The truth had been revealed, and Princess Zhao Yang had received her due punishment. Everything seemed to be over, yet, Cai Wei felt a sense of unease lingering in her heart, as if something was amiss.
From the time the Emperor left till now, less than half a Shi Chen had passed. Logically, in such a short time, Princess Zhao Yang’s old palace maid shouldn’t have confessed so quickly!
Although deceiving the Emperor is an unforgivable sin, she should have realized that if the grave mistake that she allowed the Princess to commit was revealed, even ten heads wouldn’t be enough to atone. Since death was inevitable either way, if she could deny the charges, she might have a sliver of hope. She wasn’t a fool, so why would she confess so easily? Moreover, as the old palace maid of Princess Zhao Yang, she should have done her best to protect her. How could she have confessed so quickly?
"Brother Ying, go and investigate the relationship between the Princess’s nanny and Jin Guifei for me. Also, find out where the old palace maid’s family currently is," she commanded.
"Master, do you suspect that the nanny is colluding with Jin Guifei to frame Zhao Yang?"
"Not framing, but instigating. Zhao Yang is young and impulsive, and she trusts her. If she were to stir up trouble in Zhao Yang’s ear, perhaps Zhao Yang might listen to her. Hurry up and go!"
After Brother Ying agreed with a chirp, he flew away with a flutter of his wings.
Cai Wei closed her consciousness, quietly lying there, but her mind was still active. Empress Mo and Princess Zhao Yang had always targeted her, wishing she would drop dead. But Cai Wei was not the white lotus who repays animosity with virtue. She equally despised them, wishing they would receive the harshest of punishments.
However, as the saying goes, "Love me, love my dog". They were, after all, his closest people. She decided to give them one more chance. If they kept quiet in the future, everything would be fine. But if they continued to be as foolish as before and tried to harm her, she could rightfully send them to the Eighteen Levels of Hell, without having to bear the burden of regret. After all, they brought the punishment upon themselves.
Du Meiren dared not stay with Cai Wei for too long. After staying for a while, she helped Cai Wei put on her clothes, covered her with a quilt, and left with tearful eyes.
After Du Meiren left and nobody else was in the room, Cai Wei hurriedly put down the bed curtain. She couldn’t even bother putting on her shoes as she rushed into the space.
The taste of Saknu’s blood was still residual in her mouth. It made her feel sick. As soon as she entered the space, she was instantly on her knees by the Lingxi River, rinsing her mouth desperately!
’Gurgling, gurgling,’ Cai Wei kept rinsing her mouth, aching from all the puffing, but she did not stop, not until there was no taste left in her mouth.
"Bleh, freak, beast!"
Cai Wei cursed harshly. She then got up and walked to her small courtyard, ready to prepare some food.
For the morning, she hadn’t had much to eat. She was worried about nature’s call on the road, so she only ate a vegetarian bun in the morning. At noon, she only had one piece of fresh fruit. She had just managed to roast a rabbit until it was golden and fragrant but didn’t get to eat it. While pretending to faint, her stomach growled with hunger several times. She had been eager to enter the space to get some sustenance.
There was delicious food all around in the space. Cai Wei looked around, picked some mushrooms from the forest, and conveniently killed a wild chicken that was patrolling the hunting ground. She was preparing to steam a pot of fragrant white rice, and make a Northeastern specialty - chicken and mushroom stew!
The task of preparing the wild chicken was given to Chang Mei. With the motivation of good food, Chang Mei cleaned up the wild chicken quickly. Boiling water, plucking feathers, cleaning the entrails, chopping it up – everything was done smoothly and swiftly, like a seamless flow.
Cai Wei steamed the rice in the pot. The rice she used which she ’requisitioned’ from Lü Zhongma’s rice shop. She prepared all the ingredients for the stew. When she finished washing and cutting the mushrooms, Chang Mei had already finished chopping up the wild chicken and put it in a basin.