Chapter 207

Chapter 207 The path in front of Spring Mountain Courtyard had never been covered in snow, but the road before Clear Wind Courtyard not far away, except during meal delivery times when it was cleared, was piled with snow at all other times. It was rather amusing, really. Because Concubine Lu was on good terms with Xie Run, the small path from Clear Wind Courtyard to Spring Mountain Courtyard was almost never seen with accumulated snow. But the main road Concubine Lu took to the garden had rarely been clean all winter long. Xie Run dismissed the maidservants around her and pulled a sachet from her sleeve. "With Miss Tinghe looking like this, does the Princess Consort have something to say?" Tinghe performed a proper bow and took the sachet in passing, then produced a small blue enamel box inlaid with gems from her own sleeve. "This is something the Princess Consort asked this servant to quietly deliver to Consort Xie." Xie Run glanced at Zihu beside her. Zihu naturally stepped forward, took the box, opened it, and sniffed. Her expression was somewhat startled. "This is the fragrance of Tianshan snow lotus?" Tianshan snow lotus had a faint scent, almost no fragrance at all. In these times, few used Tianshan snow lotus as the main ingredient for fragrant powder. Tinghe said with a smile, "This fragrant powder is called Thousand Snow Incense, a special tribute powder of the Xia Dynasty, with Tianshan snow lotus as its primary ingredient. When the Princess Consort came from the Xia Dynasty to the Great Yu Dynasty, she only brought three boxes." Xie Run was slightly startled. "Such a precious incense—how could I possibly accept it?" Tinghe did not withdraw her hand, only said gently, "Please accept it, Consort Xie." She lowered her head slightly. "Thousand Snow Incense was found in the room of Xiaju, who fell into the lake. This powder is rare and hard to come by—it has never been seen within the Prince's residence." Xie Run could not help but grow somewhat serious. "Does the Princess Consort have any instructions?" "The day after tomorrow, you are to accompany the Prince to the palace banquet. Observe carefully and see who carries the scent of this powder on them." "Within and without the Prince's residence, we rise and fall together. Consort Xie, this is not only done for the Princess Consort, but for the Prince and the residence as well." Only then did Xie Run realize—the Princess Consort had uncovered something and suspected that Xiaju's drowning death was the work of someone outside the residence? Xie Run: "Does the Prince know of this matter?" After asking, Xie Run knew she had been foolish to do so. Regarding all matters of the residence, large or small, Prince Jing would discuss and decide them together with the Princess Consort. The Princess Consort had always kept herself uninvolved in everything, so for her to specially send Tinghe to deliver this—she had likely already obtained Prince Jing's approval. She said to Zihu, "Put the fragrant powder away first." Then she turned to Tinghe and said, "Go back and tell the Princess Consort that I will bring Zihu with me to attend the banquet tomorrow." "At the banquet, I will be careful and thorough, and do my utmost to help the Princess Consort solve this case." Tinghe slowly bowed. "The Princess Consort has always praised Consort Xie for being clever and meticulous. Entrusting this matter to Consort Xie is an expression of great trust." "This concubine would not dare to disappoint the Princess Consort's trust." After seeing Tinghe off, Xie Run still felt uneasy. She planned to wait until Prince Jing returned to confirm the matter with him. After all, caution is the mother of safety. When Prince Jing returned in the evening, he did not enter the inner courtyard but remained in the study the whole time. The young maidservant sent to gather news came back to report: "After the Prince returned, several officials came to visit. The lamps in the study are still lit, and it seems he has not yet had his evening meal." Hearing this, Xie Run knew Prince Jing had important matters to discuss. "Then there's no need to disturb him. Let's set out our meal as well." "Yes." The young maidservant acknowledged the order but lingered in place, hesitating for a moment. Dantao asked softly, "What is it? Is there something else to report to the mistress?" The young maidservant said nervously, "To report to the mistress, there is something this servant is not sure whether she should say..." It was because Xie Run usually treated her servants with leniency, and