Chapter 9: Dare to Think, Dare to Do!

The onlookers outside had all dispersed. Even Pei Shangyu, who didn’t live there, was taken back to her lodgings by a palace maid.

In the main hall of the Phoenix Splendor Palace, the black gold floor tiles shone brightly enough to reflect a person’s image. The Empress Dowager sat high in the main seat, her gaze falling upon the three figures standing silently below.

Liu Yun’s eyes swept past Shen Yuezhuang, who looked like she was itching to be called on, paused for a moment on Gu Qingzhi, whose face was smeared with ink and who seemed about to burst into tears, and finally settled on He Dan, the only one who looked normal in the room.

“Miss He, there was a fire in the side hall tonight. Do you know what caused it?”

He Dan folded her hands and bowed gracefully.

“In reply to Your Grace, it was due to the dry weather. A candle accidentally knocked over a bed curtain and set it on fire.”

Liu Yun’s gaze shifted to Gu Qingzhi. “Miss Gu, is this true?”

Gu Qingzhi nodded frantically. “True, very true! It was… just an accident.”

“An accident?” Liu Yun’s tone suddenly turned cold. “The palace attendants reported that you asked them for a censer and some sandalwood. Is that true?”

Gu Qingzhi, being young and easily intimidated, began to stammer under the pressure, her eyes darting uncertainly towards Shen Yuezhuang and the others.

Was there… or wasn’t there?

Having received a guarantee from Shen Yuezhuang, He Dan remained composed, her eyes fixed on the floor. Shen Yuezhuang stepped forward half a pace and took responsibility.

“In reply to Your Grace, this subject asked the palace attendants for those items.”

Liu Yun leaned back slightly into her chair, tapping a finger idly on the sandalwood armrest.

“What did you want them for?”

Shen Yuezhuang’s expression was one of deep emotion. “This subject felt that having the opportunity in this life to enter the Palace and participate in the selection was truly a blessing accumulated by our ancestors. Therefore, I couldn’t sleep at night. I specially burned incense and prayed, thanking my ancestors for their accumulated virtues!”

“Burning incense?”

You really know how to make an offering!

Liu Yun glanced meaningfully towards the window. “And you also managed to burn down the Phoenix Splendor Palace in the process?”

Shen Yuezhuang gave a dry laugh. “An accident, an accident.”

Liu Yun gave a cold snort. “Good thing it was just an accident. If it had been intentional, wouldn’t this entire vast Imperial Palace be burned down by Miss Shen as an offering to her ancestors?!”

The Empress Dowager slammed the table and stood up, her face full of anger.

“Shen Yuezhuang! Setting a fire in the Palace and acting recklessly! You are hereby ordered to be confined to the Study Room for reflection starting now. You are not to leave until you sincerely repent!”

