Chapter 309 – The Palace Maid Who Tried In Vain To Accuse Her
“I wonder which beauty Heir-apparent of Yan is interested in?” Qi Yunhao looked at the ladies below.
Lu Yeli also stopped and looked thoughtfully at the people below the steps.
Chu Fangnan looked even more nervous.
If Yan Huaijing was interested in a certain young lady of an aristocratic family, did it mean that he had decided which princess he wanted to marry?
“The woman I like is naturally the most outstanding one!” Yan Huaijing quipped leisurely as he walked down the stairs lazily, as if he did not know that his remark caused a huge uproar.
At this time, Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiufu had already disappeared, and even the Third Princess had left far away.
Only five or six young ladies were left at the scene.
Lu Yeli’s gaze swept over the few ladies below the steps and paused on their faces for a moment. Eventually, he frowned as he felt that none of these ladies fit the outstanding criteria and walked down.
Qi Yunhao and Chu Fangnan exchanged glances and shook their heads as they felt that Yan Huaijing’s remark did not make sense. Then, they slowly walked down the stairs.
The most outstanding woman? Who was the most outstanding woman in the capital that Yan Huaijing had taken a fancy to?
After lining up the outstanding women in the capital, the men started to speculate the possibility secretly, but they knew that it was impossible to get an answer from Yan Huaijing.
Wei Yuewu did not know that Yan Huaijing’s ambiguous remark had caught the attention of the young ladies of aristocratic families in the capital. At this moment, she was walking slowly with Wei Qiufu to the pavilion that Wei Fengyao had appointed.
As they walked along the way, there were fewer and fewer people. At first, Wei Yuewu could see a few palace maids passing by, but eventually, she didn’t see anyone.
“Fourth Elder Sister, where is Eldest Sister?” Wei Yuewu stopped and asked in puzzlement.
“She should be in front. Look at the palace over there. Eldest Sister’s maid said that it’s in a pavilion over there. She’s waiting for us there.” Wei Qiufu pointed at a palace in the distance. The place was a little far away. At this time, all Wei Yuewu could see was the few tall eaves in the distance, with the unique carving of dragons and phoenixes only to be seen in the Palace.
“Is that the cold palace?” Wei Yuewu sneered coldly and stopped moving, as if she would never walk if Wei Qiufu did not explain clearly.
“Impossible. Even if Eldest Sister does not want us to be disturbed, she will not go to the cold palace. The cold palace is located on the opposite side of the bridge where we met Beauty Wang that day!”
Wei Qiufu was not surprised by Wei Yuewu’s suspicion at all and explained with a smile.
“Why did she pick such a far place to meet?” Wei Yuewu looked a little puzzled, but she began to move slightly. Although it was not fast, she basically agreed with Wei Qiufu.
“Maybe Eldest Sister doesn’t want others to see her strolling around with us. I remember that she said that she was coming to the Palace to accompany the Empress Dowager. It wouldn’t be nice if she was seen with us since she came to the Palace for the Empress Dowager. Even if the Empress Dowager didn’t blame her, it wasn’t nice for her to do so in front of others.”
Wei Qiufu explained with a smile, sounding more and more convincing. Indeed, Wei Fengyao had entered the Palace in the name of accompanying the Empress Dowager, so it would not be nice if she was seen accompanying her sisters and wandering around the Palace. It was better to avoid the eyes of the others.
“Why isn’t she here yet?” Wei Yuewu finally curled her lips into a smile as if she agreed with Wei Qiufu’s remarks.
“Maybe she is waiting for us. This is the imperial palace, after all, and Eldest sister is Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an. No matter how you look at it, she doesn’t have to welcome the two of us. Alright, Sixth Younger Sister, stop being suspicious. If you don’t believe me, I will go ahead and take a look. Then, I’ll ask Eldest Sister to meet us.”
“Sixth Younger Sister, you only need to come over slowly,” Wei Qiufu joked.
“Alright!” Wei Yuewu nodded and agreed.
However, Wei Qiufu was taken aback, and her smile froze a little. It was as if she had not expected this reaction from Wei Yuewu. “O-Okay. Take your time, Sixth Younger Sister. I’ll go over and ask Eldest Sister to come over first.”
“Thank you, Fourth Elder Sister!” Wei Yuewu bowed slightly, indicating that she felt sorry for making Wei Qiufu into doing this.
“Since you don’t believe me, why don’t you send Jin Ling over to take a look with me?” The smile on Wei Qiufu’s face slowly faded away as she said somewhat frustratedly.
“If you think it’s possible, of course, it’s the best!” Wei Yuewu thought for a moment and smiled. In her opinion, it was best if Wei Qiufu could take Jin Ling with her.
“A-Alright… I don’t know why you are so suspicious of us! F-Forget it! Jin Ling, come with me. Seeing is believing!”
Wei Qiufu looked as if she had been misunderstood. She stomped her feet and huffed angrily, but there was a trace of satisfaction in her eyes.
“I’ll have to trouble you, Fourth Elder Sister!” However, Wei Yuewu remained unmoved and seemed very insistent.
“Alright, I’ll bring Jin Ling over immediately. If you believe me, slowly come over. If you want to stop, it’s fine!” Wei Qiufu was so angry that her expression changed. She snorted coldly and turned to leave.
Ming Yan followed closely behind her. Jin Ling looked at Wei Yuewu and trotted after Wei Qiufu.
Wei Qiufu looked like she had been wronged by Wei Yuewu. Now, she looked for Wei Fengyao to prove herself. She quickened her pace and disappeared from Wei Yuewu’s line of sight with Ming Yan and Jin Ling in a turn.
