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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 91 (Part 1)

You Shu still remembered the first time he was taken to Ganquan Palace. The road was lined with flowers and colorful butterflies, while several red lanterns hung in the corridors, swaying gently in the wind. All the people coming and going in the palace looked arrogant and superior to others. Now, only March has passed, and the place has become very empty and desolate, with decaying petals falling to the ground and no one taking care of them, leaving red residue everywhere.

You Shu’s nose felt a bit uncomfortable, and under the cover of the old ghost’s smokescreen, he ran a few steps and finally arrived at the inner hall. Concubine Hui was standing by the window looking into the distance, her face no longer adorned with exquisite makeup and elegant smile, but was filled with sorrow.  

The Eighth Prince had just finished school and hurriedly ran in, asking, “Mufei, they all said that my uncle was demoted to the fifth-grade military supervisor. Is that true?”

Concubine Hui turned around and slapped him hard, “You still have the face to mention it? If it weren’t for you messing everything up, your uncle wouldn’t have been sent by the emperor to attack the Southern Barbarians. The imperial court has been attacking the Southern Barbarians for decades, but has they ever been defeated? All the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in your uncle’s hands were destroyed. Before he could return to the capital to report on his duties, the emperor had already issued three decrees as punishment, and he was demoted. By the time he arrives in the capital, he might not even be able to keep his post as the fifth-grade military supervisor. Your uncle and I have been planning for more than ten years, but in the end, we all lost, all because of a useless thing like you! If you hadn’t provoked Lao Qi, where would we be today?”

“If you had killed Lao Qi earlier, we wouldn’t be here today! You are not ruthless enough, but you blame me!” The Eighth Prince pushed Concubine Hui away with all his strength and ran away.

Concubine Hui was so angry that she almost fainted, but she couldn’t ignore him, so she quickly asked the eunuch to chase after him. She finally realized that she had indeed picked the wrong person. If she had chosen the eighth child instead of the seventh child, how could she be in this situation now?  Although all the evidence from the past has been wiped out, as long as the emperor has any suspicion, he can still punish them without leaving a trace. The emperor is Dayan’s heaven, he can do whatever he wants.

Now it seems that he no longer intends to support Ganquan Palace. Her brother’s demotion was a signal that it will be her turn next. Concubine Hui was about to fall, but fortunately, she was supported by two palace maids and didn’t collapse on the ground. She didn’t notice at all that a puppy ran by and chased after the Eighth Prince.

With the help of the ghosts in the palace, You Shu easily obtained the jade pendant of the Eighth Prince and quickly ran towards Cining Palace. 

The Eighth Prince not only hated Lao Qi deeply, but also hated Lao Qi’s puppy. He ignored the palace people and chased after him. After catching up with him, he would find a hidden corner to kill the dog, trample it into a pulp, and cut off one of its paws. Then he would quietly send it to Lao Qi’s palace, just to see how heartbroken he would be.

Driven by the evil thoughts in his heart, he only chased wildly and didn’t notice that he had already entered the boundary of the Cining Palace. The palace maid guarding the Buddhist hall was attracted by the noise made by the ghosts, and when the Eight Prince passed by her, she didn’t notice anything due to the blinding trick.

The Empress Dowager was the successor of the late Emperor. She married into the palace at the age of eighteen and became a widow at the age of twenty. She originally intended to choose a young prince to inherit the throne so that she could be her and her brother’s puppet, but unexpectedly, Emperor Jing gained the support of the courtiers first. 

After Emperor Jing ascended the throne, she used the pretense of paying homage to Buddha to escape the other party’s eradication, but she didn’t accept her fate and occasionally stirred up trouble in the harem.

At this moment, she and her brother were messing around in the Buddhist hall, not noticing that a puppy was squatting at the door watching them. 

After a while, the puppy turned around and left. When he reached the steps, he threw down the jade pendant in his mouth. The jade pendant jingled and rolled, eventually falling into the nearby flower bed. The puppy immediately ran away wildly and disappeared in an instant.

“Who is outside?” The Emperor Dowager and her brother stiffened for a moment, and then asked sharply.

The palace maid who was lured away arrived late, but due to the blinding trick, she neither saw the puppy nor the Eighth Prince who was trapped in the back garden by the ghost wall. She stepped forward quickly and said in a trembling voice, “Reporting to the Empress Dowager, this slave has just been lured away.”

Duke Jing and the Empress Dowager knew that something was wrong, so they quickly put on their clothes and went out to check. Finally, they found a jade pendant in the flower garden, with the word “Yong” engraved on it in the official script.

“Ji Yongye?” Apart from the Eighth Prince, the Empress Dowager couldn’t think of anyone else.

However, the Eighth prince, who was freed from the ghost wall, walked up to the Buddhist hall at this moment and bowed as a greeting.

The Empress Dowager forced a smile and asked, “Why are you here?”

“Reporting back to the Empress Dowager, Lao Qi’s dog is really despicable. He actually took away this grandson’s jade pendant. The grandson chased it all the way and entered the Cining Palace without realising it.” 

After saying this, he looked up and said in surprise, “Empress Dowager, it’s this jade pendant.”

The Empress Dowager returned the jade pendant and let him go without asking anything. Duke Jing, who was still smiling a moment before, revealed his murderous intent in the next second, “Do you believe his lies? Did anyone see the little dog come in?”

