Chapter 441

Chapter 441 Earlier, when Xie Run had Dantao summon the imperial physician, Dantao had also made a special trip to Fanghua Palace, bringing people to openly search Noble Lady Bai's residence. Dantao felt somewhat regretful, but Xie Run smiled and said, "Finding evidence isn't necessarily a good thing, and not finding it isn't necessarily a bad thing either." Dantao hesitated and said, "I can't guess whether it's good or bad, but if you make such a grand show of searching, I'm afraid the whole Six Palaces will know about it. Wouldn't that be playing right into Noble Lady Bai's hands?" Xie Run smiled and said, "As long as I can handle this matter fairly and suppress it, even if the Emperor hears about it, he won't pay it any mind." What the Emperor hated most wasn't the infighting in the harem, but when the infighting in the harem ended with everyone running to the Emperor to 'seek justice.' He already had his hands full with court affairs—how could he have time to adjudicate harem disputes every day? The last time Consort Jingshu incurred the Emperor's displeasure, it was precisely for this reason. But as long as Xie Run upheld reason and rules, handling harem matters within the harem itself, the Emperor wouldn't care at all. If Noble Lady Bai was dissatisfied and made a fuss before the Emperor, the Emperor would only punish her more severely to save face for Xie Run. Xie Run's grand display this time was also meant to crush Noble Lady Bai in one go. True, it was occasionally amusing to spar with others, but even the finest horse can stumble, and people too are liable to slip. She didn't dare be overly confident. Xiaoshu was utterly perplexed. "Your Grace, who exactly gave Noble Lady Bai such audacity? How dare she provoke and scheme against you like this?!" Since entering the palace, let alone a Baolin provoking a Noble Consort, even among the Nine Concubines, such a thing had never happened. Xiaoshu said, "This Noble Lady Bai usually seems so obedient and well-behaved, yet in her bones she's this arrogant?!" Among all the consorts in the palace, even the most foolish could read the situation. Even that reckless Cairen Hua, at the height of her favor, only dared to secretly compete with Xie Run, never daring to provoke her openly. But this Noble Lady Bai... truly a rare specimen. Xie Run smiled warmly. "She's probably nursing a grievance in her heart, and overly confident to boot." Xiaoshu said, "...What grievance could she possibly have?" If she wasn't favored, that was her own incompetence. Even if she wanted to blame the Emperor for being blind, she shouldn't blame our mistress, right?! "To dare use such clumsy tricks on Your Grace—she must be tired of living!" Xie Run shook her head. "She deliberately used clumsy tricks." If Bai Fu wanted to make a name for herself, she wouldn't dare use overly intricate schemes. Only such crude yet harmless methods, once stirred up, could add to her fame regardless of whose fault it was. Dantao was still thinking about the Green Itch Powder. "We didn't find it in Fanghua Palace. It can't possibly have come from our Zhaohua Palace, can it?" "This thing likely won't appear in Fanghua Palace, nor will it appear in Zhaohua Palace." Xie Run said leisurely, "If the source can't be traced, then it becomes a case of me scheming against her and wronging her." Rumors in the palace always tended to favor the weak. "How can that be?!" Both Xiaoshu and Dantao's faces darkened, wishing they could give Noble Lady Bai a beating. Xie Run smiled. "It's fine. Once the Bai family members arrive, everything will fall into place." Dantao said, "Chunjuan has always been reliable in handling matters. You can rest assured, Your Grace." Bai Fu wanted to make a name for herself, so who actually applied the Green Itch Powder didn't matter—as long as no evidence was found in her palace, she was the innocent victim. Xie Run wanted to settle Bai Fu in one stroke, and she didn't care who had applied the Green Itch Powder. As long as the Bai family members testified, proving that Bai Fu had been allergic to Green Itch Powder in her childhood, all suspicion would fall squarely on her. A Baolin scheming against a Noble Consort—her good days were over. Speaking of which, Xie Run owed her knowledge of this to that dream. Bai Fu only heard an hour later that Xie Run had sent people to search her palace. Though she had anticipated this would happen, the thought that Xie Run had sent people to search her palace without even going through proper review made her seethe with anger. "Now she doesn't even bother to keep up appearances!" The Noble Consort Zhao of the past, known for her virtuous magnanimity, would never have done something like privately searching a palace. Bai Fu composed herself, then went crying and wailing to see Xie Run, but was stopped and temporarily placed under house arrest in Zhaohua Palace. For a moment, Bai Fu panicked. Was Xie Run too bold?! Consort Jingshu went back, made a round, and upon hearing that the Bai family members had entered the palace, found another excuse to come to Zhaohua Palace. She even brought Concubine Shen along with her. When Xie Run saw the two of them, she was covered in black lines, at a loss for what to say. Noble Lady Bai, upon seeing the two, immediately demanded with tears in her eyes, "How can Noble Consort Zhao be so overbearing and arbitrary?!" "I am still the Emperor's consort! You failed to harm me, and now you've placed me under house arrest in Zhaohua Palace—are you trying to silence me?!" Concubine Shen's eyes widened. "What nonsense is this?!" "You're just an unfavored Baolin. