“Being so far away from home, it’s inevitable to feel homesick…
"Once, when I was secretly crying because I was homesick, I happened to meet Xiao Dezi. He comforted me.
"Later he said... the older eunuch in the palace had a relationship with the palace maid... and asked the slave if he was willing. If he was willing, he would give him a lock of hair as a token.
"I know I'm wrong! I know I'm wrong! But I didn't steal anything from the palace. Please tell me!"
When the little palace maid said "yes to food", the palace people in the palace changed their expressions slightly, some were shy and some were disdainful.
Wen Jin smiled coldly.
"I only said that you gave something from the palace to others, but I didn't say what it was.
"Why do you think of hair all of a sudden? Since that hair is yours, why do you think that 'things in the temple' refers to it?"
Wen Jin looked at the other palace people in the palace.
"If you are wrongly accused and I say that you took things from the palace and gave them to others, what will be the first thing you think of?"
The little palace maid took a breath of air and turned pale.
Other people in the palace were talking about it, "Yeah, why did you think about hair?"
"I will definitely think of gold and silver, or something valuable."
"I wouldn't have thought of anything...because I didn't take anything. And I wouldn't have thought of hair. How outrageous!"
The more talk there was around, the paler the little palace maid's face turned.
"Take the hair from my comb and give it to the eunuchs in the Supreme Palace." Wen Jin said slowly.
The little palace maid shook her head repeatedly, "No, I don't dare. I'm unjust."
"Go back to your Majesty!" A nun came forward and said, "I went to inquire. The eunuch is from Wuding in the west. This maid is from Danyang."
Everyone in the hall was in an uproar.
"One is in the northwest and the other is in the southeast. This fellow is not close..."
The little palace maid knelt there, teetering.
Wen Jin's cold gaze kept falling on her.
She couldn't bear the pressure and burst into tears.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me, I made a mistake... I know I was wrong!"
"He said he wanted some hair from the queen... The slave thought, if it's not gold or silver, even if he doesn't give it to him, won't a few hairs fall off when grandma combs the hair every day?
"The slaves either plucked them from the queen's head... or picked them up from the ground..."
Wen Jin sneered, "From what you say, you think this is not a serious crime?"
The little palace maid sniffed, lowered her head and said nothing.
But her silence expressed exactly this.
What could be wrong with her picking up a few hairs that fell on the ground?
"The slave is at fault..." she muttered.
Wen Jin called the nanny who was in charge of the rules to come forward and said.
Mammy said with a straight face and a serious smile, "My master's belongings, even if it is a hair, nail clippings, sachets and sachets used for personal use... they must be destroyed and cannot fall into the hands of malicious people. You go to the palace to learn." My grandma taught me all the rules.
"If you pick up the master's hair today, the nun who combs the hair and the maid who cleans the dressing table will all be punished!"
After Mammy finished speaking, Mammy who was combing her hair and Qingmei who was cleaning up the dressing table both stood up.
Qingmei's face was full of shame.
"According to the palace law, each person is punished with twenty sticks. The punishment is one month and half a year's profit."
Qingmei lowered her head and was quietly dragged away by the palace guards.
The little maid looked at Qingmei in surprise... That was the eldest maid who was serving the empress personally! He actually hit me right away?
Not long after, the dull sound of a board falling on meat was heard in the yard.
boom! boom!
Every stroke of the stick hurts.
The expressions of everyone in the hall changed.
The palace guests who were either gloating over the misfortune or watching the excitement... were now holding their breath and concentrating, not daring to speak, or even daring to glance around.
A noble palace maid like Qingmei was beaten, how could they still be more honorable than Qingmei?
"Your Majesty, please forgive me! I know my mistake! I really know my mistake!" The little palace maid kowtowed quickly.
Her expression of disobedience and dissatisfaction just now turned into panic.
"I haven't talked about you yet," said the nun who was in charge of the palace rules. "After the blood was shed, you stole my queen's hair and gave it to others... If others use this thing to do witchcraft, you will be harmed." The murderer of the empress!
"After you were captured, not only did you not repent, you refused to plead guilty. You even made up lies again and again to deceive the queen in public!
"Not only have you committed a capital crime, you are also implicated."
Grandma was talking.
Fengchun came back from outside with a white face.
Wen Jin couldn't help but worry when he saw her expression was so bad, and waved her hand to ask her to stop first.
Fengchun stepped forward quickly and said in Wen Jin's ear, "The little eunuch gave something to the Supreme Emperor.
"The Emperor went to the backyard and saw a big bird. He tied the purse to the big bird's leg and let it go."
Fengchun gasped.
That was definitely not what made her nervous.
Although spying on the Supreme Emperor is very exciting...
"My maid saw that Ji Xiang secretly watched all this, whether intentionally or unintentionally..."
"But he didn't hide well and was discovered... The Supreme Emperor asked someone to capture Ji Xiang..."
Fengchun swallowed hard, breathing slightly tight.
"The Supreme Emperor had his head pressed into a water tank... and he drowned.
"My maid watched helplessly, but...but...there was nothing I could do."
Fengchun clenched his fists, lowered his head, and his eye circles were slightly red.
When he was in the palace before, Jixiang often ran to Renhe Palace, sometimes to pick up things and sometimes to send messages.
The auspicious person is very smart and always smiles and is polite when meeting others.
Fengchun is also familiar with him. Every time they meet, he salutes respectfully and calls "Sister Fengchun" eagerly.
Just looking at a living person, in front of him... being held down in the water, he was struggling, begging for mercy, flailing his hands and feet... until he finally became motionless.
When he was pulled out of the water tank, he had no breath.
Fengchun felt that at that moment, Ji Xiang was not the only one who was suffocated by the water.
Even she felt extremely suffocated.
Wen Jin closed her eyes and exhaled a long breath. She looked coldly at the little palace maid kneeling below.
"You have already killed a palace man." Wen Jin said coldly.
If only that hair had no other purpose.
Why did Ji Xiang die?
"Mommy, go ahead." Wen Jin said.
Mammy stepped forward and read out the palace rules, "...According to the law, you will be killed with a stick and your body will be exposed for three days.
"Everyone in the palace who is on duty at the same time as you will be implicated and punished with twenty sticks."
The people in the palace gasped in surprise and glanced at the Queen eagerly.
The Queen has always been kind...she will definitely deal with it leniently, right?
But everyone saw the Queen closing her eyes, waving her hands, and acquiescing to all the punishments.
Everyone was secretly shocked.
Since returning from Fengchun, the aura of the empress has become much colder than before.
Fengchun is the first-class female official next to the empress. She has always been calm and composed...but now her face is so pale and ugly.
Is it all because of this little palace maid's "stealing of hair"?
Even those who were on duty at the same time as the little palace maid were punished.
Everyone in the palace is in danger.
The people of Renhe Palace, who had always been the most relaxed and at ease, suddenly experienced a sudden change in the palace.
Everyone is becoming more cautious in doing things.
Some thoughtful palace residents even found older nuns to review the palace rules.