The palace servants all shook their heads and said in fear, “Not to mention the little dog, we didn’t even know when His Highness the Eighth Prince came in.”

The Empress Dowager didn’t believe Lao Ba’s words, but she wouldn’t kill anyone in her Cining Palace. Instead, she planned to arrange a few nails in Ganquan Palace and slowly poison him to death.

Duke Jing shook his head, “We need to deal with him as soon as possible. If he tells Concubine Hui and then the Emperor, we will be finished.”

“First, find someone to keep an eye on him. He and Concubine Hui are in a difficult situation right now. If they finally grasp such a big handle on Ai Jia, they will definitely come to trade with us. These people in the palace will not waste a single opportunity, and they will always seek the maximum benefit.” The Empress Dowager said firmly.

(Ai Jia = title given to the queens whose husbands have died in fictional works)

After a moment, she spoke again, “Anyone who knows about this kind of scandal will not be able to get away with it. What will happen to Lao Ba depends on the emperor’s mood, but Concubine Hui will definitely be silenced, so they won’t dare to say anything directly. Even if they want to say it, they have to arrange it carefully, and it’s best to use someone else’s mouth. We still have time, so don’t worry.”

Upon thinking about it, Duke Jing said, “You can handle it as you see fit, but in this world, only dead people can keep their mouths shut.”

“Ai Jia understands.” The Empress Dowager stepped forward and rubbed her brother’s waistline ambiguously.

It was almost dusk when You Shu and the old ghost returned to Guangling Palace.  Xiao Shunzi found out that His Highness Seventh Prince was asleep and put him on the bed. 

Then, upon seeing that there was no sign of You Shu inside or outside the palace, he was scared out of his wits and immediately sent someone to look for him. As His Highness the Seventh Prince was about to wake up, everyone was so anxious that they were all sweating profusely. 

Finally, when they saw the puppy jumping out of the grass, it seemed as if they had seen their biological father, and everyone’s eyes were filled with tears of excitement.

“My little ancestor, you are back! Where have you been? How come you are so dirty?” Xiao Shunzi immediately picked him up and ordered, “Quickly, hurry up, hurry up and boil a pot of hot water to wash him before His Highness wakes up! This master is His Highness’s lifeblood. If he knew that we almost lost it, everyone in the palace would be whipped!”

Thinking of the chief palace maid who was maimed by a whip, everyone immediately started moving.

You Shu never lets anyone other than his master hug himself, but today he was covered in grass, soil, and flower juice, and was extremely dirty. If he didn’t let Xiao Shunzi wash him off, his master would definitely be furious later. He didn’t dare to think about that scene, so after struggling a little, he gave up.

Half an hour later, You Shu, who had been washed clean and white, was quietly placed by Xiao Shunzi next to His Highness the Seventh Prince’s pillow. Seeing that His Highness was still sleeping deeply, the nervous palace servants breathed a sigh of relief and then withdrew.  

The old ghost floating on the top of the tent flipped his palm and a brown pill appeared. He warned, “You find a way to make your master take the antidote, and then massage the acupuncture points on his legs. I’m leaving, a new batch of medicinal herbs has just arrived at the imperial pharmacy, and I have to go pick and hide the best ones.”

You Shu barked twice in response.

As soon as the old ghost left, the Seventh Prince woke up and found himself lying on the bed. His expression immediately tightened. Seeing You Shu squatting by the pillow and looking at him, his expression calmed down, “I just fell asleep? Who picked me up?”

Xiao Shunzi. You Shu barked three times, and fidgeted under the pillow with his plump and short front paws. Finally, he took out a pill, held it in his mouth and handed it to his master, looking up with eager eyes.

“What is this? Where did you find it?” The Seventh Prince sat up and aimed the pill towards the light, repeatedly checking.

You Shu pointed his paws at his mouth, meaning to make him eat it quickly. Afraid that he would not understand, he pretended that his hind legs were paralyzed, and used his two front paws to crawl on the bed. After crawling a certain distance, he opened his mouth, stretched his neck, and made a swallowing motion with his neck, along with a very appropriate whimpering sound. Then he stood up on his hind legs, jumping and screaming as if he was ecstatic.

The Seventh Prince raised his eyebrows and remained unmoved.

You Shu circled around him, tapping his arm holding the medicine with his plump front paws, urging him to swallow it quickly. Seeing that he still didn’t understand, he continued to perform according to the previous routine. Paralyzed, crawling, taking medicine, and suddenly standing up, so happy! You should understand now, right? He ran back to his master, his dark eyes full of hope.

The little dumpling was crawling, rolling, and jumping. How could the Seventh Prince not understand? He was laughing so hard in his heart but still pretended to be ignorant, it was just to trick You Shu into performing a few more times. He loved the way the little thing bounced on his bed, so lively and full of vitality.

Seeing that his master remained motionless, You Shu finally became a little anxious. He crawled along his arm to his chest, took the pill in his palm and put it in his mouth. Then he gently opened his lips with his two front paws and tried to force-fed him.

The Seventh Prince didn’t turn his head to avoid it, but he didn’t open his teeth and asked vaguely, “Can this pill heal my legs?”

Having been trying to feed him for a long time without success, You Shu couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated. But he could understand his master. No one would casually eat something from a pet, especially pills of unknown origin. He nodded repeatedly and snorted anxiously from his nose.

“Where did you find it?” The Seventh Prince asked again.

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