After Becoming a Concubine, I Took Down the Princess - Chapter 40
Having said that, she walked across the threshold into the room with an unchanged expression and natural composure. As soon as Liang Xiao followed her in, she quickly closed the door and rushed to the mirror for a good look at herself.
The lip rouge had indeed smudged outside her lips, a faint red stain blooming at the corner of her mouth.
Before Yan Heng could hold him accountable, the “culprit” already admitted his mistake: “Next time I will certainly look closely, and there will definitely not be such a lapse.”
The person spoke sincerely, yet his face was clearly fighting back a smile. Yan Heng put down the mirror, pouting: “This is all your fault.”
However, to put all the blame on Liang Xiao would be a bit unfair to him, as at certain moments, it was impossible to tell who was taking the lead.
“It’s your birthday today, don’t be angry with me,” Liang Xiao pulled Yan Heng’s hand and kneaded it warmly in his palm.
Yan Heng was only pretending to be angry. She sat down next to Liang Xiao and tilted her head: “If it weren’t for Huazi sending a gift early this morning, I wouldn’t even remember it’s my birthday today.”
After speaking, she quietly sighed: “I really am getting old.”
Liang Xiao smiled and shook his head: “It doesn’t matter, I will remember it from now on.”
The two leaned against each other, passing some time, before Huazi and Yuehua prepared lunch.
After the meal, the two stood in the corridor for a while to aid digestion. The snow outside showed no sign of stopping, still falling like goose feathers, covering the sky.
Yan Heng suddenly recalled the matter with Consort Yu a few days ago: “Did Your Highness send people to investigate the matter at the manor that day?”
Liang Xiao held a hand-warmer with both hands: “I’ve already sent Yueying and Yueheng to investigate, but there are no leads yet.”
Yan Heng frowned: “It seems Consort Yu covered her tracks cleanly.”
“No matter how clean, my secret guards will definitely find clues.” She turned her head and tucked the hand-warmer into Yan Heng’s hand, placing her own hands over Yan Heng’s.
Warmed completely inside and out, Yan Heng, whose hands had been a little cold, now felt warmth spreading all over her body.
“I will come and tell you as soon as there is news.” Their clasped hands tightened, and they moved even closer.
After Yan Heng’s birthday, the New Year was approaching faster.
The investigation that Liang Xiao had launched finally brought some news.
“Your Highness, as far as we know, the people Consort Yu is sending people to hunt down are the family members of the maid Cuixing,” Yueheng reported with a salute.
Liang Xiao put down her teacup in surprise: “Cuixing? The one who tried to harm me eleven years ago?”
“Exactly her,” Yueying chimed in.
Their investigation had been quite an effort, and the two of them were almost discovered by the people sent by Consort Yu.
Fortunately, they gathered some useful information, so their efforts were not in vain.
Yueheng continued from where he left off: “The person killed was Cuixing’s youngest brother.”
“What about her other family members? Were they all… by Consort Yu…” Liang Xiao left the rest of the sentence unsaid; it was easy enough to guess.
Regardless of the past connection between Consort Yu and Cuixing, the fact that Consort Yu still wanted to harm her family members after so many years suggests that she must have tried to eliminate all of them a long time ago.
“Her family members mysteriously disappeared eleven years ago,” Yueheng’s words confirmed Liang Xiao’s suspicions. He paused, then added, “Because her home was too remote and the townspeople were poorly educated, the matter did not cause much of a stir back then.”
Liang Xiao frowned in silence, motioning for him to continue: “Cuixing’s youngest brother somehow managed to survive that year, but unfortunately, he was accidentally discovered by Consort Yu recently.”
Liang Xiao nodded: “Besides this, did you find anything else?”
Both lowered their heads and shook them.
Liang Xiao took out two jade bracelets from her makeup box and handed them to them: “You handled the matter well.”
The two hastily thanked her, accepted the gifts, and then withdrew.
The current clues were too fragmented to form a complete chain of evidence, so Liang Xiao was troubled.
She sat in the palace for a while, still unable to sort out her thoughts, so she got up to go find Yan Heng.
Yan Heng’s thoughts were consistently unconventional, and she might be able to dig out something useful from these scattered clues.
The person was sitting in the room, warming herself by the charcoal fire while reading a book Liang Xiao had given her.
It wasn’t something obscure or difficult, but a collection of tales of the supernatural, which she was so engrossed in that she didn’t even notice Liang Xiao entering.
When someone suddenly sat down beside her, she was truly startled. She slowly relaxed when she saw who it was.
Liang Xiao found her expression amusing: “It’s not like you’re doing something underhanded, why are you so scared?”
Yan Heng wore a look of “you don’t know the half of it”: “That girl Huazi is getting bolder and bolder. Seeing that I’ve lost some weight lately, she insists on making me eat. If she sees me reading and not tasting the pastries she carefully prepared, I’ll have to listen to her nagging again.”
Liang Xiao had never seen a master afraid of her servant before, and said helplessly: “If you hadn’t indulged her so much usually, she wouldn’t be so unafraid of you.”
Yan Heng waved her hand: “I naturally can’t stand being served, so I’m not that strict.” Although Liang Xiao had specifically arranged for Huazi to wait on her, Yan Heng did many things herself in daily life, so Huazi’s work wasn’t too strenuous.
Speaking of maids, Yan Heng remembered the maid Cuixing: “Is there any news about Cuixing’s case now?”
Liang Xiao nodded: “I came over today precisely to talk about this.”
