Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 324 Caught in the Crossfire

After listening, Qu Cairen remained silent for a long time before finally shaking her head slowly.

"Why doesn't Miss suspect Consort Chun?"

Ruixue picked up the celadon medicine bowl and handed it to Consort Qu, expressing her doubts: "Even if it wasn't Consort Chun herself, she relies heavily on Consort Meng, so it might have been Consort Meng who did it. That day by the lake, I happened to run into someone from Consort Meng's palace. I heard that the cook named Donggua also contracted hay fever the next day."

"There are too many coincidences; they might just be coincidences."

Qu Cairen drank the medicine in one gulp, gently wiped her lips with a handkerchief, and slowly said the following sentence.

Ruixue didn't understand what she meant. After taking the medicine bowl, she opened the Qionglin ointment, dipped her fingertips in the ointment, and carefully applied the medicine to Qu Cairen.

As a chill ran down her neck, a hint of pain flickered across Qu Cairen's face. This sudden chill, like a flash of lightning, cleared her mind.

Ruixue was about to press for more information when she saw her mistress pick up a few withered petals from the table and put them into a purse: "Go to Bilang Pavilion and present this purse to Consort Meng. If she asks about it, you should..."

The whispers grew softer, and Ruixue's surprise deepened: "Miss, are you so certain that it wasn't Consort Chun and Consort Meng who did it?"

Qu Cairen said nothing more, only handing over the purse: "Go quickly."

......

Bilangxuan.

Not long after Consort Chun left, Green Willow and Winter Melon accompanied Meng Shu on a stroll in the garden.

About fifteen minutes later, Green Willow pulled her back to the inner room, saying, "Shu'er is feeling better now, so it's not good for her to walk around outside too much. Be careful not to catch too much wind."

Meng Shu said, "I've been feeling really bored lying in bed for days. Go and get some fabric. Aren't you going to make clothes for Mengzhu? We can do some embroidery together to relieve our boredom."

Upon hearing this, Donggua chuckled and said, "Shushu hasn't done any embroidery in a long time, she's probably rusty. The last time she did embroidery was before New Year's Eve."

These words stirred up Meng Shu's memories. The purse that the concubines presented at the New Year's Eve banquet, the one she embroidered, still hangs in front of the dragon bed curtains in the Funing Palace.

The purse is embroidered with the eight characters "Long night of peace, many benefits" in gold thread, taken from a verse in the Lotus Sutra. (Chapter 252)

The Emperor slept soundly every night, but she had been tossing and turning and unable to sleep lately.

Perhaps because her mind was particularly clear after recovering from her illness, Meng Shu suddenly thought of Consort Chun, who had also stayed overnight in the Funing Palace. She wondered what Consort Chun thought when she saw that purse.

Could this also be something the Emperor did on purpose?

When Green Willow mentioned the Emperor's unusual behavior earlier, she had a vague guess in her heart. It was probably because Physician He discovered that she often took contraceptive medicine when he examined her pulse.

It was common practice for a concubine to take contraceptive soup, and the emperor would certainly assume that this was at the behest of Consort Chun or the Marquis of Lin'an. Perhaps that is why the emperor informed her of the matter of "rectifying her name" in advance.

She couldn't prove that it was actually her own doing. Caught between the Marquis of Lin'an's residence and the Emperor, Meng Shu felt for the first time that she was caught in a dilemma, finding it difficult to move forward or backward.

Just as she returned to the flower hall and was selecting embroidery thread, Xia'er came in to report: "Your Majesty, Miss Ruixue, who serves Consort Qu, requests an audience."

Ruixue handed over the purse, and Lüliu carefully opened it and presented it to Meng Shu from a distance.

Meng Shu stared intently at Ruixue, lost in thought: "These petals... are they the ones I saw by Yujin Lake that day? What was Qu Cairen's intention in having you send them to me?"

Having seen the petals of the dragon claw flower, she almost instantly understood the reason for Qu Cairen's tinea versicolor flare-up, but for a moment she couldn't fathom the deeper meaning behind the other party's actions.

Ruixue respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, the pollen of the dragon claw flower and the gardenia are incompatible. My mistress heard that this flower grows in the Xiefang Garden where Consort Chun resides, so she sent me here to remind her."

