The attendant sneered: "It's not that the Concubine doesn't understand, it's probably that you forget too much."
He paused and said, "That's right. It was all a year ago. But it doesn't matter if your Majesty the Dowager Concubine forgets. I can remind you that the fire in Zhaoying County should be remembered by you, right?"
Ruan Yuewei's face was as pale as gray, and cold sweat was running down her temples. She didn't even bother to wipe it off.
Without waiting for her to answer, Zhao Changbai looked around and said, "The courtyard is not a place for entertainment. To avoid eavesdropping, please move to the side rooms."
If it were any other day, Ruan Yuewei would never have shared a room with such a servant, but she felt uneasy and did not have time to think about it, so she followed the servant into the side room.
The curtains in the room were drawn and the light was dim. One could only barely make out the outline of the person opposite.
"Please take a seat, Your Majesty." Zhao Changbai diligently brushed the dust off the couch.
Ruan Yuewei had no intention of sitting down, so she stood there and asked, "What do you want?"
Zhao Changbai said: "Where did you go just now? Oh, the Zhaoying fire..."
Ruan Yuewei immediately interrupted him: "I don't know what Zhaoying is, what fire is, where is Zhao Qinghui?"
Zhao Changbai said, "Hey, Madam Dowager, haven't you heard that the King of Qi had a concubine who died in a fire on Zhaoying Mountain?"
Ruan Yuewei was already confused, her mind was in a mess, and she weakly retorted: "So what if I've heard it? Many people have heard about this, not just me..."
"I heard that the concubine looked a bit like the Dowager Consort, and that made Her Majesty unhappy," he squinted his eyes and said, "So Her Majesty found our family and wanted to get rid of her. So while His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi was away on a war, he found a group of idle people and kidnapped the young concubine..."
"Don't talk nonsense," Ruan Yuewei interrupted him, "I never asked Zhao Qinghui to harm anyone. He just couldn't stand that woman. What does it have to do with me..."
"We don't think so," Zhao Changbai said, "He must have done it in vain. He did all this for the Dowager Consort. He even asked the Dowager Consort for permission first. During the autumn hunt, we rode together back to the palace. Didn't we hit it off right away? How dare the Dowager Consort not know about it for a moment?"
Ruan Yuewei had never expected that Zhao Qinghui would tell all this to a servant. She felt as if she had fallen into an icy cave. She covered her chest and said, "I advised him, but he insisted on doing it. I didn't ask him to harm anyone. He just sent her out of the capital. He would find her a good family and let her become a concubine of a rich family. It's better than being a concubine of the King of Qi..."
Zhao Changbai sneered, "Does the Concubine believe this? The Concubine and us are cousins, don't you know who he is? Don't you know what will happen to the little girl if she falls into his hands?"
Ruan Yuewei stammered, "How would I know that he is vicious and cruel? I will believe whatever he says. Where is he?"
Zhao Changbai said: "He planned to kill me to silence me, but unfortunately I found out first and I ended up kidnapping him instead."
Ruan Yuewei was horrified: "What should I do?"
Zhao Changbai said: "No matter how he fought, it would be a bit cruel to kill him like this. If the Concubine Dowager is willing to help me escape to the outside of the pass, I will let him go. Anyway, he doesn't know it was me who did it. He will just think that he was captured by Zhu Erlang's accomplices and extorted money."
Ruan Yue lowered her head slightly, hesitated for a while and said: "What if I don't help you?"
Zhao Changbai said: "He is the queen's cousin, I'm sure the queen will not stand idly by..."
He paused, his eyes suddenly flashing with cunning. "But even though he is a relative, he still holds the handle on the queen. The character of our family members... the queen must also know a little bit. His infatuation with the queen is really evident to the world, but his infatuation is too much, and he is inevitably a little crazy. The queen doesn't know that his room is full of the queen's portraits. He often pours out his heart to the portraits to comfort his wife, but the portraits are not real people after all. If one day he feels that it is not enough, and he happens to hold the handle on the queen, I wonder if he will..."
Ruan Yuewei followed his words and couldn't help but feel creepy. Goose bumps appeared on her arms. She swallowed and said softly, "I don't understand what you mean..."
"I am," Zhao Changbai stepped forward, "If Your Majesty is willing to give me more money, I will help you get rid of this worry."
