Chapter 297 – The Missing Palace In Memory
That palace looked no different from the surrounding palaces. In such a place, every palace looked very ordinary. However, Wei Yuewu inexplicably thought of a palace in the depths of her memory upon seeing this palace. Could it be the palace that was missing in her memory?
“Jin Ling, go and ask whose palace is that?” Wei Yuewu spoke to Jin Ling in a low and hoarse voice. Her hand that was holding a handkerchief was ice-cold.
Although Jin Ling did not know why Wei Yuewu asked her to do this, she still obeyed.
She took a few steps forward and caught up with a palace maid in front of her. She pointed curiously at the palace and asked, “Sister, may I know which royal consort lives in that palace?”
“Which palace?” The palace maid turned around and asked politely.
“The palace over there!” Jin Ling pointed to the palace.
In fact, the palace in the distance was not very obvious. It was a distance away from the large palace road. However, seen from their current angle, that place wasn’t blocked by any other building. They could see the palace clearly.
The palace maid followed Jin Ling’s finger and saw the palace clearly. She smiled and said, “You mean the palace over there? There is no master or mistress living in it. It is just an ordinary palace!”
“This… is an empty palace?” Jin Ling was stunned for a moment. She was not an ordinary maid, so she knew some of the rules about the layout of imperial buildings. A palace not far from the main palace road should have been assigned to an imperial consort long before.
In addition to having easy access to the main road, that palace didn’t look inferior to any of the surrounding palaces. From whichever perspective, it was impossible for such a palace to be empty.
“It has been empty for many years!” The palace maid said with a smile.
Jin Ling looked curious and walked a few steps to keep up with the palace maid. She lowered her voice and asked, “Why is it left empty? Could it be that no royal consort liked that palace?”
The palace maid hesitated for a moment. In the Palace, it was strictly forbidden to gossip about masters and mistresses.
However, she knew the mistress of this maidservant was the Sixth Miss Wei of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, and she also recalled the fact that before she came to fetch the Sixth Miss Wei, the senior palace maid of the Third Princess specially ordered her to be polite when dealing with the maidservant of the Sixth Miss Wei.
Moreover, this matter was not a secret to the people of the Palace.
The palace maid hesitated for a moment and looked around. Finding no one noticed them, she turned her head and said in a low voice, “I heard that palace was haunted by ghosts. In the past, some royal consorts lived there, but after living in that palace for only several days, they cried and begged His Majesty to let them move out. At first, nobody believed what they said, but all the subsequent royal consorts who moved in said the same thing!”
“It was… haunted?” Jin Ling never expected to hear such an answer and she was stunned for a moment.
“Yes. It was said that a lot of people saw a white shadow floating past them. Some people said once a person with a distinguished status died when living in that palace. Because that person was born with a special horoscope, no other people could live in that palace peacefully unless they had an extremely lucky horoscope!” The palace maid became excited and explained in a low voice.
Jin Ling’s eyes widened as she asked, “So a royal consort with a noble status died in that palace?”
“No!” The palace maid from the Third Princess’ palace expressed her deep helplessness at Jin Ling for failing to understand her words immediately. She reached out and shook her hand in front of Jin Ling. “I’m not talking about a royal consort. Although it was not a royal consort, that person definitely had a distinguished status. But I’m not clear about the details. It was that this matter happened many years ago and the Palace forbids gossiping about it!”
“In the Palace, other than the royal consorts, who else has a distinguished status?” Jin Ling asked, looking extremely stupid.
Hearing such a silly question, the palace maid almost fainted!
Sure enough, maidservants outside of the Palace couldn’t compare with palace maids. They were too stupid to work in the Palace!
She couldn’t help wondering if this maidservant of the Sixth Miss Wei had a brain!
“There are many people with distinguished statuses in the Palace. Of course, royal consorts are noble, but some young ladies from aristocratic families also have distinguished statuses. Of course, there are also princesses and princes!” When the palace maid said this, her voice was so low that it could hardly be heard, but Jin Ling had sharp ears and immediately picked up every word she said.
The Palace was replete with fierce fights. There were many princesses and princes who died before they reached adulthood. This wasn’t a rare thing in the Palace.
Almost every dynasty had princes whose death remained a myth. By comparison, fewer princesses died in this way! But if people really dug into the issue, they would find that no palace here was a clean place. There were plenty of cases in which princes, princesses, and royal consorts died of unknown reasons.
“Princes?” Jin Ling looked shocked, “But princes are the most distinguished members of the royal family. How could they…”
The palace maid looked at Jin Ling as if she was looking at a country bumpkin. She curled her lips and said, “Who said that princes would not die in the Palace? Haven’t there been many such cases?” But her expression immediately darkened. “Even princes, princesses, and royal consorts couldn’t hold their fates in their own hands, let alone servants like us!”
Indeed, lives were the cheapest in the imperial palace. Countless distinguished people such as princes and princesses had died tragic deaths, let alone these palace maids and eunuchs!
After the palace maid finished speaking, she fell silent. Jin Ling knew that she could not obtain anything useful at this time. She slowed down and took a few steps back. When Wei Yuewu’s sedan caught up with her, she continued to follow behind Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu didn’t speak to Jin Ling. She just closed her eyes to rest in the sedan.
They finally arrived at the Third Princess’ palace. Compared with the Empress’ palace, the Third Princess’ palace was much smaller. There were no high and imposing steps. In just a few steps, they reached the entrance of the palace.
The several young ladies entered in order.