even the senior maidservants were quite approachable, that this young maidservant dared to speak up at all. Xiaoshu said briskly, "Since you've already opened your mouth, you must have doubts in your heart. Just say it directly." "Even if you're wrong, your loyalty to the mistress is what matters—who could fault you for that?" The young maidservant said softly, "When this servant went to the front courtyard to gather news, she vaguely saw someone else coming over carrying a lantern." "That person seemed to notice this servant was there, so they deliberately lingered at a distance and did not come closer—perhaps trying to avoid this servant." "Judging by the direction, it seemed to come from Autumn Maple Courtyard." "This servant did not dare to say anything for fear of being mistaken... The person stood far away, and this servant only vaguely saw the lantern pass by, not very clearly." The young maidservant had not gone to Autumn Maple Courtyard, so she naturally did not know what had happened there. She was merely curious about the figure sneaking around with a lantern in the distance, kept it in mind, and now came to tell Xie Run. Dantao and Xiaoshu could not help but chuckle softly. Xie Run waved her hand. "It must be one of Consort Hua's people. Her going to the front courtyard to seek favor is hardly surprising." Seeing that her mistress remained completely composed, the young maidservant withdrew. Xiaoshu could not hold back a laugh. "Consort Hua's people hiding from our people—could it be because of what happened during the day?" Seeking favor in the inner courtyard was common practice. It wasn't shameful to go seek favor—what was shameful was failing to obtain it. Dantao said softly, "If Consort Hua had only sent a maidservant, she probably wouldn't have been so furtive..." Xiaoshu paused. "Could it be Consort Hua herself?" "Yes, that would make sense!" Dantao analyzed carefully: "First, she was afraid of running into our mistress and not being able to invite the Prince over, so she deliberately avoided coming forward to spare herself the embarrassment. Second, she probably felt she'd lost face in front of our mistress during the day and didn't want to run into us now either." Xie Run shook her head as she listened: "Lucky fate, nothing to be done about it." Both Xiaoshu and Dantao assumed Xie Run was praising her own good fortune and instinctively flattered their mistress a few times. Little did they know Xie Run was praising Hua Yu's luck in having a brother with boundless prospects. For the sake of her elder brother alone, as long as Hua Yu didn't get her hands dirty with anything shady, Prince Jing would absolutely let her live out her days in wealth and honor. But the two maids' flattery was enough to make her old face burn with embarrassment. Xie Run quickly stopped them. "Don't say such things!" "I just thought of something... The Prince is currently in discussions with court ministers over official matters, so busy he hasn't even had his evening meal. Consort Hua wouldn't just barge straight in, would she?" Xiaoshu and Dantao paused as well. "That shouldn't be possible, right?" "Anyone with even a shred of sense wouldn't dare disturb the Prince while he's busy with official business, would they?" Xie Run was silent for a moment before saying: "Since when has Consort Hua ever had any sense?" For a moment, both Xiaoshu and Dantao fell into silence. The next day, while Xie Run was dressing, Xiaoshu delivered the latest news to her. "Consort Hua went personally to the front courtyard last night to seek the Prince's favor, but she angered him and was sent back." Dantao was holding a hairpin and positioning it in Xie Run's hair. She said helplessly upon hearing this: "This Consort Hua... she really did go and bang her head straight into that wall." Though they had anticipated it, actually hearing the news was still enough to make one feel both exasperated and amused. After a while, further news about Consort Hua's matter arrived. "Didn't the Prince tell Consort Hua yesterday to go and receive instruction from the Princess Consort when she had nothing to do?" Xie Run immediately caught on. "She actually went to see the Princess Consort?" Xiaoshu nodded, reaching up to replace the wintersweet blossoms in the porcelain vase with fresh ones, and said with a smile: "She went first thing in the morning. I heard she even had a good cry at Green Pine Courtyard before the Princess Consort managed to console her and send her back." Xie Run's heart ached for the Princess Consort once again.