mtl008 Chapter 217 General Shi is Impeached
Chapter 217 General Shi is Impeached
While changing into the clothes that Duan Yi'an had sent, Zhai Yun instructed Xiao Nian, "Just stay in the room and don't run out. It'll be troublesome if someone finds out."
Xiao Nian thought she would be freer here, but she didn't expect that she still couldn't do whatever she wanted, so she lowered her head.
It was getting late, so Zhai Yun summoned her guards before leaving. After confirming that someone was there to meet her, she flew out of the Prince Rui's mansion from the backyard of Tingyu Pavilion.
A man was waiting at the corner of the Prince Rui's mansion. He was sent by Duan Yi'an to meet him. When Zhai Yun came out, he led her around several alleys and met up with another person from the Dali Temple.
He would take Zhai Yun to the Imperial Household Department to meet Duan Yi'an. In order to avoid attracting attention, they would take secret alleys. When they arrived at the palace gate, the court session had just ended.
Zhai Yun lowered her eyes and waited for her and the palace gate guards to show their passes and identification tags.
The carriage of Prince Rui's mansion was particularly eye-catching. Zhai Yun only needed to glance to the side to see Feng Chenyi and Qi Nuo standing next to the carriage. The moment their eyes met, Zhai Yun forced a smile.
Noticing that the people in front of her had already been allowed to enter the palace gates, Zhai Yun quickly followed.
Once inside the palace gates, they encountered only patrolling imperial guards, and the journey proceeded smoothly. As they approached the Imperial Household Department, Zhai Yun spotted a figure in court attire waiting there in the distance.
She hadn't seen Duan Yi'an for a long time. His official robes from the Dali Temple made him look even more refined and otherworldly. His handsome face was even more fair and clear. He was a promising young talent.
He watched Zhai Yun approach from afar, a clean smile spreading across his face. To make the performance convincing, Zhai Yun bowed as she reached his side: "Lord Duan, your subordinate has arrived."
Duan Yi'an smiled and nodded, leading the two of them toward the Imperial Household Department. The people of the Imperial Household Department all bowed respectfully to him.
As soon as they entered the Imperial Household Department, the steward of the department came to greet them. He was very familiar with Duan Yi'an and led the three of them directly to the place where the list of palace maids was kept without saying a word.
The sharp-eyed Zhai Yun saw Duan Yi'an slip him a gold ingot and invite him to a drinking party at the palace another day. The man happily agreed, saying he wouldn't disturb them while they were looking for something, and left first.
Zhai Yun and the other two entered the file room. Seeing that no one was around, Duan Yi'an slowly said, "The Imperial Household Department has countless files. This is only for the palace maids and eunuchs. You can look for it first."
After Duan Yi'an finished speaking, he ordered his men to find the necessary files, and then gestured for Zhai Yun to follow him.
It wasn't until they reached a very old shelf that Duan Yi'an picked up a scroll and opened it. "This is all the files and rosters from the year Consort Chen had her accident."
After Duan Yi'an finished speaking, he handed the list of palace maids in his hand to Zhai Yun, and then flipped through another scroll to look at it himself.
Zhai Yun took the roster and saw that it clearly recorded the list of palace maids to be transferred. However, the list alone was not enough; she still had to search and compare to see which palace maids had suspicious movements in which year.
Zhai Yun and Duan Yi'an searched through the books one by one. Countless palace maids entered and left the palace every year, and it was not easy to find anything suspicious among them.
Finally, after searching, all the files that the Dali Temple needed were found, and the man went out to stand guard at the door.
Duan Yi'an found the records of the palace ladies leaving the palace in one of the volumes. He found the records of Consort Chen leaving the palace and found that there were indeed only twenty-two palace women who followed her out of the palace.
Duan Yi'an quickly looked up all the palace maids' travel records according to the date of the day. As if she had discovered something, Duan Yi'an leaned close to Zhai Yun and said, "Look here."
