C45 Part2

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Murong Ci came to a bamboo building in the northwest called the "Shuyu Pavilion", and a servant woman led her inside.

Green and thick fern-leaf hedge bamboo were planted on both sides of the bamboo building.

The slightly cold breeze blew quietly across the bamboo branches, making the leaves sway like butterflies.

The corridor was shady and silent.

At the entrance she found Rong Zhan, from the World's Greatets Manor.

In contrast with the green bamboo background, Rong Zhan was wearing a modest white robe, with his black hair tied with a plain crown and a Jade hairpin inserted.

The smoke and water patterns of the white robe flickered with the cold breeze, free and easy.

Holding a plain fan, he gently raised the delicate chin of the servant woman,

"Can you tell me your name?"

he asked a bit frivolously, a bit elegantly and romantically, and a bit suavely.

Ignoring this, Murong Ci just came in and walked to the elegant room of the second floor.

The bamboo building was shady and refreshing, and staying inside it was indescribably cool and pleasant.

The servant woman prepared tea and brought refreshments and then left when Rong Zhan came up.

He lifted his robe and sat down.

Suddenly he leaned close to her and looked at her carefully, and said with a happy and giggling smile:

"The owner, I cleared the way just now, but you have to make up for it and my reputation afterwards."※

※※ (N.B.) I'm sure it's already clear, but just in case, to clarify, Rong Zhan acted in that frivolous way to get rid of suspects and possible spies, by clearing up the place. LOL

※※

"So, did you get that servant girl's name just now?"

She teased, took a piece of mung bean cake and ate it slowly.

"Eheh, the owner likes teasing and joking."

She did not feel embarrassed, but calmly asked back.

"Regarding what I previously asked you to check, is there a result?"

"Yes, I found the thing that the World's Greatest Manor wanted to investigate...

I would have found it even if it was from a hundred years ago."

Rong Zhan finished a piece of mung bean cake in a few bites, drank a cup of tea, and then whispered,

"King Rui and King Jing were rivals back then.

For many years, King Rui had been favored by His Majesty, but he acted extremely cautiously.

Even in his own Palace, he was also extremely careful in everything.

He secretly cleaned up his Palace several times, checking from Palace staff to servants, getting rid of those suspicious of being spies."

"Say the main point."

Murong Ci rolled her eyes silently.

"The owner, calm down and don't be impatient."

He smiled utterly.

"The King Rui respected his Queen Consort and wife, and from an outsider's perspective, King Rui and his wife were very close to each other and equally in love.

King Rui didn't have any other high-rank Consorts or Concubines, but there were a few low-rank Concubines.

I spent a lot of time visiting many people to find out that King Rui's favorite woman was a Concubine, but very few people knew about it."

"Oh? Why?

What is the Concubine's name?"

"King Rui was wise, and he did not mention about his favorite woman or bestowed her with a higher rank, nor did he treat her with a special bedroom, but simply regarded her as an ordinary Concubine."

"After those events, followed by King Rui's death, and the consequential taboo, his entire Palace and his important servants were all killed secretly.

What happened to the Concubine then?"

Murong Ci asked anxiously.

Rong Zhan drank tea unhurriedly, and then said:

"The Concubine that King Rui favored the most was named Cui Nong.

Back then, the servants of King Rui's Palace were almost all killed, and there were only a few insignificant servants left alive, that were expelled from the Palace."

'Cui Nong!

Unexpectedly, that same Cui Nong of the Spring Wuyuan Courtyard was not a simple servant of King Rui, but his favorite Concubine!?'

She rubbed her eyebrows, feeling more and more confused,

"Don't you think it's strange that there used to be a woman named Cui Nong in the Spring Wuyuan Courtyard?

How was she able to return and enter the Palace again?"

He nodded,

"It's really strange.

If King Rui intended to save the life of his favorite Concubines Cui Nong, by letting her escape from the Palace as a maidservant, she should have escaped from Luoyang City. Why would she enter the Palace again instead?"

Murong Ci speculated:

"Perhaps something wrong happened back then, and she had to return to the Palace; or perhaps she was so grateful for King Rui's favor and vowed to avenge King Rui, so she did everything possible to re-enter the Palace, but she did not expect to get trapped in the Spring Wuyuan Courtyard."

Rong Zhan said flatly,

"I also think she entered the Palace with a vengeful heart."

"However, stuck in the Spring Wuyuan Courtyard, she was burned to death five or six years ago..."

"As a famous saying tells, 'beautiful women are likely to end up in misery'...and I guess in the Palace, this is even more true."

"I still think that Cui Nong's case must have a lot of more interesting aspects to it, and there might be secrets that even those people you asked to didn't even know about, but I can't figure them out at the moment."

"Cui Nong was full of revenge, and it's unlikely that she had been in idle in the Palace for so many years."

Afterwards, the two of them changed the topic of the conversation and talked about the World's Greatest Manor again.

Only then did Murong Ci leave Shuyu Pavilion.

Back to the East Palace, she stayed in the study room until late at night before going back to the Sleeping Hall.

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END of CHAPTER 45 PART 2

.....................to be continued