The Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 30: Thieves

   The Story of Yanxi Palace《延禧攻略》Yanxi Gonglue

   The Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 30: Thieves

   “I don't know what Her Highness sees in you but even a small embroiderer has made it to the door of the Changchun Palace!” Mingyu looked Wei Yingluo up and down, her eyes not really friendly.

   The Changchun Palace has sent this one ...

   Mingyu is sitting in a chair with a plate of desserts, glutinous rice dumplings, mung bean cake, rose puff pastry and sesame candies, a four-colored patchwork of desserts, the colors of which are already beautiful.

   Mingyu was concentrating on her snack, not as if she had come to do the Empress' work but as if she had taken the opportunity to steal a moment of leisure.

   For as long as she sat, Wei Yingluo stood, remembering Manager Wu's earlier admonition and sighed in her heart and said, “The king of hell is good but the little kids are hard to deal with.”

   The steps of the Changchun Palace are only not easy to ascend.

   “All right, the message has been brought to you...” Mingyu finally got tired of staying, put the last piece of dim sum in her mouth, clapped her hands and said, “Finish the Embroidery Workshop early and come to the Changchun Palace at the end of the month.”

   “Yes, I will see you off, sister Mingyu.” Wei Yingluo took Mingyu all the way to the entrance of the Changchun Palace, a round trip of nearly half an hour, more tired from just walking and talking than from her five or six hours of work at the Embroidery Workshop.

   There is no more painful or tiring job under heaven than serving people.

   Dragging her exhausted body back to the court maid's house, Wei Yingluo frowned.

   What's wrong ...

   The discussion, which had been noisy earlier, stopped instantly the moment she entered the door.

   The palace maids who lived with her, standing or standing, far or near, all looked at her with the same strange gaze that made Wei Yingluo uncomfortable, like mockery or sarcasm, like pity or pity.

   Why are you looking at her with such a gaze?

   Wei Yingluo walked back to her bed full of doubt, two futons next to each other and two pillows close together.

   “What about Jixiang?” Wei Yingluo asked, “Hasn't she come back yet?”

   A bowl of noodles doesn't take so long, counting the time, she should have finished eating and come back by now.

   A small maid who was still on good terms with Jixiang gave the answer in a low voice, “She was taken.”

   Wei Yingluo froze at that and said, “What did you say?”

   “She was caught.” The little maid only had to repeat it, hesitated and added, saying, “The thing was hidden on her ...”

   “What's on her?” Wei Yingluo's heart gave rise to a sense of foreboding.

   “... A scented capsule.” The little court maid sighed and said, “Inside was hidden the previously stolen peacock feather thread ...”

   “This can't be!” Wei Yingluo walked up to her in a few steps, staring at her with searing eyes and said, “You're lying!”

   “I'm not lying! It was Manager Wu himself who retrieved it from her!” Wei Yingluo's gaze was so terrifying that the young maid, frightened and panicked, looked around and suddenly stopped at someone, raised her hand and pointed at her, shouting, “It was Linglong who allegedly tipped her off!”

   Wei Yingluo slowly turned her head and said, “Linglong!”

   Linglong was lying on her couch, half of her pillow was wet with tears, her red eyes looked back at Wei Yingluo, as if explaining to her or to the others: “Jixiang and I grew up together, her family was poor, they often had the last meal but not the next, so their hands and feet I didn't expect to be in the palace. I didn't expect that after being in the palace and having food and clothes, she still hadn't changed her bad habits ...”

   Before the words were out of her mouth, a hand cupped her collar and lifted her off the bed.

   “Bullshit!” Wei Yingluo's angry face is close at hand.

   “I'm not making this up! I don't want to believe she's that kind of person either. I just, just mentioned it to Manager Wu.” Linglong sniffled a bit and said accusingly, “I later found out that Her Highness Empress had only given Manager Wu a time limit of two days, I'm afraid he was so anxious to catch the thief that he chose to search him, how could he have known that he would actually search her ...”

   “Ha!” Wei Yingluo sneered and said, “You think I'll believe that?”

   Linglong looked at her in astonishment.

   “The peacock feather thread has been stolen for so long and now Manager Wu has found it as soon as he came to ask.” Wei Yingluo lifted Linglong to herself and the two faced each other, eye to eye, as if two war swords were intertwined and sparks of either your death or my death met, saying, “Linglong, do you think I will believe it and do you think Manager Wu will believe it? Manager Wu ... He's just trying to close the case as soon as possible.”

   Slamming Linglong to the ground, Wei Yingluo rushed out of the palace without looking back.

   The trees fell back on her side, the road fell back on her side.

   A woman suddenly rushed out and stopped in front of her, blocking her wild run.

   “... Momo.” Wei Yingluo saw the visitor clearly and said while gasping, “I have to go find Manager Wu, if I'm late it will be too late ...”

   Any later and Jixiang's life will not be saved.

   Even if she had to use up the favors she had managed to accumulate, even if she owed Manager Wu a huge favor, she wouldn't mind.

   As long as we can keep the girl alive ...

   “Don't go.” Zhang Momo's hands are like pincers, holding Wei Yingluo dead in place.

   “Momo, get out of the way!” Wei Yingluo struggled to get up.

   Halfway through earning it, he suddenly stiffened.

   “Don't look!” Zhang Momo was quick to raising one hand to cover her eyes but she pulled it down with force.

   Ahead is the road to the Crime and Punishment Division.

   A court eunuch who makes a mistake will have to go in and suffer a lot less.

   The door of the Crime and Punishment Division was open and an unpleasant smell wafted from within, like stale tears, like fresh blood.

   Two eunuchs came out behind the door, one in front of the other, carrying a stretcher.

   The stretcher was covered from head to foot with a white cloth, the surface of which was indented and the face of a woman was faintly visible and as it passed by Wei Yingluo, the stretcher accidentally lurched and a blue and white arm fell helplessly from the side of the stretcher.

   An embroidered handkerchief, slipping from her fingertips.

   Wei Yingluo bent down to pick up the embroidered handkerchief and her eyes immediately blurred.

   On the embroidered handkerchief is a simple yellow dog, the one Jixiang had at home, which is said to be very humane and knows how to hunt sparrows and mice outside and bring them home to feed the old and the young.

   It was her birthday present to Jixiang.

   “May you live a long and peaceful life...” Wei Yingluo, holding her embroidered handkerchief, murmured, “May you live a long life and have a long ... Peace.”

   At the end of the recitation, which had become a choking sob, Wei Yingluo suddenly turned and rushed towards Gong Zhengji, only to be pulled back forcefully by Zhang Momo.

   “Let go of me!” Wei Yingluo said angrily, “I'm going to Manager Wu, I'm going to ask him why he's doing this! He knows there's something fishy about this, why can't he handle it impartially like he did with me before!”

   “Silly girl, everyone has his difficulties.” Zhang Momo sighed, “If Her Highness Empress hadn't given him a time limit, he would have done justice and taken his time to find the real culprit but Her Highness Empress had only given him two days, so he had to tighten up on himself first, then on others.”

   Wei Yingluo understands but she's just upset, “But even if they don't find out, he'll be punished at most, while Jixiang will lose her life ...”

   “No one will be punished for someone who is not related to them.” Zhang Momo spoke, tears streaming from the corners of her crows' feet covered eyes, tears streaking across the wrinkles of her face as she said in a hoarse voice, “No one ... cries for someone who doesn't care.”

   In a moment, Wei Yingluo was in majestic tears.

  

   The Story of Yanxi Palace《延禧攻略》CHAPTERS