Chapter 187: A Lifetime
Xue Sui and Wen Jia, upon hearing the dire news, rushed back to the West Mountain Imperial Palace through the rain.
Pushing open the bedchamber door, they saw shattered porcelain scattered across the floor. Consort Wan lay collapsed in a pool of blood, black blood oozing from her lips, staining her plain white light clothing. It mingled with leftover tea, snaking across the blue brick floor…
“Mother…”
Wen Jia’s legs gave out, and she fell to her knees, cradling Consort Wan’s body in her arms, letting out a heart-wrenching cry.
“You promised you’d watch Niu Niu grow up, you promised we’d go back to Xizi to see the sand jujube flowers…”
The rain poured down, striking the glazed tiles with a drumming sound.
Wen Jia was overcome with grief, her choked sobs feeling like steel knives scraping against her flesh and bone.
“Mother, wake up, open your eyes and look at your daughter…”
Xue Sui quickly stepped forward and supported her.
Her fingertips touched the black blood on Consort Wan’s body, and her expression shifted slightly.
This poison… could it be Xizi’s Crane’s Crest Toxin?
Earlier today, in the bamboo forest behind Pu Ji Temple, Xue Sui had met Gu Jie.
At that time, Gu Jie had handed her the Crane’s Crest Toxin given by Ping Le and relayed Ping Le’s exact words.
“This substance is instantly fatal upon contact with blood. Dissolved in tea, a single sip is enough to kill.”
Xue Sui had also assured him that she would not make things difficult for him regarding Fu Qingsong’s matter, which had put Gu Jie at ease before he left…
That packet of poison, which she had deliberately left in the storage room of the monastic room at Pu Ji Temple afterward for Li Huan to “accidentally” discover, was meant to be a method of killing by proxy. How could it have killed Consort Wan?
Did Ping Le instigate others to sneak into the West Mountain Imperial Palace and commit this atrocity?
Or had King Xizi Ashina truly been so heartless as to send Xizi Death Warriors to extend their blood-stained hands towards his half-sister?
Xue Sui draped a dark blue satin cloak over Wen Jia’s shoulders, gently squeezed her arm, offered a few words of comfort, and then slowly walked out.
The person was gone. Several palace maids who had attended Consort Wan waited in the outer hall, heads bowed, hands clasped, like a flock of startled birds, filled with unease.
Xue Sui walked past them calmly, her gaze sweeping over the group of subservient palace servants.
“Which one of you can tell me what happened before Her Ladyship passed away?”
The air grew heavy.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
The Ganan incense burning in the bronze beast censer emitted a desolate fragrance…
Xue Sui’s steps halted before Consort Wan’s personal maid, Cui Lu, “You speak.”
Cui Lu was visibly frightened, her face ashen, her eyes swollen from crying.
“At the hour of Mao, Her Ladyship said she wanted to admire the rain in the back garden. This maid advised her a few times, but Her Ladyship said…” Her voice suddenly choked, as if in tears, “She said this might be the last time she’d admire the rain in the Imperial Palace, and that she might not have such leisure in the future…”
Consort Wan’s condition had improved, so she couldn’t stay in the Imperial Palace indefinitely.
Was she afraid Emperor Chong Zhao would summon her back again?
Xue Sui steadied herself and continued, “And then?”
Cui Lu lowered her head, “But when Her Ladyship reached the corridor and saw how heavy the rain was, she turned back and ordered this maid to brew tea, saying she could admire the rain by the window just the same…”
Xue Sui asked again, “How many of you were attending her at the time?”
Cui Lu replied, “Only this maid and Cai Ping.”
Xue Sui glanced at another maid, “Who brewed the tea?”
Cai Ping curtsied, her face streaked with tears, her voice trembling, “This maid brewed the tea, using the Biluochun tea His Majesty bestowed. The cups and bowls were also meticulously wiped. Her Ladyship had barely drunk half a cup when she cried out in unbearable abdominal pain…”
“We maids panicked and quickly sent for Imperial Physician Zhou. By the time Imperial Physician Zhou arrived, Her Ladyship had already fallen unconscious…”
Originally, Emperor Chong Zhao had specifically dispatched Zhou Zhong from the Imperial Hospital to the Imperial Palace to tend to Consort Wan’s health in order to quell the storm and appease Wen Jia. Little did they know he would become the one to see her off…
A flicker of sadness crossed Xue Sui’s eyes.
“How long did it take for Imperial Physician Zhou to arrive?”
