Chapter 88: Hidden Disaster in Court

Chapter 88

After a spring night of clouds and rain, Song Zhao woke up early the next morning.

Today was the day to go to the Hot Spring Mountain Villa. It was also the first time Song Zhao would meet the Empress Dowager since entering the palace.

The palace servants said that the Empress Dowager was very strict about etiquette, so the first meeting had to be formal.

When the concubines entered the palace, ceremonial outfits were tailored for them according to their ranks.

Song Zhao had only worn her ceremonial outfit three times - the first time when the concubines paid respects to the Empress, the second time the day after spending the night with the Emperor, and the third time at Xiao Jingheng’s birthday banquet.

In order to make a good impression on the Empress Dowager, after Song Zhao learned that she would be attending the Hot Spring Mountain Villa, she asked the palace servants to send her ceremonial outfit to be cleaned ahead of time.

This morning while Song Zhao was washing up and putting on make-up, Zhi Hua came back from the laundry with the ceremonial outfit.

When she entered the bedroom, her expression did not look very good. Yun Shan couldn’t help but scold her,

“Why did it take you so long? I was about to go look for you. Any later and it would delay the schedule.”

As she complained, she took the ceremonial outfit from Zhi Hua’s hands.

But as soon as she touched it, Yun Shan noticed something was wrong. “Oh my, why is it wet?”

She touched the dark brown satin outer layer of the outfit. There was obvious dampness seeping through the surface, as if it had not been completely dried after washing.

Zhi Hua quickly explained, “When I went to get the outfit, I noticed it was not completely dry. I asked the laundry servants too. They said that because of the cold weather these past two days, the outfits were hard to dry after washing, that’s why it turned out like this.”

Song Zhao had put her in charge of this errand, so she was naturally panicking that something had gone wrong.

Seeing that everyone was quiet and not saying anything, she quickly tried to remedy the situation. “But only the outer layer is wet. I touched it. The inner lining is completely dry.”

She turned the inner lining of the outfit inside out. After Yun Shan touched it and confirmed the lining was dry, she said,

As the two spoke, Song Zhao suddenly sighed coldly.

Everyone’s gaze focused on the edge of the sleeve. To their astonishment, the originally dark brown satin where it had been dried was gradually fading to a light yellow.

Everyone was surprised, except for Song Zhao who seemed to have expected this. She just stared coldly at the fading fabric.

After another moment, the area was completely dried, and the color had permanently changed from light yellow to bright yellow.

The rest of the outfit was dark brown so this patch of bright yellow stood out glaringly.

Yun Shan was stunned speechless for quite awhile before exclaiming, “Someone tampered with the outfit!”

As Zhi Hua was responsible for delivering the outfit, seeing this frightened her silly too. She stammered explanations to Song Zhao,

“My...my lady, I really don’t know why this happened. I followed your orders and sent the outfit to the laundry two days ago. I even specifically told them to be very careful. This morning before dawn, before the laundry opened, I rushed over there to wait so I could bring it back as soon as possible...”

The little maid was so anxious she was nearly in tears. Song Zhao did not suspect her at all.

It was obvious someone had ordered the laundry to do this. Even if Yun Shan was the one to deliver and retrieve the outfit, the result would probably still have been the same.

Song Zhao gently patted Zhi Hua’s shoulder to comfort her. “I know this has nothing to do with you. Don’t blame yourself. I also don’t want to make a big fuss out of this. Just pretend you know nothing. Go take care of your other errands.”

Zhi Hua nodded vigorously, her eyes red, and retreated out.

Xiao Fuzi took the outfit from Song Zhao to examine it closely. Touching the slightly tacky satin, he said solemnly,

“Some kind of special dye must have been applied on the satin, which fades when wet, and shows color when dry.

Fortunately my lady did not wear this outfit to meet the Empress Dowager. Otherwise at the beginning when the outfit was still damp on the surface, nothing would seem amiss. But we would be taking carriages with braziers to the Hot Spring Mountain Villa. Halfway there the outfit would have likely been completely dried. By then, what was originally a dark brown ceremonial outfit would have turned entirely bright yellow, which is a huge taboo!”

Yun Shan also felt lingering fear. “My lady’s luggage was all packed in the rear carriage too. By then even if my lady wanted to change outfits, there would have been no other clothes to change into. The Empress Dowager cares most about propriety and rules. If she saw my lady show up at the Hot Spring Mountain Villa wearing bright yellow from head to toe, she would surely harshly punish my lady!”

Song Zhao said nothing, her eyes cold and gloomy as she stared at the outfit held in Xiao Fuzi’s hands, a shallow crease appearing between her brows.