Chapter 768 - 770: His Trust and Understanding
The chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs came out in a hurry, wiping his cold sweat, and declared that he would investigate immediately.
The Emperor waved the thin sheet of paper in his hands at Jiang Yichun and Bai Ruozhu, saying: "Lord Jiang and Lady Jiang, please come and see this letter. See if it’s Lady Jiang’s handwriting."
Jiang Yichun looked at Bai Ruozhu, signaling her not to worry, then he led her forward to read the letter, leading to a change in both their expressions.
It was too similar. If it weren’t for the overly flirting content of the sentences, Bai Ruozhu would have thought she wrote it herself.
Seeing the change of expression on Jiang Yichun’s face, a cold smirk hung on Emperor Wuning’s lips, "A fly does not bite a seamless egg. Lord Jiang, are you sure this letter was not written by your wife?"
Bai Ruozhu looked at Jiang Yichun with some worry. Even she could have mistaken it, could Jiang Yichun misunderstand her?
However, Jiang Yichun’s frowned brows soon smoothed, his lips hinting a trace of ridicule.
"Your Majesty, this letter is definitely not written by my wife. It’s just the imitation of her handwriting is so similar that it surprised me," Jiang Yichun said.
"Oh? How did you discern that?" The Emperor had some doubts that Jiang Yichun was deliberately covering up for Bai Ruozhu.
Jiang Yichun held the letter, pointing to the character "悅" in it, "Your Majesty, please look at this word. My wife has a bad writing habit: the two dots on the top of this word are always written upside down. It’s not completely unnoticeable in daily life, so I didn’t deliberately correct her. This can be seen from my wife’s manuscripts."
Bai Ruozhu looked at Jiang Yichun in surprise. She wasn’t aware that he observed her so keenly. She was used to writing in simplified Chinese, and learned to write in traditional Chinese here. But the difference between the dots on the top of this word in simplified and traditional Chinese kept slipping her mind.
So the character she would have written would be "悦", not "悅" in the letter.
Bai Ruozhu turned her head and smiled at Jiang Yichun. She was glad that he didn’t suspect her and even happier that he cared about every detail of hers.
With Jiang Yichun’s statement, the Emperor was already convinced. Meanwhile, Lady Liu, the Imperial Concubine, was gnashing her teeth silently, condemning the forger for a lack of attention to detail. Too bad she didn’t know the handwriting sample they’d gotten from Bai Ruozhu hadn’t included that word with the distinctive two dots on top.
Before long, the chief eunuch returned, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, and knelt before the Emperor. "Your humble servant is incompetent in managing his subordinates. We just found a eunuch who committed suicide by hanging himself. He was an ordinary servant in the Ministry of Internal Affairs but was wearing the clothes of the eunuch in charge. I believe this is the man Lady Jiang mentioned."
No way to prove innocence or guilt of the dead?
Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun glanced at each other, seeming to have reached the same conclusion.
Today was the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet with many ministers and officials present. It was not an appropriate venue to carry out an investigation. Emperor Wuning weighed the situation, ultimately decided to have Li Yuande taken back to be disciplined, assured Jiang Yichun and Bai Ruozhu that he would investigate thoroughly, and left the matter temporarily at that.
Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun thanked him for his grace, wisely refrained from saying anything more about the matter. After all, dragging Imperial Concubine Liu into it would indeed make things difficult for the Emperor.
Only when the birthday banquet was over did Bai Ruozhu finally breathe out a sigh of relief. She was worried about any unexpected incidents, especially assassinations or rebellions - she really couldn’t handle those.
In the horse carriage returning, Jiang Yichun held Bai Ruozhu tightly, apologizing, "My wife, bringing you and Dengdeng to the Capital turned out to be imposing difficulties on you."
"Silly, we’re a family. There’s no question of creating difficulties for each other. Today’s issue was because I insisted on repairing that screen, grabbing Lady Liu’s opportunity to attract the Emperor’s attention. That’s what brought the trouble," Bai Ruozhu said nonchalantly, as compared to many other events she’d previously experienced, today’s incident was hardly earth-shattering.
"Maybe Lady Liu’s matter was a diversion, the real issue might have been your repairing the screen," Jiang Yichun quietly speculated.
"Let’s not think too much about it. Why should we provoke those that even the Emperor finds hard to deal with? Anyway, first let’s take a good night’s sleep and start packing up tomorrow to return home!" Bai Ruozhu, stretching lazily, said.
The only mention of going home filled Bai Ruozhu with excitement.
Jiang Yichun also felt his spirits lifted, but when he thought about facing his master back in Beiyu City, his heart sank again.
Over the following days, Bai Ruozhu stayed at home, with the house affairs handed over to the steward. She stayed at home with Dengdeng, whose rash was gradually becoming less evident but was still quite obvious. Bai Ruozhu hid Dengdeng’s condition very carefully, to avoid any complications.
Even her best friend, Leng Wanhua, came twice but didn’t get to see Dengdeng, only hearing the child’s laughter.
About five days after the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet, the Empress Dowager summoned Bai Ruozhu into the palace.
This time, the Empress Dowager rewarded Bai Ruozhu with a pearl shawl, a piece of clothing made from large South Sea Pearls, something of great value.
"You should accept it, you have earned it. On the one hand, you did help the Meng Family quite a bit on the birthday banquet day, you did a good job. On the other, the curtain you gifted me was very much to my liking, I didn’t get the chance to appropriately express my gratitude publicly, so let it be a reward for these and in fact, anything else. The Empress Dowager’s tone was warmer and more friendly than before, this time she still referred to herself as ’I’."
Bai Ruozhu quickly paid her respects and thanked the Empress Dowager for her kindness. She willingly accepted the Empress Dowager’s gifts.
"About that Li Yuande incident, it has been found out that a female official from Lady Liu’s quarters held a grudge against you for repairing the screen and disturbing the performance of her lady, so she ordered the eunuch to deceive you. The Emperor has severely penalized her, and as for Li Yuande, he probably won’t be able to get out of bed for a month," the Empress Dowager mentioned Li Yuande, a flash of hatred in her eyes.
Bai Ruozhu understood immediately. Even if Princess Diao Bin didn’t tell the Emperor about it, she must have told the Empress Dowager about Li Yuande harassing her. No wonder the Empress Dowager was friendlier to her.
As for Li Yuande, he probably wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for the rest of his life. Even if the Empress Dowager was kind and generous, she wouldn’t let off such a bastard who would try to molest her daughter.
"I’m glad the matter has been cleared up. But, I’ve always wondered who it was that imitated my handwriting," Bai Ruozhu asked deliberately.
The expression on the Empress Dowager’s face turned distant, she sighed and said, "There are many things in the capital that you can’t understand. You’re about to leave Capital City, but according to the Emperor, you will return within a year at most. There will be many more things for you to adapt to then."
Bai Ruozhu nodded, "Ruozhu thanks the Empress Dowager for her advice."
Not long after Bai Ruozhu returned from the palace, the Emperor’s reward arrived. It was mainly to calm down the unsettling incident with the calculating maid.
Just as expected, the emperor was left with no choice but to appease the Imperial Concubine Liu and General Liu.
With a windfall like this, Bai Ruozhu felt fortunate amidst the misfortune. So, she cheerfully started packing, and after three days, the family left Capital City, returning the way they had come.