Recently, Dongfang Yi had become extremely busy. As the Mid - Autumn Festival was approaching, the entire palace was filled with a festive atmosphere. After that discussion with Helian Qi, almost everyone in the palace knew that this year's Mid - Autumn banquet was going to be extraordinary.
All the detailed preparations for the Mid - Autumn banquet were almost completed. All that was left were the on - site preparations at the city tower.
Dongfang Yi had originally assigned the on - site decoration to Concubine Shun. However, Concubine Shun had said she was unwell the other day and thus couldn't go to the site to oversee the progress in person.
So today, Dongfang Yi decided to go to the city tower to check how everything was going.
Early in the morning, supported by Donghua, the two of them got into the carriage heading for the city tower. Along the way, they chatted and laughed, creating a cheerful atmosphere.
"My lady, I heard that the city tower has been decorated very festively," Donghua said with anticipation on her face.
Although Dongfang Yi appeared calm on the surface, she was actually quite nervous inside. After all, she had never organized such a large - scale event before. If it were in modern times, what she was doing would be equivalent to organizing an event like a national congress.
Now that everything was ready, only the on - site step remained. How could she not be excited?
"Haha, after we come down from the city tower, let's go for a stroll in the capital," she said to the somewhat excited woman beside her.
"Great!"
In less than an incense - burning time, the two of them arrived at the foot of the city tower. As soon as they got out of the sedan chair, they could see that the entire city wall was decorated with lanterns and festoons, full of colorful cloth and floral ornaments.
The two of them got out of the sedan chair and walked step by step up the stairs leading to the top of the city tower. Even the stairs were pasted with red or gold stickers, looking extremely beautiful.
When they reached the top of the city tower, the view was extremely broad. At first sight, one could see the dragon throne and the chair beside it, clearly indicating the seats of the emperor and the empress.
There were also seats for other nobles, as well as for court officials and concubines.
Huge red and gold window curtains were hanging on the top of the city tower, creating a unique atmosphere for the whole venue.
After Dongfang Yi walked around for a while, she felt a bit tired and her heels were a bit sore. So she sat down on her own seat.
The seats of the emperor and the empress were at the highest position and one had to climb a few more steps to sit on them.
After Dongfang Yi sat down, she felt that the view became even broader. Everything below the city tower was clearly visible. She thought that when watching the carefully - prepared shows at that time, she would surely have the clearest view.
Thinking of this, she felt even more delighted. It seemed that she was very satisfied with all the designs. So she took a long breath and suddenly leaned back to take a rest.
However, unexpectedly, the chair she was sitting on seemed unable to bear her weight. It suddenly shook. Before Dongfang Yi could react, the whole chair started to fall backward.
"Donghua!!!" she suddenly shouted in a moment of crisis.
Donghua, who had been walking around beside her, heard the shout and quickly turned back. When she saw this scene, her heart skipped a beat and she started running.
Fortunately, the legs of the chair were not completely broken. Only one support was damaged. And since Dongfang Yi was relatively light in weight, the chair fell slowly. Moreover, Donghua arrived in time, pushed the chair upright and helped her down.
Just getting off the chair, Dongfang Yi was still in shock. She couldn't help covering her chest and gasping as she looked at the broken chair beside her.
She thought to herself, why among so many chairs was it only hers that had a problem? If she hadn't come to sit on it today, then on the day of the Mid - Autumn state banquet, when everyone was in a lively mood, it would be very difficult for people to notice what had happened to her.
Then she might be in great danger at that time. An ordinary person might think that there was just an accidental problem with the chair. But in Dongfang Yi's mind, she knew that there must be something wrong. There must be someone deliberately trying to harm her behind this.
Concubine Chu? But they hadn't seen each other for a while. Concubine Chu seemed very calm in the palace recently. This calmness probably started after Concubine Shun entered the palace.
She also wondered if because of Concubine Shun, Nangong Liuyun had regarded Concubine Chu as a discarded piece.
So was it Concubine Shun? Although she still looked submissive, she couldn't be completely trusted. After all, behind seemingly simple things, there might be means to kill someone.
Thinking this way and that, Dongfang Yi felt her mind in a complete mess. Donghua beside her was also asking her worriedly if she was okay.
She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Then she straightened up, patted the woman's shoulder beside her and said, "Donghua, I'm okay. Don't worry."
After saying that, she turned around and walked towards the stairs. Donghua quickly strode to catch up with her.
After they got off the stairs and got into the carriage, Dongfang Yi leaned on the seat, closed her eyes for a while and rubbed her forehead. Suddenly she said to the woman beside her, "When we get back to the palace later, spread the news that I accidentally got injured when I went to the city tower to check the on - site preparations. Be sure to emphasize that I fell from the empress's seat."
After saying that, she saw Donghua looking at her in confusion. Without making any explanation, she just patted her shoulder again.
Donghua then finally came to her senses and quickly replied, "Yes, my lady!"
Although she didn't know what this woman in front of her was thinking and what the purpose was, she had an inexplicable trust in her. It seemed that she was convinced that as long as this woman made up her mind to do something, it must be the right thing.
On the other side, after hearing Donghua's response, Dongfang Yi rubbed her forehead again and closed her eyes. After all, the sudden incident just now had really scared her. She could only keep calming herself down to think about her plan.
Since someone wanted to harm her, she would fulfill that person's wish. She would act as if she had really fallen from that seat and got injured.
This was a move to lure the snake out of its hole. She wanted to find out who was the person who had resorted to such despicable means. Thinking of this, she tightly bit her lips and her annoyance deepened.