The Third Princess had been waiting in the hall. When she saw them coming in, she had quite an amiable look on her face. After the several young ladies finished bowing, she waved her hand and said, “Sit down. We will meet frequently in the following days, and there is no need to stand on ceremonies. For the next period of time, I shall be glad to have your company during my praying ceremony!”
Everyone thanked the Third Princess and took a seat on the side.
Because Wei Yuewu came in the latest, she naturally went to the last chair.
Before she could sit down on the chair, the Third Princess on the seat of honor said with a smile, “Sixth Miss Wei, please come over. I have something to ask you!”
Having been named by the Third Princess, Wei Yuewu had no choice but to step forward. Wei Qiufu hesitated for a moment and also took two steps forward. She “happened to” sit on the chair next to Wei Yuewu. She looked at Wei Yuewu with concern, as if she was really worried about Wei Yuewu and therefore deliberately sat close to the Third Princess.
Although a few young ladies were unhappy, they knew that Wei Qiufu was bound to enter the Crown Prince Mansion. They could only bear with her and sat down.
Wei Yuewu sat down and asked softly, “May I know what Your Highness is going to ask about?”
“I heard that Marquis Hua Yang will be entering the Palace tomorrow. How are Marquis Hua Yang’s injuries?” The Third Princess said with a friendly smile on her lips.
“My father’s injuries are almost healed. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness!” Wei Yuewu replied in a low voice.
Palace maids served tea to each young lady. The Third Princess politely pushed a teacup to the front of Wei Yuewu. “This is a good tea I obtained from my royal brother. Sixth Young Lady, try it!”
“Thank you, Your Highness!” Wei Yuewu received the teacup and took a sip. Her eyes shined as she said, “This tea is really good!”
From whichever perspective, the Third Princess did not seem to be someone who would pay attention to Marquis Hua Yang. Moreover, she was overly intimate with her at this time, which had never happened in their previous encounters.
Could it be because of her father’s…
“Sixth Young Lady, your birth mother passed away early. For so many years, the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang has not had a mistress. Have you ever thought about what kind of mother you would like to have?” Seeing Wei Yuewu put down the teacup, the Third Princess asked with a casual smile, but her eyes were fixed on Wei Yuewu.
So, the Third Princess was talking about her father’s marriage? Sure enough, it seemed that her father’s marriage also involved this Third Princess. Otherwise, the Third Princess would not be so eager. In fact, Wei Yuewu had no opinion about whom Wei Luowen would marry, as long as it wasn’t Concubine Dong!
However, she couldn’t answer the Third Princess in such a straightforward manner. She looked down and put on a bitter smile on her face. “Your Highness, this matter is not something that I should talk about. My grandmother also said that my father has remained single for so many years after my mother passed away, and that the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang needs a noble daughter from a distinguished family as its mistress to help my father deal with the matters of the backyard!”
Although her words were very generous, anyone could clearly see the bitterness on her face. It was understandable. Who was willing to call another woman mother? Anyone in her position would feel sad, despite those generous words.
However, although Wei Yuewu was sad, at least she did not express any objection. This made the Third Princess very satisfied. A noble daughter? Well, although her Ninth Aunt was not a direct descendant of the main branch of the Tu Family, she was now ranked in the lineage and could be considered a noble daughter from a distinguished family. If not for her poor fate, due to which she lost her father and mother in succession and had to observe a three-year mourning period for each of them, how would she remain single at the age of twenty!
Her mother, Zhaoyi Tu, asked her to inquire about Wei Yuewu’s opinion. As a matter of fact, Wei Yuewu was just a little girl. What reason did she have to object to her father’s marriage? Marquis Hua Yang was not someone who would be swayed by others. It was said that even the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang’s Madam Dowager had to give way to her poker-faced son.
However, the Third Princess always listened to Zhaoyi Tu. Moreover, she also needed to show her goodwill to Wei Yuewu, so she happily accepted this mission.
Marquise Hua Yang? Wei Qiufu heard the Third Princess’ words clearly and moved her lips as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she held back her words.
If Marquis Hua Yang really married a noble lady, then the third branch would really have no status in the mansion. In that case, she, a daughter of the third branch, would cease to be of any significance despite being a legitimate daughter!
However, she still shut her mouth. Due to the previous incident, the Third Princess had already become unhappy with her. It was even more inappropriate to provoke the Third Princess at this time. Moreover, once her plan to get a higher status in the Crown Prince Mansion succeeded, she would become the strongest hope of her family, and it was impossible for the third branch to be suppressed no matter what!
With this thought in mind, Wei Qiufu calmed down. She picked up the teacup beside her hand and took a sip, listening attentively to the conversation between the Third Princess and Wei Yuewu.
“Sixth Young Lady, there is no need to be sad. His Majesty will definitely find a suitable noble daughter from a distinguished family for Marquis Hua Yang.” The Third Princess was quite satisfied with Wei Yuewu, and she became increasingly gentler to her. Since she wanted to be on good terms with Wei Yuewu, and this matter would also be declared the next day, the Third Princess decided to give Wei Yuewu some insider information.
“Sixth Young Lady, do you want to know which noble daughter His Majesty is going to grant to Marquis Hua Yang?”
Upon hearing her words, not only did Wei Yuewu raise her head, but the other young ladies also looked over. The mansion of Marquis Hua Yang had not had a mistress for so many years, and there were many who coveted the position of Marquise Hua Yang.
The two brothers, Wei Luowen and Wei Luowu, were both high-ranking officials. Besides, the late Emperor and the current Emperor both attached high importance to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Everyone understood what the position of Marquise Hua Yang represented…
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