Chapter 90 (1/2)

Chapter 90: Cleaning House

Jun Huang paused. The maid must have mistaken her for an official. She didn't correct her. Being seen as an official would help her more than being seen as a servant. She cupped her hands in greeting. ”I came with a concubine of the crown prince. On our way, I was distracted by the beautiful flowers. When I realized it the lady was already nowhere to be seen. This gentleman doesn't know my way around the palace. That's how I ended up here.”

The maid was naive. She thought that Jun Huang looked like an honest man. She readily accepted Jun Huang's explanation. ”Do you know where the lady was going to?”

”To Consort Zhen's place, of course.”

”If that's the case, this servant will take you there.” She led Jun Huang towards Consort Zhen's palace. Jun Huang sneaked a look at the Cold Palace behind her before continuing to follow the maid. They took many turns through the hallway and finally arrived at their destination.

The maid had other matters to attend to, so she left right after dropping Jun Huang at the door. After she had left, Jun Huang turned to look at the extravagant palace. This place was night and day to the Cold Palace. The banished empress must have had quite a breakdown when she first moved out.

She could hear Rou'er bidding farewell to Consort Zhen. Consort Zhen was going to walk her out, but Rou'er turned her down. It had started to drizzle. Consort Zhen didn't argue. She ordered someone to bring Rou'er an umbrella.

Rou'er thanked her before walking out with the umbrella. Jun Huang only caught up to her after she had walked quite a long distance. Rou'er let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Jun Huang was able to make it. ”Have you done what you came here to do?”

Jun Huang nodded, looking into the distance. Rou'er could tell Jun Huang didn't want to explain, so she didn't ask. She silently held the umbrella towards Jun Huang.

Jun Huang accompanied Rou'er back to Prince Chen Manor in order to not rouse suspicion. When they said goodbye, Jun Huang told Rou'er, ”I have matters to discuss with Qi Yun. Please ask Qi Yun to meet me back at my place when you have the chance. It's better that I don't go to him personally.”

Rou'er nodded. Jun Huang left without saying another word. In the hallway, Rou'er watched Jun Huang go until Jun Huang disappeared at the street corner.

Qi Yun visited Jun Huang not long after. He scowled at her. It didn't take long for Jun Huang to figure out why he was angry. Rou'er must have said something about Jun Huang's visit to the palace when she talked to him.

Qi Yun frowned at her. ”Didn't we agree that you should tell me when you're going to do something risky? You can't just go to the palace recklessly! What if something happened to you?”

Jun Huang gave him a meaningful look as she poured him a cup of tea. ”One cannot achieve great things if they keep dwelling on what can go wrong like you do. You know as well as I do that you can't catch a tiger cub without venturing into a tiger den.”

Jun Huang had a way with words. Qi Yun didn't know how he could argue with that. He sighed in frustration.

Jun Huang took out a token and showed it to Qi Yun. He widened his eyes. He recognized the token to be one belonging to the royal uncle. He didn't know how Jun Huang got hold of it. She had to dress as a man just to walk freely in the imperial city!

”This is what I went to the palace for,” said Jun Huang.

Now Qi Yun understood Jun Huang's intentions. They could not possibly achieve their goals on their own. Nan Xun had always stayed neutral without helping or hindering anyone's cause. Despite holding control over the army, he didn't know that many officials in the imperial city. The royal uncle was different.

The royal uncle was the banished empress's brother. More importantly, he held an important position in the court, and he enjoyed the favor of the emperor. Many officials were eager to stay on his good side.

Qi Yun still had one question. ”Weren't you worried that the empress would sell you out when you visited her on your own?”

”She wouldn't,” Jun Huang said confidently. She got to her feet and looked up at the raindrops lining the bottom of the roof. ”She's trapped in the Cold Palace, and the former crown prince has pa.s.sed away. The royal uncle is the only one she can depend on. He, however, doesn't live in the palace. It's not that easy for them to meet up. It doesn't matter who it is. As long as there's someone who offers her the one thing she wants the most, she'll accept readily.”

”She's determined to avenge the death of her son. Otherwise, why would she try so hard to remind the emperor of their past? If Consort Zhen hadn't intervened, Consort Ping would have been allowed to move back to the Phoenix Palace already.”

Her a.n.a.lysis had answered all the questions he had had. Qi Yun hadn't realized that Jun Huang was such a good strategist. If she had been a man, she would have gone down in history as a legendary figure.

It took a while for Qi Yun to remember what they were here for. ”Why did you ask me to come?”

Jun Huang looked at him with bright eyes. ”We have to get pure-hearted officials on our side.”

Qi Yun frowned. He had been learning how to govern a country in the privacy of his own chamber, but there were many things he didn't know as well as Jun Huang did. He was a little confused. ”What do you mean by pure-hearted officials?”