Chapter 12 Disturbance (2/2)

Yun Shang frowned. Qin Yi looked at the princess before rushing to the chamber doors and closing the curtain. ”Thank you for coming. Her Highness is getting dressing. She will be there right away.”

Qin Meng hurriedly dressed her princess. Yun Shang saw Lin waiting for her as she stepped outside. Lin rushed up to her and said, ”Someone reported Xiang Lan's accident to the Empress. And since yesterday was the fifteenth day of the month, His Majesty was sleeping in Empress Yuan Zhen's Qiwu P

alace. His Majesty has also heard the report. He is waiting for you at the pavilion at the edge of the Yanque Lake.”

Yun Shang nodded, ”I see.” Then she pouted at Qin Meng, ”See? Inauspicious topics bring bad luck. You were just wondering what would happen if my parents learned of the incident. And now they have heard the news.”

Qin Meng was scared, and answered her in a weeping tone, ”Your Highness, it wasn't intentional......”

”Don't panic. I was merely kidding. Besides, I took no part in this murder. A clean hand warrants no washing.”

When Yun Shang arrived at the Yanque Lake with her servants, she looked around. She noted that the Emperor and the Empress were standing inside the pavilion. Next to them stood Princess Hua Jing. She had a gentle and obedient look on her face. Outside the pavilion, Xiang Lan's corpse lay covered in a white cloth. Beside the body stood a man dressed in black. From his robes, she could tell that he was a coroner in the Palace.

Yun Shang stepped forward, and curtsied to the Emperor and the Empress. ”Your Majesties.”

Emperor Ning nodded, and pointed at the corpse wrapped in white cloth, ”Stand, Shang'er. Have a look at that corpse. Do you know this person?”

The coroner lifted a corner of the white cloth as Yun Shang walked up to the corpse. She flinched when she saw the soaked and swollen body. She then studied the woman's bluish-white face. After a quick look, Yun Shang turned and said in a trembling voice, ”No, I don't, father. Who is he? He looks so scary...”

This time it was Princess Hua Jing who spoke up. ”That is a she. Have a closer look, sister. She worked in your palace. Why can't you recognize her?”

”My maid?” Yun Shang turned to Qin Yi with a puzzled look.

Qin Yi hurriedly answered, ”Your Highness, she is a maid-in-waiting who cleans the courtyard in our palace. Your Highness might have never noticed, which is why you can't recognize her.”

Yun Shang nodded, and explained to the Emperor and the Empress, ”Except for a few close court ladies and chamberlains, I have little contact with the other servants. I'm too lazy to remember who they are, and so I'm not very familiar with them. But since Qin Yi has said she worked in my palace, then she must have. But why does my maids lie here, shrouded in a cloth?”

The Emperor picked up an object from the stone table and handed it to Yun Shang, ”The coroner has examined the corpse. The maid drowned. However, she was clutching some grass in her fist, and there were signs of struggle on the bank. I'm afraid someone did it on purpose. Shang'er, have a look at this bracelet. Do you know whose it is?”

Yun Shang hurriedly stepped forward, and took the bracelet from the Emperor. She scrutinized the bracelet and said, ”It looks like one from the pair of bracelets you had given me, father.”

”Looks like? It is yours. I used to see you wearing these bracelets all the time. Why aren't you wearing them today?” Princess Hua Jing asked aggressively.

Yun Shang smiled, ”I would love to, but I can't. One of my maids lost them a few days ago.”

”That is true. They have been lost for some time. I searched the whole Qinxin Hall when they were reported lost, but I couldn't find them.” Qin Meng quickly added, lest her princess would be wrongly accused by others.

”How dare you interrupt the royal conversation!” Princess Hua Jing reprimanded Qin Meng with displeasure, and continued, ”My sister's bracelets are missing? Is that your explanation?” Hua Jing took the bracelet and held it up. She spoke with a frown, ”But this one was found in the corpse's fist. Do you know how tightly her fingers were clenched around it? Sister, why is that you didn't tell us about your missing bracelets before? And how come one of them is now being found in the hand of a corpse? Sister, you always lose temper at your maids. Mother and I think you are young and bereft. And we have often indulged your whims and tantrums. But we never thought you'd go so far as to kill one of your maids.”