"Your Majesty, there's a letter." Nanny Gui called out the other palace maids and respectfully presented the note to Xiao Shushen.
Xiao Shushen took it, glanced at it casually, and handed it back, "I understand. You deal with this and don't let anyone else see it."
"Yes." Nanny Gui has been with the Queen for so many years and has done a lot of things like this, so she is quite adept at it.
Xiao Shushen nodded lightly on the table. The assassination of Consort Xian and the Queen Mother had already made the Emperor suspicious of her. This time, she had to be extra careful when they asked her to meet. After much thought, she decided to go to the rockery behind the mountain where few people went after dark.
She raised her hand and whistled toward the window, and sure enough, a carrier pigeon circled and landed on the windowsill. She scribbled a note and tied it to the pigeon's leg. The pigeon shook its head and flew away slowly.
It was not far from nightfall, Xiao Shushen calmly tidied up her appearance, and when Nanny Gui came back after finishing her business, she said to her, "They want to see me, so you should send all the people at the side door away. After I leave, anyone who comes to see me should tell them that I am not feeling well and went to bed early today."
"Your Majesty, please let me accompany you so that I can take care of you." said Aunt Gui.
"No need. It's not easy to move with too many people. Besides, you have to stay in the palace to prepare for emergencies." Xiao Shushen waved her hand and still felt that it was safer to go alone.
"I understand, old servant." Nanny Gui nodded and said no more.
Xiao Shushen looked up at the sky outside the window and said, "Go get them out of the way now. I'll leave through the side door in a quarter of an hour."
"Yes." Nanny Gui agreed and went out.
When Xiao Shushen arrived behind the rockery, a man in black had been waiting there for a long time.
"What if you stand here openly like this and attract other people's attention?" Xiao Shushen frowned, very dissatisfied with the black-clad man's behavior.
"Don't worry, your majesty. I was very careful when I came down here, and I scouted the surrounding area thoroughly. That's why I feel safe to appear here." said the man in black.
"Okay. I hope you also understand that you need to be cautious about this kind of thing. Why did you call me out today?" Xiao Shushen knew that it was useless to dwell on this matter, so she stopped talking.
"The higher-ups just want to remind Your Majesty of two things. First, someone has already traced the assassination attempt back to Your Majesty, but for some reason they suddenly stopped and haven't taken any action for a long time. I hope Your Majesty will pay more attention to it. Second, the matter has been done, so please don't forget what you promised to the organization." The man in black had no intention of greeting Xiao Shushen, and only stated his future purpose.
Xiao Shushen was silent for a while, thinking that the person who found out about her might be the emperor, but she didn't want to investigate further because of consideration for her feelings. It seemed that she had to be more careful. If she ruined her image in the emperor's heart, it would be more trouble than gain. As for the second point mentioned by the man in black, she said without any emotion: "I know. Don't worry, as long as you do your part, I will promise you nothing less."
"That's great. Then..." The man in black was about to say goodbye, but he sensitively heard some noises coming from the bushes next to him, "Who's there!"
Xiao Shushen also looked over, only to see a little palace maid glance over here hurriedly, then run away in horror.
The man in black was about to chase after her to silence her, but was stopped by Xiao Shushen: "Don't do it here, it will easily arouse suspicion. Follow her, I will let Aunt Gui contact you and find a suitable place to deal with her."
The man in black nodded and went after the little palace maid.
Xiao Shushen returned to the palace and briefly explained the situation to Nanny Gui, instructing her to work with the men in black to properly deal with the person and not to have anything to do with her.
Early the next morning, Lianyun took the clothes to be washed to the laundry room. Seeing that the door of the small room where tools were kept was ajar, she walked over and wanted to close the door tightly to prevent the things from being touched by some ignorant person.
As soon as she approached the small house, Lianyun smelled a strong smell of blood. She opened the door in confusion, but was frightened by the scene in front of her and stepped back repeatedly, screaming: "Ah - someone come, someone come!"
I saw the body of a young girl in the room. Her neck was cut and blood was all over the floor. There was a look of horror on her face. She had died with her eyes open.
The imperial guards who had rushed over after hearing the noise came up to Lian Yun and asked, "Why are you so panicked?"
Lianyun pointed at the room with a trembling hand: "The corpse... the corpse is inside."
The Royal Guards walked forward and pushed open the closed door. Even those Royal Guards who had witnessed many life and death scenes frowned at the tragic scene inside.
"This matter needs to be reported, and it will probably take a long time to deal with. You are from the palace of Concubine Xian, right? So, you go back first. If we need your assistance in the investigation, we will come to you." said the Imperial Guard.
“Okay…” Lianyun’s face was pale, and she walked towards the Concubine Xian’s palace tremblingly.
At this point, Nanny Gui, who was hiding in the distance and observing, withdrew her gaze. Seeing that the Imperial Guards were still checking the things around the corpse but found nothing, she showed a satisfied expression and sneaked back to the Queen's Palace.
"You're back, how are things going?" Xiao Shushen asked.
"Your Majesty, I had the man in black kill the palace maid in the early morning of today and put her in the laundry room. All traces have been cleaned up. But just now, the girl Lianyun from Concubine Xian's palace went to deliver clothes and accidentally ran into the body, so the body was discovered earlier than planned. But it's not a big deal." Madam Gui replied.
"Another one from Concubine Xian's palace, just as troublesome as her master," Xiao Shushen sneered, "But sooner or later she will be discovered, so just treat it as a way to clear the eyes of the people in her palace."
Lianyun returned to the palace and was just about to go back and be alone when she was seen by Shen Qingwan who had just come out for some fresh air.
"Lianyun, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so bad?" Shen Qingwan asked worriedly.
Lianyun crossed her hands and touched her arms, then whispered to Shen Qingwan what had just happened.
Shen Qingwan patted Lianyun's shoulder and comforted her, "I shouldn't have asked you to deliver the clothes so early. It's really scary to see something like this so early in the morning. Don't worry about other things today. I'll allow you to take a day off and have a good rest."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Lianyun did not refuse. She really just wanted to rest now.
After watching Lianyun return to her room, Shen Qingwan frowned and thought about this matter secretly. No one would target a little palace maid for no reason, and she hadn't heard of anyone being offended recently. This palace maid must have seen something shameful and was silenced. She had no idea who did it.