Chapter 102 - 83: Prince Xie
"You said Noble Lady Gu’s face turned pale with fright, and before she fled, she said something,"
Noble Princess Consort Rong sat in the seat of honor, gently stroking her ornate and exquisite nail armor as she pondered. "’Didn’t I hide you in the self-sounding clock? Don’t come for me, it was the Empress...’"
Those two sentences contained far too much information.
It was enough to overload Noble Princess Consort Rong’s low-powered CPU. She nearly rubbed her nail armor raw. Below, the little eunuch, Shi Tou, stared intently at the floor, scared to death.
"Alright, you may go and collect your reward."
To Shi Tou’s surprise, Noble Princess Consort Rong didn’t ask any more questions and simply dismissed him. Throughout his entire report, what she cared about most wasn’t the suspicious details of the incident, but how pathetic and disheveled Jiang Xian had been.
Her hands were still trembling from copying texts all last night.
Hearing about Jiang Xian’s suffering allowed Noble Princess Consort Rong to exhale a long breath of frustration. She savored the details, wishing the eunuch had brought a video camera to record it so she could replay and relish the moment.
’Oh, why wasn’t I there to see it!’
’I really wanted to see that pathetic sight of Noble Lady Gu scared witless on the ground.’
However...
"What does ’hidden in the self-sounding clock’ mean? And how did the Empress get dragged into this?" Noble Princess Consort Rong asked her palace maid, puzzled. They both pondered for a moment, and as the realization dawned on them, their expressions changed in unison.
’The little eunuch pretended to be the ghost of a woman wrongfully killed in the harem. Noble Lady Gu was terrified, and combined with the words she spoke, could it be that I, Rong Xueshi, have accidentally stumbled upon a murder and a hidden body in the harem?!’
Noble Princess Consort Rong shot to her feet. "That’s it! Last time, Ma Wanyi mentioned to me that Noble Lady Gu often visits the Emperor’s private storeroom for items from the Western World. It all adds up now, doesn’t it?"
A small lightbulb lit up above the Noble Consort’s head.
’There is only one truth—’
"Quickly! Go find out where that self-sounding clock is now for me!"
* * *
At that moment, the Emperor had just left his bedchambers.
No sooner had he left than several strong eunuchs carefully placed the self-sounding clock into a long, soft-padded box. Grunting with effort, they carried it to Qiankun Palace, ensuring the Emperor would see it when he arrived there to handle his affairs after court.
"This thing from the Western World is really heavy. They say you can tell the hour with it anytime, anywhere, but who could possibly carry this around with them?" a new eunuch assigned to manual labor complained with a pained expression.
"Still complaining? Work a day on duty in the imperial court, and you’ll understand its benefits," another, more experienced eunuch shot him a sidelong glance.
The man dared not complain further.
’But deep down, he was unconvinced. For servants like us, a sense of time is etched into our very instincts. We don’t need a self-sounding clock to know roughly what hour it is.’
The old eunuch scoffed internally. ’The benefits of the self-sounding clock have little to do with telling time!’
During court today, the court discussed the issue of flooding in the south. The debate centered on who should be sent to repair the dikes, how to fund the repairs for the Yellow River, and in the middle of the discussion, someone mentioned Prince Xie.
The moment Prince Xie’s name was mentioned, the entire court fell silent for a moment.
The relationship between the two Royal Family brothers was extremely delicate. Whether the Emperor kept him in the Capital to keep him under control, or because his own position was secure and he intended to develop his brother into a right-hand man, was still an unknown.
After all, Prince Xie had once been a powerful contender for the throne.
After the late Emperor issued the decree of succession, he had even issued a second decree at the same time, changing Prince Xie’s name from one that was more dignified and meaningful to the common, ordinary character for "tower."
And so, the high-spirited Prince Xie became Prince Xie who had no interest in courtly matters.
The Emperor lowered his gaze. "And what is Prince Xie’s opinion?"
The handsome man standing below seemed oblivious to the deeper meaning behind being called upon. He laughed brightly. "Your Majesty, where is the Yellow River?"
"..."
’Quick, someone help me go look at Xian’er’s note for the day, or I’m going to die of anger on this Dragon Throne sooner or later.’