Then her tone softened slightly. “Miss He and Miss Gu were innocently affected. Ruixue, arrange new lodgings for the two of them and send them back to rest.”

~~~

Shen Yuezhuang was taken to the Study Room.

The Study Room was not, of course, the Emperor’s Imperial Study. It was a new building in the Palace, specifically built to facilitate the Empress Dowager’s management of harem affairs.

Therefore, it was built very close to the Longevity Palace. Following the covered walkway for less than half the time it takes to burn an incense stick, one would reach the back window of the Study Room.

Right now, the Study Room was brightly lit.

Liu Yun sat behind the desk. Beside her was a Tree Lamp with eighteen tiers of candles.

The highest tier of the Tree Lamp was taller than a person, casting a shadow over Liu Yun’s inscrutable face. Her eyes looked even deeper and more unfathomable, grayish and immeasurable.

“Now, tell me. What really happened.”

Liu Yun’s tone was unreadable. Upon hearing this, Shen Yuezhuang pursed her lips.

“I already told you just now. It was just an accidental fire.”

“An accidental fire that could burn like this?” Liu Yun gave a cold laugh. When she looked up, the dancing reflections of the candles in her eyes only heightened her current anger. Against the backdrop of this not-too-oppressive Study Room, it inexplicably added a touch of eeriness.

“I’ll ask you one last time!”

As the words fell, Shen Yuezhuang’s hesitation and silence only added fuel to the fire. Liu Yun couldn’t help but raise her voice.

“Shen Yuezhuang!”

Even the palace maids on duty outside the door heard this clearly. They all held their breath and dared not raise their heads.

Shen Yuezhuang, who had been called by her full name, felt her heart unconsciously skip a beat. She looked at Liu Yun’s face, which was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and couldn’t for the life of her figure out why she was so stubbornly insistent on clarifying this matter.

When it came down to it, nothing serious had happened. Just a table and a few beddings had been burned.

No one was hurt. The building didn’t need to be rebuilt. Couldn’t they just hush it up?

If they wanted compensation, they could have said so directly. Shen Qingjue wasn’t short of money!

But she had promised He Dan to keep her secret about bringing alcohol into the Palace. Yet Liu Yun was really angry about this…

“Alright, alright!” Shen Yuezhuang frowned, still a bit reluctant.

“It was Qingzhi. It was her first time here. She was scared and couldn’t sleep at night. She kept getting up and fiddling with her shoes!”

“What shoes?” Liu Yun’s expression softened slightly. “Explain clearly!”

Shen Yuezhuang’s reluctance was quickly replaced by an eager expression. She leaned over the desk, propping her elbows on its surface.

The desk was wide. Shen Yuezhuang pressed half her body onto it. From Liu Yun’s angle, she could easily see, from the curve of her waist resting on the desk, the arc and perkiness behind.

Like a butterfly flicking off dust, Liu Yun’s thick eyelashes trembled slightly. She leaned back a little, but Shen Yuezhuang beckoned her. When she leaned in, Shen Yuezhuang said mysteriously,

“Qingzhi said there’s a legend in Youzhou. When you sleep at night, the tips of your shoes must not point towards the bed. Otherwise, ghosts and monsters will follow the direction of the shoe tips and find you!”

The night was already deep. The Study Room wasn’t very bright. Besides this desk, the room was lined on both sides with tall bookshelves.

The dim light of the Tree Lamp only intensified the overlapping shadows in the distance. It was perfect for hiding ghosts and monsters, just like in a story script.

Having said this, Shen Yuezhuang looked straight into Liu Yun’s eyes.

Such a place was also perfect for telling ghost stories. But her audience was clearly not cooperative enough.

There was no fear or fright in Liu Yun’s eyes. Her always-clear eyes were like beautiful gems. Gems had no impurities and were unaffected by any impurities.

She only lowered her eyelids, thought for a moment, and then asked with a hint of certainty, “So you used this method to catch ghosts, to prove to Gu Qingzhi that there are no spirits in this world?”

Shen Yuezhuang pouted in slight disappointment. She looked down and picked at the edge of the desk. She didn’t see Liu Yun swallow, nor did she hear her exhale in relief.

“I told her, but she didn’t believe me. So I had to prove it to her.”

Liu Yun covered the curve of her lips by licking them. She still gave a cold snort. “Catching ghosts in the Palace. You really dare to think and dare to do!”

Shen Yuezhuang propped her chin up and smiled brightly. Liu Yun was also angered into laughing. “Do you think I’m praising you? Go on. How did fiddling with shoes lead to a fire? And what about the censer!”

