Chapter 7: Bamboo in the Western Garden (I)

Luo Wei took a few steps under the eaves.

The place where Ye Tingyan was located was originally a relatively clean palace chamber in the Western Garden. However, due to years of neglect, the area in front of the hall had become desolate and overgrown. The drizzle would inevitably soak her skirt with mud.

If her skirt got muddy, how could she return to Dianhong Terrace to accept everyone’s homage?

Helpless, Luo Wei ordered someone to fetch a carriage. Unexpectedly, before the dispatched person took a few steps, a young eunuch came running through the rain from the front gate and fell at her feet: “Your Highness, something has happened—”

Luo Wei looked down and saw that it was one of Liu Xi’s apprentices.

Liu Xi was a serious man, and his apprentices were also calm and composed, especially those who served close to the emperor, rarely showing such panic.

Her heart sank, but she didn’t show it on her face. She simply asked, “What is it?”

The young eunuch, out of breath, said, “Just now, Guard Lu was ordered to go to the banquet to find a friend of Lord Ye. Later, he and the Golden Sky Guard brought that official to the Western Garden. Who would have thought that the drizzle would obscure the path, causing them to take a few wrong steps and accidentally bump into...”

He swallowed and continued shakily, “They accidentally bumped into a dazed palace maid in the Western Garden. That maid was also terribly frightened, unable to speak clearly, only repeatedly saying that she saw, saw a corpse in a well!”

Upon hearing this, the surrounding palace attendants immediately knelt down in unison.

The palace maid holding the umbrella under the eaves also put down the oil-paper umbrella and knelt behind Luo Wei.

Although since becoming Empress, Luo Wei had been more involved in assisting the emperor with state affairs than managing the harem, she had both the tact to handle old cases and the grace to win people over. For three years, there had been no major mishaps in the Forbidden Palace.

Not to mention such a murder case that could be directly brought to the Empress’s attention.

Luo Wei lowered her eyes, her voice devoid of emotion: “Continue.”

The young eunuch had no choice but to steel himself and continue, “Because that Censorate official was present, insisting on following the palace maid to take a look, and was greatly startled, Guard Lu had no choice but to temporarily seal off the Western Garden with the Golden Sky Guard and report to His Majesty and Your Highness. I’m faster on my feet, so I came ahead to inform Your Highness—His Majesty said that the officials at the banquet have already been disturbed, Your Highness need not return. His Majesty will come personally shortly.”

After listening, Luo Wei sneered, “Good. It seems others are now in charge of the inner palace.”

The young eunuch didn’t understand her meaning and was so frightened that he didn’t dare raise his head, continuously begging for mercy.

Luo Wei glanced at him, sighed, and said, “Enough, get up.”

In fact, such incidents were not uncommon in the deep palace. What made today special was that it was stumbled upon by an outsider, and a Censorate official at that.

After being discovered by a Censorate official, Lu Heng, in his panic, hastily sealed off the Western Garden with the Golden Sky Guard and sent word to her and Song Lan.

Lu Heng thought he handled it well, unaware that today was different—today’s banquet gathered many distinguished guests. His actions, coupled with the earlier commotion at Dianhong Terrace, would surely alert all the officials present.

Trouble in the palace always reflected poorly on the Empress. If the Censorate official who witnessed this incident was meticulous, accusing her of mismanagement could cause her considerable trouble.

In other words, if the truth couldn’t be uncovered, future rumors would only fall squarely on her shoulders.

Thinking deeper, perhaps this incident... was aimed at her.

So many coincidences piled together—could this be purely accidental?

Luo Wei’s thoughts fluctuated, suddenly recalling Ye Tingyan’s meaningful gaze before she left.

—Could it be his design?

His current allegiance was unclear, his attitude ambiguous. He claimed loyalty to Song Lan but secretly accepted her favor. When she tried to probe further, he remained tight-lipped, making it difficult to discern his intentions.

Such a person...

Yanluo stepped forward, picking up the abandoned oil-paper umbrella beside Luo Wei. A strong wind was about to blow; if not retrieved, it might be blown into the garden.

Luo Wei turned around just in time to see the flower window that had been mysteriously reopened.

Taking advantage of everyone’s absence, she signaled Yanluo and returned to the hall.

Ye Tingyan had already reined in his myriad expressions from before and sat in his original spot, smiling as he asked, “Why has Your Highness returned?”

Sitting by the window, he must have heard everything clearly just now, yet he feigned ignorance.

Unwilling to engage further, Luo Wei directly asked, “The official you requested me to summon earlier...”

Ye Tingyan replied, “Pei Xi.”

