The Empress Dowager had thought that as long as she agreed to the request of the black shadow, it would obediently retreat. However, the shadow was nothing like the timid person it had been in life. Instead, it let out a loud cry and said, "No! Only when the Empress Dowager sees the Queen dead can this old servant rest in peace. Otherwise, I will stay here forever."
Immediately afterwards, the window was blown open by the wind, and the cold air from outside rushed in. At first glance, one might think it was a ghost getting angry.
The Empress Dowager, of course, couldn't see any flaws. She was superstitious to begin with, and now it was the middle of the night. There were no lights lit in the palace, and she could only vaguely see the black shadow in the moonlight, which added to the sense of horror.
After hearing what the shadow said, the Empress Dowager felt cold sweat breaking out on her back. Then, she still pretended to be calm and said, "Fine, fine, fine. I promise you. I'll go find the Queen tomorrow and will surely not let her off easily!"
When she looked up after saying this, she found that the black shadow that had been by the window had disappeared, and even the window had been closed. She noticed that her forehead was already covered in sweat.
She slowly walked out of the bedroom and found that Nanny Li had fainted on the steps. The palace was completely quiet, as if nothing had happened.
Could it be that there had really been a ghost just now? Was it the ghost of Nanny Dong coming back for revenge?
If that was really the case, then what the ghost said must be true. What a bold Queen! She even dared to cause trouble for her.
Thinking of this, her brows knitted together. She kicked the woman beside her forcefully, and the woman slowly woke up. When she saw the furious Empress Dowager, she realized that she had fallen asleep just now. So she quickly knelt on the ground and pleaded, "Please spare my life, Empress Dowager. This servant didn't do it on purpose!"
The Empress Dowager just let out a cold laugh, ignored her, and walked into the bedroom. She told the woman everything that had happened to her just now, and she didn't sleep a wink for the rest of the night.
At this moment, two people sneaked out of the Cining Palace. One of them was even carrying a huge, long object in their arms.
One of the people was actually Cuiping, and the person beside her was an old nanny.
The old nanny said fearfully, "Will we be discovered? After all, we're deceiving the Empress Dowager!"
She was already a bit scared. When the woman in front of her found her and told her that they were going to do a big thing and that she would get a generous reward if it was successful.
But she never expected that it would be to deceive the Empress Dowager, and even to pretend to be a ghost. Just thinking about it made cold sweat break out on her back.
Seeing her like this, Cuiping couldn't help but let out a cold laugh and said, "What are you afraid of? Don't you want the gold from the Lady anymore? Besides, you just need to say a few words. Why are you worrying for no reason?!"
The nanny quickly shook her head and said that she wasn't afraid but was just worried about the Lady. After all, her voice was really easy to recognize.
The reason they asked her to pretend to be the ghost and speak was because of her voice. It was said that she accidentally swallowed charcoal fire when she was a child, which burned her vocal cords, leaving her with such an unpleasant voice.
After all, if they just randomly found someone, Nanny Dong had been with the Empress Dowager for decades, so the Empress Dowager would surely recognize the voice right away. But if they found someone with such a voice, even the Empress Dowager wouldn't suspect anything and would just think that this was how a ghost's voice sounded.
"Don't be afraid. The real ghost is this paper figure in my hand. I'll burn it later, and that will be destroying the evidence. No one will be able to find out about you!" Cuiping said like this again and moved the object in her hand.
It was a paper figure without facial features. It was made very roughly, and only its shadow would make people suspect that it was a real person.
They hid outside the window and propped up the paper figure. The moonlight shining through it would naturally leave a shadow on the floor of the bedroom.
The bedroom was so dark without any lights, and the Empress Dowager was old and her eyesight was naturally not good. As long as the voice and the atmosphere were well - rendered, they could surely make this superstitious old woman completely believe it.
Moreover, Nanny Li outside the palace had already been drugged and fainted. No one would come to ruin their plan. Now they just had to wait for the Empress Dowager to "avenge the ghost"!
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but let out a cold laugh and then rushed towards Concubine Chu's palace.
On the other side, Concubine Chu was sitting on the grand master's chair in her palace, waiting for someone to bring her news.
Not long after, Cuiping and the others rushed back.
"How did things go?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Don't worry, Lady. The Empress Dowager has completely believed it!" Cuiping replied with a look of success on her face.
"In that case, you don't need to stay either..." Her eyes immediately fell on another maid beside her.
The maid was so shocked that she immediately knelt on the ground and pleaded, "Please spare my life, Lady. This servant won't say a word. I don't even want the silver. As long as the Lady doesn't kill me!"
Her hoarse voice sounded a bit creepy, and in the middle of the night, it was even more frightening.
Cuiping didn't expect Concubine Chu to be such a heartless person. She had only heard before that she was cruel and ruthless, but now she realized that the rumors had actually beautified her.
Thinking of this, she immediately rushed in front of the maid and said to the woman in front of her, "Please wait, Lady! We haven't completed our great task yet, so we can't kill her for now. After all, the Empress Dowager has already heard her voice. If there's any accident in the future, it'll be very difficult to find someone with such a voice!"
Concubine Chu's expression paused for a moment when she heard this. She thought that what Cuiping said was indeed reasonable, but the next moment she raised her eyebrows and asked, "Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you?"
This Cuiping had voluntarily come to her side. She was bold and intelligent, and it was impossible to figure out her purpose.
"The Lady surely won't be willing to, after all, this servant will help the Lady do great things!" Cuiping replied with a smile on her lips.
Concubine Chu couldn't help but burst into laughter when she heard this, and then said, "Fine! Then you keep an eye on the person behind you. If there's the slightest mistake, both of you will jump to your deaths!"
After saying that, she turned around and walked back into the inner palace.
Cuiping, who was still standing there, turned around and stared at the woman who was still crying. She couldn't help but scold, "You're not dead yet. What are you crying for!"
"But I'll die sooner or later!" the maid continued to sob.
Her hoarse voice was extremely unpleasant, which made Cuiping frown. Then she said, "Don't worry. It'll be okay!"
Her determined look seemed as if she had some plan, which made the woman opposite her stop crying. Then she asked, "Do you have any way?"