“At first, it was just fiddling with the shoes. But after waiting half an hour, nothing happened.”

Shen Yuezhuang slapped the table excitedly. “So I thought, when people make offerings, they burn tall incense sticks, right? Maybe the ghost was too far away from the Phoenix Splendor Palace. If I burned some tall incense, it might follow the scent over!”

Liu Yun’s eyelids drooped. “Why didn’t you offer it some sacrificial food too?”

Go all out and complete the full set of offerings!

“I did!” Shen Yuezhuang said regretfully. “But by the end, I got too hungry and ate it.”

Liu Yun: “…”

I really underestimated your thoughtfulness!

Shen Yuezhuang sighed. “We waited until after midnight, then decided to go to sleep. But somehow, someone knocked over a candle, and it set fire to the bed curtain over there.”

So it really was an accident. Liu Yun asked again, “An accidental fire that burned the room to such a state?”

“…The fire wasn’t big at first.”

“And then?”

“Then Qingzhi tried to put it out, but she knocked over a jar by He Dan’s bed. He Dan said in the afternoon that it was pickled vegetables she brought from home.”

“Putting out a fire with pickle juice? That Miss Gu really is a match for you in quick thinking!”

When talking about others, Liu Yun’s tone was clearly more sarcastic. Shen Yuezhuang sighed slowly. “But the jar was full of alcohol. The fire immediately shot up.”

Liu Yun: “…And the danshen?”

Shen Yuezhuang nodded. “Medicinal wine.”

Liu Yun: “And the ink stains on Gu Qingzhi’s clothes?”

Shen Yuezhuang pouted. “Gu Qingzhi smashed the wine jar with an inkstone.”

After saying this, she instinctively looked at the inkstone on Liu Yun’s desk.

Seeing that the inkstone was clean, Shen Yuezhuang nodded. “You’re much better than He Dan. She doesn’t even clean up after practicing her calligraphy!”

Liu Yun felt her temples throb with pain. She raised her hand to her forehead, but felt something wet in her palm. Looking down, it was a still-moist tea leaf that had fallen from Shen Yuezhuang’s hair along with her movements.

“And what is this?”

Shen Yuezhuang looked at it and said indignantly, “He Dan not only doesn’t know how to clean up, but her eyesight is also bad. She picked up the teapot and tried to pour it on the fire. But she ended up pouring it all over my face!”

As she spoke, she reached up to feel her hair bun and then leaned her head close to Liu Yun. “Are there any more?”

The dark green tea leaves were not very noticeable in her jet-black hair… at least not as conspicuous as the blue outer robe she was wearing.

Liu Yun pushed away the head that was nudging into her. “Her eyesight may be bad, but yours isn’t much better. Whose robe are you wearing?”

The robe was slipping off her shoulder. Shen Yuezhuang grabbed it back and said nonchalantly, “Oh, it’s Sister Pei’s.”

Then she added, “I’ve told you everything that happened tonight. But I promised He Dan I wouldn’t tell anyone about her bringing alcohol into the Palace. Don’t let it slip!”

Liu Yun looked her up and down, then tapped her on her smooth forehead with a folded finger.

“But it was you who caused the trouble. And then you used it to blackmail her? Her father is currently the Left Chancellor, with immense power. Blackmailing his daughter like this, aren’t you afraid she’ll hold a grudge and retaliate?”

“How was it my fault!” Shen Yuezhuang straightened up. “It was her own doing. She said she was afraid we’d attract ghosts and they would harm her. She insisted on joining us!”

“Since you took all the blame yourself, why are you afraid of her telling people about her bringing alcohol into the Palace?”

“Small business. Honesty is the best policy.”

“Did she pay you?”

“She said she conceded this one time.”

Liu Yun: “…”

That really is… a very small “business”!

Liu Yun rubbed her brow and stood up. “Anyway, you’ll stay here for the next few days. After you take the exam in three days, you can go home.”

“I’ll send Cuizhu to attend to you. Don’t cause any more trouble.”

“And…” Liu Yun had already reached the door. She looked askance at that annoying blue robe. “Go change your clothes!”

“I was about to go to sleep. Why change my clothes?” Shen Yuezhuang yawned. “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

As Liu Yun stepped out of the room, the palace maids outside immediately came forward to attend to her. Shen Yuezhuang was leaning against half of the door from inside. Liu Yun, with her back to her, said in a loud voice,

“Cuizhu, Miss Shen needs to copy the Tao Te Ching ten times to calm her mind and reflect. You stay and keep an eye on her.”

Then, with a faint glance backward, she added, “If she doesn’t finish, she’s not allowed to sleep!”