Chapter 57: Speculation

Chapter 57: Conjecture

With the spring hunt approaching, Pei Yun had Shu Yan fetch some fabrics from the storeroom to have a riding outfit made for Jin Er.

After the New Year, Jin Er turned eight. Last year, her older brother Pei Xuan had returned and taught Jin Er archery a few times. He became so engrossed in it that he practiced at every opportunity. Now, he was eagerly awaiting this year's spring hunt.

He also wanted to learn horseback riding, saying he wished to join his imperial grandfather and father on hunting expeditions someday to prove his mettle.

Pei Yun had no plans to attend, preferring to stay in the palace with Chen'er. However, she couldn’t very well keep Jin Er from going. She had originally promised to teach him riding herself, but now it seemed unlikely. All she could do was personally make him a riding outfit for the occasion.

When Li Shutang arrived, she found her third sister-in-law fretting over the fabrics and asked what she was working on.

Pei Yun smiled awkwardly and explained she wanted to make a riding outfit for Chen'er to wear when he learned to ride at the imperial retreat. However, she had never made one before and was struggling. Li Shutang’s arrival was timely.

Li Shutang sat beside her and asked curiously, “Third Sister-in-law, haven’t you heard? The Emperor has called off this year’s spring hunt.”

Pei Yun, holding the fabrics, froze. “Why?”

She distinctly remembered that in her past life, her father-in-law the Emperor had proceeded with the hunt as usual. Why had things changed this time?

Li Shutang replied, “The reasons are complicated. For one, the imperial examinations are imminent. Secondly…”

She hesitated, glancing at Pei Yun. “I heard that recently, people in the capital outskirts have been succumbing to illness, with symptoms resembling the epidemic currently spreading in Yuezhou…”

Pei Yun stiffened, dropping the fabrics in her hands, her face clouded with worry. “Tang Er, who told you this?”

“It was the Emperor…” Li Shutang suddenly realized that perhaps this information wasn’t meant to be public yet. “The Emperor mentioned it while paying respects to the Empress Dowager. They say most of the victims were beggars living in dilapidated temples. To prevent the disease from spreading into the capital, the Emperor has ordered all infected individuals to be quarantined for treatment…”

Pei Yun couldn’t help but turn to look at Chen'er, who was playing on the bed, her expression heavy with concern.

But the Crown Prince had said that because the epidemic was detected early, Yuezhou had it under control. Why had it reached the capital faster than in her past life?

“Aside from the capital, have other regions reported cases?”

Li Shutang thought for a moment. “The Emperor mentioned a few cases in neighboring counties, but not many.”

Seeing Pei Yun’s pale face, Li Shutang regretted being so forthright. If the Emperor had kept it quiet, it was likely to prevent panic in the capital.

She quickly reassured her, “Third Sister-in-law, don’t worry. The disease isn’t severe. With the imperial physicians’ expertise, they’ll surely find a solution soon.”

The mention of physicians reminded Pei Yun of Dr. Zhu. She wondered how his research on the remedy was progressing.

As her thoughts tangled, a maid entered to announce, “Your Highness, Noble Consort Gao has arrived.”

Pei Yun thought she misheard. Why would Noble Consort Gao come here?

Li Shutang was equally puzzled. Noble Consort Gao usually only interacted with Noble Consort Gui—why would she visit the Eastern Palace? She glanced at Pei Yun. “I don’t know. Does Third Sister-in-law usually associate with Noble Consort Gao?”

Pei Yun didn’t answer, only giving a helpless shake of her head. She instructed the maid to invite Noble Consort Gao in and signaled the nursemaids to take Chen'er to the side chamber.

As the maid escorted Noble Consort Gao into the hall, they passed the nursemaid carrying Chen'er. Noble Consort Gao paused briefly, glancing at the child before turning to Pei Yun and Li Shutang, who had risen to greet her.

“Noble Consort Gao, what brings you here today?”

Noble Consort Gao and Pei Yun sat on the divan, while Li Shutang took a seat on a nearby stool.

Noble Consort Gao took an item from her attendant and handed it to Pei Yun. “With time on my hands lately, I took up needlework. I made several cloth tigers and thought, since there aren’t many other children in the palace besides the Third Imperial Grandson, I’d bring one for him to play with. My needlework is humble—I hope the Crown Prince’s consort doesn’t mind.”

Pei Yun recognized this maid of Consort Shu—the one named Xiao Tao that Shu Mo had mentioned before. Recalling the eunuch who had drowned in the imperial garden, Pei Yun felt a twinge of unease, but she maintained her composure and accepted the gift. "Thank you, Consort Shu. Chen'er will absolutely love it."

"I saw Third Imperial Grandson being taken out by his nurse just now."

Pei Yun couldn't exactly say it was because she feared Consort Shu might bring some illness to Chen'er, so she merely replied, "Chen'er has a habit of taking an afternoon nap. I asked his nurse to put him to bed."

"Consort Shu's craftsmanship is truly exquisite. If I were a few years younger, I would certainly have begged you for one too."

Li Shutang stared at the cloth tiger Pei Yun had placed on the table and reached out to take it, only for Consort Shu to raise her arm and lean against the table edge, smiling at her. "If Second Princess likes it, I’ll make a few more another day and gift them to you."

Thwarted by Consort Shu, Li Shutang had no choice but to withdraw her hand and nod.

Since neither she nor Pei Yun were particularly familiar with Consort Shu, their conversation stayed forced and stilted. After exchanging a few pleasantries for about as long as it takes an incense stick to burn, Consort Shu rose and took her leave.

After Consort Shu departed, Li Shutang sat back down opposite Pei Yun, picked up the cloth tiger, and fiddled with it briefly before sighing. "Consort Shu's situation is actually quite sad. If the child she bore outside the palace back then had survived, I'd probably have another older brother today."

