Now Dongfang Yi and Donghua had entered the Cining Palace. Right in front of them was the Empress Dowager. Dressed as palace maids, they wouldn't arouse anyone's suspicion.
"Humph!" The Empress Dowager let out a cold snort. It seemed to come from the back of her throat, full of disdain, which made the two women in front of her couldn't help but give an awkward dry laugh.
"Where is the Emperor?!" she asked again, frowning so tightly that it seemed like her eyebrows were about to knot. She was obviously very unhappy.
"Your Majesty was worried that if he came, those people wouldn't dare to act. So we're here to keep an eye out for any signs of trouble. If something really happens, His Majesty will come right away," Dongfang Yi explained.
Anyway, with Donghua around, ordinary people couldn't harm them. As long as they could catch the person pretending to be a ghost, they could hand that person over to the Emperor for judgment.
Hearing this, the Empress Dowager understood the meaning. Although she still looked displeased on the surface, she had already started to believe their words in her heart. Then she said, "Don't forget what you said, Empress. If you still can't find anything, you'd better take off that empress robe as soon as possible!"
She spoke each word sternly, which made Donghua a bit unhappy. She thought to herself that their mistress was doing her best to help here, but look at what the Empress Dowager was saying.
Thinking of this, she looked at the woman beside her with a worried look. But at this moment, Dongfang Yi didn't care about the Empress Dowager's words. Instead, she smiled indifferently and said, "I will surely keep my word. Your Majesty needn't worry."
By now, the Empress Dowager was too lazy to argue with her about the disrespectful "I" in her words. She just turned her head away and soon felt sleepy. After all, she hadn't been able to sleep at all last night because of what had happened, and she had been so busy during the day. Her body couldn't take it anymore.
Dongfang Yi also noticed the exhaustion on her face. Then she said, "Your Majesty, you should go and rest for a while. I'll stay here. If anything happens, I'll surely report it."
After saying that, she gave her a reassuring look.
The Empress Dowager was a bit hesitant at first, but she was really too sleepy to hold on. So she walked into the inner chamber.
When there was absolutely no sound from the inner chamber, Donghua said reluctantly, "Mistress, why do you bother? The Empress Dowager has always been targeting you. It's obvious that you didn't do this. She'd rather believe in some non - existent ghosts than believe you, but now you're still coming to help her."
There was a hint of displeasure on her face, clearly showing that she was feeling indignant for her mistress.
After hearing this, Dongfang Yi tapped the tip of her nose and chuckled. Then she said, "If Ru Yi's mother were as unreasonable as this, would you also hate and blame her like this?"
Hearing this, Donghua's face froze. As if she had realized the meaning in her words, she then blushed shyly and said, "Mistress, what are you talking about?! What Ru Yi? Why are you bringing him up all of a sudden!"
All their words fell into the ears of the Empress Dowager in the inner chamber. She was lying on the couch but couldn't fall asleep at all. When Donghua said those words, a burst of anger welled up in her heart. But unexpectedly, that woman was justifying herself.
Then she heard Dongfang Yi outside continue, "I truly love Helian Qi. So no matter what his mother is like, as long as she is good to Helian Qi, I'll be good to her. You know, in this world, who else is his family? If I don't understand him, there will be no one else in the world who can."
Dongfang Yi said softly, with a glint in her eyes. She rarely spoke so tenderly. On the one hand, she was afraid of waking up the sleeping Empress Dowager in the inner chamber. On the other hand, just thinking of Helian Qi would make her feel gentle.
But she didn't expect that the Empress Dowager wasn't asleep at all. Instead, she heard every single word clearly. Immediately, her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't help but wonder if she had really wronged Dongfang Yi.
Thinking of this, over the past days, she had repeatedly tried to kill her, but it seemed that she had never hated her. Rumor had it that the Empress was vengeful and would repay any enmity tenfold, but towards her, there seemed to be a bit more respect as an elder.
Thinking of this, her heart softened a bit. She immediately felt that it was really a bit too much for her to have wronged Dongfang Yi like this.
Then she let out a long sigh and thought that if they really found something this time, and if there was another mastermind behind this incident, then she really had to get to know her empress better.
While she was still deep in thought, suddenly she heard the window being blown open, and then a cold gust of wind rushed in.
Wasn't this exactly the same as last night? Thinking of this, she immediately got out of bed.
The two women waiting in the outer chamber also heard the noise and rushed in immediately. Then they saw the wide - open window, and the Empress Dowager was signaling to them with her eyes.
Soon, a black shadow appeared on the floor of the bedroom. It could be seen that the shadow was of a person, but his appearance couldn't be seen because it was just a shadow.
"Is it Nanny Dong?" the Empress Dowager asked first. She was still a bit scared. As a person who burned incense and worshiped Buddha every day, she had always kept a respectful distance from ghosts and gods.
Dongfang Yi took a look at the shadow and then scanned the surroundings. Then she noticed that the shadow was exactly in the same place as the moonlight shining in from outside. Wherever the moonlight was, the shadow was there.
Seeing this, she immediately had a guess in her mind. Then she nodded to the woman beside her. Donghua understood her meaning and carefully left the bedroom.
At this time, a hoarse and terrifying voice came from inside the palace.
"Empress Dowager! Why didn't you avenge this slave? Why did you let that empress go? Aren't you afraid that I'll never leave?" the voice said.
This voice sounded in the darkness, as if someone was crying. It was both unpleasant and terrifying.
Hearing this, Dongfang Yi couldn't help but frown. She thought that the ghostly voice was quite realistic, but their tricks were too inferior. It might be able to deceive some ignorant ancient people, but she was a modern person who truly believed in science. She could see through the loopholes at a glance.
Just now, she had seen the piece of paper sticking out from outside the window. Immediately, she thought that there must be someone outside the window playing tricks, so she had sent Donghua out.
Moreover, the moonlight wasn't very bright tonight, so the shadow was a bit blurry. These were all obvious loopholes.