The Ninth Princess Reigns Supreme [Transmigration] - Chapter 26
When Bao’an entered the palace, all the internal affairs of the harem, big and small, were nominally handled by the empress’s people, regardless of the actual situation.
Although Xiao Cui was innocent, she was indeed arranged to enter Penglai Palace by the empress’s side.
Now that the witness was dead and there was no other evidence to prove that Empress Jiang had instructed her to do so, the matter could only be left unresolved.
However, the seed of suspicion had been planted in Emperor Jiacheng’s heart, and the emperor and empress were destined to drift apart.
Empress Jiang had a bitter story to tell. She had tried her best to act secretly, but Concubine Shi had noticed it and slandered her in the most clumsy way.
Was she supposed to say—poisoning the candied fruit was too stupid, it wasn’t her?
No matter what she said, it would only arouse more suspicion. If the person she really sent and the real way of doing it were found out, the crime would be confirmed.
If she denied it to the death, Emperor Jiacheng would suspect her; if she tried to exonerate herself, Emperor Jiacheng would continue to investigate. Empress Jiang was in a dilemma and ultimately had to swallow this bitter pill.
Concubine Shi… Empress Jiang gritted her teeth. How could Concubine Shi be so sharp and secretly plot against her? There must be someone pointing her in the right direction.
Ning Rou, Concubine Shi, and that little beast Liu Li… Jiang Lirong would never let anyone who dared to oppose her have a good end!
The palace servant Xiao Die, sent by the empress, was also surprised.
She was the one who did it. She hadn’t even pushed the blame onto someone else, but Xiao Cui took the initiative to confess her guilt, which was really incredible.
No one knew what Xiao Cui was thinking before she died.
At the moment Xiao Cui crashed into the guard’s sword, the cold voice of that highness, who had nothing to do with this matter, kept echoing in her mind.
“What are you holding in your hand?”
Behind the rockery in the imperial garden, Xiao Cui saw that there was no one around, so she dug out a bag of things from the agreed place. She was about to hide it in her arms and leave quickly when she heard a voice coming from nowhere, which startled her.
“Who is it?” Xiao Cui bravely turned her head and looked around, only to see the person.
A long shadow fell from the rugged rocks, and the person was sitting against the light, making it almost impossible for Xiao Cui to see her face.
It wasn’t until she raised her head that Xiao Cui recognized that it was Ninth Princess, and she relaxed a lot.
Everyone knew that Ninth Highness was not favored and had little influence. Recently, she had only gotten closer to County Princess Chun Ning and had been spared some contempt.
Xiao Cui, as a person from Penglai Palace, was not afraid of her.
“Greetings, Ninth Highness.” Xiao Cui casually saluted, perfunctorily. “This servant has something to do and will take her leave first.”
Before she finished speaking, and before she could even see when Ning Zisheng made her move, a broken branch was inserted straight at her feet, brushing past Xiao Cui’s face and leaving a deep bloodstain on her skin.
Xiao Cui subconsciously touched her face and took a step back in fear: “You…”
“The thing in your hand.”
Ning Zisheng raised her eyes slightly and repeated in a low voice.
Xiao Cui was a little flustered. Could it be that Ninth Highness knew that she was holding something to harm County Princess Chun Ning?
This thing was given to her by the second young miss of the Duke of Chu’s mansion.
Xiao Cui was short of money and worked for Princess Bao’an. She didn’t know how, but Liu Ruyun found her, took a few taels of silver, and used her.
County Princess Chun Ning often came to Bao’an’s place and occasionally had meals in Penglai Palace; and what Second Young Miss Liu Ruyun asked Xiao Cui to do was to poison County Princess Chun Ning’s meals!
This medicine was not a poison, but a strong medicine to fatten pigs, colorless and tasteless, but it could quickly make pigs fat.
Not to mention people.
Xiao Cui was flustered and didn’t know how much Ning Zisheng knew. Since she had taken the money, she naturally had to go all the way to the dark.
Just as she was about to argue, she heard Ning Zisheng call out her name before entering the palace, her voice indifferent: “Wang Xicui.”
Xiao Cui was stunned.
“Father is a local of Xijing, and mother came from Lingnan, making a living working in a teahouse.”
Xiao Cui’s face turned paler with each word.
How could this powerless Ninth Highness have the ability to investigate her?
Ning Zisheng’s eyes moved to the thing in Xiao Cui’s hand: “Intending to poison and harm the current princess.”
Xiao Cui was exposed by her and stammered: “This servant, this servant…”
She held the strong medicine tighter and looked at Ninth Highness vigilantly.
“Do you want to keep your whole body?” You have a way to go.”
Although Ninth Highness looked kind, Xiao Cui seemed to see a flood of beasts and couldn’t avoid it.
What, what do you mean by keeping the whole body? Did Ninth Highness want her to die?
“You have a younger brother who is now a young child.”
