Gu Yin coughed as soon as he left.
"Young Master, it's cold, please take care of yourself," the servant said, holding Gu Yin, his face full of worry.
"It's nothing, just an old ailment. This year is colder than usual. It will get better after this winter. I know what I'm doing, no need to worry." Gu Yin was dismissive, if one ignored his pale face, the servant would have believed him.
"Young Master, why put yourself through this?" the servant couldn't understand.
"The first time I met her was in winter. It was really cold, but she was wearing red, the only warmth in that winter," Gu Yin said, then looked back in the direction of Cí'ān Palace.
"I will take her to Jiangcheng. She will definitely like it there. Compared to this deep palace, she will definitely prefer everything in Jiangcheng," Gu Yin said as he turned to leave, slowly disappearing into the night.
Snow fell on the plum blossoms, weighing down more than just the branches.
The next morning
Nan Zhiyun slept in again, waking up naturally. By the time she woke, Yu Jingchen had already gone to the morning court.
"Niangniang, His Majesty sent a batch of palace staff for you to select suitable ones to serve you in He'an Hall from now on," Qian Xia said.
"Isn't He'an Hall already adequately staffed? What else do we need to select?" Nan Zhiyun felt she didn't need to select anyone else. More people didn't necessarily mean better.
"Will Niangniang not keep any of them?" Qian Xia asked.
Nan Zhiyun hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "This consort will take a look first." After all, these were people sent by Yu Jingchen. Not even looking at them and keeping none would be too impolite.
So Nan Zhiyun went to see them. It had to be said that the people Yu Jingchen had chosen were quite capable. Their etiquette and rules were all in place, and each had their own skills. There were not only palace maids but also eunuchs and wet nurses, making it very thorough.
In the end, Nan Zhiyun selected four people: one wet nurse, one young eunuch, and two palace maids. The rest Nan Zhiyun sent back.
"This servant/this eunuch greets Noble Consort Niangniang." The four who stayed immediately knelt to pay respects to their new mistress.
"What are all your names?" Nan Zhiyun looked at the people below.
"Please Niangniang grant us names," they said in unison.
"Then... Chun Hua, Xia Yi, Qiu Yun, Dong Wan, I guess," Nan Zhiyun named them rather casually, pointing at the four and bestowing their names.
Chun Hua was the wet nurse, Xia Yi was the eunuch, and the remaining Qiu Yun and Dong Wan were the two young palace maids.
"Thank you Niangniang for the names!" they all bowed.
"Where did you all work before?" Nan Zhiyun asked again.
"This servant used to follow Consort Dowager Lin. After Consort Dowager Lin passed away, I stayed in the palace and did not serve any other mistress," said Chun Hua.
"This eunuch used to work in the flower garden and has not served any other mistress," said Xia Yi.
"This servant and Dong Wan both entered the palace this year and have not yet been assigned to any other mistress," Qiu Yun replied.
Tsk, they were all quite clean. Moreover, Nan Zhiyun remembered Qian Xia had just told her that these people were all alone, with no parents or family.
"Hmm, then you will all stay in He'an Hall from now on. However, this consort does not like having too many people around, so I will only keep Qian Xia as my personal attendant," Nan Zhiyun said.
"Yes," they were quite obedient.
"Qian Xia, arrange things for them later," Nan Zhiyun said, preferring to delegate and not manage everything herself.
After dealing with these matters, Nan Zhiyun had intended to go to Cí'ān Palace, but the Empress Dowager said she wanted to rest well for the next couple of days and would not see anyone. An Xin, the governess, had specifically come to explain today that the Empress Dowager had been tired lately and was somewhat drowsy, so she wanted to adjust for a while and asked Nan Zhiyun not to visit for the next few days.
Nan Zhiyun felt suspicious but ultimately said nothing, only asking An Xin to take good care of the Empress Dowager. If there was anything she needed, Nan Zhiyun would personally attend to it.
An Xin knew that Nan Zhiyun was worried and didn't want to make things difficult for them, so she offered more words of comfort. Nan Zhiyun then said no more.
Zǐchén Palace
Yu Jingchen directly knocked over the inkstone onto the floor. Xing Lai and the other attendants immediately knelt down. The imperial physicians and officials from the Imperial Household Department were also present.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!" Xing Lai spoke.
"There's something wrong with the incense. You're only finding out now. What have you all been doing all this time?!" Yu Jingchen's eyes were filled with anger.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this incense was a gift from the Empress Dowager. We did not know," the official from the Imperial Household Department spoke first.
"Are you implying that the Empress Dowager did something to the incense?" Yu Jingchen looked coldly at the officials from the Imperial Household Department.
"Your Majesty, please forgive us. We absolutely did not mean that!" The officials from the Imperial Household Department were terrified. How dare he suggest the Empress Dowager did it? Besides, it was impossible for the Empress Dowager to have done it.
"What about the Imperial Medical Office? Has the effect of this incense still not been determined?" Yu Jingchen looked at the imperial physicians below.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, we are incompetent. We have indeed never seen the ingredients in this incense before. Apart from having hallucinogenic properties, we do not know of any other effects," the imperial physician said.
"Investigate! Also, replace those incenses immediately. Just replace them secretly, without alarming anyone," Yu Jingchen had asked Xing Lai to thoroughly investigate the items in He'an Hall yesterday, and he hadn't expected to find a problem.
The calming incense that Nan Zhiyun had liked to use before had been mixed with something of unknown origin, which had hallucinogenic properties. What Yu Jingchen was most worried about was that it contained other ingredients that could harm Nan Zhiyun.
This incense was given to Nan Zhiyun by the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager... Yu Jingchen naturally knew that the Empress Dowager would not harm Nan Zhiyun, but... who else could have done this? Did the problem occur when it was at the Empress Dowager's place, or after it was given to Nan Zhiyun? Yu Jingchen did not know this yet.
"You go and investigate the incense from the Empress Dowager's side as well," Yu Jingchen said after some thought.
Xing Lai received the order. Of course, it wasn't done openly. The result... well, there really was a problem. The incense the Empress Dowager herself used also had issues. In that case, the Empress Dowager was likely unaware, but... who was this targeted at? The Empress Dowager or Nan Zhiyun?
"Your Majesty, this servant has one more matter to report," Xing Lai said, bowing.
Everyone else had already withdrawn, so Yu Jingchen allowed him to speak directly.
"There has been some progress regarding the matter of the Wen family. Before the Empress Dowager returned from praying outside the palace, Consort Wen had exchanged letters with the Empress Dowager," Xing Lai reported. (Consort Wen, the former imperial concubine who locked Xiao Yun'er in the secret chamber.)