# Chapter Forty-Five
Bai Ren frowned deeply. He couldn't quite understand it. Qi Hua was impulsive and foolish, yes, but he wouldn't be bold enough to do something this audacious. Bai Ren had also heard whispers that Qi Hua preferred men to women, so even if the palace maid was beautiful, she wouldn't have been enough to make Qi Hua lose control and risk offending the Emperor on this critical day.
Bai Ren lowered his voice, considering. "Does Your Highness not know that the palace maid was prepared by Empress Feng to be presented to the Emperor?"
Qi Xiao shook his head with a smile. "The whole palace knows this. Moreover, those two girls came from the Feng family. If you think Qi Hua knew nothing, even a ghost wouldn't believe it."
Bai Ren still couldn't figure it out. "Then why would the Second Prince be so bold?"
"Dying for beauty, even a ghost would be at peace." Qi Xiao remained calm as ever, not in any hurry to go over. He smiled faintly. "Besides, he'd been drinking heavily. People lose control when drunk. What's so hard to understand about that?"
Bai Ren shook his head, looking at Qi Xiao hesitantly. "How come I always feel... this matter has something to do with Your Highness?"
Qi Xiao laughed. "Bai Ren, are you saying that whenever something bad happens to him, it must be my doing just because I've given him a hard time a few times? Your Highness, am I really that contemptible in your heart?"
Bai Ren hastily said, "That's not what I meant. It's just... when something like this happens, you're still so nonchalant... never mind, I don't know how to put it."
Qi Xiao chuckled softly. "Qi Hua has fallen into trouble. If I weren't like this, should I rush over frantically trying everything I can to cover for him?" He rose, reaching out to flick Bai Ren's cheek with a smile. "Don't worry. If you were the one in trouble, I would be the first to go."
Bai Ren turned his face away from Qi Xiao's hand, murmuring, "Didn't Princess Dunsu just call for you? Go ahead."
Qi Xiao nodded with a smile. "Mm, it's a family scandal. Don't go over there. Some people might lose their tempers from shame and get you caught in the crossfire." With that, he turned and left, still leaving Jiang Deqing to accompany Bai Ren.
Bai Ren sat alone in the warm pavilion, lost in thought. Jiang Deqing stepped forward to refill his tea and said with a gentle smile, "Is Your Highness tired? It's already the third quarter of the Hour of Hai. It'll be over soon. Once it's done, this old servant will attend to you and escort you back to Haiyan Palace."
Bai Ren took the teacup and took a sip. He suddenly turned to look at Jiang Deqing. "Shouldn't you be attending to the Crown Prince?"
Jiang Deqing smiled. "No. Since the Young Lord entered the palace, His Highness the Crown Prince has given this old servant explicit orders—if the Crown Prince isn't by your side, then this old servant cannot leave. Your Highness cannot be left without attendants."
Bai Ren's heart warmed at first, then something flickered through his mind. He set down the teacup and licked his lips. After a moment, he said, "The Crown Prince knew about this matter from the start, didn't he?"
Jiang Deqing smiled but said nothing. Bai Ren became more certain, and he laughed bitterly. "Why does he have to hide things from me? I wouldn't betray his secrets. I'm just worried—if he's acting like this right under the Emperor's eyes, what if..."
Jiang Deqing hesitated, then lowered his voice. "Your Highness misunderstands. It's not that the Crown Prince deliberately kept you in the dark. It's just... this matter was originally aimed at you."
Jiang Deqing looked at Bai Ren's startled face and gave a bitter smile. "Your Highness... this old servant is telling you this, but when His Highness asks later, please help me make up an excuse."
Bai Ren nodded. Only then did Jiang Deqing explain everything—the whole story of how Empress Feng had her family send the girls in, how she had timed things so the Emperor wouldn't receive them, and how she had plotted to use these two girls to harm Bai Ren, then use Bai Ren to eliminate them instead.
Jiang Deqing sighed softly. "Your Highness knows—you're the Crown Prince's dearest treasure. When His Highness learned of this, he was furious. He was determined to teach Empress Feng a lesson, and that's how today's events came to be."
Bai Ren's eyes were filled with disbelief. He unconsciously lowered his voice. "Then how did the Second Prince get involved..."
Jiang Deqing smiled faintly. "Turning the enemy's tactics against them. To be honest with Your Highness, during the banquet earlier, the Second Prince's wine was drugged. That's why he got drunk so quickly, and why he became... aroused. As for that girl—Empress Feng had been sending those two girls to serve the Emperor all evening under various pretexts. On the surface, everyone thought Empress Feng just wanted them to make an impression before the Emperor, but her real intention was to harm Your Highness. Earlier, while you were chatting with His Highness in the warm pavilion, this old servant mentioned to the young eunuchs that they should go check why Your Highness hadn't come back from getting some fresh air. Hehe... as soon as this old servant's words hit the ground, the mouse in that direction was already out of its hole."