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror to see how much you're worth? Do you even deserve to be noticed by the Noble Consort?" "Even if you died in Zhaohua Palace, you'd only dirty the ground here!" Noble Lady Bai was an educated person who had never encountered someone like Concubine Shen who cursed people out without a second thought. For a moment, she stood frozen in place. Seizing this moment, Chunjuan suddenly stepped forward. With a single look from him, Xie Run knew the Bai family members had arrived. Xie Run said, "It happens that Consort Jingshu is here today as well. Let her bear witness, so there will be no further disputes in the future." "But Noble Lady Bai, I'm afraid you'll need to step aside for a moment." Before Noble Lady Bai could speak, Xie Run had already ordered her to be moved behind a nearby screen. Bai Fu abruptly turned her head to look at Xie Run. She was astonished by her decisive authority and confidence, yet a faint sense of unease lurked beneath. Xie Run had already slowly taken her seat, and beside her, Chunjuan said in a calm voice, "Today Noble Lady Bai claimed that the fabric bestowed by Her Ladyship made her skin itch, and subsequently summoned the imperial physician for treatment, who said the fabric was tainted with Green Itch Powder." "Her Ladyship specifically inquired with the physician and learned that ordinary people would not suffer serious harm from Green Itch Powder—only those allergic to it would experience discomfort like Noble Lady Bai." "Your servant thought, since Noble Lady Bai comes from a marquis household, she must have used Green Itch Powder before, and perhaps experienced an allergic reaction in her childhood?" Chunjuan said slowly with his head lowered. "Thus, I made a special trip outside the palace to the Bai residence to verify, and brought back two maidservants as witnesses." Chunjuan had gone to the Bai residence to extract information, so naturally he could not truthfully reveal what had happened in the palace. At the time, he only said that Noble Lady Bai had fallen suddenly ill in the palace and that certain medicines could not be used for fear of harming her constitution. He said he had come on the Noble Consort's orders to ask specifically whether Noble Lady Bai had any allergies. The Bai family, worried about Noble Lady Bai, suspected nothing and told him everything in a torrent, even sending two maidservants who had previously served Noble Lady Bai into the palace. Xie Run said, "Bring the Bai family members up first. Let us hear what they have to say." Behind the screen, Noble Lady Bai's heart suddenly turned cold. She had never imagined that Xie Run would not confront her directly, but instead go around and strike at the Bai family from another angle. The moment she saw the two maidservants, her heart sank several degrees. One of the maidservants stepped forward and said, "Your servant pays respects to Noble Consort Zhao." Xie Run said, "Rise and speak. Chunjuan should have told you what to say before you came." The maidservant had never imagined she would enter the palace, and in her nervousness, she forgot everything Chunjuan had instructed on the way over, only hastily saying, "Your servant was formerly a personal maidservant attending to Noble Lady Bai." "When Noble Lady Bai was eleven years old, Green Itch Powder suddenly became all the rage in the capital. The Marchioness specially purchased a batch, but unexpectedly, among the seven young ladies of the household, three suffered great discomfort from using it." "The Third Young Lady nearly suffocated—she could not even catch her breath, frightening the Marchioness out of her wits." "The Fourth and Fifth Young Ladies fared somewhat better, only breaking out in a large rash, and the household physician was hastily summoned to treat them. It took a full half month before they recovered." Bai Fu was the third daughter of the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness—she was precisely that Third Young Lady who had nearly suffocated. The other maidservant also stepped forward: "Your servant clearly remembers that the Green Itch Powder at that time came from the Jinyu Pavilion. After it became popular for a while, many people experienced discomfort and even went to the Jinyu Pavilion to make a scene." "Afterward, the Jinyu Pavilion recalled that batch of Green Itch Powder and later changed the formula, making its effects somewhat milder." "The Green Itch Powder of today is no longer as potent as it once was, but for those like our Third Young Lady and Noble Lady Bai, it remains something they cannot touch."