Chapter Forty-six: Fire in the Empress's Palace

Hearing these words, Qingman trembled as if struck by lightning, and said in disbelief, "You... you actually want me to set a fire in the Empress's palace? How can this be! Setting fires at will in the palace is a capital offense, and furthermore, it is in the very palace where the Empress resides! The Empress is currently expecting a child. If any accident were to happen because of this fire, and once the matter is exposed and investigated, not only will my own life be forfeit, but my parents and family members will likely be implicated, and perhaps even face execution to the ninth degree!"

Wei Yanqiao remained completely unmoved, her gaze as cold and piercing as the biting winter wind. She said coldly, "That is correct, I want you to set this fire. As for whether you and your parents can ultimately survive, it all depends on whether you have the ability."

Qingman felt as though her heart were being violently churned by countless sharp blades, the pain instantly spreading through her entire body and leaving her almost unable to breathe. This agony was like being plunged into a terrifying hell, making her wish she were dead.

Before her lay an excruciatingly difficult choice: if she did not comply with Wei Yanqiao's demand to set the fire, her beloved parents would meet a tragic end; yet if she truly did as Wei Yanqiao said, even if she could temporarily preserve her parents' lives, once the deed was uncovered, she and her parents would still inevitably perish.

This dilemma of being trapped between two equally disastrous choices filled Qingman with despair and helplessness.

There was only one path left for her to walk: to agree to Wei Yanqiao's demand to secretly start a fire within the Empress's palace, while ensuring that no one would notice.

Wei Yanqiao urged her eagerly, "Go quickly." Seeing Qingman's half-lifeless appearance, she reminded her, "Have you not always served in the Empress's palace? You should be intimately familiar with the conditions there. Think quickly about which areas in the Empress's palace are most prone to catching fire and are least guarded against discovery."

A glimmer of an idea seemed to dawn on Qingman. Her face as pale as paper, her hands trembling as she took the copybook of scriptures transcribed by Wei Yanqiao, she feigned a nonchalant demeanor and slowly turned to walk toward the Jiaofang Palace.

Upon arriving at the Jiaofang Palace, Qingman respectfully presented the scriptures in her hands to Tang Yurong, who sat in the seat of honor, and said softly, "Your Majesty, these are the scriptures transcribed by Lady Wei."

Tang Yurong furrowed her brow slightly, a look of perplexity crossing her face as she asked, "Is this the only one?"

Qingman hurriedly lowered her head, her voice remaining soft and humble, "Replying to Your Majesty, indeed it is. Lady Wei previously injured her hand and found it difficult to hold a brush for transcription, which is why she could only proceed intermittently over these past days, enduring great hardship to complete just this much. Fortunately, however, Lady Wei's injury has now fully healed, and in the future, she will surely be able to complete more transcription tasks on time and in full quantity."

After a moment of silence, Tang Yurong extended a slender, jade-white hand, signaling, "Bring it here for Us to inspect."

Carefully holding the slightly worn volume of scriptures in her hands, Qingman walked respectfully up to Tang Yurong, then slowly extended both hands to present it before her.

Tang Yurong reached out and took the scriptures, casually turning the pages a few times before furrowing her brow in apparent dissatisfaction. "Why is this handwriting so crooked and utterly sloppy? Can you truly be certain that this was transcribed by her own hand?"

Qingman hurriedly bowed her head in response, "Replying to Your Majesty, this maid can confirm that it was written in her own hand."

Tang Yurong listened, shook her head slightly, and placed the scriptures she held onto a nearby table. After a brief moment of contemplation, she issued her command: "Since that is the case, make haste and summon her to see Us."

Hearing this, Qingman hastily gave a low acknowledgment, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Following that, she bowed once more to Tang Yurong, then turned on her heel and hurried away with quick, small steps, heading straight toward the place where Wei Yanqiao was staying.

Wei Yanqiao sat quietly in the meditation room. Seeing Qingman hurry away and then return, a stir arose in her heart.

"Lady, the Empress wishes to see you."

Wei Yanqiao had long guessed that Tang Yurong would summon her, but she deliberately feigned complete ignorance. Lowering her gaze slightly and keeping her voice extremely low, she asked Qingman, "Why does the Empress wish to see me?"

At this moment, Qingman had one of her vital weaknesses firmly gripped by Wei Yanqiao and had no choice but to answer honestly, "The Empress inspected the handwriting of your transcriptions and found that the script differed each time, which aroused her suspicion. Therefore, she decided to see you in person."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yanqiao nodded slightly to indicate she understood. "While I am having my audience with the Empress, you must keep watch on every move within the Empress's palace. I want you to make the Jiaofang Palace catch fire before I have even left!"