Hearing this, Yan Heng became a little unhappy: “Did Your Highness come to see me only for this matter?”
For Yan Heng’s occasional slight temper, Liang Xiao not only did not find it annoying but even seemed to indulge it: “The matter is secondary; the primary reason is, of course, to see you.”
With that said, Yan Heng stopped pretending to be angry and turned to hug Liang Xiao’s waist, rubbing against her in his arms: “Your Highness should say more things like this, I love to hear it.”
Looking at the soft, warm presence in her arms, Liang Xiao finally understood why those popular folk stories always wrote the word “love” with so many twists and turns and heart-wrenching pain. Only now, experiencing it herself, did she truly comprehend the flavors of it.
She pulled Yan Heng closer, seating her in her lap: “Let me taste what your lip rouge tastes like today.”
After who knows how long, the two slowly separated.
Yan Heng picked up the bronze mirror next to her and checked her reflection, nodding with satisfaction: “Your Highness doesn’t smudge my lip rouge anymore.”
Liang Xiao subtly tightened the hand placed around Yan Heng’s waist, leaned in and whispered a few words into her ear, causing Yan Heng’s earlobes to flush completely.
“Nothing much, except a well-practiced lip.”
She nudged Liang Xiao’s arm and cleared her throat: “It’s time for the main topic, Your Highness.”
Liang Xiao immediately changed her demeanor, straightened her expression, and relayed all the clues to Yan Heng.
After listening, Yan Heng pondered for a long time, then hopped off the small couch and rushed to the desk.
She started grinding some ink, saying: “Since we can’t figure it out, why don’t we write down what we know and compare them carefully?”
Liang Xiao followed her, dipping a brush into the freshly ground ink.
The two spread out a piece of paper, listing everything from the gold-dusted fan to the ‘Thousand Poisons Box,’ and then to Cuixing and her family.
Yan Heng stared at the black characters, biting her hand as she pondered.
Liang Xiao said: “We now know that the Imperial Advisor was able to gain an audience because he picked up the Imperial Uncle’s fan.”
Yan Heng pointed to the names of Yuan De and Consort Yu: “I have a theory.”
She turned to look at Liang Xiao: “What if the Imperial Advisor and the Consort colluded beforehand? The two of them found a way to earn the Prince of Chen’s trust, and used that as an opportunity to enter the palace and inform the Emperor that the Empress was a demon.”
Yan Heng then moved her finger to Consort Lian: “The Emperor likely didn’t believe the Imperial Advisor when he first heard it. So, at that point, Consort Yu used Cuixing as a cover, forcing the Empress to reveal her true identity with the ‘Thousand Poisons Box.'”
Liang Xiao frowned, listening to Yan Heng’s speculation while simultaneously tracing the clues.
She slowly said: “Then, if we want to prove this theory—”
The two exchanged a look, and Liang Xiao was the first to blurt out: “We need to prove that Consort Yu and Yuan De were indeed colluding.”
“Then the most likely item to prove their connection is probably that gold-dusted fan,” Yan Heng mused, touching her chin.
Liang Xiao nodded in agreement: “That’s right, it’s definitely that fan. It’s just that there’s no difference between the two fans.”
Yan Heng turned to her: “Does Your Highness still remember? You once said that after the Prince took back the fan, he sealed it away and never opened it again.”
She then pointed to the three characters ‘Prince of Chen’ on the white paper: “If the fan was deliberately switched, the Prince might not have noticed.”
This immediately enlightened Liang Xiao: “You mean that the fan the Imperial Advisor returned that day was actually Consort Yu’s.”
Yan Heng smiled sweetly: “In that case, the next step in the investigation must start with that gold-dusted fan.”
The two never wasted time in action. The next day, Liang Xiao drove to the Prince of Chen’s manor.
Ever since she had given the Prince that little white cat, he had become inseparable from it, holding it every day, which made the Princess Consort both fond and resentful.
Today was no exception; the little white cat meowed upon seeing Liang Xiao, melting her heart.
The Prince of Chen understood her temperament. As soon as they met, there was no excessive small talk, and the Prince directly asked the reason for her visit today.
Liang Xiao was not one to be coy, and immediately spoke openly: “Imperial Uncle truly understands me.”
She took a sip of tea and looked at the Prince: “I remember seeing that gold-dusted fan here last time, and I was genuinely delighted by it.”
Prince Liang Xuan laughed heartily and said: “That fan is an inauspicious object, how can you be delighted by it?”
Liang Xiao also laughed: “Doesn’t Imperial Uncle know me well? I’ve never believed in ghosts and spirits. I just think the fan looks beautiful, which is why I keep thinking about it.”
Since the conversation had reached this point, Liang Xuan naturally understood what Liang Xiao meant.
So, he waved his hand for the servants to bring the box containing the fan, and turned to say: “Since you like it, take it. I am afraid of these spirits anyway, and giving it away makes me feel better.”
Liang Xiao accepted the box and had Yuehua, who was beside her, bring up a box of tea leaves: “Courtesy demands reciprocity; I won’t take Imperial Uncle’s item for free.”
Liang Xuan smiled and accepted the gift: “Xiao’er is thoughtful, yet you only asked for an old object but sent me such valuable tea leaves in return.”
The two did not discuss anything further, and Liang Xiao stood up to bid farewell.
She didn’t linger outside the palace today and hurried back.
Yan Heng was already waiting in the room, anticipating the fan’s return.
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