Chapter 9 All Is Under Control
“Sweet Olive?” Empress Chen seemed to be confused about the relationship between Sweet Olive and the faint of Fang Ziying.
Qin Yunzhuang lowered her head and said in a low voice, “Empress Chen, I heard that Sister Fang was allergic to Sweet Olive heavily. And even if she smelled it for a while, she would get rashes on her body, or worse, she gets faint.”
After her words, Qin Yunzhuang was watching Qin Yunuan on purpose, “Sister, am I right? you are familiar with sister Fang, and you must know her allergy, right?”
Before Qin Yunuan responded to the words, Empress Chen watched Qin Yunuan with her cold-knife-liked eyes. Empress Chen tipped her fingers on the rosewood tea table and seemed to be pondering something.
“I….” Qin Yunuan opened her month with an irrefutable face.
Qin Yunzhuang glimpsed at Shangguan Yee aside, and Shangguan Yee said at once, “Uh, what’s in the bulging cuff of sister Qin Yunuan?”
Just in a moment, sister Li, who got angry just now, stepped forward to pull out a red rope in the cuff of Qin Yunuan in spite of the courtesy. A tiny flower sachet came out in a red background and yellow stripes. It was half-index-finger long, which was inconspicuous in the cuff if someone was not careful to find it.
Sister Li acted so quickly to open the flower sachet only to smell the fragrance of Sweet Olive. The fragrance now was so aggressive on this occasion. It seemed to have a smell of alert in the air.
“That is Sweet Olive.” Shangguan Yee shouted proudly and seemed to find something valuable, “It’s you! Sister Fang got faint just when you left the table. She is allergic to Sweet Olive, and you just right know it. We find the Sweet Olive in the wine, and you just have it in your cuff. Qin Yunuan, you are such a malicious girl.”
Qin Yunuan just glimpsed at the flower sachet and answered quickly, “That is not my flower sachet.”
“Not yours?” Shangguan Yee asked quickly without any disguise, “You mean you are framed by someone of us? She stuffed the flower sachet into your cuff?”
“Sister Shangguan, why are you so excited?” Qin Yunuan said with a smile, and her eyebrows now were a pretty radian. Compared to the impatient Shangguan Yee, Qin Yunuan now was so calm, “I just said the flower sachet was not mine. It was you that said I was framed.”
Shangguan Yee’s face now turned to pale, and she just looked at Qin Yunzhuang asking for help. Qin Yunzhuang was speechless and thought that the whole thing was not going smoothly as she expected.
“Shut up!” Empress Chen got serious, “I am here. You all maidens forget the politeness.” And then she stared at ShangguanYee for a long time.
Just at this moment a maidservant came and said she found Zhuer in the Plum Garden. A weedy maidservant was supported by the Nanny Xing, and she keeled down after she saw the Empress.
“M… my name is Zhuer…Greetings, Your majesty.” Zhuer gave a big salute to Empress Chen. She saw Qin Yunuan aside, and her eyes seemed to be light.
“Wow, look at the eyes of the little maidservant. She seems to know Sister Qin Yunuan well.” Shangguan Yee still tried her best to slander Qin Yunuan.
Empress Chen compressed her lips and said, “Zhuer, raise your head. I have some questions to ask you. Was it you that accompanied Qin Yunuan after she left the table?”
Zhuer nodded.
“And then you came back alone without Qin Yunuan. For what?”
Zhuer raised her head slowly and saw Qin Yunzhuang aside Empress Chen. She knew that Qin Yunzhuang was the girl whom she should pass the message to. Finally, Zhuer kowtowed and said, “Sister Qin Yunuan sprained her ankle in the Plum Garden and commissioned me to tell her conditions to Qin Yunzhuang. Qin Yunuan said that she wanted to let Qin Yunzhuang send some people to get her back after the flower hanging was over.”
Qin Yunzhuang got panic after she heard those words. At this moment, Qin Yunuan was watching Qin Yunzhuang timidly. A serious face and an aggrieved face were seen by Empress Chen.
Empress Chen glanced at Qin Yunzhuang and said to Zhuer with a softer voice, “And then? ”
Zhuer shrank her neck and dared not see the cold eyes of Qin Yunzhuang. She lowered her head and said bravely, “And then I went to find Qin Yunzhuang and just said the words ‘Qin Yunuan sprained her ankle in the Plum Garden’. But then I was drummed out by a girl aside Qin Yunzhuang.”
“Why?” Empress Chen seemed to be very curious.
Zhuer gritted her teeth and seemed to made her mind bravely, “That girl said Qin Yunzhuang felt disgusted when she heard the name of Qin Yunuan. The girl condemned me for being not polite and provoking Qin Yunzhuang deliberately.”
Just in a flash, the whole room turned to silent. As Qin Yunuan expected, she knew Qin Yunzhuang would not send people to take her back. To Qin Yunzhuang’s surprise, another thing happened now. All was going smoothly as Qin Yunuan expected.
