Hai Ling glanced around, and finally her gaze fell on Xi Liang of the Cangwang Mansion. She nodded to Xi Liang.
Xi Liang naturally knew what it meant, and stood up with a smile.
"Your Majesty the Empress is kind and compassionate, so we certainly have no choice but to donate. I will be the first to do so. Although Xi Liang doesn't have much money, he has some savings that he has accumulated over time. I will donate 871 taels today."
In fact, Xi Liang still had a lot of silver in her hands. Of course, given her current status, she couldn't donate more, because she was just a minor princess of the Cangwang Mansion. The fact that she could donate more than 800 taels of silver meant that she had donated all of her personal savings.
As expected, the moment Xi Liang made his move, the women below began to murmur amongst themselves.
The people from the Ningnan Marquis's residence were the first to stand up: "Our Ningnan Marquis's residence will donate three thousand taels."
Donating money is an art. Donating too much will not only be unpopular but will also arouse suspicion. Donating too little will be ridiculed by other families. Therefore, when the Ningnan Marquis's family made a donation, other families followed suit, and most of them donated two or three thousand taels at a time.
Although these women donated money, they were very unwilling, but they couldn't refuse because of the Empress's presence.
Princess Zhaoyang, Feng Yao, and Princess Anyang, Yan Xiaoxiao, both had extremely unpleasant expressions, but they couldn't retaliate because this woman was clearly trying to rob them.
How much money could a Baojitang cost? Everyone donated so much money, and the rest just went into her own pocket. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, but there was nothing she could do. After all, she was the Empress, and they were just princesses.
By the time the money had been almost donated, it was getting late, and everyone had eaten their fill, feeling quite depressed.
Finally, Hailin added with a smile.
"Today, I realized that everyone here is charitable. I will definitely work with everyone to do more of these things in the future."
Half of the people looked sullen, seething with anger, but there was nothing they could do.
Finally, Hailing had these noblewomen escorted out of the palace, while she herself stayed in the palace to relax.
Laughter filled the main hall of the Qingqian Palace.
Xi Liang clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he almost burst out laughing just thinking about the faces of those women from before.
"Ling'er, didn't you see how those women were so angry their faces turned green, how they wanted to lash out but couldn't? It was so funny."
"These women are really stingy. They wear fine silks and eat expensive food, but some people outside can't even afford to eat. When asked to donate a little money, they act like their own mothers have died. They have no conscience at all."
Hailin snorted coldly, utterly disdainful.
"Alright, stop worrying about them. Anyway, it's good that you got the money smoothly. Let's think about how Baojitang will arrange things. I'll go and support you when Baojitang opens."
"Alright, let's talk about this when Mei'er comes back."
She planned to hand over Baojitang to Shimei and let her manage it.
As the two were talking, they saw a eunuch rush in from outside the palace gate with a pale face. He rushed into the main hall and cried out in panic.
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"
Upon hearing this, Hai Ling was confused and asked coldly, "Speak slowly, what happened?"
"This morning, the bodies of nearly ten palace maids were found in an abandoned well. The bodies were truly horrifying."
"What?"
Not only Hailing's expression changed, but the expressions of many people in the hall also changed. Just hearing about it was frightening: palace maids had been killed, and not just one or two, but nearly ten.
Hai Ling got up and led Xi Liang, following behind the little eunuch, straight to the abandoned dry well. There, she saw that the eunuchs and palace maids in the harem were all pale-faced, clearly frightened.
When Hailing and Xiliang arrived, the abandoned well was surrounded by people, who all knelt down when they saw Hailing appear.
The bodies that had been pulled from the water were now laid out in rows, each covered with a white sheet.
Hai Ling was about to go over and check when Shi Lan and the others behind her quickly stopped her.
"Your Majesty, you mustn't."
However, Hai Ling ignored them and walked straight over, lifting the white cloth. She saw that the corpses were completely shriveled, without any moisture. Their eyes were wide open and their mouths were agape, which was extremely horrifying. There were two black tooth holes on their necks, clearly indicating that they had been bitten. Moreover, the blood on their bodies had been bitten away bit by bit, which was why they were so dry and horrifying.
Xi Liang glanced behind Hai Ling and said in a deep voice, "I'm afraid this is some kind of evil technique that requires the blood of a virgin, which is why she died such a gruesome death."
"Absurd! How could such a person exist in the palace?"
Hailin stood up and paced around the abandoned well.
The palace maids kneeling around him were all in a panic, and some of the more timid ones even started to cry.
Hai Ling coldly surveyed her surroundings, preparing to give the order for the palace guards to begin searching every corner of the palace, determined to find this person.
In the distance, a eunuch's voice rang out: "The Emperor has arrived."
Unexpectedly, this matter alarmed Ye Lingfeng. Ye Lingfeng led his people over in large strides, and as soon as he saw Hai Ling, he asked her with concern.
"How are you? Are you alright?"
Hai Ling shook her head. She was fine, but the corpse was too horrifying.
"Your Majesty, I never expected such a thing to happen in the palace. We must investigate thoroughly and leave no stone unturned."
Ye Lingfeng nodded, glanced around, and found that the eunuchs and palace maids by the abandoned well were all pale-faced. Many of the palace maids had tears in their eyes, and some of the more timid ones had even fainted from fright, fearing that they would be the next unlucky ones to suffer.
"Guards, immediately conduct a thorough search of the entire palace, leaving no place unchecked."
At the Emperor's command, the palace guards began to patrol every place, leaving no stone unturned. However, after searching for most of the day, they found nothing, but they did alarm the Empress Dowager.
Inside Cixi Palace, the Empress Dowager looked pale and glanced at Ye Lingfeng and Hai Ling.
"I've heard that someone has infiltrated the palace and killed nearly ten palace maids?"