"Reporting to Young Master Shen, this servant is unaware. His Highness the Crown Prince only sent this servant to invite Young Master Shen, saying it was extremely urgent!" The little eunuch lowered his head slightly, breathing rapidly, clearly due to his hurried pace.
Shen Lixue lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment: "Please lead the way, Eunuch!"
Lu Jiangfeng loosened the reins and walked over slowly, his voice gentle and refined: "Brother Shen, you are new to the palace and unfamiliar with the terrain, so I will accompany you!"
Shen Lixue glanced at the palace lanterns at the entrance and the completely darkened sky: "Third Young Master, it's already dark. It might not be appropriate for the Old Madam and the Lady of the Marquis to go back alone. This is the Imperial Palace. With this eunuch leading the way, I won't get lost..."
The capital of Xiliang is very peaceful, but unexpected events cannot be ruled out. The old lady and the lady of the Marquis are both weak women, and the servants are not very skilled in martial arts. Lu Jiangfeng was really worried about them. After a moment's thought, he solemnly instructed, "Be extra careful!"
"I know!" Shen Lixue nodded, watching Lu Jiangfeng board the fast horse and escort the Zhenguo Marquis's carriage away quickly.
He turned to the young eunuch and said, "Please lead the way, sir!"
Entering the palace again, they slowly walked along the bluestone path lit by lanterns. This time, they were not going to the banquet hall, but to the Qianqing Palace where Ye Qianlong was. The path they took was also relatively narrow and a bit out of the way.
After walking for about half an incense stick's time, the little eunuch stopped in front of a palace, pointed at it and said, "Young Master Shen, please. His Highness the Crown Prince is inside!"
Shen Lixue smiled slightly, looking at the top of the eunuch's gauze hat: "Thank you for your trouble, sir. Why have you been keeping your head down the whole way?"
The little eunuch lowered his head even further: "Young Master Shen, in the palace, servants always walk with their heads down!"
Shen Lixue smiled. She had been to the Qingyan Palace many times, and the eunuchs did indeed walk with their heads down, but she had never seen a young eunuch so low-hanging. It was as if he was trying his best to keep his face down so that no one could see his face.
"Thank you for leading the way, Eunuch!" Shen Lixue smiled brightly, her beautiful eyes filled with a clear and bright light. She took out a tael of silver and stuffed it into the little eunuch's hand before turning and walking towards the Qianqing Palace.
The young eunuch weighed the silver in his hand, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes. When he saw Shen Lixue push open the door of the Qianqing Palace, his gaze darkened, and he quickly ran away.
"Squeak!" The palace gate slowly opened, the slight sound unusually loud in the quiet Qianqing Palace.
Shen Lixue stood at the door and peered inside. The palace was empty, without a single person in sight. Large luminous pearls were embedded in the walls, illuminating the magnificent palace as bright as day.
"Your Highness!" Shen Lixue called out tentatively, but there was no response. The luminous pearl shone quietly, and the room was peaceful.
"Your Highness!" Shen Lixue's cold gaze sharpened as she called out and entered the palace bathed in warm light.
With a loud bang, the wide-open palace doors slammed shut behind her. Shen Lixue's gaze sharpened, and she pushed the doors forcefully, but they remained firmly locked from the outside. A figure in emerald green rushed over and collapsed in front of Shen Lixue, wailing in alarm, "Help! Someone help me! This lecherous man has defiled my innocence..."
Shen Lixue looked down and saw that the emerald green figure was a woman. Her clothes were disheveled, her hair was messy, and she was crying with tears streaming down her face. She was naked from the waist down, and bright red blood stained her snow-white thighs, which was very conspicuous.
Shen Lixue was already married, so of course she knew that it was a woman's first blood. Considering the scene before her, it wasn't hard to guess that the woman in green had just been defiled and someone wanted to defile her.
"Quickly, catch the thieves!" A sharp shout accompanied by hurried footsteps approached from afar. Judging from the sound, there were quite a few people coming. Shen Lixue blinked helplessly, cold sweat seeping from her forehead. Looking at the smooth wall, she was utterly speechless. If they wanted to frame her, they could have burned, killed, looted, or committed arson. But they actually used this most primitive method: forcibly taking a palace maid!
She's a woman too, how could she forcibly take a palace maid?
---Aside---
(*^__^*) Hehe... It's really the end of the month! If you guys don't throw away your tickets now, they'll really go to waste! Don't waste them, haha!
Chapter 175 A life of debauchery leads to loss of official position and demotion.
The cunning princess consort, 175cm tall, engages in passionate lovemaking, resulting in the loss of her official position and job.
"Bang!" The tightly closed palace doors were violently flung open, and a large number of guards rushed in, surrounding Shen Lixue and the green-clad palace maid. Sharp, gleaming swords were drawn, their tips pointed at Shen Lixue in the center.
Consort Shu, supported by a palace maid, gracefully entered the palace. Upon seeing Shen Lixue, she feigned surprise and said, "Young Master Shen."
