When the hall was empty, Wanrong entered the bedroom with a bowl of bird's nest soup.
Nangong Xiaodie, dressed in an inner garment, sat at the table, gazing out the window.
"Your Highness, please have some bird's nest soup for lunch," Wanrong said.
Nangong Xiaodie nodded, stirring it listlessly.
"Your Highness, did you probe Assistant Minister Zhong's thoughts today? If she tells what you said..."
"She won't," Nangong Xiaodie interrupted Wanrong before she could finish. "Don't think that Zhong Li's evasive answers when I spoke meant nothing. She already knows this consort intends to win her over. Otherwise, she would have kept silent. It's just..."
"Just what?" Wanrong asked.
"Her mind is too calm. No matter what I say, her expression is always like still water. I can't quite grasp whether she has accepted this consort's favor." Nangong Xiaodie said.
"Then, what should we do? If this person cannot be used by Your Highness, while she is unstable in court, perhaps we should..." Wanrong made a throat-slitting gesture.
"Absolutely not!" Nangong Xiaodie exclaimed. "She is the young lord's beloved. We cannot take this risk. Moreover, having her means we have the young lord with us. Alas... it all comes down to the useless people in my Nangong family. Not one of them has any substance."
"The young lord? But why would Your Highness... when the young lord is such a scoundrel?"
"Do you really think the young lord is dissolute?" Nangong Xiaodie raised her eyebrows at Wanrong.
"If not? The rumors in town..."
"Wanrong," Nangong Xiaodie interrupted. "Have you forgotten what Assistant Minister Zhong said earlier? Didn't you understand when she said what is a rumor from town?"
"Your Highness!" Wanrong lowered her gaze.
"If the young lord were truly as you say, how could the Emperor begin plotting to eliminate the Prince of Xian's manor?"
"Your Highness speaks wisely," Wanrong understood and quickly agreed.
Nangong Xiaodie finished the last spoonful of bird's nest soup and was about to rise to rest when she suddenly remembered something. "In a few days, it will be Chen'er's birthday banquet. Draft an invitation and deliver it to the Dali Temple to personally hand to Assistant Minister Zhong. Do you understand?"
"Yes!"
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It was late at night when Zhong Li returned to the Dali Temple.
Following the location Nangong Xiaodie had told her, she successfully found the hidden room behind Consort Shu's sleeping quarters. As she expected, Consort Shu was also raising an evil god, similar in size and appearance to the one found in Xie Yunxi's secret room.
Knowing it was unsafe to examine these things within the palace, she decided to take out several useful clues.
Currently, she sat on a stool, looking at the shriveled infant corpse with closed eyes opposite her. Only a single lamp flickered, casting a dim glow for company.
Zhong Li took out a scalpel from her懷, gently lifting the red outer robe covering the evil god. Just as she was about to cut off the corpse's head to examine it further, as she had done last time, a hurried knocking interrupted her.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Who is it?" she asked, frowning.
"Lier, you're finally back." Hua Yao's voice sounded from outside.
Zhong Li got up and opened the door. The person outside strode in with hands on her hips. "Lier, you're too much! Why didn't you call me this morning? You went to investigate the case alone?
Don't you know I waited for you at the Dali Temple all day? I just got back after dinner and heard the constables say you'd returned. I came to look, and indeed, you are in your room. Tell me, why didn't you bring me along?"
Zhong Li looked at the young girl who had come to question her and sighed. "It's not that I didn't call you, I was afraid you would be scared by what we were investigating."
"Scared? What is there to be scared of?" Hua Yao said, her gaze inadvertently sweeping over the little figure on the table. When she clearly saw its appearance, she recoiled in shock. "Ah... what is this?"
Zhong Li pulled a red cloth from the table and covered the evil god. "An evil god, obtained from Consort Shu."
"Evil god?" Hua Yao exclaimed in surprise and reached out to lift the red cloth to see clearly.
Zhong Li said, "If you are not afraid, you can take it back."
Hearing this, Hua Yao's lips twitched a few times. She quickly withdrew her hand. Her gaze unintentionally fell elsewhere, and she saw a small flower resembling an orchid placed behind the evil god. "This... Corpse Flower? Where did you get it?"
Zhong Li followed Hua Yao's gaze, her heart tightening. "I got this from Consort Shu. I thought it was strange to see a pot of small flowers where they kept the evil gods, so I brought it along. I didn't expect you to recognize this thing?"
"Of course, I recognize it. When Consort Rong married into our Southern Yue Kingdom twenty years ago, this flower was among her dowry. Most of the elders in court know it," Hua Yao said.
"Since you say it's a Corpse Flower, what's the reason?" Zhong Li asked again.
Hua Yao picked up the flower, brought it to her nose, and sniffed it for a while before handing it to Zhong Li. "Smell it."
Zhong Li followed her words and leaned closer to sniff. Instantly, faint yet familiar scents wafted towards her. "This is the smell of decay."
"Yes!" Hua Yao nodded and explained, "This flower must be fertilized with decaying flesh to grow. The flower can grow up to one person tall and live for about 150 years. It blooms once every fifty years, and when it blooms, the entire flower emits a more intense smell of decay. Rumor has it that prolonged exposure to this smell can cause poisoning.
As the flower grows larger, it requires more fertilizer. It is said that in the Shu Rong Kingdom, there is a Flower King, two stories high, which requires a corpse as nourishment every three days."
"From what you're saying, Southern Yue Kingdom no longer has this flower?" Zhong Li asked, looking at Hua Yao.
"Of course not. This flower is a secret of the Shu Rong Kingdom. After Consort Rong brought it, she cultivated a few, but she never gave the seeds to anyone else," Hua Yao said, leaning closer to examine the Corpse Flower. "If I'm not mistaken, this flower was planted not long ago, at most four or five months."
"Four or five months!" Zhong Li narrowed her eyes, feeling something fleeting in her mind.
"But speaking of which, how could this flower be with Consort Shu? It shouldn't be. Consort Rong kept to herself and didn't pay much attention to anyone in the palace. She would definitely... Ah!"
Hua Yao muttered to herself while fiddling with the Corpse Flower's leaves. Perhaps the candle was nearing its end, flickering dimly. In that moment, her fingertip accidentally slipped. The flowerpot was already placed on the edge, and with a 'crash,' the flower, along with the pot, fell to the ground and shattered.
"I... I, hiss..." Hua Yao instinctively crouched down to pick up the flower but was cut by the sharp edge of the porcelain pot.
Zhong Li reacted and quickly went to her side, taking her hand. "Are you hurt?"
Hua Yao pouted and apologized, "Lier, I'm sorry, I didn't... What is that?"
Zhong Li heard Hua Yao's words and followed the direction of her gaze. She saw a flying insect circling around them, seemingly wanting to approach but unable to do so for some reason, only lingering around them.
Zhong Li stood up and casually took out an empty glass bottle for pills from a drawer on the table, intending to capture the insect. But as she looked up, the insect had vanished from their sight.
"Where did it go?" she asked Hua Yao, looking down.
Hua Yao shook her head and also scanned the room. Suddenly, a faint smoky smell entered their nostrils.
Following the scent, they looked up and saw that a hole had been burned through the oiled paper window at some point.