Chapter 682 Twists And Turns


    "Rouge?" Yun Shang frowned and was confused. "If it happened before the banquet for New Year, is


    the rouge a gift for you getting a title?"


    Lin Youran shook her head. After thinking for a while, she said, "I don''t think so. When I was conferred


    the title, Lady Xian also sent me a gift, and I remember that she sent me bolts of the finest brocade.


    She gave the rouge to me not long after I found out I was pregnant. I remember it clearly. I didn''t use


    any makeup after I was pregnant. That day, when Lady Xian came to my pce, she suddenly


    mentioned that there was a shop named Qianshui Pavilion. The fragrance of rouge in the shop is pure


    and elegant, which is a rare quality. Her mother bought many boxes of the rouge for her, and then she


    gave me a box."


    Lin Youran paused for a while and continued, "I know Qianshui Pavilion. Lady Xiang had told me that it


    belongs to us, so I didn''t suspect and just epted it. Later, I asked someone to check the rouge.


    There was no problem with the it and it was indeed made by Qianshui Pavilion. But Lady Xiang had


    exhorted me not to use makeups when I was pregnant. A few dayster, Lady Xian asked why I didn''t


    use it. I felt a little guilty. Later I used it asionally."


    Yun Shang frowned. "Where is the rouge?"


    "When I moved to Xiang Zhu Pce, I didn''t take any old things here. I guess they are in the original


    pce. But I don''t know if the servants have thrown them away. No one has lived in the pce after I


    moved out. Your highness could send someone to look for the rouge and check it. Now when I


    remember it, I felt that Lady Xian had already doubted whether I was pregnant, so she gave me the


    rouge to test."


    Yun Shang nodded. It could be possible. With this in mind, she carefully asked Lin Youran where the


    rouge was, and asked the maid standing beside to send a message to the secret guard hidden in the


    imperial pce, telling him to look for the rouge.


    A maid lifted the curtain and walked in, whispering to Yun Shang, "Your highness, the empress''s maid


    has contacted the spy she ced in the Xiang Zhu Pce. It seems that someone has sent out a


    message."


    On hearing this, Yun Shang raised her eyebrows and sneered. "Our empress is not stupid. She was


    more than willing to see that we were going to get rid of a concubine for her. She has probably asked


    someone to fiddle with it."


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    Yun Shang was worried that it would be difficult to get in once they went out. So she waited in the hall


    until the secret guard came back to report.


    "Your highness, the empress asked if Lady Hui has any difort? Does she need an imperial


    physician? " Another maid opened the curtain and whispered.


    Yun Shang thought for a while and replied: "Go and report to the emperor and the empress that she is


    fine. She is just having a chest tightness. I''ll check her and get out soon."


    The maid curtsied to her, and obeyed.


    About a quarter of an hourter, the rouge box mentioned in Lin Youran''s previous pce was found.


    Yun Shang opened the box, looked at it, and smelled it carefully. There was nothing special about the


    rouge, but this rouge had a faint fragrance of jasmine, and all the rouge in Qianshui Pavilion was made


    of flowers, and this one might be made of jasmine. The fragrance of jasmine was light, but it was not


    good for pregnant women. If a pregnant woman wore the rouge made from jasmine, it would easily


    cause headache, nausea and vomiting.


    Yun Shang smiled coldly, "It was probably the rouge that made you suffered serious sickness."


    Hearing this, Lin Youran was stunned, with a hint of panic in her eyes. After a long time, she said, "How


    could? The rouge..."


    "Some things are harmless to ordinary people, but not to the pregnant woman." Yun Shang said lightly


    as she put the rouge in her sleeve. She smiled and said, "Besides, even if w asks Lady Xian about this,


    she could say that she didn''t know you were pregnant and that it''s true there is nothing wrong with the


    rouge, so it is very difficult to convict her of a crime."


    Frowning, Lin Youran was a little scared. She hadn''t expected that a box ofmon rouge could hide


    something dangerous.


    Yun Shang stood up and said with a smile, "Don''t worry. Lady Xian will not be able to escape today."


    Then she went to the door, lifted the bead curtain and went out.


    "Is Lady Hui alright?" Xia Huanyu turned to Yun Shang and asked softly.


    Yun Shang curtsied to him and replied, "Nothing serious. The hall is not ventted, so she feel stuffy


    inside."


    Xia Huanyu nodded and turned around. Yun Shang took the rouge out of her sleeve and put it on the


    table next to her without being noticed by Xia Huanyu and the empress.


    Yun Shang noticed that Lady Xian fixed her eyes on the rouge. She frowned and looked away.