Luo Wei amended her question: “Young Master Pei, what kind of person is he?”

Ye Tingyan repeated, “What kind of person? Allow me to think. Young Master Pei is younger than me, ranked fifteenth in last year’s third tier. We’ve only worked together in the Censorate for a few days, but I can assert that Young Master Pei abhors evil, serves uprightly, and is an excellent censor.”

As he spoke, a faint smile lingered at the corner of his mouth.

Inappropriately distracted, Luo Wei thought that Ye Tingyan’s nature was actually not as indifferent and cold as he appeared on the terrace earlier. On the contrary, he really loved to smile.

A person who loves to smile, pretending to be a Confucian scholar who values propriety and decorum, was even more startling.

Seeing her silence, Ye Tingyan took the initiative to ask, “Does Your Highness think this case is targeted at you?”

Luo Wei neither confirmed nor denied, simply saying, “There’s a murder in the Forbidden Palace; it’s ultimately my fault. I don’t know who became the vengeful spirit. Let me and His Majesty investigate first, then I’ll answer your question.”

Ye Tingyan said, “Perhaps I can resolve Your Highness’s current predicament?”

Luo Wei flatly responded, “Oh?”

Ye Tingyan laboriously propped himself up, sitting straighter: “Young Master Pei is young and impulsive. I will persuade him to leave this matter to me. His Majesty wants to use me, which requires some opportunities. Words alone aren’t convincing; it’s understandable if Your Highness doesn’t trust me. When the time is right, I’ll request an audience with Your Highness. I hope Your Highness won’t pretend not to recognize me like when we met on the road earlier.”

Luo Wei raised her eyelids, staring at him fixedly. He did the same until Yanluo urged from outside the flower window: “Your Highness, His Majesty has arrived at the Western Garden.”

Thus, Luo Wei rose and left without responding. Just before leaving, she casually glanced back and saw that Ye Tingyan still held the leaf she had dropped earlier.

•

When Luo Wei arrived, Song Lan and Yu Qiushi were already outside the palace garden where the incident occurred. Disregarding the flowing muddy water on the ground, she bowed deeply in apology upon meeting them: “This subject is incompetent.”

Song Lan took the umbrella from the palace attendant and supported her arm: “Rise, Empress.”

To avoid the rain, everyone was now under the eaves.

Luo Wei gazed into the vague rain mist.

Fearing missing any details, the body had not yet been retrieved from the well. The palace garden was filled with an unusual fragrance, completely masking the smell of the corpse—it was reportedly this strange fragrance that led the palace maid to the well.

Song Lan slightly frowned, not waiting to speak when Liu Xi, understanding the situation, stepped forward and shouted, “Where are the palace maids of the Western Garden? Speak clearly, one by one!”

The duty supervisor had already summoned all the palace maids present in the Western Garden today, who were now kneeling in a large group not far away, led by the little palace maid who first discovered the body and raised the alarm.

Hearing Liu Xi’s scolding, the little palace maid crawled forward on her knees, trembling as she kowtowed: “Long live His Majesty, long life to Her Highness, I, I...”

She wanted to speak but, being young and overly nervous, could barely form words.

One of the kneeling officials, Pei Xi, sighed and opened his mouth: “Your Majesty, the palace maid is timid. Allow me to explain.”

Song Lan, observing the person before him, nodded: “Alright.”

Thus, Pei Xi cleared his throat and solemnly began: “I am acquainted with Lord Ye. Upon hearing he was injured, I followed Guard Lu and another palace attendant to visit him. Unfortunately, the rain fell inconveniently, and the Western Garden, being neglected, caused us to get lost. We intended to ask for directions when we unexpectedly bumped into this palace maid.”

The palace maid trembled and said, “This humble servant has offended...”

Pei Xi reassured, “No matter. Seeing the palace maid extremely frightened, shouting ‘ghost,’ I found it ominous and temporarily stopped her, asking her to explain in detail. Then, I followed her here.”

Yu Qiushi hummed, puzzled: “If that’s the case, why did the Golden Sky Guard arrive so quickly? Logically, after knowing, shouldn’t they first report to His Majesty and Her Highness before mobilizing forces? When Guard Lu arrived earlier, I thought many students and scholars had encountered this incident. Now it seems, there are only these few people...”

Luo Wei understood Yu Qiushi’s implication—if not for the Golden Sky Guard taking matters into their own hands, this incident should have been kept smaller.

With the Golden Sky Guard sealing off the Western Garden and both the Emperor and Chancellor leaving their seats, even if those at Dianhong Terrace didn’t know what happened, they could guess that turmoil had arisen within the inner palace.

