The little maid was still kneeling on the ground. When she saw the head eunuch return with the map, she relaxed. It was going like plan.
Before the verdict was out, Pei Nan pointed furiously at her once more. "You servant, if you are falsely accusing Consort Pan, you better speak now. If it isn't like you said, I'll have your head." Pei Nan warned her.
"This servant does not dare lie to your highness. I really saw Consort Pan being suspicious last night." The maid continued to say the same thing.
"I have never done anything wrong to you, so why must you accuse me?" Yu Mei asked her suspiciously.
Pei Nan held his hand up. "Consort Pan, if she is really spouting nonsense, I will give you justice. But if you are found guilty, I will have no other choice but to punish you." He said. Pei Nan then turned to his head eunuch. Chu'gonggong (head eunuch) looked at Pei Nan with a restless face.
"Chu'gonggong, what did you find out?" Pei Nan asked.
"Your highness, we indeed did find a map." He walked up and handed the map to Pei Nan. Pei Nan didn't need to look at it to know it was the map that went missing. He handed it to Feng Ju who was standing behind him.
"It is indeed the thing I lost. What did you find out?"
"Replying to your highness, it was indeed found in Consort Pan's room. But your highness, this could be a set…" Pei Nan held his hand to stop him before he could finish defending Yu Mei. Chu'gonggong wanted to side with Consort Pan. He had only interacted with her a few times but heard about her very often from his highness. He didn't need to know what kind of person she was to know she had no reason to take it. But why was his highness being fooled?
"Consort Pan," Pei Nan turned over to Yu Mei.
"Your highness surely doesn't think it's me, right? This is clearly a setup." Yu Mei explained.
"Right. Your highness, Yu Mei would never do anything like this. Please investigate!" Ji Er stood up to defend her.
"Consort Nuan (Ji Er), this has nothing to do with you. If you continue to speak for her, I will see you as an accomplice."
"Even if I am accused of an accomplice…" This time it was Yu Mei who stopped her. She held Ji Er's wrist tightly to stop her from talking. "Your highness, please forgive Ji Er. She has nothing to do with this. She only spoke rudely for my sake." Yu Mei pleaded with him. Pei Nan didn't say anything about it.
He took large heavy strides until he reached Yu Mei. "If you are innocent, why did you go to my room last night? There was no reason for you to do so when I was at your palace last night. Did you really think no one was going to catch you red-handed? What motives did you have?" Each question he asked was like a stab in her heart. She couldn't believe he really suspected her.
Seeing where the situation was going, Yu Mei held her head up high with confidence. "I am not guilty. I simply went to go get your stress relief incenses from your room. Who knew I would meet Consort Ning leaving your room. Whether you believe me or not is up to you." She calmly said.
"Consort Pan, things have come this far and yet you are still playing ignorant. Why must you blame me for your crimes." Fei Ning calmly spoke. "If you admit that you stole his highness's military map, maybe he will be lenient."
Fei Ning was waiting for him to punish Yu Mei but he didn't. The room became silent.
"Everyone leave." He commanded. Only when Yu Mei and him were in the same room did he finally speak. "There is a spy in the palace. Yu Mei, if you are the spy from Lian…as long as you admit it, I will be lenient in your punishment."
*Chuckle* Yu Mei couldn't help but laugh. He didn't know her at all. In the end, he questioned her trust.
She stood tall and firm, looking at him daringly. "Your highness has never trusted me. If you think I am guilty, I have nothing to say."
In the back of the room hid Fei Ning. She had snuck behind the room when everyone was leaving. Just now, she heard everything between the two. A smirk appeared on her face. There was no way he loved Yu Mei. This only confirmed it. He actually sent Yu Mei to Tai Ji Palace (similar to the cold palace). In the end, it was Fei Ning who won. Thinking this, she smugly headed back to her own palace.