Cui Lu lowered her head, “Only about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. They tried acupuncture and administering medicine, but… but in the end… it was beyond saving…”
Xue Sui’s gaze swept over everyone, “And your young mistress? When was she discovered missing?”
Cui Lu glanced at Niu Niu’s wet nurse, her palms clenched tightly.
“The wet nurse said that the young lady was sleeping soundly in the warm pavilion after noon, and she was keeping watch on a low stool in the outer room, doing some needlework… Usually, the young lady would sleep for a full hour before waking… Therefore, when she heard about Her Ladyship’s incident, she was so frightened that she ran to Lan Xin Palace… By the time she returned to check on the young lady, only a tilted tiger-head pillow remained on the bed, and the young lady was nowhere to be seen…”
Xue Sui’s heart sank.
She inquired in detail about the tea brewing process, the imperial physician’s diagnosis, and questioned the guards and servants in the Imperial Palace, piecing together the entire sequence of events before heading to Niu Niu’s room…
Beneath the carved bed, two small shoes lay askew. The yellow poplar lidded box on the desk had been overturned, and the gilded box that should have contained jewelry and ornaments was empty…
Only a longevity lock lay quietly in a corner, gleaming coldly.
She was silent for a moment, then lifted the curtain and emerged to see Princess Wen Jia standing alone in the corridor. Raindrops wove a curtain of water around her from the eaves, her slender figure like a blue iris bent by the storm.
“Ping An, look at this.”
Wen Jia held out a purple sandalwood box, inside which lay two broken jade pendants.
“This was by Mother’s pillow. It was originally a whole piece, and I don’t know when it broke into two…”
Xue Sui took them and examined them closely by candlelight.
The jade pendants were very similar to the one she had seen at Pu Ji Temple, but the inner side was carved with more intricate patterns. Upon closer inspection, they even bore Xizi script.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
“Has the Princess thought of something?”
As soon as Wen Jia spoke, tears streamed down her face.
“Mother told me the origin of this jade pendant. At that time, Daliang and Xizi had not yet fallen out, Ashina had not yet ascended the throne, and my maternal grandfather was still alive… That year, Ashina was on an envoy mission to Daliang and visited the Emperor, specifically gifting my Mother a jade pendant…”
She paused, her hoarse voice growing even more raspy.
“Mother missed Chishui City and cherished the sibling bond, always treasuring the jade pendant. Now that the jade pendant is broken, Mother, who longed for her homeland her entire life, can finally not return…”
Her cries were mournful.
“Mother said the sunsets in Xizi were magnificent, the camel bells clear, the sand sea boundless, and the wolf bone flute melodious… How she wished to see them one more time…”
As she spoke, she suddenly grabbed Xue Sui’s wrist and whispered tearfully.
“Ping An, do you think Ping Le did this? If she targeted me, so be it, but why would she inflict such a cruel blow on my Mother… and not even spare my child?”
Xue Sui supported her and said gently, “Princess, please be at ease. We will surely find Niu Niu and avenge Mother’s death.”
Wen Jia trembled, her fingertips tracing the edge of the jade pendant.
“Mother’s death was unclear. As her daughter, I don’t even know who the murderer is, and I can’t even protect my own flesh and blood. I am truly useless…”
The image of Gu Jie flashed through Xue Sui’s mind as she considered if she had missed any crucial clues.
“Wen Jia, give me some time.”
“Ping An.” Wen Jia gazed at her, tears falling like pearls from a broken string, “Mother has left me. If Niu Niu cannot be found either, what hope is there for me to live on…”
Xue Sui gently patted her back, suddenly recalling Consort Wan’s gentle and serene smile. Her heart was filled with sorrow and a mix of emotions, but she didn’t know how to comfort her.
Lead-gray clouds piled layer upon layer, and the rain poured down.
The green mountains grieved together, and the clear waters held sorrow.
The copper bells on the eaves rang again, like Xizi camel bells traversing a thousand miles of yellow sand, yet they could no longer call back the woman who gazed towards her homeland.
She was originally a princess, beautiful and delicate, who came to Shangjing from distant Xizi for a political marriage. She was not favored by the Emperor, persecuted by a treacherous consort, and imprisoned in the Cold Palace for over ten years. She suffered from illness but never revealed any pain, always presenting a gentle demeanor. She thought she had finally overcome her hardships, only to meet with a sudden disaster and perish…
This was the life of a woman who entered into a political marriage.
