zChapter 1260 - YeXi] Borrowing a knife (1/2)

The unexpected news from Northern Li concerned none other than the matter of the “empty red envelopes.” The organization in charge of distributing disaster relief in Northern Li was one called Musi (牧司). Recently, it had received two sealed red envelope donations—the same duo that had been gifted to Baili Lixiang and the late Madam Baili. They were also two of the ten red envelopes that Han Yunxi had personally mailed out.

The envelopes hadn’t been touched when they were sent to Musi, where its director recognized them as the empress’s personally gifted red envelopes for the New Year’s. However, he realized after a single touch that they were empty inside. The foolish director even unsealed the envelopes personally to confirm that they were, indeed, empty.

All donations received had to be publicized. The director didn’t know how to deal with the matter and was about to find his superiors when he ran into Jin Zi by chance. Jin Zi thus suppressed all news and reported the matter directly to Yunning Palace. Han Yunxi was quite calm after finding out. First, she sent people to ask Baili Mingxiang whether she had mentioned the empty red envelopes with her siblings. If the red packets had been sent to Northern Li before the crown prince’s birthday banquet, then there was nothing more to nitpick now. It would have been perfectly normal for Baili Lixiang to send them north directly and make a farce of the empress then.

But when Xu Donglin returned with Baili Mingxiang’s reply, Han Yunxi was furious. The girl had no idea about the red packets. Instead, it was Baili Qiyu who said he heard that Baili Lixiang had handed them over to an Old Madam Zhou before the birthday banquet.

“Is it the same Old Madam Zhou from Jiangnan’s Murong Clan?” Han Yunxi muttered to herself.

Jiangnan’s Murong Clan was second only to the Xiao Clan in strength. After the Xiao Clan was decimated, the Murong family became the most powerful faction down south. Although they weren’t as rich as the Xiao, they were still relatively wealthy. Three first-rank officials had come from its ranks in the last hundred years, with Murong Liaodong (慕容廖东) being a current first-rank official in the Great Qin court as well as the governor of Jiangnan, a top-ranking post.

Old Madam Zhou was none other than Murong Liaodong’s mother and already over 70 years old. Despite her age, she was still shrewd and quite reputable in Jiangnan, thus earning the name of first-rank noble lady.

“Esteemed Empress, how could Baili Lixiang have given the red packets to Old Madam Zhou?!” Zhao mama thought then added, “And even before the crown prince’s birthday banquet.”

Han Yunxi creased her eyebrows but remained silent.

Zhao mama slapped her thigh and exclaimed, “Esteemed Empress, this old servant gets it! Of the ten madams in that set, Old Madam Zhou holds the highest acclaim besides the late Madam Baili! I bet that crowd is using Old Madam Zhou to cause you trouble! They were probably planning as early as the birthday banquet. If Baili Lixiang hadn’t ended up in jail, they would probably have taken out the red packets to cause trouble! Heheh, truly nothing is as poisonous as a woman’s heart!”

Han Yunxi thought as much and nodded. “At the crown prince’s birthday banquet, Linger didn’t even lure them out after donating her own red packet. They were probably frightened then.”

“But Esteemed Empress, the rest of those packets were donated to the Ministry of Revenue on the very next day. How did the two from the Baili Clan get left out?” Zhao mama asked with confusion.

Here was the crux of the issue.

The other eight sealed envelopes were probably all sent to the Ministry of Revenue together under Old Madam Zhou’s eyes, or sent in separately by each of the eight madams. That wasn’t important. What was important was that Baili Lixiang hadn’t asked anyone to get the red packets back from Old Madam Zhou while she was in jail. In fact, she’d probably forgotten all about them before her death, thus leaving the two envelopes for the Baili Clan in the old woman’s hands.

“Zhao mama, it doesn’t matter that the Baili Clan’s red envelopes were the only ones forgotten. What’s important is why Old Madam Zhou decided to send those two to Northern Li’s Musi,” Han Yunxi said.

Zhao mama was a veteran of palace politics and immediately answered, “Esteemed Empress, as things stand, Old Madam Zhou wants to use the Baili Clan to expose the matter of the red packets and lose you face?”

When her mistress didn’t answer, Zhao mama thought some more and added, “Baili Lixiang already had the death penalty. If she gets accused of another crime, it doesn’t matter much. Old Madam Zhou simply wants to add oil to the fire and make Esteemed Empress hate the Baili Clan!”

Han Yunxi thought for a while and rejected Zhao mama’s theory.

“Zhao mama, that’s not it! Baili Lixiang had the death penalty already, so I would have hated her even without the red packet incident. Old Madam Zhou doesn’t need to add to the pile.”

She went on to say, “The Murong and Xiao Clans have been rivals in Jiangnan for ages. Baili Yuanlong and Xiao An had a private alliance but were deadset enemies on the surface. If Old Madam Zhou wasn’t aware of this clandestine relationship, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to help the Xiao Clan eliminate the Baili Clan. If she was smart enough, she would be helping Baili Lixiang, not harming her.”

Now Zhao mama was puzzled. “But…but these red packets were clearly in Old Madam Zhou’s hands. She sent them to Northern Li under Baili Lixiang’s name too?”

“That’s because Old Madam Zhou knew she couldn’t save Baili Lixiang, ah! If I guessed right, Old Madam Zhou is very likely preparing to smear Xiao Dong’s wife for the matter,” Han Yunxi replied.

Now Zhao mama understood it all. She slapped her leg again and said with emotion, “Esteemed Empress, this old servant gets it! Old Madam Zhou must have long figured out that Baili Yuanlong and Xiao An were in cahoots, so she’s using this chance to sow discord between the two families.”

“Right. It takes time for the red packets to reach Northern Li. Old Madam Zhou must have never expected the Baili Clan to sell out the Xiao Clan so fast, or for both families to meet their ruin,” Han Yunxi answered.