The Ninth Princess Reigns Supreme [Transmigration] - Chapter 22

The Moon Banquet was only a day’s affair. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, everything in the palace proceeded as usual, orderly and well-organized.

Liu Li was also not idle. She spent a lot of effort trying to complete the mission issued by the system, but still couldn’t find out how Bao’an was poisoned.

The imperial physicians in the palace couldn’t be trusted because it was hard to tell who they worked for. So she asked Yu’er to take some money and find a doctor outside the palace, bringing the remaining dregs of the medicine to show him. As Ning Zisheng said, it was indeed a prescription for the right medicine, completely normal, and should have been very beneficial to Bao’an’s health.

Liu Li also secretly investigated Bao’an’s daily life, but still couldn’t find any clues.

She did all these things with Ning Zisheng, and the luck value was very stable. There was no possibility of bad luck, so she must have gone in the wrong direction.

Since everyone in Bao’an’s Penglai Palace was not her own people, Liu Li didn’t dare to be too blatant and had to give up for the time being.

However, she could choose other ways to solve this matter.

Ning Zisheng had mentioned the situation in the harem: Concubine Shi had been favored for many years and had many children, but her mother’s family was a bit weak, and she had always been very dissatisfied with the empress—why could she sit in that position when she had no children?

If Concubine Shi knew that the empress was secretly harming others, she would definitely not miss this opportunity and make a big scene.

Moreover, Concubine Shi had been rooted in the harem for many years and had a solid foundation. Liu Li couldn’t find any evidence, but she might have some.

The problem now was—how to let Concubine Shi know about this?

Liu Li rolled around on the bed, thought of several plans, and rejected them one by one.

Directly pass a message to Concubine Shi? Exposing her identity was the stupidest thing to do. She might be used as a pawn by the shrewd Concubine Shi.

Spread rumors and make this matter known throughout the palace? The best advantage now was that the enemy was in the open and she was in the dark, so she shouldn’t do this.

So, how could she anonymously pass the information to Concubine Shi?

Liu Li pondered for a long time, but she really didn’t have anyone to use. The faces of the servants around County Princess Chun Ning were all familiar in the palace. If they secretly sent a letter to Concubine Shi’s palace at night, they would probably be caught as soon as they reached the palace gate.

It seemed that the female supporting character really couldn’t do this. She still had to rely on Ning Zisheng.

In the original story, although Ning Zisheng seemed very miserable in the early stage, she actually had many golden fingers.

She was amazingly talented, and even though she only studied hard in private, she was proficient in both literature and martial arts, standing out among the princes and princesses. In addition, Ning Zisheng’s luck was heaven-defying—her mother’s family rose overnight, and the palace servant she casually saved became the future chief eunuch…

Anyway, she was much stronger than Liu Li.

Liu Li was now very familiar with asking Ning Zisheng for help. The next day, after finishing her studies at the Imperial Academy, she went to the pavilion for dinner as usual and opened her mouth with bright eyes.

“Your Highness, can you give me an idea? How to pass a message to Concubine Shi without letting her know it was me?”

She brought some shortbread to eat today. She didn’t know why, but the royal food seemed to like to shed crumbs, and she ate with crumbs all over her mouth as usual.

Ning Zisheng frowned when she saw her like this.

Liu Li noticed that there was also something rare on Ning Zisheng’s cheek, and she didn’t know if it was a crumb or a small petal blown by the wind. She was immediately amused.

So Liu Li first gently wiped her mouth clean, then pointed to her face, gesturing to Ning Zisheng that she also had something on her face.

The autumn sun didn’t shine into this small pavilion. In the shadow, the girl’s slender white fingers lightly touched her delicate skin, looking at Ning Zisheng with expectant eyes.

Seeing that Ning Zisheng didn’t react, Liu Li was a little anxious. She was too embarrassed to wipe her mouth directly, so she pointed to her cheek again.

Ning Zisheng’s breathing deepened for a moment, and she was actually a little embarrassed. Although she tried to maintain a calm appearance, she failed when she opened her mouth.

“I only refused you once. Why are you so obsessed?”

Liu Li: Huh?

Seeing that the girl’s fingers were still not lowered, Ning Zisheng was a little annoyed by her persistence, but also mixed with other subtle feelings, and blurted out.

“Forget it. Since you want it so much… come here.”

Liu Li approached inexplicably. In front of Ning Zisheng, she had no other advantage except being obedient.

She saw Ning Zisheng quickly peck her on the cheek she was pointing at, then turned her face away. Although there was nothing unusual on her face, her ears were already red: “Is that okay?”

?

Liu Li tilted her head, thinking that if her inner thoughts could be written on her face, Ning Zisheng would definitely see a billion question marks on her head.

What was going on?

Was it okay to kiss twice between a gentlemen’s friendship?

Liu Li was stunned, so much so that Ning Zisheng almost thought she wanted another one: “What, not enough?”

“No, no, no, no, no!” Liu Li shook her head quickly, covered her face and retreated to her original position, still unable to recover from the shock. “Your Highness, I…”

Interrupted by Ning Zisheng’s straight face: “If you want to do something in the future, just say it directly. There’s no need to imply it.”

“Your Highness…”

“However, there will be no next time.”

“I…”

“You should also know etiquette.”

“Your…”

“Hmm?”

“It’s nothing.” Liu Li finally gave up explaining.

It didn’t matter. Two kisses couldn’t change the fact that gentlemen’s friendship was as light as water. Good friends occasionally did this.

••••

That night, Liu Li wrapped herself in a cloak, carrying a lot of things, and ran to Biyu Palace where Ning Zisheng lived.

Since she became friends with Ning Zisheng, she had sent a lot of things to Biyu Palace, so Biyu Palace was no longer the Biyu Palace that had nothing.

Now, not only were there charcoal basins for heating, but also various tonics for Concubine Chu to nourish her body. Logically speaking, this would have attracted envy, but almost no one came to Biyu Palace, so not many people knew about it.

Liu Li slipped in through the back door and saw Xiao Rui dozing off against the wall. She mischievously poked her awake: “Hey!”

“Hmm?” Xiao Rui suddenly woke up. Her instinctive reaction was to attack the person in front of her. If Liu Li hadn’t dodged quickly, she would have been beaten into a pig’s head.

“Where’s Your Highness?” Liu Li asked, handing her the things for Concubine Chu.

“Here.”

Ning Zisheng also came out from the inner room wrapped in a black cloak. In the light of the candle, her eyebrows were much softer.

But even the dim candlelight couldn’t hide the fact that she had red lips and white teeth and was a little beauty.

Liu Li looked at her female lead with satisfaction: “Let’s go?”

“Yes.”

The place they were going was the cold palace, which Liu Li had never been to.

In any dynasty, the cold palace, which housed disgraced concubines, was an ominous place that few people set foot in.

Since Emperor Jiacheng ascended the throne, he had not sent any concubines to the cold palace, so no one lived here. There were no servants to clean it daily, so it was desolate.