This was news to Pei Yun. "Consort Shu carried more than just the Fifth Prince?"

"Yes, roughly three years before she gave birth to Fifth Brother. My mother, Consort Yue, told me about it. I heard that back then, Consort Shu was seven months pregnant when her own mother fell gravely ill, so she rushed back to visit. Her mother lived in a manor outside the city, but upon arriving, Consort Shu suddenly went into labor. Perhaps it was premature—the child was stillborn. It’s been so many years now that few likely remember."

Li Shutang often passed the time doing embroidery in her own palace, and during one of those idle chats with her mother, Consort Yue, the topic had come up.

After finishing her tale, she glanced at Pei Yun, only to find her staring blankly, as if in a trance.

"Third Sister-in-law? Third Sister-in-law...?"

Pei Yun shot up, visibly flustered, but she forced a smile. "Tang Er, I just remembered—a few days ago, I sketched some embroidery patterns. Why don’t you come take a look?"

With that, she hurried to the writing desk and began frantically shuffling through papers, muttering with a frown, "Strange, where did they go?"

Seeing her struggle, Li Shutang approached to help, but Pei Yun’s arm suddenly swept out, sending an inkstone flying from the corner onto her.

Li Shutang couldn’t dodge in time, and the still-wet ink splattered across her skirt in a large stain.

"Oh!" Pei Yun gasped and tried to wipe it off, only making the mess worse.

"It’s fine, Third Sister-in-law. I’ll go back and wash it."

Hearing this, Pei Yun all but pushed her out the door. "Yes, go back and wash it properly. We can look at the embroidery patterns another time."

Li Shutang felt something was off but didn’t dwell on it, nodding and leaving with her maidservant.

The moment she was gone, Pei Yun's carefully composed facade crumbled completely.

"Shu Yan, get hot water ready and scrub this chamber from top to bottom."

"Shu Mo, starting now, no one except the two nurses is allowed into the side chamber. The nurses aren’t to leave either—they must stay inside. Meals will be left at the door."

Shu Yan and Shu Mo exchanged puzzled glances, puzzled by their mistress's sudden panic, but assuming it was due to the plague Second Princess had mentioned, they hurried to obey.

Left alone in the chamber, Pei Yun stared at the cloth tiger sitting harmlessly on the table. In that instant, it looked more frightening than an actual tiger.

Without hesitation, she grabbed it and tossed it into the charcoal brazier.

The dormant flames roared to life, quickly consuming the little toy.

But as the outer fabric burned away, Pei Yun glimpsed something inside—not cotton stuffing, but layers of cloth. Before she could see clearly, however, it had already turned to ash.

Pei Yun sank onto the couch, exhausted.

How could she have forgotten? In her past life, Consort Shu had also visited her Linglang Hall and brought Chen'er a fabric tiger. It seemed that shortly after her visit, Chen'er began coughing, wheezing, and developed a fever, his condition worsening day by day.

At first, she couldn’t recall this seemingly insignificant event from her past life—until Li Shutang mentioned the child Consort Shu had delivered stillborn.

Born three years before the fifth prince, meaning he would have been three years older, Pei Yun almost instantly thought of the ringleader of the Yuezhou case.

She even formed a wild yet plausible theory.

What if that child had never died?

If Consort Shu had lied and swapped the child for a stillborn, there could only be one reason—this child could not be revealed.

He was not the child of her father-in-law, Emperor Qingzhen!

Because it involved an unmentionable imperial scandal, the Yuezhou disappearance case from her past life had been covered up, leaving few traces.

Even if it was just her suspicion, her paranoia, in this life, Pei Yun dared not take any risks—because one wrong move could endanger her child.

Pei Yun struggled to steady herself, reaching for the hot tea beside her, only to find her hands trembling uncontrollably, unable to even hold the cup steady.

Deep down, she wished more than anyone that all of this was merely her conjecture.

Because in her past life, it was she who had given that fabric tiger to Chen'er.

---

Capital City, Mingcheng Teahouse.

In a private lounge on the third floor, Chen Ming slowly reported his findings to Li Zhangye over the past few days.

"That Lady Meng died suddenly. I sent people to investigate—after her death, of the five servants she had brought back to the Meng family estate, three were released with their contracts. The other two, who had served Lady Meng closely—one reportedly took her own life in grief and followed her mistress in death, while the other maidservant vanished without a trace."

"Can you track down that maidservant?" Li Zhangye asked.

"Unnecessary, Your Highness." Chen Ming sighed quietly, his voice filled with indignation. "Perhaps even Heaven could not stand idly by. Coincidentally, two days ago, an old friend of mine, who had been promoted from the Dali Temple, brought someone to see me, claiming they had a grievance to report."

With that, he turned toward the ornate pearwood screen in the room and said, "Come out."

Moments later, a petite woman emerged from behind it. Her head was bowed as she approached Li Zhangye, then dropped to her knees with a thud.

"This servant is named Shuangwan. I was the personal maidservant of Lady Xu, the first wife of Lord Meng Yi. I beg Your Highness to seek justice for my mistress—she was murdered." Her voice choked with sobs as she kowtowed heavily twice.

"Rise and speak."

The maidservant named Shuangwan staggered to her feet, still sniffling. Only then did Li Zhangye get a clear look at her face—and his brows furrowed sharply.

Half of the young maid’s face, which should have been fair and smooth, was covered in deep gashes and scars. The wounds were so severe that the flesh had been mangled horribly, a horrifying sight.

"Who do you accuse? Who killed your mistress?" Shuangwan wiped her tears and answered firmly, "The one who killed my mistress was none other than my lord, Lord Meng. The reason? My mistress had discovered evidence of his affair with Consort Shu."