Wei Yuewu stopped in her tracks. Her eyes swept over Wei Qiufu, who had been rushing about just now, and her lips curled into a smile. Since when had Wei Qiufu become so visibly pleased?
It seemed that the so-called meeting with Wei Fengyao was a faux.
“Miss, please make way!” Suddenly, an urgent cry came from behind. Wei Yuewu subconsciously turned around and saw a palace maid holding a tray and hurriedly walking over. Due to her fast walking, the wine jug on top of the tray swayed a bit and slid down.
Wei Yuewu quickly took a step back, but the wine jug smashed to the floor and coincidentally landed beside her feet. Some wine sprinkled on her embroidered shoes.
Wei Yuewu narrowed her eyes dangerously.
“Ah! T-This is royal wine!” Seeing that the wine jug had been smashed, the palace maid was so scared that her face turned ashen as she cried out in shock.
“Royal wine?” Wei Yuewu’s heart skipped a beat.
“I-It’s the wine that His Majesty asked for. Miss, you can’t leave like this. Please come with me to explain to the chief eunuch that the two of us accidentally smashed the wine.” The palace maid grabbed Wei Yuewu, her lips trembling. She was obviously frightened, but her remarks clearly indicated that Wei Yuewu should take the blame with her.
“The wine that His Majesty asked for? Why did you come this way? Also, I didn’t bump into you just now!” Wei Yuewu’s face turned cold. She waved her hand, wanting to shake the palace maid’s hand away.
To her surprise, the palace maid grabbed onto her tightly and refused to let go.
“Miss, the place where the wine is stored is far away. It is the tributary wine. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the chief eunuch. I just took it from the storage. There has been no one on the way here, so I walked a little quicker. I concentrated on the wine, but I didn’t notice that you were here. Miss, please save me!”
The palace maid fell to her knees with a thump and kowtowed hard at Wei Yuewu, but she grabbed Wei Yuewu’s dress.
“You are a noble daughter from an aristocratic family. Even if this wine is precious, the chief eunuch will not say anything. His Majesty is currently entertaining Marquis Hua Yang, and the chief eunuch is waiting outside the imperial study. All you have to do is prove that I accidentally spilled the wine. The chief eunuch will forgive me for your sake.”
“Is the chief eunuch so easy to deal with?” Wei Yuewu asked with a dim gaze when she saw the palace maid’s pale face. She also mentioned Marquis Hua Yang. Was her father in the Palace now?
Under normal circumstances, if something like this happened, even if she was brought to the chief eunuch, she wouldn’t be afraid with her father around, so she wouldn’t be so wary.
“The chief is very polite to the young ladies of aristocratic families. Moreover, the young ladies in the Palace today are all accompanying the Third Princess to pray for the prosperity of the country, and the chief eunuch thinks even highly of you. Miss, please help me. You only have to vouch for me. I’ll shoulder all the responsibilities.”
The palace maid seemed to have given up on the idea of letting Wei Yuewu take the blame. At this time, she was begging for mercy. She pulled Wei Yuewu’s dress and kowtowed again and again until there was a reddish bump on her forehead.
“A-Alright! But I’m waiting for someone here,” Wei Yuewu hesitated for a moment before saying.
“Please save my life first. I’ll bring you here as soon as possible. If there are other young ladies waiting for you, I’ll apologize to them. B-But only you can save me now!” The palace maid hurriedly raised her head and looked at Wei Yuewu with tears in her eyes as she pleaded.
“Alright then!” If Wei Yuewu refused again, it would be too unreasonable.
Moreover, the palace maid said that His Majesty met her father in the imperial study. With such a remark, Wei Yuewu felt even more at ease.
With that, she turned and left with the palace maid.
“Thank you, Miss! Thank you!” Seeing that Wei Yuewu had agreed, the palace maid was overjoyed and thanked her profusely.
“Oh no, your shoes are wet!” Suddenly, the palace maid saw Wei Yuewu’s soaked shoes. She hurriedly pointed at the palace in front of her. “Miss, there is an empty palace over there. Usually, there will be an extra few clothes and socks in the empty palace. Miss, do you want to go and see if there is anything suitable?”
“There are shoes and socks here?” Wei Yuewu hesitated for a moment. She was a young lady of an aristocratic family who paid extra attention to dignity and outer appearance. It was indeed impolite to meet the chief eunuch with a pair of wet shoes. Furthermore, she might even meet the Emperor.
“Yes, I remember that there are shoes and socks in several empty palaces here with all kinds of shapes and sizes. If you don’t see anything suitable, we can change to another palace.” The palace maid pointed at the palace in front of them.
“Let’s go then.” Wei Yuewu nodded. She picked up the corner of her skirt and realized that her left shoe was partially drenched and reeked of alcohol. The winter socks and shoes were a bit thick, so now she could feel a trace of dampness and cold. It was indeed inconvenient for her to rush over to imperial study at this time.
“Alright, Miss, hurry up!” The palace maid got up, wiped her tears, and took a few steps forward. She turned back and urged Wei Yuewu who was still standing in the same place.
“Alright, I’m coming!” Wei Yuewu smiled slightly, but her eyes were filled with coldness. The palace maid’s appearance was such a coincidence. Moreover, she was so anxious earlier that she wanted her to take the blame, but now, she was concerned about her wholeheartedly.
What a considerate palace maid!
When ordinary people saw this scene, they naturally believed what the palace maid said. Even if they had doubts about what they had encountered before, they would naturally lower their guard because of this remark. This was what Wei Fengyao had prepared for her!
Wei Yuewu pinched the handkerchief in her hand, which was supposed to be Wei Qiufu’s. She had secretly looked at it before. The word “Fu” was embroidered on it…
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