Qingman was greatly shocked, her face full of astonishment as she stammered, "What? Do you mean I should go and set the fire immediately? Acting with such haste leaves me utterly unprepared!"

Disregarding her concerns entirely, Wei Yanqiao merely cast a cold, hard glare at Qingman, her bone-chilling gaze seeming to pierce straight through the heart and making one shudder with fear.

Qingman froze in her tracks.

Upon stepping into the Jiaofang Palace, Wei Yanqiao walked swiftly up to Tang Yurong, knelt respectfully on both knees, bowed deeply in a grand kowtow, and said softly, "This maid pays her respects to Your Majesty."

Tang Yurong, who had been sitting calmly on the couch, suddenly widened her eyes in anger, slammed her hand fiercely onto the table, and rebuked loudly, "Audacious criminal Wei Yanqiao, do you know what crime you have committed!"

Hearing this, Wei Yanqiao's body quivered slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. Remaining firmly on her knees, she kowtowed and asked, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this maid truly does not know where her guilt lies, and humbly begs Your Majesty for clarification."

Tang Yurong let out a cold laugh and rebuked sternly, "The handwriting on the scriptures We ordered you to transcribe is plainly vastly different from your usual script! Exactly whom have you secretly invited to assist you in transcribing this work!"

Facing Tang Yurong's interrogation, Wei Yanqiao's expression remained completely unchanged, her heart skipping not a beat as she stubbornly insisted, "Replying to Your Majesty, these scriptures were truly and unquestionably transcribed by this maid's own hands, stroke by stroke. No one else has given this maid any assistance whatsoever!"

In a fit of fury, Tang Yurong forcefully hurled the meticulously transcribed stacks of scriptures onto the floor, scattering the pages across the ground. With a face full of wrath, she interrogated, "Look at these scriptures you have transcribed! The handwriting is drastically different every single time. How dare you utter such brazen lies and claim they were all written by your own hand?"

Wei Yanqiao's body trembled slightly as she replied with a hint of feigned terror, "Replying to Your Majesty, it was indeed transcribed by this maid. Every day, in order to finish the task quickly and report back for duty, this maid inevitably wrote somewhat hastily, which made the handwriting appear rather sloppy. Yet this maid truly harbored no slackness of heart; she thought only of transcribing more, while neglecting the pious devotion with which this matter ought to be treated. Thinking of it now, not only are the scriptures I copied utterly useless, but they might even have brought disaster upon us."

Tang Yurong rebuked angrily, "Utter nonsense! Full of foul and deceitful words! Since you stubbornly claim that these scriptures all came from your own hand, very well then—Yang Lianxian, fetch writing brush and ink at once! Today, We shall see with Our own eyes whether you truly possess the ability to write those characters!"

Yang Lianxian hastily acknowledged the order and promptly placed the writing materials before Wei Yanqiao. Immediately afterward, Yang Lianxian began pointing out various distinct character shapes one by one, while Wei Yanqiao without a moment's hesitation picked up the brush and, as if copying a template, wrote down each character exactly matching the shapes indicated by Yang Lianxian.

Filled with suspicion, Yang Lianxian gathered the stack of newly written characters and carefully presented them to Tang Yurong.

Taking them from her, Tang Yurong merely glanced over them hastily before her eyes widened in astonishment—the handwriting was virtually indistinguishable from what she had seen before!

"Are these truly all transcribed by your own hand?" Tang Yurong stared intently at Wei Yanqiao, her gaze as sharp as a blade.

Lowering her head, Wei Yanqiao replied softly, "Replying to Your Majesty, they were indeed transcribed by this maid. Because I was anxious to finish the task, I failed to pay attention to the quality of the writing and cared only for speed so that the work could be completed sooner. That is why the handwriting showed some variations. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."

Tang Yurong did not easily believe Wei Yanqiao's explanation. How could a single person manage to transcribe such a massive volume of scriptures in so short a time? Furthermore, although the handwriting was somewhat sloppy, compared to the previously submitted scriptures, there was almost no discernible difference. The people she had secretly dispatched to monitor Wei Yanqiao had likewise discovered nothing unusual, leaving Tang Yurong momentarily baffled.

Just as everyone fell into silence, a terrified and piercing cry suddenly echoed from afar: "Oh no! There is a fire!"