fact that his adoptive father is Grand Eunuch Yuan, had colluded behind the scenes with the procurement officials of the Imperial Household Department, specializing in taking kickbacks and fencing palace items. Lu Fugui was a eunuch from the same batch entering the palace, and they had a fairly good relationship. It seems he was also involved. This time, they probably fell out and resorted to violence because of an uneven distribution of the spoils. The Emperor has ordered Commander Leng to thoroughly investigate the case, and all of Lu Fugui's accomplices have been arrested."

"Oh, by the way, Mistress Lin has already taken people to inventory the storehouses."

Lu Fugui was a person from the Guanju Palace. If he wanted to fence items from the palace, he could only pilfer them from Ye Wanwan. Ye Wanwan's dowry and bestowed treasures were piled as high as mountains; even if some were missing, it would be hard to notice right away.

Mistress Lin had always been in charge of these matters. Upon hearing the whole story, her face turned pale with horror. There was a high probability that something was wrong with the storehouses—how could she not panic?