Ning Zisheng saw that her emotions were still very resistant and sighed almost imperceptibly.
She didn’t know when she had an extra branch in her hand, playing with it. Suddenly, with a slight force of two fingers, she broke the branch in two.
Xiao Cui collapsed on the ground.
Under the moonlight, Ninth Highness’s cherry lips parted slightly, and she clearly explained the dead end that Xiao Cui could take.
Although she was still an unmarried girl, she was like a Shura from hell. When she talked about life and death, she even slightly curled the corners of her mouth, as if she was smiling.
Xiao Cui knew that if she didn’t obey, her family would be broken in Ninth Highness’s hands like the branch.
“…Okay.”
Finally, she responded in a trembling voice.
The incident of the palace servant dying in Penglai Palace was not a secret, and it was soon spread by word of mouth to Xiao Rui’s ears.
After returning to Biyu Palace, she knocked on Ning Zisheng’s door with a heavy expression and called out: “Your Highness.”
“Hmm?”
Ning Zisheng had just finished bathing, and her cheeks were still flushed.
Xiao Rui stood at the door as always, not going in, and said in a low voice: “A palace servant died in Penglai Palace. She took the initiative to crash into the guard’s sword.”
Ning Zisheng said “oh” and seemed uninterested: “Is that so?”
“I know it was Your Highness who did it,” Xiao Rui said.
She was the one who found out for Ning Zisheng that Liu Ruyun was planning to harm Liu Li. Now that she heard that Xiao Cui was dead, and the empress and the emperor were arguing endlessly, how could she not know who did it?
Your Highness was only twelve years old, but she could do such a thing without changing her face. Even though she knew Ning Zisheng’s temperament very well, she couldn’t help but be shocked.
“Hmm.” Ning Zisheng responded casually, which was considered an admission.
Xiao Rui seemed a little puzzled and a little lost: “Your Highness, has it really come to this point? It’s a human life after all, how could it be…”
“Yes.”
Ning Zisheng’s voice was normal, but what she said was extremely indifferent.
“But what does her life have to do with me?”
Xiao Rui was shocked by this blatant indifference and pursed her lips in silence. After a long time, she said: “Your Highness…”
“Xiao Rui,” Ning Zisheng said, “We value other people’s lives, but who values our lives?”
Xiao Rui was silent.
She thought of when she first entered the palace and didn’t know any better. She offended Concubine Li and was beaten a hundred times, thrown out bloody and left to fend for herself.
Only Concubine Chu saved her.
She also thought of when Concubine Chu was very ill, no imperial physician was willing to see her, afraid of catching the disease.
She and Ning Zisheng knelt at the gates of various palaces and begged, but all they got was ridicule and sarcasm. In the end, it was a miracle that Concubine Chu survived.
Xiao Rui suddenly understood why Ning Zisheng thought this way. She moved her lips, seeming to want to say something, but just sighed softly.
At night, Liu Li tossed and turned for a long time and couldn’t fall asleep, thinking about where the problem was.
Xiao Die… Xiao Cui… Empress Jiang… Concubine Shi…
While chanting these names, some truth seemed to be on the verge of coming out, but Liu Li still couldn’t grasp it.
This move was played beautifully. Emperor Jiacheng was angry with Empress Jiang for something without direct evidence and hadn’t been to the harem for several days; Empress Jiang was also making him uneasy, which could be considered a lose-lose situation.
This result, apart from making Liu Li happy, had no other use. Who had the ability and the mind to plan such a thing?
Liu Li suddenly sat up and thought of a terrifying possibility.
Could she have inadvertently caused Ning Zisheng to start engaging in palace intrigue ahead of time?
Liu Li kept thinking about it until dawn, eager to go to the Imperial Academy and ask Ning Zisheng for clarification.
She finally managed to wait until the time, but found that Ning Zisheng had taken a leave of absence today, saying she was unwell.
Liu Li had no choice but to wait all morning and went straight to Biyu Palace after school to see what illness Ning Zisheng had.
Ning Zisheng was indeed unwell, but not sick.
The twelve-year-old girl had her first menstrual period.
Xiao Rui hadn’t experienced it yet and didn’t know how to deal with it. Concubine Chu, taking advantage of her good spirits today, taught them how to use menstrual belts.
Ning Zisheng was experiencing this for the first time, feeling a sinking feeling in her lower abdomen and some pain. Although it wasn’t too uncomfortable, she was still feeling unwell.
Concubine Chu told her to rest well and sent Xiao Rui to ask for leave.
Lunch was naturally eaten in Biyu Palace. Ning Zisheng ate while being somewhat absent-minded.
At this time in the past, she would have been eating with County Princess Chun Ning in the pavilion…
“Jiu’er,” Concubine Chu suddenly called out, interrupting her thoughts.
“Mother.”
Concubine Chu called her name but remained silent for a long time, just sighing.