"Your Highness, Consort Shu!" Shen Lixue nodded slightly, her smile faint, her cool gaze sweeping over the twenty or thirty imperial guards in the room. Was there anything she didn't understand?
The palace maid incident was deliberately orchestrated by Consort Shu. If it had been set up in Chang Le Palace, whether Shen Lixue would have been caught up in it would have been secondary. The palace maids in Chang Le Palace first had affairs with guards, and then were forcibly taken by others. With palace maids getting into trouble so frequently, Consort Shu, as the head of the palace, was far too incompetent.
Now, the scheme is set up in the Qianqing Palace, and the Empress Dowager has severed ties with the palace guards. The guards are highly skilled in martial arts and numerous in number. If Shen Lixue is caught on the spot and tries to escape, there will definitely be a fierce fight, which will further confirm her crime of forcibly taking a palace maid. If the Empress Dowager takes the opportunity to kill her, no one will say much.
Hehe, Consort Shu really went to great lengths to win her over.
"Your Majesty, please do justice for this servant!" The woman in green crawled to Consort Shu's feet, sobbing and crying. She clutched her disheveled clothes with one hand and tugged at Consort Shu's skirt with the other, crying pitifully.
"Lvzhi, what happened to you?" Consort Shu seemed to have just seen the disheveled green-clad palace maid. Looking at her messy clothes and swollen eyes, her beautiful eyes flashed with deep shock.
"Your Majesty, I was making the bed for His Highness the Crown Prince when he suddenly barged in. Ignoring my cries and pleas, he forcibly took me..." Green Branch pointed at Shen Lixue, hysterically accusing her and wailing, as if she had really been forcibly taken by Shen Lixue and was in unbearable pain.
Consort Shu's sharp gaze suddenly shot towards Shen Lixue, and she said angrily, "Shen Lixue, I never thought that you, who are full of learning and spouting benevolence and morality, would be such a hypocrite, actually doing such a despicable and shameless thing..."
Shen Lixue curled her lips into a cold smile, her clear gaze sweeping over Green Branch. Consort Shu, these two, mistress and servant, cooperated perfectly: "Your Highness Consort Shu, you have made a hasty judgment and sentenced this commoner to a heavy crime based on only one side of the story. This is far too arbitrary!"
"Green Branch's clothes are disheveled, she was forcibly taken, how could that be fake?" Consort Shu's tone was icy, her gaze sharp.
Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "It is indeed Miss Lüzhi, but there are many men in this palace. Why does Your Majesty assume that the person who forcibly took her must be a commoner?"
"This is His Highness the Crown Prince's Qianqing Palace. The guards are all standing guard outside and dare not barge in. When I first entered, there was only one man in the palace, Young Master Shen. The victim, Lüzhi, witnessed it herself and spoke about it. How could you possibly wrong Young Master Shen?" Consort Shu's gaze sharpened, and her voice suddenly rose a octave, her expression stern.
Shen Lixue glanced at Lüzhi, whose clothes were disheveled and who was crying with tears streaming down her face: "She has wronged this commoner!"
"I saw it all clearly—you forced yourself on me!" Green Branch glared angrily at Shen Lixue, crying pitifully, "Hypocrite, shameless scoundrel!"
"You have no grudge against her, so why would she frame you?" Consort Shu raised an eyebrow at Shen Lixue, who was well-read and eloquent. No matter, Shen Lixue had already fallen into her trap and wouldn't be able to escape unscathed.
"This humble subject is handsome and dignified, and skilled in both literature and martial arts. He defeated General Mu Tao at the Chrysanthemum Banquet and is admired by many women. Even Princess Qian Yue seems to have some hazy feelings for this humble subject. It is not impossible that Green Branch was forcibly taken by the ugly woman and took a fancy to this humble subject's appearance, and deliberately framed him."
Shen Lixue raised her chin slightly, her tone arrogant, looking self-important. Mu Tao, as a border general, was defeated by the unknown Shen Lixue, which was a disgrace to the entire Mu State Duke's Mansion. Shen Lixue deliberately brought up this matter to provoke Consort Shu.
Consort Shu was indeed speechless with anger. She had seen many handsome and confident people, but she had never seen anyone like Shen Li who had such a high opinion of himself. Shen Li was indeed handsome, but he was like a woman, very effeminate, and lacked any masculine vigor. She didn't like him at all.
"Your Majesty, this villain is gloating over his evil deeds and has insulted me! Please, you must do justice for me!" Green Branch cried hysterically, her face streaked with tears.
“Young Master Shen is truly eloquent. In the dead of night, you should be resting at the Marquis of Zhenguo’s residence. Why are you at the Crown Prince’s Qianqing Palace?” Shen Li argued illogically, but Consort Shu found so-called evidence to convince him.
"Your Majesty is wise. I only came to the Qianqing Palace to pay my respects because His Highness the Crown Prince summoned me," Shen Lixue replied calmly with a gentle smile.