The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 15, Pt 1 - Yuxiu Palace

Early that morning, Lian Yan Qiu returned and gave a report about the circumstances behind the fire which had happened at Chongwen Pavilion. The efficiency of this guy was really amazing.

"You’re saying that Li Jie Yu set off the fire?" Yuan Luo asked in some surprise.

Lian Yan Qiu nodded. Yesterday evening while he was directing the people fighting the fire, he found something suspicious.  He had assigned a person to surreptitiously watch Yuxiu Palace and this morning a pair of women returned to the palace from outside the city, namely, Li Jie Yu’s personal maids. Immediately, they were apprehended and incarcerated, then strictly questioned and tortured.

"The two personal maids of Yuxiu Palace confessed. Although they didn't see Li Jie Yu setting the fire with their own eyes, however, Li Jie Yu refused to take anyone with her when she went out on the night of the incident. They said she went to the back garden to relax for more than two hours. Also, the maids said that the day before yesterday, Li Jie Yu was enjoying reading books at night in Yuxiu Palace and somehow manage to use double the amount of her monthly lamp oil allotment. Now an entire jar of oil in the warehouse is gone."

Yuan Luo could say nothing. She felt very sympathetic to the girl who was disfigured by the original owner. After her last visit, Li Jie Yu’s injury had gradually improved after she had instructed the imperial physician to carefully diagnose and treat her.

But Li Jie Yu didn’t dare go out to socialize with her face ruined to that extent and instead chose to live secluded and isolated behind the closed doors of Yuxiu Palace. This behavior made people forget that someone with such a low-key manner still existed in the palace. Yuan Luo had once discussed Li Jie Yu with the Division of Imperial Households and requested that she not be treated harshly, but after that she had almost completely forgotten about her existence.

She hadn’t expected that such a big thing would happen in the blink of an eye, but considering that Li Jie Yu was originally the East China Sea king’s person, it was not unreasonable that she would still listen to his orders.

"Where is Li Jie Yu now?" Yuan Luo asked.

"Early this morning, a maid discovered that she had already hung herself to death," Lian Yan Qiu replied.

Li Jie Yu, after setting the fire, was most likely afraid that sooner or later the fire would be traced back to her. In apprehension, she simply hung herself with a rope.

Yuan Luo suddenly felt depressed.

"Empress, you don't need to feel regret for her actions. This person was guilty and deserves the punishment." Lian Yan Qiu keenly understood Yuan Luo's mood and attempted to advise her.

Although the Chongwen Pavilion fire was put out in a timely manner, five or six library buildings had collapsed and were destroyed. One of the collections of books from past dynasties was severely damaged. There were also several young, palace people who with no time to escape were buried in the flames. From this perspective, Li Jie Yu indeed was guilty and deserved her punishment.

"She was just a single-edged sword in the hands of the East China Sea king. It’s not the person holding the sword that is punished, but demands that the blade take the blame for the crime. How pointless." Yuan Luo sighed.

"What the Empress means is that the most worrying thing is that, while the actual culprit is in our hands, she is still only a knife."

Yuan Luo rubbed her forehead thoughtfully. Compared to Li Jie Yu, there was a greater matter that gave a person an even worse headache. How had the memorial she prepared secretly spread to the East China Sea king?

If he hadn’t been made aware that he was going to be placed under house arrest, it was very unlikely he would have left the Capital in such a hurry.

"This… hasn’t been ascertained yet," Lian Yan Qiu said. He had wanted to arrest Li Jie Yu and strictly question her, but who knew she would commit suicide fearing punishment? Now that the trail of the existing clues was broken, he had not other choice but to start the investigation from the beginning all over again.

In the palace, the East China Sea king had a lot of influence and in the original book, as Sikong Lin and her became increasingly unpopular, more and more people served the East China Sea king. Regardless of whether it was the people of the harem or the previous dynasty, he was absolutely impossible to eliminate. But now the situation had not yet reached its worst point and there was still time to purge the inner palace and remove the nails buried by the East China Sea king as soon as possible.

