After the officials departed, eunuchs and palace maids cleaned the bloodstains on the ground, scrubbing them over and over. Yet, no matter how hard they washed, traces of blood remained in the cracks of the stone slabs.
Sunlight fell, casting a faint crimson hue across the entire plaza, and the smell of blood lingered, refusing to dissipate.
From this day on, whenever palace staff passed the plaza at night, they would vaguely hear chilling screams.
Ji Hong did not go to Jingren Palace. Instead, he returned to the Imperial Study, dismissing the attending eunuchs and maids. The head eunuch guarded the door. Hearing the sound of porcelain shattering from within, he knew His Majesty was furious. When the noises inside ceased, the eunuch approached the door and asked with concern, "Your Majesty, the imperial kitchen simmered red dates and osmanthus soup today. Should I have them send a bowl?"
"No need!"
Ji Hong's sharp voice seeped through the door crack. "Have someone come in to clear things up."
The eunuch acknowledged this and quickly sent the junior eunuchs in to tidy up. Seeing His Majesty's displeased expression, the head eunuch dared not say more, merely urging the junior eunuchs to be quick and not linger in the study too long, lest they incur His Majesty's displeasure.
After the eunuchs cleared away the broken fragments, they withdrew from the Imperial Study.
The head eunuch closed the door and guarded it diligently. He wasn't sure if it was because of the many people who had died in the plaza that day, but he felt the wind was particularly biting.
Taking the hand warmer from the junior eunuch, the head eunuch lowered his gaze.
A faint sound came from the wall behind the bookshelf in the Imperial Study, like the tinkling of wind chimes. Ji Hong rose and walked to the bookshelf. He grasped the vase placed in the second compartment of the third shelf, turned it to the right, and the bookshelf made a "clunk" sound, like gears turning. Then, the bookshelf, spanning the width of the wall, parted in the middle, revealing the wall behind it.
He approached and knocked on the white wall at his eye level.
A section of the wall beside his hand protruded, a brick. Ji Hong gripped the brick and pulled forcefully. A door outline appeared on the wall, and with his pull, it opened completely.
Ji Jinmo and Nan Shiying appeared before Ji Hong.
Seeing Nan Shiying, Ji Hong was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting Ji Jinmo to bring her along. Regardless, Nan Shiying was still the daughter of Nan Chaoyun.
Ji Jinmo looked at Ji Hong, as if to say, "Aren't you going to move aside?"
Ji Hong stepped aside, clearing the path.
Nan Shiying looked around the Imperial Study with curiosity. The imperial palace was truly like a labyrinth. If Ji Jinmo hadn't guided her, she would have surely gotten lost.
Furthermore, the traces of the Mo family were present in every secret passage.
The Lin Yuan imperial family did indeed possess profound heritage.
"This commoner pays respects to His Majesty," Nan Shiying bowed to Ji Hong.
Ji Hong grunted, not acknowledging her identity. He merely said to the two of them, "Sit!"
The three sat around the table. Ji Jinmo picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for Nan Shiying, then handed it to her. Ji Hong glanced at his own empty cup beside him, then at Ji Jinmo.
"What are you looking at?"
Ji Jinmo's voice remained as cold as ever, creating an illusion of being in the midst of winter snow.
Ji Hong had no inclination to appreciate his voice. He picked up the teapot Ji Jinmo had placed aside and poured himself a cup of tea.
Indeed, the way these two interacted was not outside Nan Shiying's expectations.
Utterly uninteresting!
Nan Shiying took a sip of tea, feeling the atmosphere somewhat stagnant. She suddenly put down her cup and asked very earnestly, "Your Majesty, when can the entire Nan Prefecture be executed?"
Ji Hong, mid-sip, almost spat out his tea.
On the beam of Jingren Palace, a small, finger-thick, green snake coiled. The snake flicked its tongue, its vertical pupils reflecting the scene within the inner hall.
The vast Jingren Palace was so quiet one could hear a pin drop. The palace maids who should have been attending the Empress Dowager were dozing against the wall. The Empress Dowager sat by the bed, lifting the bed curtains on the inner wall.
Her hand stroked the wall, and she sighed softly. She lifted the pillow, then the cushion, and tapped the wooden board beneath the pillow. The wooden board revealed a groove. She pressed it down, and a sound came from within the wall. The entire wall revealed a door-like opening, which then rotated, exposing the secret room within.
The Empress Dowager walked in, and the wall automatically closed.
The secret room was as large as an inner chamber, and the candelabras embedded in the walls emitted a soft light.
"You've been coming here more frequently lately."
A voice emanated from the secret room. The woman sitting at the stone table turned her head, revealing a face identical to the current Empress Dowager.
Seeing the Empress Dowager enter the secret room, the woman's lips curled into a smile. Though they shared the same face, they gave completely different impressions. With just a glance, one could distinguish her from the Empress Dowager.
"You may leave," the Empress Dowager walked towards her and said.
The other woman flinched slightly, her smile still on her lips.
"Exposed?" Her voice remained gentle, as soft as a rose, but with thorns hidden in its stem.
A flash of anger crossed the Empress Dowager's face. She had kept this woman confined here for so many years, impersonating her for so long. After the initial anger and sorrow, the rest of her days were like those of a clay figure, devoid of temper, showing neither joy nor sorrow. It was as if she had thrown her entire might into a punch, only to hit cotton.
The Empress Dowager looked at her, at this woman who hid daggers within silk.
"Aren't you afraid of death?"
The woman put down the book in her hand, tidied the hair casually draped over her back, and looked directly into the Empress Dowager's eyes. "I already died more than ten years ago."
"You..."
"Yin Silan, a stray dog should learn to shut its mouth," the woman said with a smile.
The Empress Dowager, no, it should be Yin Silan, looked at the woman with a sinister expression and suddenly smiled. "For so many years, you've been only a wall away from Ji Hong. You must have heard his voice, haven't you? Heard him call me Mother, heard him obey my every command..."
"Are you flustered?" the woman interrupted Yin Silan. "Because everything you've meticulously planned is about to turn into bubbles?"
"Yin Silan, it was my poor judgment of people that led to this situation, but you, you are truly stupid." The woman stood up and walked to Yin Silan's side. They were almost the same height, their faces, figures, and bearing exactly alike.
This was also why Yin Silan had been able to impersonate the Empress Dowager for so many years without revealing any flaws.
The woman looked at Yin Silan, at this former personal maid. Before entering the palace, she had been her maid. Buying her from the human traffickers was the biggest mistake she had made in her life.