The rumors in the palace were spreading more and more wildly. Gradually, they had evolved from the initial claim that the queen bullied the concubines in the harem to the current one that she persecuted the loyal and upright and casually killed the maids.
Upon hearing these rumors, Dongfang Yi couldn't help but roll her eyes mentally. She had merely disciplined the daughter of a loyal official and slapped a maid a few times. How could it turn into persecuting the loyal and killing maids?
She sighed silently, thinking that indeed, rumors were like the saying "when three people spread a rumor, it becomes the truth." It seemed that Concubine Chu and her ilk had noticed that she didn't care about the rumors, so they intensified their efforts.
It seemed that she had to put a stop to this. Immediately, she dressed up, took Donghua with her, and left the palace. They were heading in the direction of Concubine Chu's palace.
On the way, they met several palace servants who were cleaning. When they saw Dongfang Yi, they all knelt down and shouted in unison, "Long live the queen!"
But after they left, the servants murmured behind their backs, "This is the queen who kills people casually!"
Hearing this, Donghua was about to turn back and beat those servants, but Dongfang Yi stopped her with a hand.
She had endured these rumors for so long. If she were to start a fight on the main road of the palace at this moment, it would just fit the rumors that were spreading throughout the palace and exactly suit Concubine Chu's wishes.
In less than a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the entrance of Concubine Chu's palace. Before they could even step into the palace gate, a maid ran out and said, "Concubine Chu is chanting scriptures in front of the Buddha. She is not convenient to receive guests."
Hearing this, Donghua got very angry and stepped forward to reply, "Bold maid! Do you know that the person in front of you is the current queen? How dare you stop the queen! What crime do you think you deserve?"
The maid immediately knelt on the ground with a look of panic on her face when she heard Donghua's words. She was just a low - ranking maid in Concubine Chu's palace, following the order of the head maid to guard the palace gate. How could she have known that she would encounter the queen?
She had heard of the queen. People in the palace said that she was ruthless in killing.
If Dongfang Yi could hear what this little maid was thinking at this moment, she would probably laugh out loud. When had she become "ruthless in killing" and made the maids so afraid of her?
"Your... Your Majesty the Queen, I was just following orders to guard the gate. I didn't dare to offend Your Majesty," the girl said with her head down and her body trembling a little.
"Then go and announce my arrival," Dongfang Yi said, finding the maid's appearance rather amusing but quickly regaining her composure.
The maid quickly got up and stumbled into Concubine Chu's bedroom.
After a while, Concubine Chu was supported and walked out. When Dongfang Yi saw her appearance, she couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth.
What was she up to?
Concubine Chu was only wearing a plain undergarment, with a wind - proof cloth wrapped around her forehead. She even needed someone to support her when walking.
As soon as she saw Dongfang Yi, she pretended to be weak and bowed slightly, saying, "Welcome, Your Majesty the Queen."
Dongfang Yi snorted and said, "Oh - Sister Chu looks like she's seriously ill." Then she scanned her up and down with a teasing look.
Concubine Chu still pretended to be pitiful and said, "Sister Queen, do you have any instructions for me today? Please tell me, and I will definitely follow them. I just beg Sister not to... make things difficult for me anymore." As she said this, she seemed about to shed tears.
Dongfang Yi could clearly tell from her words that she was pretending to be the victim of her bullying. She was acting so pitiful. If an uninformed person saw this, they would really think that Dongfang Yi was the bully.
Soon, there was a commotion outside the palace gate. It turned out that some maids and eunuchs had gathered there out of curiosity. Since Dongfang Yi and her entourage hadn't entered the palace yet, everything that happened in the courtyard was clearly visible to them.
Dongfang Yi snorted again, thinking that Concubine Chu had clearly made a well - thought - out plan. She was trying to crush her with the rumors.
When Concubine Chu saw the scene outside the palace, a barely noticeable smile of success flashed across her lips.
Then she pretended to look worried for Dongfang Yi and said, "Sister Queen, let's go into the bedroom. It's not good for others to see this situation." As she said this, she was about to turn around and walk into the palace.
"Don't bother! Sister Chu, let's talk in the courtyard. Donghua, go into the palace and carry two chairs for me and Concubine Chu to sit on," Dongfang Yi waved her hand and ordered Donghua beside her.
Donghua obediently went into the palace and soon came out carrying a chair in each hand.
Concubine Chu's eyes were filled with confusion. She couldn't figure out what Dongfang Yi was up to.
Dongfang Yi, however, had already understood the situation. She definitely couldn't go into the bedroom with Concubine Chu.
If she entered the palace with Concubine Chu under such circumstances, the maids and eunuchs outside wouldn't be able to see what was really going on. Not to mention what they might think on their own, but once she left the gate of Concubine Chu's palace, wouldn't Concubine Chu be able to fabricate any rumors she wanted?
By then, even if she had a hundred mouths, she wouldn't be able to defend herself.
"What illness does Sister Chu have?" Dongfang Yi asked casually while sipping her tea.
Concubine Chu on the opposite side continued to act pitifully and said, "Your servant has an injury on her face. Since her health has always been poor, she has fallen seriously ill."
"I wonder which imperial physician diagnosed you, Sister?" Dongfang Yi continued to ask nonchalantly.
Concubine Chu felt a bit embarrassed. Since her illness was just a pretense, and the news was spread by the spy she had planted in the Imperial Hospital, Imperial Physician Chu. So she lied, "Oh - It was Imperial Physician Li, the academician of the Imperial Hospital, who diagnosed me."
"Really?" Dongfang Yi put down her tea and squinted slightly. She knew that Imperial Physician Li was the most upright and would never spread rumors in the palace for Concubine Chu. So she was sure that the woman opposite her was lying.
But Dongfang Yi didn't expose her lie. Instead, she pretended to be concerned and said, "This palace thinks that Sister is still very seriously ill. How about inviting Imperial Physician Li over right now for another check - up?"
As she said this, she was about to give an order to Donghua beside her.
Concubine Chu suddenly looked a bit flustered and almost stood up from her chair nervously. She said, "Ah - Maybe I remembered wrongly. It should be Imperial Physician Chu who diagnosed me!"
"Really?" Dongfang Yi asked with a sly look in her squinted eyes.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Concubine Chu nodded quickly.
"Then invite Imperial Physician Chu over," Dongfang Yi ordered Donghua.
Concubine Chu let out a sigh of relief when she heard this. But when she heard Dongfang Yi's next words, the expression on her face froze.
"Also invite Imperial Physician Li. Let the two imperial physicians diagnose Sister Chu together. Only then can this palace feel at ease."
Dongfang Yi said this and gave Concubine Chu an extremely kind smile.