Chapter 89 - The Emperor took over the reins of government

As Yun Fenghuang was suspicious and tried to find an excuse to find out if something had happened, a group of well-armed guards appeared. When seeing them, they all sighed with relief. Then… Yun Fenghuang and Deng Chengzhai were “invited” to have a talk in the vihara not far away.

“Pin Yun, where did you go, whom did you meet and what did you do after you left the banquet?” In a separate room of the vihara, two eunuchs and two older fine-dressed maids asked smilingly. Their attitude was polite but made Yun Fenghuang feel that she must answer them.

Yun Fenghuang frowned slightly, and quickly glanced at the door… The guards who “escorted” her over just now stood outside motionlessly. It seemed that they were on guard, but they could hear clearly the conversation indoor since the doors and windows were open.

It was better to say that they were keeping watch on her instead of doing their duties.

Did someone know that she asked Xi Le and Miao Cai to go back to get medicines?

Yun Fenghuang subconsciously thought so, but immediately rejected it.

Neither she nor Miao Cai or Yun Qingman was important enough for those noble people such as Empress Dowager to quit such a large-scale banquet since they could punish her after the banquet.

Then…

Did it have nothing to do with her?

Yun Fenghuang quickly calmed down and said frankly, “After Empress Dowager and the three Queen Mothers left, Jie Yu Wei and I wanted to meet our families. Because I met Shizi Yun in the pavilion by the lake, Jie Yu Wei went alone to meet her family. Later, I returned to the banquet and chatted with Rong Hua Yun and Ms. Han for a while. Then I found Jie Yu Wei at the platform of Pine Hill after a eunuch told me the direction… Jie Yu Wei and I enjoyed the scenery of Tai Ye Pool for a while. She then left first because she wanted to tell something to her family, while I stayed there for wandering.”

“Unexpectedly, I met His Majesty and his reading partner Childe Deng soon.”

“After that, I accompanied His Majesty to walk around Pine Hill until His Majesty said that we should go down just now.”

Speaking of this, she asked, “Did something happen to the summer banquet so you brought me here?”

“We are ordered to do so. Pin Yun, please forgive us.” An older eunuch said perfunctorily with a smile. It was clear that he did not want to tell the truth.

“In that case, Pin Yun, you did nothing out of order.” At this time, a blue-dressed maid suddenly said and looked suspiciously at Xi Le behind Yun Fenghuang, “But why is your maid so nervous?”

Yun Fenghuang said without turning her head, “Anything strange? Even I am confused now.”

The maid in blue frowned, no longer focusing on this. She asked, “Pin Yun, when did you meet His Majesty?”

“I forget it.” Yun Fenghuang changed her mind and asked, “Is this important? If yes, I will think about it carefully.”

“Certainly yes. Otherwise, we will not invite you here.” The eunuch who spoke before said with a smile, “After all, there was no one on Pine Hill today. You said that you walked around there, but in fact only your maid could prove that after Jie Yu Wei left. The maid is on your side, right?”

There was a warning in these words, but Yun Fenghuang was not frightened. She said, “I recalled carefully but can’t think of it.”

“…” The four servants all frowned when they saw that she did it intentionally.

The blue-dressed maid said aggressively, “Pin Yun, you’d better think about it carefully. Can’t you really remember it? Empress Dowager is waiting for the result!”

The implication was that it was useless that your backer was the Empress because we were working for the Empress Dowager.

Yun Fenghuang thought that Empress Dowager cared about nothing for a long time. Every time when she showed up was for the royal babies… Damn, could it be that Yuan Lianniang and even Noble Consort Gui had problems with their pregnancy?!

Otherwise, even if the royal family had to quit the banquet to deal with the thing no matter how many courtiers were there, there was no need for Empress Dowager to preside over it.

From a fair stand, Yun Fenghuang speculated that almost all the people in the Imperial Harem had come to Small Ying Zhou for the summer banquet except the two concubines who were pregnant.

Something bad happened to their babies when Yun Fenghuang, who had made many troubles since she joined the Imperial Harem, asked her trusted maid to accompany Miao Cai, the trusted maid of Rong Hua Yun of Tong Xia Palace, to return to the Imperial Harem…

It was reasonable to do so, for Rong Hua Yun got severe seasick and Yun Fenghuang felt sorry for her that she asked the maids to take medicines.

But others might think that she used the thing as an excuse to do other things, right?

… Was it possible that she was framed by someone?

While thinking of this, Yun Fenghuang secretly calculated the time. She said, “I really can’t remember the specific time. But when I overlooked Tai Ye Pool at the observation platform, I saw the boat with Xi Jing and Miao Cai moving to the Imperial Harem.”

One of the four immediately stood up and went out to order something. He might ask someone to check it.