    After a short while, the guard sent by Xia Huanyu also came back. "Your majesty, I went to the


    craftsman''s house and found his family members had all disappeared. Later, I went to the Wang''s


    mansion. The butler said that Mingcai''s mother had asked for leave and gone back to her hometown."


    With his eyebrows furrowed, there was a trace of anger in Xia Huanyu''s eyes. Yun Shang was not


    surprised at all. She turned to look at Lady Xian indifferently, and their eyes met. Lady Xian curled her


    lips and smiled at Yun Shang. There was a hint of mockery in her smile.


    Yun Shang smiled too.


    The guard paused and continued, "But I found this in the craftsman''s house. It looked like something


    from the imperial pce, so I brought it back." Then he took something out of his sleeve. It was silver,


    but seemed mixed with a little white.


    It was not until Xia Huanyu picked up the thing that Yun Shang saw what it was.


    A pair of pearl earrings.


    It was simple. Just a silver chain with a pearl at the end of it. The two pearls were not big, but had a


    brilliant luster. They were of the same size.


    At the sight of the pearl earrings, Lady Xian''s face suddenly turned pale. She stared at it as if she


    wanted to make it disappear by her eyes.


    Xia Huanyu raised the pearl earrings and looked at it for a while. Then he raised his eyes, as if deep in


    thought, and looked at Lady Xian. In a in tone, he said, "If I remember correctly, this should be the


    gift I gave you on your birthdayst year."


    Lady Xian nodded and said nothing.


    "I remember you love them very much. Every time I came to your hall, you wore the pearl earrings. But


    you didn''t wear themst two times when I visited you. I asked you. What was your answer then?" Xia


    Huanyu said tly without any expression on his face, as if he was talking about some daily trifles.


    Lady Xian opened her mouth but didn''t say a word for a long time. After a long time, she smiled bitterly,


    "They are lost. The pearl earrings had been lost before the New Year. I wonder if the servants in the


    pce stole them. I have sent people to search in the pce, but didn''t find. Everyone in the pce


    knows that the pair of earrings is my favorite. Everyone in the pce knows that... "


    While speaking, tears came down from her eyes.


    Yun Shang felt she was not pretending and realized that it was most likely the empress''s trick. The


    craftsman''s families had already moved away, how could they leave such a thing that could kill Lady


    Xian? It didn''t make any sense.


    "But why did the pearl earrings appear in the craftsman''s house? Can you tell me why your lost things


    would appear in a craftsman''s house? " Xia Huanyu asked in an indifferent voice.


    Hearing that, Lady Xian smiled. "Why? I also want to know why. Your majesty, if the craftsman was


    under my orders, why did he leave this thing after his whole family moved away? How could he be so


    stupid?" Then she looked at Yun Shang.


    Yun Shang smiled, stood up and said, "I would rather believe that Lady Xian was most likely framed by


    someone. But no matter who framed her up, she was still the murderer who intended to murder Lady


    Hui and her unborn baby." While speaking, she set her eyes on Lady Xian. "I have always been fond of


    collecting some rouge and jewelries. Just now, I kept watching Lady Xian''s hairpins. I know this pair, it


    is made by Qianshui Pavilion. I have always been using things from the shop and like them very much.


    And I even have a same pair of the hairpins."


    Taking a look at Lady Xian, Yun Shang slowly walked to her side and said, "But it seems that


    something is wrong with Lady Xian''s hairpins."


    "Really? What''s wrong? " The empress was also attracted by the hairpins and asked softly.


    "I have just said that I also have the hairpins in my mansion. But they are a pair and both of them are a


    little curved. I have specially asked someone in the shop.I was told that it was because the tassel


    pendants on the hairpin are too heavy. If you only wear one, the hairpin couldn''t keep bnce. Though


    Lady Xian is wearing a pair, they still lost the bnce. Yun Shang said with a smile and quickly took


    down the two hairpins from Lady Xian''s head.


    Lady Xian was shocked and stood up, "How dare you, Lady Rui? Although I''m not in high position, I''m


    a concubine in the imperial household. What you did is too arrogant."


    Yun Shang smiled. "If there is nothing wrong with the two hairpins, I''m willing to take the punishment."


    While saying that, she walked to Xia Huanyu and estimated the weight of the two hairpins. "This


    morning when I arrived at the Lady Xian, Lady Xian wore only one hairpin. When I came out again, I


    found that she had added one more. And these twp hairpins are much lighter than mine. So I assume


    that the hairpins have been hollowed out. "