"What are you doing in your hall, Aunties?" Jiang Yingcheng asked, tilting her head back, her little voice sweet and milky.
She had wanted to ask earlier.
Every palace maid here was hurrying about with armfuls of things, and she had no idea what they were doing.
Noble Consort Qing struggled to swallow the bitterness lingering in her throat.
That Poison-Removing Pill tasted truly strange, more bitter than any medicinal decoction she had ever drunk. Had she not learned of its effects from the little girl's thoughts, she could never have swallowed such a large, bitter pill.
"I'm tidying up my rooms. I want to throw out everything your Aunties Consort Rou gave me."
After returning yesterday, she had already thrown away everything Noble Consort Rou had given her that she kept close to her person. Today, she had instructed the maids to search the entire hall thoroughly and throw out anything Noble Consort Rou had sent.
As it happened, Xueqing was recuperating from her injuries in her quarters and knew nothing of what was happening outside.
Jiang Yingcheng's eyes lit up.
She had just been fretting over what excuse she could use to enter her pretty auntie's room and search it. Since her pretty auntie had already begun clearing things out, that saved her the trouble!
"Throw it all away! Throw it all away!"
[Consort Rou is a big bad guy! We don't want her things!]
[Pretty Aunties has finally seen Consort Rou's true face!]
[Aunties has already taken the Poison-Removing Pill. Once she has a child of her own, that wicked Noble Consort Rou will be furious enough to die!]
Noble Consort Qing chuckled and gently stroked the little girl's fine, soft black hair.
People said those with soft hair usually had soft hearts, too. Today, she finally believed it.
"Yes," she said with a smile. "Throw it all away."
For the first time in nearly two years, she wore a heartfelt smile without a trace of sorrow.
When Jiang Yingcheng left Anqin Hall holding Eunuch Changshun's hand, the eunuchs accompanying them also carried several mahogany food boxes filled with sweets that Noble Consort Qing had prepared for her.
She could take them to the Fragrant Pavilion and share them with Aunties Yunmeng and her seventh brother.
Jiang Yingcheng thought of this with delight.
She was in such a good mood today that she kept humming little tunes as she walked.
Even Eunuch Changshun felt that spending so much time with the little girl had made him considerably younger at heart.
The Fragrant Pavilion was as dilapidated as before, without even a maid stationed at the entrance to announce their arrival.
Jiang Yingcheng could only push the door open a crack and slip inside first, leaving Eunuch Changshun and the accompanying eunuchs waiting outside.
Once in the courtyard, she set her short little legs moving and ran straight toward the room where she had met Aunties Yunmeng before.
She was only halfway there when a spiteful voice came from the room.
"Oh, has Your Little Highness gone out looking for food again? Let this servant see what you found today."
Although the woman kept addressing him as Your Little Highness, her tone held not a shred of respect, only malice.
Immediately afterward, Jiang Xingran's furious roar rang out from inside. "Get out!"
The first voice spoke again with exaggerated surprise. "Why are you so angry, Your Little Highness? This servant only wanted to make sure her masters were eating well. Look at you, misunderstanding my good intentions!"
After a series of sharp clatters as porcelain dishes hit the floor, the woman continued, "Oh dear, how clumsy of me! I accidentally knocked over Her Ladyship's food. Well, this servant still has two cornmeal buns left over from lunch, so-ow!"
"Which damned wretch did that?!" the woman demanded angrily.
They had left the door open today. Jiang Yingcheng took a running start, aimed herself at the maid who was speaking, and launched herself like a little cannonball, slamming hard into the woman's legs.
Her momentum, combined with her weight, struck the maid hard enough that the woman could not react for quite some time.
Jiang Yingcheng had no intention of giving her that chance. Standing on tiptoe, she reached for the two dishes on the table that had miraculously escaped being smashed onto the floor, stepped over the mess, and dumped them straight onto the maid.
She successfully earned another round of shrieks.
Cheng Yunmeng and Jiang Xingran stared, dumbfounded.
Although seeing Zuilan in such a sorry state was strangely satisfying...
That was the food Xingran had finally managed to bring back after running all over the place...
Cheng Yunmeng felt a pang of distress, but showed none of it. "Ying-"
Jiang Yingcheng suddenly turned and made a shushing gesture at them.
What fun would it be to reveal her identity already?
She had not even had a chance to stage a little scam yet!
Cheng Yunmeng: "..."
Just what sort of obsession did this little girl have with staging scams?
Zuilan's clothes were soaked through with grease, and her eyes practically spat fire as she stared at Jiang Yingcheng. "Which hall are you from?"
The Fragrant Pavilion was in a remote corner, and Consort Lan was out of favor. Afraid they would be bullied for no reason if they ventured outside, the maids seldom went anywhere, leaving them considerably less informed.
Zuilan did not recognize the little girl before her, but she knew Jiang Xingran quite well.
He was withdrawn and solitary, and his background was far from distinguished. His brothers frequently bullied him, and few people were friendly with him.
Even if this rosy little girl belonged to the imperial family, she probably was not anyone particularly important. Otherwise, her family would surely have warned her to stay away from this place.
Zuilan gave a loud snort, deciding it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble. "Where did you pop out from? Hurry back. Don't delay Her Ladyship's meal."
Jiang Yingcheng glanced back in confusion.
The maid had knocked most of the food onto the floor, and she herself had dumped the only two remaining dishes onto the woman. What was left to eat?
Jiang Xingran snapped, "Zuilan, you're only a palace maid, yet you dare bully your masters? Aren't you afraid I'll report you to Imperial Father?"
As though she had heard something hilarious, Zuilan laughed so hard she doubled over. "Hahahaha! Your Little Highness, are you still dreaming those grand dreams of yours?"
Jiang Xingran frowned and was about to speak again, but Cheng Yunmeng interrupted him with a tug on his sleeve.
Everyone had always despised mother and son for their status. If they offended the maids in their courtyard as well, their lives would likely become even harder.
Though things were already terribly difficult...
[Zuilan?]
Jiang Yingcheng vaguely felt that she had heard that name somewhere before.
007 spoke helplessly. [After we went back yesterday, I told you the names of the maids Noble Consort Rou had planted in the various courtyards. Zuilan was one of them.]
Jiang Yingcheng remembered.
[Oh, right! Zuilan is the maid who hides a treasonous poem in Aunties Yunmeng's room on Noble Consort Rou's orders!]
[She and Xueqing are both wicked women! Chengcheng is going to tell Imperial Father on them today!]
Cheng Yunmeng's eyes suddenly widened. She could not believe what she had heard.
Zuilan had been sent to her courtyard by Noble Consort Rou?
And later, she would hide a treasonous poem here to frame them?
Why?
Simply because she, too, had given birth to a prince?!
But Xingran's life was already so difficult. What was Noble Consort Rou still afraid of?!
When she had heard about Noble Consort Qing's ordeal yesterday, she had even counted herself fortunate.
Fortunately, she already had Xingran.
Fortunately, their standing as mother and son posed no threat to Noble Consort Rou.
Yet today, she had learned this!
Cheng Yunmeng felt as though a boulder were pressing down on her chest, making it difficult to breathe and leaving her hands and feet numb.
She could not bear to imagine what hell awaited her and her son if Jiang Yingcheng had not suddenly come here today.
Cheng Yunmeng clutched the fabric over her chest and drew great, gasping breaths.
Thank goodness, thank goodness...
Thank goodness that, in this palace, there was still a little fairy like Jiang Yingcheng, sent by heaven to save them!
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