Lu Heng broke out in a cold sweat, his legs giving way as he knelt on the ground: “Please forgive me, Your Majesty! It was my rashness. Upon hearing the news, I feared something had gone wrong and hastily summoned my subordinates.”

Song Lan coldly looked at him and didn’t tell him to rise: “You’ve been negligent quite a bit today.”

He turned and addressed Pei Xi: “Continue.”

“Yes,” Pei Xi calmly continued, “I followed this palace maid to the Western Garden and finally understood her words—while sweeping, she suddenly discovered that the lock on the gate of a locked palace garden on the southern side of the Western Garden was broken. She pushed the door open, smelled an unusual scent, and soon saw a corpse in the well inside the garden. In her shock, she ran out. This side of the garden happened to be the path where everyone got lost, so she hadn’t run far before encountering us.”

His speech was clear and organized, explaining the cause and effect in a short while. True enough, not long after he finished, Luo Wei heard Song Lan commend him: “You seem to have some method. Rise.”

Pei Xi did not rise but remained kneeling, saying, “I hold the position of supervising censor. Upon seeing this matter, I cannot ignore it. If the inner palace cannot thoroughly investigate, I, in my position, should impeach Her Highness for lax governance.”

As he spoke, he deeply kowtowed.

Song Lan usually detested the incessant chatter of the Censorate, always needing to comment on every matter. If not for this censor being present and the incident being somewhat larger, he wouldn’t have needed to come here specially.

Just moments ago, hearing his words, he thought he had encountered someone perceptive, not expecting him to also be unafraid of authority and regardless of occasion, stubborn like a rock.

For a moment, Song Lan felt a headache: “You are called—”

Luo Wei stepped forward and answered,

“I understand. I will certainly give the Censorate an explanation within a few days. Young Master Pei, you may rise.”

Pei Xi stood respectfully, neither humble nor arrogant, replying, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Eager to resolve the matter quickly, Song Lan raised his voice: “Where are the Golden Sky Guards?”

Lu Heng hurriedly responded: “Your Majesty.”

“Here’s a chance for you to redeem yourself. This incident occurred in the inner palace. If the Empress doesn’t provide an explanation, the Censorate will surely make a fuss. You and the Inner Service Bureau will assist the Empress in investigating, and regarding the Censorate—”

He paused here, and Luo Wei roughly guessed what he was thinking, so she tentatively spoke: “Young Master Pei is still young. In my opinion, it would be more appropriate for Lord Ye to assist from the side. I have already consulted the imperial physician; although he cut flesh, he didn’t injure tendons or bones. Moreover, His Majesty intended for him to stay in the palace to recuperate recently. As an external official, this move is inappropriate, but if he stays in Qiongting Palace under the guise of investigation, it wouldn’t be unacceptable.”

Before Song Lan could respond, Pei Xi said, “I have important matters to investigate with my superior recently. Your Highness’s suggestion is excellent.”

It suited Song Lan perfectly, so he agreed without objection: “Then let it be so.”

Yu Qiushi, who had been silent, glanced at Luo Wei and spoke softly: “Your Highness must carefully investigate matters within the palace. Such an ugly incident occurring during a grand feast is already a moral failing. If no results are found, Your Highness...”

Today, he was targeting Ye Tingyan and was slightly anxious, losing the upper hand. He had no excuse to intervene now, so he took a few jabs at Luo Wei.

Luo Wei smirked, responding coolly: “Thank you for your concern, Grand Tutor.”

After speaking, she called out: “Feng Ying.”

Lu Heng knelt halfway and responded, “Your Highness, this humble servant is here.”

“You acted rashly today,” Luo Wei said with a frown. “After questioning each palace maid in the Western Garden with the Golden Sky Guard, go and receive your punishment.”

She looked around and instructed everyone: “The Inner Service Bureau will hand over the body to the coroner for detailed examination, then report to Qionghua Palace. This place is unsuitable for visitors. The Golden Sky Guard will guard the entrance of the Western Garden and temporarily lock it. As for...”

Luo Wei’s gaze swept over the quivering palace maid kneeling on the ground: “How old are you this year, and where are you from?”

The palace maid didn’t dare raise her head, merely answering, “Your Highness, this humble servant is fifteen, from Yongzhou. I entered the palace to serve in the Tian Shou first year. I was previously in the flower room and only transferred to the Western Garden a year ago.”

“Tian Shou first year...” Luo Wei repeated. “After this case, you will follow me to Qionghua Palace.”

The palace maid didn’t expect this and joyfully kowtowed repeatedly: “Yes, thank you, Your Highness.”