Lian Yan Qiu bowed his head and said, "Your servant will pursue the investigation strictly and the Empress can be at ease."

Yuan Luo nodded. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. The influence of the East China Sea king in the harem was Li Jie Yu. In that case, Li Jie Yu could be used.

Yuan Luo looked up and asked, "Has the news of Li Jie Yu hanging herself spread already?"

Lian Yan Qiu shook his head. "After receiving the news, your servant immediately came over to report to the Empress."

Yuan Luo got up. "First, block this news from spreading and continue to appear as if you’re still investigating."

Lian Yan Qiu was at first puzzled. He gaze swept over Yuan Luo's face and suddenly he realized. "The Empress wants to give the appearance that Li Jie Yu is still alive and user her as bait to catch the person behind the scenes."

Yuan Luo nodded. Li Jie Yu was safe. As an important pawn placed in the harem by the East China Sea king, someone was bound to contact her and with that they could follow the clues.

Lian Yan Qiu bowed and said, "Your servant will choose a suitable person from the Division of Intelligence to impersonate Li Jie Yu."

"Is there time for that?" Yuan Luo asked.

Sikong Yan had already moved into the palace. If nothing unexpected happened, it was possible he would attempt to contact Li Jie Yu tonight. Pretending to be someone else is a complicated job. In this era, leather masks existed, but to form it successfully required a complicated process and a lot of time.

"It would be better if this palace went personally." Yuan Luo smiled. Li Jie Yu and she looked strikingly similar from the time of birth making her a ready-made substitute.

Lian Yan Qiu was stunned.

----

Yuan Luo sat in front of the dressing table and a member of the Division of Intelligence, an expert in make-up, arrived to take care of her.

After a short while, Yuan Luo looked at the face in the mirror and she appeared no different from the Li Jie Yu she had seen the last time.

The appearances of the two of them were practically identical, but Li Jie Yu had been disfigured with several scars interlaced. Yuan Luo’s make-up made those scars even more vivid.

Lian Yan Qiu had originally rejected this whimsical plan. It was not worth it for a dignified concubine to take such a risk for this sort of trifling thing. However, Yuan Luo couldn't not be persuaded otherwise, so he could only cooperate. He retrieved a half-inch-long hook-shaped jade piece and brought it to her.

Yuan Luo greatly admired the little gadget. It looked like a normal, pure ornament. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be an ancient version of a voice changer. Placing the tool in the mouth, the emitted sound could be changed by adjusting the resting angle.

After all the preparations were complete, Yuan Luo wrapped a warm cloak around her shoulders and went to Yuxiu Palace.

Yuxiu Palace was located at the most northern part of the imperial palace. An imperial concubine had not resided in Yuxiu Palace for many years. Li Jie Yu moved into the East palace hall, which had made it more popular.

Now, Li Jie Yu had died and yesterday the palace maid’s closest to her were detained in the Division of Intelligence for questioning. Only a few rough, sweeping servants were left alone in that huge palace.

When she arrived at the bedroom of the East palace hall, Li Jie Yu's corpse had already been secretly removed by Lian Yan Qiu. The room had been swept clean, but Yuan Luo still felt a gloomy chill in the air as she walked in the hall.

She looked up at the thick and solid beam above her head, imagining that not more than an hour ago a plain white cloth had been strung up there with a lively life dangling at its end.

It was Yuan Luo's selfishness to insist on keeping Li Jie Yu alive. Not only could Li Jie Yu be used to catch the hidden people in the palace buried by the East China Sea king, but she could also prevent Li Jie Yu’s family from coming after her in the future, labeling her with the charge of persecuting a noble lady.

Yuan Luo also wanted to put the charge of Li Jie Yu’s death on Sikong Yan’s head. ...Anyway, the corpse had already been sealed into an ice coffin by Lian Yan Qiu. When the time came, the body could be exploited to the greatest advantage.