Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 38 The Phoenix Terrace (7)

Yan Zhen frowned slightly: "What's going on?"

“Fanxue rolls around in the sun in the back garden of the palace every day. Today, it was my oversight. I went to get some fish food, and when I came back, it was gone…”

Green Pearl was so anxious she was almost crying. "Sister Ziying and I searched the entire Yihua Palace, but we still couldn't find it."

Yan Zhen pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Don't rush, Fan Xue is timid and won't go far. She probably left Yihua Palace because she was playing around and couldn't find her way back—Hong Yu."

Hongyu immediately stepped forward: "Princess."

"Have everyone in the hall put down what they are doing, and split up into pairs to search in the four directions of Yihua Hall. Pay extra attention to some secluded corners and trees," Yan Zhen instructed. "Don't make too much noise, and don't alert the people in other palaces. If anyone asks, just answer truthfully."

"Yes."

Soon, everyone in the entire Yihua Palace set out to find Fanxue.

Yan Zhen wasn't idle either. She and Hongyu chose a secluded northwest corner and began to search for the cat meticulously.

When Yan Zhen was doing missions before, there were quite a few hosts who were cat lovers. After she transmigrated, she took over the cats and raised them until they died of old age. Therefore, she has a certain understanding of cat habits.

I originally thought that Fanxue was timid and had short legs, so she wouldn't be able to go very far.

But after searching for two hours, and with the sun setting in the west, she still couldn't find it. She then realized that the little thing had run farther than she had expected.

"Princess, the Cold Palace is just ahead," Hongyu reminded her.

Yan Zhen stopped and frowned as he looked at the desolate, overgrown path before him.

She knew what Hongyu was worried about. In such a vast palace, the more remote the place, the more dangerous it was, and no one knew what they would see or hear if they went any further.

"It's alright, just be careful." Yan Zhen pulled a stick out of the weeds to use as a walking stick, occasionally brushing aside the weeds on both sides of the road. "If we can't find it tonight, we'll have to ask His Highness for help."

The master and servant searched for a while longer, when suddenly a rustling sound came from the abandoned palace ahead.

Yan Zhen immediately perked up and gestured for Hong Yu to be quiet. The two of them approached each other on tiptoe.

If the snow inside is churning, the noise might scare it away.

After bypassing the dilapidated palace gate, the two entered a courtyard full of withered branches and weeds. Through the withered ivy hanging from the palace wall, they could see a scene not far away, and the master and servant stopped in their tracks.

Hongyu stepped forward and instinctively stood in front of Yan Zhen.

A child, whose clothes were covered in bloodstains, was struggling to drag a man dressed in the clothes of an eunuch, whose neck was limp and hanging down, to an abandoned well and pushed him in.

The child was only about ten years old, thin and weak, with sunken cheeks, looking severely malnourished.

After pushing the eunuch into the well, he gritted his teeth, picked up the well cover from the side, and covered the well opening tightly.

This series of actions seemed to have exhausted all his strength. After finishing, he leaned against the edge of the well, wiping the cold sweat from his face haphazardly with his sleeve, panting heavily.

Yan Zhen watched with great interest, his eyes narrowing.

I've seen murderers and people destroy evidence, but it's rare to see such a young child commit murder and then know to move the body to an abandoned palace where few people frequent to destroy the evidence.

Moreover, judging from the child's clothes, the style is a bit old, the material is not fashionable, and some of them don't even fit properly.

But it wasn't worn by palace eunuchs; rather, it looked like it belonged to an unfavored prince or a palace servant.

Hongyu whispered a reminder: "Princess, let's go."

Yan Zhen didn't speak, but a thought quickly formed in his mind.

She raised her foot and did something that caught Hongyu off guard, kicking the ivy hanging down beside her with a "whoosh" sound.

The commotion was especially noticeable in the silent, abandoned palace. The child instantly shrank back behind the well like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, arching his back and staring at her warily and menacingly.

Yan Zhen met his wary gaze, walked over slowly, stopped seven or eight meters away, raised his chin, and gestured to the person in the well: "Did you kill him?"

The child didn't speak, but stared intently at her with a pair of sinister eyes like those of a young wild animal.

Yan Zhen asked again, "Who are you?"

"Who is he?"

Why kill him?

The child remained silent.

Yan Zhen noticed that his hands, which were clinging to the edge of the well, were covered with frostbite, his knuckles were swollen like carrots, and his short sleeves revealed a section of his wrist with signs of abuse.

Yan Zhen looked him up and down, then made a move to get closer.

"Princess!" Hongyu tried to stop her.

As soon as she finished speaking, the child suddenly picked up a stone and threw it at Yan Zhen.

Hongyu rushed in front of Yan Zhen to block him.

The stone fell to the ground, unharmed by Yan Zhen, but in that instant, the child turned and crawled out through a dog hole under the palace wall, quickly disappearing from sight.

He was as agile as a little cheetah.

Yan Zhen picked up the stone, weighed it in his hand, and gave a meaningful look.

She turned and walked out, instructing Hongyu, "Find out this person's identity; I need him."

"Yes."

When Yan Zhen returned to Yihua Palace, Fan Xue had already been found.

The little guy was covered in dirt and was frightened, so he hid under the bed and didn't dare to come out.

Green Pearl and several palace maids, carrying its favorite dried meat, crouched under the bed, trying to lure it out.

"No need to coax it, just let it calm down on its own, it'll be fine tomorrow."

Yan Zhen dismissed the group of palace maids and casually placed the stone on the dressing table.

Recalling the child's sinister yet wary eyes, a slight smile curled at the corner of her lips.

-

Hongyu acted quickly and found out the child's true identity the next day.

"She is a palace maid from the Yeting Palace."

The Yeting Palace was where palace maids lived and the families of criminal officials worked.

It is said that all the women in the harem belong to the emperor. It is not uncommon for the emperor to take the liberty of favoring the palace maids serving him, or for a concubine to use a palace maid instead of a concubine if she is unwell.

Palace maids' children are those born to palace maids who receive the emperor's favor overnight but do not have a rank. Most of these children live in the Yeting Palace.

“However…” Hongyu hesitated before speaking.

"But it doesn't matter."

“The child’s mother was not a palace maid, but a gardener from the south,” Hongyu said. “More than ten years ago, the palace introduced the ‘Emerald Canopy Splendor’ from the south. After planting it for several years, none of the gardeners in the capital could grow it successfully. A court official recommended a family of gardeners who were quite famous in the south. A father and daughter were summoned to the palace. The child’s mother was seen by His Majesty while planting flowers in the Imperial Garden, and she was favored that very night.”

Yan Zhen asked in confusion, "Since you are favored by the emperor, why do you not have a rank?"

“I heard that the child’s mother did not give birth willingly.” Hongyu carefully chose her words. “At the time, she resisted fiercely and almost hurt His Majesty. As a result, His Majesty rejected her and sent her to the Yeting Palace. She was pregnant for ten months and died less than two years after giving birth.”