Chapter 183

Chapter 183 Xie Run's previously certain heart began to waver once again. She mused, "Perhaps I've overlooked something?" But what exactly had she overlooked? As she was thinking, Xiaoshu lifted the curtain and entered: "Mistress, Concubine Lu has come to request an audience." Xie Run was still pondering matters and asked casually, "What does she want?" Xiaoshu: "Concubine Lu wishes to plead for mercy on Ping'an's behalf." "Plead for mercy for Ping'an?" Xie Run frowned. "Then why has she come to see me?" Dantao suppressed a laugh: "Mistress, you've been thinking so hard you've muddled your mind." "Concubine Lu carries no weight before the Prince, so she naturally wouldn't dare plead before him. She can only come here first to test the waters." Xie Run said, "Her going to plead for Ping'an... that's something I didn't anticipate." After a moment's thought, she suddenly smiled. "But then again, she's always been someone who values relationships deeply. It's not really surprising that she'd do this." Everyone thought of the deceased Ju Zi and couldn't help but sigh. Xie Run stood up, still muttering to herself, "Fang Yuan'er, Wan Linlang... what else have I overlooked about them?" She had only taken two steps when she suddenly froze in place. A flash of inspiration struck her mind like a bolt of enlightenment. She abruptly recalled one of Wan Linlang's hidden skills—the art of face-shifting! In that instant, Xie Run understood the key to the entire matter. She drew in a sharp breath of cold air. This move—it had actually been devised by Fang Yuan'er! Xiaoshu and Dantao saw her bitter smile and asked worriedly, "Mistress, what's wrong?" Xie Run felt only bitterness spreading across her tongue. "Your mistress is thanking her lucky stars that she and Taotao escaped death by the skin of their teeth." If Fang Yuan'er's scheme had been directed at her and Taotao, how could mother and child have survived? All her previous confusion suddenly resolved itself. Wan Linlang knew the art of face-shifting, and besides herself, Fang Yuan'er also knew of it! The biggest flaw in this case was those two thousand taels of silver notes! Xie Run's target locked directly onto Fang Yuan'er. Wan Linlang couldn't possibly produce two thousand taels of silver, so it could only have been Fang Yuan'er. Once she'd guessed the culprit, working backward from the answer made it easy to deduce the trap Fang Yuan'er had laid. Though she wore thick cotton-padded clothing, Xie Run felt as if a cold wind had poured through her, chilling her to the bone. Layer upon layer of schemes, seemingly calm and unruffled on the surface, yet deadly at every turn! In both the tapioca powder and fleeceflower root cases, the two women were like Xiang Zhuang performing the sword dance—their true target lay elsewhere. If their real aim had been Xie Run and Xiao Cong, the two of them would likely have lost their lives already. After the initial shock passed, Xie Run composed herself, regarding Fang Yuan'er and Wan Linlang with considerably more wariness. She wondered—when Prince Jing's men investigated, whose names would ultimately surface? Did the two of them truly have the ability to hoodwink heaven and sea, casually deceiving Prince Jing's eyes? Soon, a young maid led Concubine Lu into the room. Tea was served, and Xie Run took a couple of sips to warm herself and dispel the chill in her heart. Raising her eyes, she saw a hint of unease in Concubine Lu's gaze before asking, "Have you come to see me about Ping'an or Concubine An?" Concubine Lu curled her lips in a wry smile, a trace of bitterness in her voice. "Both, I suppose." "Sister Xie must think me a shameless creature—having fallen out with their courtyard the way I have, and now still overreaching to try and save people." Seeing Xie Run remain silent, Concubine Lu hesitated for a long while before asking, "Sister Xie, if I were to beg the Prince, do you think he might show Ping'an leniency?" In truth, Concubine Lu knew it wasn't appropriate to ask Xie Run this question. After all, Xie Run was the victim in the tapioca powder incident that implicated Ping'an. But she simply had no other recourse. She had originally wanted to go directly to Prince Jing to plead for mercy, but her maid had reminded her to first sound out Consort Xie. To rush in and plead without preparation—even if she failed to save anyone, if she angered Prince Jing, that would be losing both the battle and the war. Xie Run listened to her words, pondered for a moment, then shook her head. "If you ask me, you shouldn't plead for mercy at all." Concubine Lu's eyes faltered, and she was silent for a long moment. "Everyone around me has advised me the same, and I know it in my own heart as well. These are troubled times; not being dragged into matters is already a stroke of luck, yet here I am looking for trouble." She sighed. "Perhaps it's because I feel I owe her over the coal-stealing incident, or perhaps I owed her a debt in my past life, and this life I'm destined to be her servant forever." "I just can't bear to watch her and Ping'an die wrongfully..." Concubine Lu wouldn't be so tactless as to ask Xie Run to plead with Prince Jing on her behalf, and Xie Run wouldn't feign ignorance by asking why Concubine Lu didn't ask her to do so. On this point, the two shared perfect mutual understanding. Xie Run seemed somewhat surprised and mused, "You trust Ping'an and Concubine An that much?" Concubine Lu gave a self-deprecating smile. "I've served her for so long and been sisters with Ping'an for over a decade. I may not see them through completely, but I'm eighty or ninety percent certain." "This matter could not have been done by Ping'an and Concubine An." Xie Run said, "People always change." "I almost wish they would change. But those two—one selfish and cowardly, the other foolishly loyal and stubborn—they'll never change in this lifetime." Concubine Lu smiled. "Actually, everything that happens in the Prince's rear courtyard is quite easy to figure out." Xie Run was taken aback. Concubine Lu said calmly, "Whoever stands to benefit is the prime suspect!" "Concubine Wan and Fang Yuan'er have long been at odds. Now that these two cases have fallen on the two of them respectively, they are likely the masterminds behind it all." "It's just a matter of who has done it more cleanly and covertly, and who can successfully pin the whole thing on the other." Xie Run smiled and said, "This is probably what they mean by 'the onlooker sees the game best while the player is lost.' I wasted half the day guessing earlier." But then, as if something occurred to her, the smile on Xie Run's face gradually faded. "The onlooker sees best... I'm afraid the Prince has already figured it out too?" Concubine Lu said, "This servant thinks so as well. I'm afraid nothing that happens in this household has ever truly escaped the Prince's notice." "Do you trust the Prince that much?" Concubine Lu smiled. "It's not so much trust. It's just that this servant has served Concubine An for so long and has been in this household for quite some time—I've come to sense these things vaguely." Xie Run nodded, then returned to the previous topic: "I wouldn't advise you to go directly to the Prince to plead for mercy." The smile on Concubine Lu's face slowly faded, replaced by a hint of worry and helplessness. "This servant knows she has no standing in the Prince's eyes, but whether it works or not, I still want to try..." "No, that's not what I meant." Hearing Xie Run's words, Concubine Lu looked up, a trace of surprise in her eyes. Xie Run hinted, "The Prince is a man of cold, impartial character. If you rush to beg him to go easy on Ping'an, first, there's no evidence, and second, it doesn't conform to the rules." "No matter who goes, the Prince won't set such a precedent." Concubine Lu understood all these principles; she just couldn't give up. Xie Run continued, "Instead of pleading for mercy, you might as well beg to be allowed to see Ping'an in the dungeon." "Constantly pleading for Ping'an will only breed annoyance. It's better to show some weakness and weep, appealing to reason and stirring emotion." "Considering the sisterly bond between you, the Prince might soften a little and allow you to see Ping'an."