Ruan Yue understood what he meant, but when she really heard him say it, she was still trembling with fear. She covered her ears, shook her head, and tears rolled down her cheeks like beads from a broken string: "No, no... How can that be..."
Zhao Changbai sneered, "I know that the queen is a kind person, so how about this, I won't kill him, but find a good family for him, and let him be a godson to a rich man who has no sons or daughters? How about that?"
Ruan Yuewei could hear the sarcasm in his voice and her face turned red, she was unable to speak.
Zhao Changbai said: "It is inconvenient for me to stay for long. Madam Dowager, please give me a decision as soon as possible, whether to release me or to get rid of me..."
Ruan Yuewei was terrified and could only shake her head and said in a daze: "I... I... I don't know..."
Zhao Changbai said: "So, the Concubine Tai is reluctant to let go of her cousin and would rather bear more responsibilities herself? Then she must let him go. I will obey your order..."
Ruan Yuewei's heart skipped a beat: "Wait, I didn't..."
She bit her lips so hard that a white mark was left on her lower lip. Zhao Qinghui had been a little crazy since he was a child. He was cruel and ruthless. He was known to beat and scold his servants at will, and he even enjoyed torturing people. He had beaten and killed many servants. This was a well-known secret among the noble families.
He held her in his hands. If he ever had other thoughts about her...
Ruan Yuewei felt terrified even thinking about it.
There is an opportunity right now...
She was confused and rubbed her forehead, trying to clear her mind, but the more she thought, the more confused she became. There was only one thought in her mind: get rid of him, get rid of him. As long as he died, this thing would be buried in the ground with him.
That servant had kidnapped his own man and had no intention of letting him live. He did this simply to extort more money.
As long as he was seeking money, he would not reveal her secret.
Ruan Yuewei made up her mind and was no longer as flustered as before. She raised her eyes and looked at Zhao Changbai: "Can you guarantee that no one else will know?"
Zhao Changbai said, "Don't worry, Madam Dowager Consort. I value my life, so what good will it do to get out of here? Once I flee to the border, I will never return to Chang'an in my lifetime. How can I hinder Madam Dowager Consort?"
Ruan Yuewei thought about it and decided that even if there would be trouble in the future, it would not be difficult to get rid of a servant.
Thinking of how Zhao Qinghui lost his life for her, tears welled up in her eyes again: "If I had known this would happen, I should have persuaded him..."
Zhao Changbai said: "The queen has a kind heart."
Ruan Yuewei said: "I'll give him more money and buy him a pair..."
She choked with a sob.
Zhao Changbai said: "Don't worry, Madam. He is a servant after all. I will buy him a good coffin and find him a good place to bury him properly."
He paused and said, "I sneaked in among the servants. I cannot stay here for long. I will take my leave now. Madam Dowager, please wipe your tears and don't let anyone see."
After that, he bowed and slipped out like a cat.
After the attendant left, Ruan Yuewei sat in the side room in a daze for a while, and shed tears again. She carefully wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, returned to the main room, lay on the bed for a while, and then called two maids to come in and serve her.
Shuzhu and Yinglan were startled when they saw her appearance: "What's wrong with mother?"
Ruan Yuewei said: "It's okay, I felt a little uncomfortable after drinking, and I couldn't help it."
She had many tears and would cry every now and then, but the two maids did not take it to heart. They said a few words of comfort to her, fetched some water for her to wash, recombed her hair and put on makeup for her, and helped her out of the Xiuhuang Pavilion.
The gate slammed shut from the outside.
A gust of wind blew by, and the Xiang curtain at the door of the west wing rustled.
Behind a wooden screen with Wang Xi's and Qiao Dengxian's colorful paintings, Huan Xuan was sitting on a couch with Guan Liu standing beside him. On the ground in front of them, a man had his hands and feet tied together and his mouth was blocked with a dirty cloth, making it impossible for him to make a sound. It was Zhao Qinghui.
His sharp face was so covered with tears that even his features could not be recognized.
Huan Xuan said to Guan Liu expressionlessly, "The show is over, please send Zhao Xi back."
The sound was cold and hollow, like an icy undercurrent flowing through a dark mountain cave.
Guan Liulang said yes, put Zhao Qinghui in a sack, and stuffed him back into the bamboo cage.