Jiang Deqing smiled with satisfaction. "His Highness the Crown Prince guessed correctly. Sure enough, Empress Feng's trusted eunuch led those two girls away. But before they'd even made it downstairs, one of the girls was detained by the Crown Prince's people on some pretext. That eunuch had probably been pressured by Empress Feng for days and was desperate to find Your Highness. He didn't care about that girl anymore and let Nurse Jiang assign her to her task, taking the other one and hurrying downstairs to find you..."
Jiang Deqing didn't need to say the rest—Bai Ren could guess it. Bai Ren took a deep breath. "So this girl... was sent to the Second Prince's room..."
Jiang Deqing shook his head with a smile. "Nurse Jiang only said the Emperor had been sitting upstairs for a while and was tired, and told the girl to find some hand-massage girls to come up and massage the Emperor. The girl was delighted by the task and hurried off without hesitation. But how she ended up not coming out after entering that room—well, no one knows. What a pity... a perfectly good young maiden, unable to serve the Emperor, and instead the Second Prince got to taste her first."
Bai Ren thought back carefully, then suddenly felt worried. "What about the wine at the evening banquet..."
"The wine pots and cups used tonight have already been washed, dried, and stored away by now." Jiang Deqing smiled kindly. "Even if someone wanted to investigate, it's too late."
Bai Ren was completely convinced. Thinking it over again, he couldn't find a single flaw. Jiang Deqing sighed and said softly, "Your Highness now understands, don't you? It's not that the Crown Prince didn't want to inform you. It's just... this matter was aimed at you, Your Highness. Although His Highness isn't the shy type, how could he come to you and say, 'You're in trouble, and I've done such and such for your sake'? Besides, His Highness had repeatedly instructed us before—make sure the Young Lord has a good New Year. During this festive season, don't you dare tell him anything that would worry him. Now that it's all over is this old servant daring to tell you."
After hearing Jiang Deqing's words, Bai Ren's heart was filled with mixed emotions. He sat in a daze for a long while. Jiang Deqing had achieved his purpose, so he didn't say more, continuing to attend to Bai Ren carefully and occasionally saying a few words to put him at ease.
In the side chamber of Qinghe Palace, Princess Dunsu sat with a stern face, watching the crying palace maid on the ground. "Gag her. It's the New Year. There can be no crying in the palace."
The girl immediately cried out in protest. "Princess... this servant is wronged! Someone told me to come here to get something. I... I didn't know anyone was in this room. The Second Prince grabbed me as soon as I came in. I... I really..."
Princess Dunsu frowned and looked at the palace attendants beside her. "Didn't you hear what I said?!"
The eunuchs quickly bound the girl and stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth. Princess Dunsu turned to look at Empress Feng, whose face had turned ashen. "Your Majesty... if I remember correctly, this girl was prepared by you for the Emperor, wasn't she?"
Empress Feng bit her lip hard and nodded. She suddenly turned to look at the drunken Qi Hua sprawled on the floor. "You good-for-nothing! You..."
"Empress..." Princess Dunsu sighed. "What's done is done. Making a fuss will only let more people know. Be quiet. Think about how to handle this first."
Empress Feng was so angry her eyes were red. She wanted to tear that girl apart. She hissed, "This despicable servant has no sense of shame, attempting to seduce a prince. Take her to the Torture Chamber and finish her off..."
Princess Dunsu frowned. "Empress, calm your anger. The New Year hasn't passed yet. There can be no bloodshed in the palace. Even if this girl committed the greatest crime, she can't be dealt with until after the New Year."
This incident with Qi Hua—although Princess Dunsu was secretly delighted, she was still somewhat annoyed. It would have been fine on any other day, but Qi Hua had to cause this kind of trouble on today of all days. If word got out, where would the imperial family's face be?
Princess Dunsu thought for a moment and lowered her voice. "Empress... in my opinion, we shouldn't make any noise about this. Let Qi Hua stay here lying down. As for this girl... we'll only say she suddenly fell ill. Lock her up for now. When the New Year is over, she'll be yours to deal with as you see fit."
At this point, Empress Feng had completely lost her composure. She had been afraid that Princess Dunsu would want to spread the news, but seeing that she too wanted to cover it up, she felt somewhat relieved. Looking at Princess Dunsu, she no longer felt the usual aversion. She grabbed her hand and burst into tears. "Princess... you saw it yourself. This palace only meant well by elevating this贱婢, wanting her to serve the Emperor. Who knew she harbored evil intentions, and when no one was watching, she came to seduce my骅儿? Poor骅儿, so drunk like this, completely dragged down by her..."