Knowing her mother as well as she did, Ning Zisheng could probably guess what she was thinking and lowered her eyes: “Mother knows.”
Concubine Chu saw her like this and actually acquiesced. She had guessed, but it was another matter for Ning Zisheng to admit it, and she was immediately incredulous: “The incident of the palace servant committing suicide in Penglai Palace, was it really you who did it?”
Ning Zisheng didn’t say anything.
“You…” Concubine Chu almost fainted. “Jiu’er, how could you be so reckless, disregarding human life? How did mother teach you?”
Her Jiu’er was clearly a clever and kind child. When did she become like this?
Concubine Chu’s words were almost identical to what Xiao Rui had said that day. Facing her mother’s rebuke, Ning Zisheng wasn’t angry, just listening silently.
“Jiu’er,” Concubine Chu didn’t have the heart to scold her daughter, just looked at her worriedly. “Promise mother, don’t do this again, okay?”
At the same time, Concubine Chu hated her own incompetence.
Her Jiu’er should have been a proud daughter of heaven. If she hadn’t been a burden, how could she have gotten involved in such things?!
Ning Zisheng didn’t answer.
Suddenly, there was a sound outside the window, the sound of a branch breaking. Ning Zisheng looked up sharply, but only saw a corner of Xiu Jiao’s skirt.
It was obvious who it was.
Liu Li suddenly heard such a conversation by the window and, for a moment, didn’t pay attention and stepped on a branch, making a loud noise.
She didn’t know how to react and could only silently digest the news.
…The incident of Xiao Cui committing suicide in Penglai Palace was indeed done by Ning Zisheng.
But this matter didn’t benefit Ning Zisheng at all. Could she be trying to vent her anger?
After a while, the door opened, revealing a pair of indifferent eyes, glancing down at Liu Li’s feet.
“…Your Highness,” Liu Li called out with mixed feelings.
“You heard it.”
Not a question, but an affirmation.
Liu Li didn’t deny it and nodded lightly, but still had a sliver of hope that she had misheard and asked knowingly: “Was it really Your Highness who did it?”
“Yes.”
Ning Zisheng looked expressionlessly at the somewhat bewildered girl in front of her. The soreness brought on by her menstrual period suddenly intensified, more or less affecting her current mood.
The questions from Concubine Chu and Xiao Rui didn’t seem to mean much to her. Ning Zisheng had long expected how they would react when they found out and knew they wouldn’t agree.
But when it was County Princess Chun Ning in front of her, it seemed different.
As for what was different, Ning Zisheng couldn’t say.
In front of the other princes and princesses, she was the Ninth Princess who posed no threat; in front of her mother and Xiao Rui, she was the familiar Jiu’er.
Only in front of Liu Li was she the twelve-year-old Ning Zisheng.
When she was with Liu Li, the usual pretense of maturity could be easily discarded; even if they had the most childish conversations, she would only find them extremely cute afterward.
Ning Zisheng had imagined Liu Li’s reaction after knowing this, fearing that her thoughts wouldn’t be much different from Xiao Rui and her mother.
Whether shocked, thinking she disregarded human life, disgusted, or deciding to break off all ties with her? Nothing more than that.
Ning Zisheng had always been used to being alone and thought she didn’t care about these possibilities. But now that Liu Li really knew about it, she found that she wasn’t so carefree.
She didn’t even dare to carefully discern what Liu Li’s eyes meant.
Liu Li stood there for a long time without saying a word. Seeing this, Ning Zisheng thought, “As expected,” and slowly looked at Liu Li deeply.
“County Princess…”
Before the words “please leave” could be spoken, she saw the girl in front of her, as if making up her mind, suddenly step forward and gently hold her hands with her small hands.
Autumn was not warm, and Ning Zisheng was experiencing her period, her hands almost ice-cold and numb. Suddenly touching Liu Li’s warm palms, she felt as comfortable as holding a hand warmer.
“Your Highness,” the girl in front of her whispered, “It must have been very hard to do so many things alone.”
Ning Zisheng finally saw the meaning in her eyes, without a trace of disgust, but full of pity.
What did County Princess Chun Ning just say? Ning Zisheng was a little dazed. Hard? Was she talking about her?
“But it doesn’t matter, Your Highness will never be alone again.”
Liu Li smiled brightly, her shallow dimples like a small moon.
“Because I will be with you.”
Ning Zisheng stared at her for a long time before saying, “Say it again.”
Liu Li did as she was told.
“…A word spoken is beyond recall,” Ning Zisheng heard herself say incoherently and nonsensically. “If you break your promise…”
“Hmm, I won’t break my promise.” Liu Li didn’t laugh at her current state, still smiling. “If Your Highness doesn’t believe me, shall we make a pinky promise?”
Their little fingers hooked together, and they gently pressed their thumbs together.
The agreement was made.