Zhai Yun leaned closer to look at the lines of text that Duan Yi'an was pointing to: "In the twenty-sixth year of Emperor Xing'an, two palace maids, Zhi Rou and Zhi Ruo, left the palace to retrieve jewelry on the orders of Consort Su."
Lianxin and Caimeng were ordered by the Empress to leave the palace to make purchases. Accompanying them was a eunuch named Xiaohezi.
Upon making the discovery, Zhai Yun reviewed the records of those who had returned to the palace and found that several palace maids had left the palace that day and never returned. Zhai Yun exclaimed excitedly, "Find out their hometowns!"
During this time, people from the Imperial Household Department came to urge them several times, saying that the palace gates were about to be locked. They had only found the hometowns of Lianxin, Zhirou, and Xiaohezi. Zhai Yun thought that since they were all from the same palace, it should be enough. They would think of another way later.
Before the palace gates were locked, the three of them left the palace. Duan Yi'an first sent his men away, and then personally escorted Zhai Yun to the Prince Rui's residence.
The streets were nearly deserted by now, with only a few scattered late-night food stalls. Reaching a wonton stall, Duan Yi'an stopped Zhai Yun. "The wontons here are especially delicious, would you like to try some?"
After searching for several hours without having eaten dinner, Zhai Yun was also hungry. She thought that there were guards around, and if there were any special circumstances or if she was being followed, they would take care of it.
Zhai Yun happily walked to the stall and sat down. The stall owner greeted Duan Yi'an warmly, saying, "Lord Duan, you've come again."
Duan Yi'an smiled and replied, "Yes, two bowls."
Seeing how familiar Duan Yi'an was with the vendors, Zhai Yun couldn't help but ask, "Does Lord Duan come here often? It must be hard being alone at home!"
Just thinking about how he'll have to eat alone at home after his mother leaves is so boring.
Duan Yi'an looked up at Zhai Yun for a moment, and when he realized that Zhai Yun was not pitying him, but mocking herself, and that they were actually in the same boat, he felt no more resentment. "When Dali Temple is handling cases, we often don't eat properly, so we just eat whatever we can when we get home at night."
The stall owner brought over the wontons. Duan Yi'an took the chopsticks, and Zhai Yun took a bite. "They're really good, light and delicious."
Duan Yi'an laughed. He thought that Zhai Yun, who was used to eating delicacies, would not be used to these. Unexpectedly, Zhai Yun ate them even more deliciously than he did. Watching her eat with great relish, Duan Yi'an felt that the wontons seemed to taste better than before.
Zhai Yun noticed Duan Yi'an's gaze, swallowed the wonton in her mouth, and said, "I'm not a soft-hearted person."
Duan Yi'an was stunned for a moment, then seemed to understand what Zhai Yun was referring to, and said with a smile: "My mother used to damage her health while farming. Since she was with me, I couldn't take care of her by her side, let alone give her the best medicine. I feel very at ease with her at the Prince Rui's residence. I saw her a few days ago, and she looked rosy and much better."
Although someone had informed Qi Nuo beforehand, Zhai Yun still wanted to say it to her personally: "You will not see your mother for a long time. Recently, Consort Tian has been restless in the mansion."
Upon hearing this, Duan Yi'an showed no particular expression, simply saying indifferently, "Today, the Crown Prince impeached General Shi in court."
Zhai Yun looked up at Duan Yi'an in surprise, a vague unease creeping into her heart.
Seeing Zhai Yun's reaction, Duan Yi'an knew that Zhai Yun was still unaware, so he simply continued, "During the war in the Northern Wilderness, a batch of weapons of unknown origin appeared, and the quality of these weapons was comparable to that of the imperial weapons."
Upon hearing this, Zhai Yun smiled bitterly. The weapons sent by the imperial court were defective, and with the war approaching, they had no choice but to procure additional weapons.