Princess Dunsu smiled coldly in her heart. Anyone with eyes could see that Qi Hua had forced himself on the girl, yet in Empress Feng's telling, the story was reversed. Princess Dunsu touched her hair and nodded. "Your Majesty's good intentions are clear to all."
Empress Feng had planned tonight to take down Bai Ren and those two girls in one move. Who would have thought the fox would come to her own house instead? She was kicking herself. She grabbed Princess Dunsu's hand and pleaded, "Then... perhaps we could just bury this matter? Fortunately, the Emperor hasn't yet favored this wicked person. We could just say..."
"Your Majesty." Princess Dunsu delicately extracted her hand from Empress Feng's grip and smiled faintly. "Although I witnessed today's events, rest assured, Your Majesty—I certainly won't spread the word abroad. But if the Emperor asks about it... this palace wouldn't dare lie to His Majesty."
Empress Feng had seen that Princess Dunsu seemed willing to cover things up, so she thought she could say some flattering words to get Princess Dunsu to help her suppress the matter. She hadn't expected Princess Dunsu to suddenly change her tune. She couldn't help but say, "Princess... would you really push骅儿 into the fire pit?"
Upon hearing this, Princess Dunsu flew into a rage. She laughed. "From Your Majesty's words, it sounds like this palace forced the Second Prince to forcibly take that girl? Hehe... such a serious accusation. This palace would not dare accept it."
Empress Feng hastily said, "This palace was angered to madness by that wicked person. As the saying goes, when your arm gets broken, you hide it in your sleeve. This palace only meant to..."
Princess Dunsu's face completely hardened. She said coldly, "Something like this has happened. This palace is also upset, and this palace understands the saying about swallowing one's anger. That's why this palace said it won't spread the word. But what about the Emperor? Even if this palace doesn't say anything, if the Emperor asks others about it, Your Majesty dares to guarantee they won't say anything? Are we all supposed to risk the crime of deceiving the Emperor just to help Your Majesty hide this shame?!"
The more Princess Dunsu thought about it, the angrier she became. She said coldly, "Your Majesty has her own ideas. This palace won't say more, for fear that if I say too much and hear too much, I'll be blamed for even more. I only hope that when the Emperor deals with Qi Hua in the future, Your Majesty won't try to blame this incident on this palace."
Princess Dunsu turned and left. Empress Feng tried in vain to keep her, her heart filled with anger, fear, and hatred all mixed together. The emotions overwhelmed her and her tears fell freely. Empress Feng's chief palace attendant hastily tried to console her. "Your Majesty, please take care of your health..."
The chief attendant watched Empress Feng lose her composure and couldn't help but advise, "Your Majesty shouldn't have said those words earlier... The Emperor's eyes and ears are everywhere in this palace. How can this be hidden? By now it's probably already reached the Emperor's ears. Your Majesty should suppress this matter first and not let any more outsiders know. That would be the sensible thing to do."
Empress Feng froze upon hearing this. She grabbed the attendant's hand and stared. "You mean... the Emperor might already know?"
The attendant carefully nodded. Empress Feng's vision went dark. She felt like the sky was spinning. The people in the room quickly came to support her. Only after a long while did Empress Feng regain her composure. She collapsed onto an embroidered stool, weeping bitterly...
In the main warm pavilion on the second floor of Qinghe Palace, Fu Hailu hurried to the Emperor's side and bent down to whisper in his ear. The Emperor's expression never changed. In the end, he nodded, even smiling slightly. Those watching thought it must be some minor matter and no one paid attention.
At the entrance of the warm pavilion, Qi Xiao stood holding a hand-warmer, smiling as he watched what was happening inside. He watched Fu Hailu hurry in and then leave. He watched the Emperor chat and laugh with the princes around him. He watched the Emperor's fist, hidden half in his sleeve, clench tightly, veins bulging.
Jiang Deqing slowly walked over to Qi Xiao's side. "Your Highness..."
Qi Xiao frowned slightly. "Didn't I tell you not to leave?"
"Please forgive me, Your Highness. This old servant has those young ones watching. I'll go back right now." Jiang Deqing followed Qi Xiao's gaze and smiled faintly. He lowered his voice. "This old servant just told the Young Lord everything that happened before. I especially mentioned that Your Highness didn't want the Young Lord to know. The Young Lord didn't say much after hearing it, but by his expression... he was deeply touched."
Qi Xiao smiled contentedly and nodded. And with that, this matter was finally perfectly concluded. Qi Xiao was very satisfied.