The Empress Arrives: Rebirth of Concubine Hua

Chapter 123: Beating Yucui to death
Yinzhen brought Nian Shilan to Liufang Pavilion almost at the same time as Ulanara. Fortunately, the fire was not big and was put out.

The fire broke out in the house next door to where Hu Gege lived. It was usually uninhabited and only contained a few things.

Hu Gege's face was smoked like a tabby cat, and the hair on her clothes was all dirty in patches.

Shu Gege was brushing the dust off Hu Gege's clothes. The bright clothes formed a sharp contrast with Hu Gege.

Ulanara greeted Yinzhen and waited for him to speak.

Yinzhen was somewhat impatient with Hu Gege, but now that her residence had been burned down, Yinzhen had to suppress his impatience and find out the cause of the fire first.

"Ms. Hu, what happened? Are you hurt? Do you want to ask the imperial physician to take a look?"

Hu Gege's eyes were dull. When she heard Yinzhen's question, she slowly looked at him, her lips trembling and she couldn't speak for a long time.

Shu Gege took a step forward, bowed, and spoke softly.

"Master, please forgive me. Hu Gege must have been frightened. I will calm her down and then come back to ask you questions. I have carefully checked Hu Gege's body and there are no scars on her body. So she is fine. Please rest assured, Master."

Ulanara spoke at the right time.

"Sister Shu is really careful. The master can rest assured now. How could she be so careless in such a dry weather? Are all the servants who serve Hu Gege here?"

The servants of Liufang Pavilion were already kneeling in the yard, and it was already dark when a servant reported.

"Reporting to the master, we are servants in Liufang Pavilion. These four serve Shu Gege, these four serve Hu Gege, and the rest are servants who sweep the yard. The house that caught fire today was unoccupied. Gege said she wanted to find something, so she went in with a candlestick, but she didn't expect the fire to break out."

Yinzhen frowned. This Hu was rash and too careless.

Fortunately, the fire was not serious and did not burn down the entire Liufang Pavilion, nor did it cause any casualties.

"Forget it. Since it was Mrs. Hu who accidentally started the fire, we can just call a craftsman to clean it up. But Mrs. Hu is impetuous, and Mrs. Fujin needs to teach her more."

At this moment, Hu Gege seemed to suddenly wake up and knelt down in front of Yinzhen.

"Master, please understand! It was not that I was careless, but someone pushed me from behind! I was unstable for a moment, and the candlestick fell, which caused the fire! Master, please understand! Fortunately, I ran out quickly, otherwise I would have died in the sea of ​​fire, Master!"

Nian Shilan, who had been silent, spoke.

"You said he was pushed down. Do you have any evidence? Both human and physical evidence are fine."

Hu Gege looked around and pointed at a servant behind him.

"She was the one who pushed me! She was the one who followed me closely today! There was no one else!"

Yucui, who was pointed at, shuddered all over and looked confused.

"How could you mistake me, Princess? I have always been loyal to you!"

Hu Gege was very excited and pointed at Yucui.

"It's you! You've always been the only one I've served closely! It was you who pushed me! I know I punished you the day before yesterday because I was angry, but you shouldn't have been so cruel to take my life! After pushing me down, you even tried to lock the door! If I hadn't tried my best, I would have been burned to ashes by now! I think I've always treated you well! You actually wanted to burn me to death because of such a small thing! You have such a cruel heart!"

Yinzhen looked at the servants behind Hu, and then at Hu's hands which were shaking with excitement.

"Are you Hu's personal attendant? What's your name?"

When Yucui saw Yinzhen asking her, she knocked her head to the ground. When Qi Yuebin heard the news of the fire in Liufang Pavilion and rushed over, he heard a "bang" and felt pain just by hearing the sound. "My master, my name is Yucui, and I am a first-class maid who serves the princess personally. I have always been loyal to the princess, and all the servants in the courtyard are witnesses. I beg my master to investigate!"

Yinzhen asked.

"When did you come to serve in Liufang Pavilion, and how long have you been with Hu?"

Yucui replied with tears in her eyes.

"I have been following the princess for six years. I am truly wronged! The princess punished me the day before yesterday, but that was because I did something wrong and accidentally smashed the set of Ru kiln cups that the princess cherished. How could I be so vicious as to take the princess' life just because I did something wrong?!"

Ulanara spoke.

"Master, I think what this servant said makes sense. Maybe Sister Hu was nervous and scared, and recognized the wrong person. Our palace has always been known for its leniency to its people. For such a big matter, I'm afraid we still have to investigate it thoroughly."

Yinzhen said lightly.

"You are in charge of the backyard. Tell me how we can find out the truth."

Just as Ulanara was about to speak, Hu Gege spoke first.

"Master, I almost died in the sea of ​​fire, and Yucui was the only one by my side at the time! Isn't this enough to prove it?! Look, in order to break free from Yucui and escape, my wrist was scratched by Yucui's nails! In the struggle, I also scratched Yucui's hand. Master, just ask her to stretch out her hand and you will know whether what I said is true or not!"

As she said this, Hu Gege grabbed Yucui's hands and turned them out very swiftly, without waiting for Yinzhen to order anyone to open them. Yucui cried out in pain, but Hu Gege was so strong that Yucui couldn't break free.

Yinzhen saw that there was indeed a scratch on the back of Yucui's hand near the wrist that was bleeding. This series of actions happened quickly, but Nian Shilan could see it clearly from that angle. The scratch was made by Hu Gege who grabbed Yucui's hand and scratched it hard.

Yucui kowtowed in panic. She didn't know why Hu Gege suddenly got angry today. She had been fine all along.

"Master, I didn't harm the princess! I didn't!"

Yinzhen just felt a headache at this moment.

"Fujin, you will see to it that this servant who intends to kill his master is dealt with. Then ask the craftsmen to renovate the Liufang Pavilion."

Yucui fell to the ground in despair, looking to Ulanara for help. She was assigned by Ulanara to serve Hu Gege.

Ulanara didn't look at Yucui, she just said.

"Yes, I will handle it properly. At this moment, the master has not had dinner yet, so why not let Sister Nian serve the master first. This Liufang Pavilion needs to be renovated, but tomorrow is the twelfth lunar month, so we can only wait until the beginning of next spring to invite a craftsman. According to the rules, the concubine's courtyard should be lived with someone of lower status, but now Sister Nian's Cheng'en Garden, Feng is pregnant. If we arrange for someone to live there, it will be crowded for the time being. Why not let Sisters Hu and Shu move to Sister Qi's Yaoyue Garden to live together temporarily? What do you think, master?"

Yinzhen waved his hand and turned around.

"Madam, please make the arrangements. Just one thing: do not treat this servant with contempt, otherwise many people in this palace will follow your example."

Ulanara said.

"Yes, I would like to ask the master for instructions on how to deal with this servant."

Yinzhen lightly said two words and left Liufang Pavilion with Nian Shilan.

"Death with a stick."

Yucui shouted "Fujin, save me!" but Jiang Fuhai soon covered her mouth and dragged her away. She was just a little servant, so who cared if she died.

　Can you guys figure out what's going on in this episode?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)