Qin Yunuan opened her eyes largely and pretended to be very surprised with an aggrieved face when she heard the words from Zhuer.
Imperial Concubine Yun broke the silence. She held a handheld stove, “Huh, unbelievable. The elder sister did not care about her young sister. And she even ignored that her younger sister sprained her ankle.” Then, she pretended to be very surprised, “So, Qin Yunzhuang had already known her younger sister left the table. That’s interesting.”
“It shouldn’t blame my elder sister,” Qin Yunuan almost cried and avoided the sharp eyes of Qin Yunzhuang, “Zhuer has said just now that it was possible that some maiden around my sister said something wrong. My sister is my kin sister, and she would not ignore me.” And then Qin Yunuan raised her head and turned to the shivering Qin Yunzhuang, and asked, “Am I right? My sister.”
The pale-faced Qin Yunzhuang now was outrageous and pinched her handkerchief tightly. But just in a moment, she recovered a soft face, “Right. There must be someone who wanted to drive a wedge between my younger sister and I. If I knew that she got hurt in the Plum Garden, apart from dispatching people to help her, I should even come to get her back by myself.”
And then Qin Yunzhuang glanced at Shangguan Yee who now lowered her head. Shangguan Yee was so arrogant and rebuked Zhuer when Zhuer came to ask for help just now. Now, Qin Yunuan blamed all on Shangguan Yee.
Empress Chen kept silent all the way and just looked at their faces coldly. Someone hid something; someone exposed something; someone feared something, and someone looked very surprise. All was perceived by her, but only the…
Empress Chen saw the tears in the eyes of Qin Yunuan and her straight backside, which seemed to show her grievance and determination. Empress Chen thought it wouldn’t be fake, or Qin Yunuan must be a seasoned actress.
Suddenly, Nanny Xing came in and whispered to Empress Chen. She frowned and waved her hands to let the nanny quit, and then she sipped the tea, “The imperial doctors just told me Fang Ziying was fine now.”
The news relieved all people here. Empress Chen then turned her head to Qin Yunzhuang and asked, “Is it true that Fang Ziying is allergic to Sweet Olive? How did you know it?”
Qin Yunzhuang said with a handkerchief covering her face, “It can’t be fake. I sat aside Yunuan and sister Fang, and I heard they were talking about it at that time. But…” She did not say all out but just sighed heavily. She said to Qin Yunuan, “My sister, how silly you are! It is so lucky that sister Fang now is fine…”
Qin Yunuan shook her head constantly and seemed to start to refute. But now Empress Chen said in a low voice, “But according to the imperial doctors, Fang Ziying got faint due to something dirty instead of the allergy to Sweet Olive.” She sipped the tea again and found the tea was a little bit cold, so she asked the nanny to fetch a hot one here.
The hot tea was taken to her and then she said slowly, “Or, Fang Ziying is actually not allergic to Sweet Olive.” Empress Chen stared at Qin Yunzhuang and seemed to check her up and down. She nodded and said, “So, you said you had heard that Fang Ziying was allergic to Sweet Olive. How on earth did you get the news?”
The lips of Qin Yunzhuang were shivering. She quickly kneeled down and cried, “Forgive me, Empress. I just heard it from the talk between Qin Yunuan and sister Fang in the feast. I do not say anything else.”
Qin Yunuan nodded too. She told the whole thing that in the feast sister Shang wanted to exchange their flower sachets with Fang Ziying, and then she bent, “I said that sister Fang was allergic to Sweet Olive just because I wanted to help sister Fang at that time. Someone heard it and framed me later.” the word someone was said so obviously. Qin Yunuan glimpsed at Qin Yunzhuang, and she did not know if Empress Chen had understood what she meant.
“Huh, listen to your words. It seems that I am like a tiger. Just a flower sachet. I did not punish sister Shang finally.” Imperial Concubine Yun mocked.
Huh. Qin Yunuan said in her heart. Imperial Concubine Yun just condemned the girl who now cried. It seemed that the thing would bother the emperor.
“Jinsu,” It was the second time that Empress Chen called the name of Imperial Concubine Yun, “Let it go. Do not mention it again. You need to be tolerant facing those maidens.”
It was obvious that Empress Chen had understood what Qin Yunuan meant. She glimpsed at Qin Yunzhuang and felt disgusted at her. She always believed that the daughter of the legal wife in the Qin family was clever. But now things came to this bad situation, especially in the feast that was prepared carefully by her.
Imperial Concubine Yun did not get silent but became more aggressive, “You did not tell the whole thing, my sister, Empress,” She would be happier if Empress Chen got panic, “You just said that Fang Ziying got faint due to something dirty. So, what is that? Just tell us, Empress.”
Empress Chen glimpsed at Imperial Concubine Yun who now was arrogant and proud, and she straightened her body again and said straightly, “It is Rhizoma Curculiginis.”