Meng Shu's eyes flickered slightly: "If you were reminding Consort Chun, why didn't you go to Xiefang Garden, but instead came to my Bilang Pavilion?"

"His Majesty said that the Empress and Consort Chun are one, and telling you the same thing is the same."

Meng Shu then asked, "Did the lady also bring any other message?"

Ruixue was even more surprised. "Your Majesty also asked me to remind you that you often walk around Yujin Lake with Consort Chun, so you should be extra careful."

Meng Shu gestured for Green Willow to accept the purse, and said gently, "Go back and tell your mistress that Consort Chun and I have remembered this token of our appreciation."

After Ruixue left, Donggua scratched his head and said, "I went to the lakeside that day, and there were indeed signs of disturbance under the gardenia tree, but I didn't find any dragon claw flower petals. It seems that Miss Ruixue picked them up first."

Green Willow narrowed her eyes, her face full of inquiry: "Lady Qu... this behavior is quite strange. She specially sent someone to warn us. Doesn't she suspect Shu'er and Consort Chun?"

"If this matter is seen as being directed at me and Consort Chun, it is not hard to understand why Consort Qu must have guessed that she was caught in the crossfire."

Meng Shu remained silent for a while, then instructed Green Willow to deliver a message to the Fragrant Garden.

Donggua said angrily, "Was it the Empress or Consort Mei who did this? Such a heart is truly vicious."

Meng Shu said, "No matter who it was, two or three days have passed, and it's impossible to trace them now. Only Lingxiao Terrace and Xiefang Garden in the palace have this flower. This scheme is quite ingenious."

Thinking of this, she had no choice but to accept the favor from Consort Qu. If Consort Qu had presented the dragon claw petals directly, Consort Chun would have been unable to defend herself, and it would have inevitably caused a disturbance.

However, given the subsequent developments of this alliance, Meng Shu can almost certainly conclude that it was the Empress's doing.

The concubines serving in the imperial palace contracted tinea capitis and were unable to attend to the emperor for several months. Under such circumstances, it was only natural to use this opportunity to summon Consort Song to serve the emperor.

Moreover, the act of transferring Consort Song away from the palace is itself quite intriguing.

......

The next morning, Meng Shu went to Fengyi Palace to pay her respects.

The Empress sat upright on her phoenix throne, smiling as she looked at Meng Jieyu and said, "You look very well today, so it seems you are no longer in any serious health problems. It must have been quite worrying for the Emperor these past few days while you were bedridden."

Consort Mei spoke with sarcasm: "It's not a short distance from Xiefang Garden to Bilang Pavilion. The Emperor carried you all the way. I wonder what you think, Consort? Even your mistress, Consort Chun, has never experienced such favor."

Upon hearing such hurtful words, Consort Chun's face turned cold. She abruptly stood up, but was momentarily speechless, suddenly unsure how to refute them.

Meng Shu entered the palace as a concubine under the name of Hua Yan. If we consider their former status, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Consort Mei was Meng Shu's mistress. However, Meng Shu is now a fourth-rank Jieyu, and anyone concerned about appearances would not utter such words.

"What?" Seeing that Consort Chun was speechless, Consort Mei became even more smug. "Why is Consort Chun so eager to protect her maid?"

The Empress leisurely sipped her tea, a hint of amusement flashing in her eyes. She found it truly intriguing that the Emperor had taken the second young lady from the Duke's mansion into the palace.

Meng Shu rose calmly and gently tugged at Consort Chun's sleeve. Consort Chun, however, shielded her behind her, her voice icy cold, "Consort Meng is a fourth-rank imperial concubine appointed by the Emperor himself. How dare you insult her like this? I'd like to ask, when Consort Mei was exiled to the southwest, did she still remember that she was once a slave?"

Consort Mei's face turned deathly pale instantly, and she trembled with rage: "You! You're nothing but the daughter of a lowly merchant..."

Meng Shu felt a warmth in her heart and stood side by side with Consort Chun.

She raised her eyes to look directly at Consort Mei, her voice clear and sharp, each word piercing to the heart: "His Majesty, showing compassion for my illness, personally escorted me; this is an act of boundless grace. Consort Mei, are you expressing some dissatisfaction with His Majesty by speaking in this way?"

"enough."

The Empress narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly and slammed her teacup down. "Sisters in the harem should prioritize harmony. Consort Mei, your words and actions today were truly unbecoming."