Then they asked a lot of details, mainly concentrating on what happened on Pine Hill. It seemed that they wanted to confirm whether Yun Fenghuang really visited the most places of Pine Hill.

Yun Fenghuang asked something when answering their questions, while these people were tight-lipped, mentioning nothing at all.

The inquiry came to an end until the late evening. The four people said goodbye to Yun Fenghuang politely. Seeing this, Yun Fenghuang stood up and wanted to leave but was stopped by a guard at the door. The guard said in a polite but firm way that Yun Fenghuang couldn’t leave without permission.

“What did I do wrong?” Yun Fenghuang pondered for a while and then asked, “Why can’t I leave?”

The guard lowered his head with his hands folded, avoiding looking directly at her, and said in a deep voice, “I don’t know. Pin Yun, please do not embarrass me.”

Yun Fenghuang lowered her head, thought about it for a while, and then went back to the room to sit down. Xi Le wanted to speak something but was stopped by her cold glance.

They waited in silence, and it was not long before someone came to deliver the meal. It was a normal and even more abundant meal for a concubine.

The person who delivered the meal, however, showed a respectful attitude and said no words as those servants she met before.

After the dinner, an elder eunuch came over and led them to a small courtyard next to the vihara. They were told to live here in the next two days and that they could tell anything to him.

The eunuch seemed to have a higher status. Yun Fenghuang tried to inquire something, and he didn’t refuse. He said indifferently, “Letting you live here temporarily… is for your sake.”

Then no matter what Yun Fenghuang asked next, he said nothing.

Yun Fenghuang frowned and went to wash up. After she returned to the inner room, Xi Le came up to make the bed as usual, and wanted to help her to undress the clothes. Yun Fenghuang refused and lay down directly.

Seeing this, Xi Le quietly asked, “Your Lady, will something terrible happen tonight?”

“Certainly.” Yun Fenghuang said calmly, “You go to sleep first. It will happen after midnight.”

Yun Fenghuang woke up after midnight. When she got up, she said that she was tummy ache. She ordered them to ask the imperial doctor, or they must want to kill her deliberately!

She just tried to find out what was going on by illness, while the people outside responded quickly. Soon after, three imperial doctors arrived!

Yun Fenghuang knew that she was pretending to be sick. Otherwise, even she would think that she would die soon under the case.

No, for she was not important in the Imperial Harem, even if she would die soon, she should not be qualified to invite so many imperial doctors at the same time.

Yun Fenghuang tried to make a dying look inside the bed-curtain. Seeing the three doctors taking turns to feel the pulse, she became more puzzled.

She was investigated and grounded, which showed that the one behind was not good. But she was well-treated in terms of basic necessities of life, and so many imperial doctors were here right now, showing that the one valued her life very much…

What was going on?

Thinking that Deng Chengzhai was also taken away by the guards, and that the blue-dressed maid repeatedly confirmed the time, Yun Fenghuang couldn’t help having an idea. Was Emperor Chunjia the one who did something at the summer banquet?

And he did it in person?

But what on earth did he do to cause total chaos?

Yun Fenghuang was so confused that she didn’t even know when the doctors left. When Xi Le came to put the bed-curtain to the gold hooks, she turned around and sat up subconsciously, asking while tidying her clothes, “What did the doctors say?”

“They only said a few words to the eunuchs who accompanied them to come here, and they showed a serious look.” Xi Le also showed a concerned look at the moment, not only for their situation but also for Yun Fenghuang’s health, “Your Lady, do you still feel uncomfortable?”

Yun Fenghuang had pretended to have a sick. Of course, it didn’t hurt anymore.

When she was about to answer, she suddenly remembered one thing and understood why the doctors had a serious expression and left without any explanation. With her eyes flickering, she said, “I feel much better now. Maybe the reason why the doctors didn’t say anything is that I am fine.”

Xi Le wanted to ask more, but Yun Fenghuang pulled the quilt and said that she wanted to sleep.

She was lying down but didn’t have much sleepiness, just thinking that since the matter was exposed in advance, then… what should she do next in view of the present situation?

Or, she just waited?

In the end, Yun Fenghuang chose the latter. She was not released the next day, and the next several days… Yun Fenghuang even wondered if she was put into Cold Palace and everyone had forgotten her!

Finally, when the summer came, a eunuch came to the courtyard with the imperial edict, asking her to return to the Imperial Harem.

At the same time, she learnt two pieces of startling news. First, Emperor Chunjia took over the reins of government!!!

As for the second one… Yun Fenghuang cared nothing about it at all after hearing the first one!!!

The Emperor was ignored by everyone for eight years after he came to the throne, while he was well-known by everyone after taking over the reins of government.