"That woman, the wife of Zhang Wang. Once, she stole something from the storeroom and sold it. My wife caught her, and that's why she was sent outside to be in charge of buying flowers and plants!"
Xiao Yuanjie blurted out all the words like he was being chased.
Li Wanming slowly put down her round fan, and the smile on her face faded.
"Uncle, how did you find out about this?" Her eyes grew colder, but her voice remained gentle.
"I buy flowers every day. How could I not notice when the person in charge of buying flowers and plants changed? I asked my wife, and she told me." As if afraid she wouldn't believe him, Xiao Yuanjie took half a step forward and stamped his foot anxiously. "It's true! Absolutely true!"
Li Wanming scrutinized Xiao Yuanjie's expression carefully. Seeing his eager eyes and the sweat beading on his forehead, it was obvious that he wasn't lying.
So, it was Lady Kang who was lying...
Li Wanming's fingertips tapped lightly on the table, and a cold glint flashed across her eyes.
In a prominent family, the most intolerable thing is for servants to be dishonest.
If the wife of Zhang Wang really stole something from the storeroom, with Lady Kang's character, she would have sold her off long ago. How could she still keep her in the Prince Ning's Mansion and give her the lucrative job of buying flowers and plants?
This didn't sound like a punishment at all. It was clearly a demotion in name but a promotion in reality, a way to silence her!
However, even if Xiao Yuanjie didn't know the whole truth, he had still lifted the veil and pointed her in a clear direction.
"Uncle," Li Wanming said softly, "the boss of the goods depot said that it's summer now. The weather is hot, and transportation is inconvenient. When autumn comes, he will surely send the golden-threaded ghost orchid to the capital."
——————————
At the beginning of June, after a heavy rain, the moss on the city wall soaked up enough water and glowed a dark green light.
The army was finally going to set out on a campaign.
It had taken a full two months to recruit and dispatch the 200,000-strong army, and today they were finally going to march to the southern border.
"They said they were leaving ages ago. I don't know what they've been dawdling about. They've even dragged it out until today..." Fang Zhi stomped her foot on the city tower and pouted.
Li Wanming didn't reply. Her gaze passed over the long line of the army and looked towards the southern horizon.
For some reason, she felt an inexplicable uneasiness in her heart.
It wasn't just because Empress Dowager Kang actually had no intention of going on the campaign. It was also because she hadn't received a letter from Xiao Jingnan for more than ten days.
Since arriving at the southern border, Xiao Jingnan had sent a letter every three or four days without fail.
He told her about the scenery in the southern border; that the people there liked to eat a kind of glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in leaves called leaf dumplings; that the girls there would make big flowers into flower crowns and wear them on their heads. If she wore one, she would surely look even more beautiful...
But those letters had stopped on the 17th of May, and not a single one had arrived since then.
The flags fluttered in the wind, piercing the morning light. The cold light of the iron armor was like silver scales breaking through the waves. The mud churned under the horses' hooves, and the splashed muddy water stained the lower hems of the soldiers' armor.
Feng Yuanji and Feng Xiao rode on tall horses. Their silver armor reflected the huge battle flag fluttering in the wind on the city tower.
Mighty and imposing, with iron horses and golden weapons, they were as powerful as a tiger devouring everything.
But Li Wanming only felt that the stuffy wind on the city tower was battering the city. It was as if something was blocking her chest, making it hard for her to catch her breath.
"Are you okay?"
Fang Zhi noticed that her face looked pale and grabbed her arm.
"I always feel..." Li Wanming patted her chest and frowned. "I always feel that something is wrong..."
Fang Zhi pouted. "Of course something's wrong! My father said that the empress dowager is just looking for trouble for no reason. She wants to seize military power. He advised General Feng twice not to go, but General Feng didn't listen to him at all."
"If we can take back the six cities in the southern border this time, it would be a good thing..." Li Wanming said in a muffled voice.
Fang Zhi gave her a cold look. "Do you really believe we can take them back?"
"I don't know." Li Wanming covered her chest, and her lips turned pale. "All I know is that the great defeat more than ten years ago is like a knife stuck in the hearts of all the soldiers of the Great Sheng Dynasty. If we don't take back those cities, their wounds will never heal."
This time, Fang Zhi didn't refute. Instead, she looked at the long line of black-armored soldiers stretching to the horizon and nodded thoughtfully. "Sometimes I think you really should meet my father. You two talk in a similar way."
"Comparing me to Father Fang..." Li Wanming pulled out a helpless smile. "I'll take that as a compliment."
After returning to the mansion, Li Wanming still felt stuffy in her chest. She brewed a dose of heat-clearing and nourishing medicine and drank it. Only then did she feel a bit better.
She wanted to lie down and rest for a while, but she just couldn't fall asleep soundly.
In her dream, the sound of iron horses trampling through the puddles was like rolling thunder. The soldiers' silver armor was stained with blood, just like the great defeat more than ten years ago - the southern border was stained with blood, and the corpses piled up like mountains.
Li Wanming suddenly woke up, sweating profusely.
Outside the window, it was already getting dark. The last ray of the setting sun was being devoured by the night.
"Has the Princess Consort woken up?" Qing Lan tiptoed in and lit the gilded palace lantern beside the bed.
The warm yellow light dispelled the darkness. She poured a cup of hot tea and came over. Leaning over, she whispered in Li Wanming's ear, "There's progress on that matter..."
After listening to her, Li Wanming slowly drank the tea in her hand. A faint smile appeared on her lips. "In that case, call the person over."
...
When the wife of Zhang Wang was led into Shiyong Residence, her heart was pounding. The night wind blew through the lanterns in the corridor, casting flickering shadows at her feet.
"Miss Chuntao, it's so late. Why did the Princess Consort summon this servant?"
"What?!" Chuntao frowned. "Are you getting so big-headed now that even the Princess Consort can't order you around?"
"No, no, no. This servant wouldn't dare..."
The wife of Zhang Wang was so scared that she quickly waved her hands. A layer of cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck.
In the past month, Lady Kang had been busy copying books and didn't have time to do anything. But Li Wanming had also been patient and had temporarily put aside the matter of the unclear accounts in the storeroom. She just told everyone that they had to sign and make a seal whenever they took something.
However, the smile on Li Wanming's face had become colder and colder. Her dark pupils were cold and aloof, like a cat staring at a mouse. Whenever she glanced over suddenly, it often scared the wife of Zhang Wang into a cold sweat.
Others might not care, but she couldn't. Because she knew that there was a secret in that storeroom...
The bamboo curtain was lifted, and the wife of Zhang Wang hunched her back and walked in. She saw Li Wanming sitting under the lamp, fiddling with a nine-ring puzzle.
It was hot in summer. She wasn't wearing an outer robe. She was only dressed in a bright red crepe gauze dress with wide sleeves, which made her look even more charming and her features more delicate.
But now, those delicate features looked a bit cold.
The wife of Zhang Wang quickly lowered her head and didn't dare to say a word.
Li Wanming didn't even look at her. Fiddling with the nine-ring puzzle in her hand, she said unhurriedly, "You're from Huainan. Twenty-eight years ago, there was a flood in your hometown, and you fled to the capital with your parents. Because life was hard and your family was on the verge of starvation, your parents sold you into the Prince Ning's Mansion as a servant.
"After entering the mansion, you first worked in the flower garden. Later, you went to Jujing Hall and became the princess's personal maid. The princess ordered you to take charge of the storeroom north of the lotus pond. Later, when the second mistress took power in the mansion, you went to the West Courtyard. Five years ago, you returned to the outer courtyard and were in charge of buying flowers and plants."