Chapter 36: The Empress Dowager's Scheme

Currently, the Cheng Family siblings are waiting for questioning at the Tongtian Division, while Cheng Zhouxing and his wife have been killed by Cheng Laotaitai.

There are two matters that have yet to be clarified: first, where did Cheng Laotaitai's soul go after she committed the murder; second, who performed the forbidden art that released Cheng Laotaitai.

Cheng Xi called the Wooden Figurine over, "Baohua, go take a look at the Cheng Family and find something that Cheng Laotaitai used while she was alive."

The Wooden Figurine had gradually gained sentience, and Cheng Xi had given her the name Baohua; the most common is the most elegant, as this name is so down-to-earth, the kind that looks like it can live to be a hundred years old.

Baohua nodded, stretched out her short little legs, and vanished in a flash.

After Baohua left, Cheng Xi had Mulan take out her Engraving Knife and also had her go to the storeroom to find a piece of high-quality jade; she held the Engraving Knife and carved the Rune onto the jade one stroke at a time.

Her strength had not yet recovered, so she could only rely on external objects; the Rune was complex, and to carve the entire Rune onto a palm-sized piece of jade—the Engraving Knife seemed to have a life of its own in her hand, and specks of starlight slowly overflowed from the jade, surrounding her within them.

From day to night, until the early morning of the next day, the Rune was finally completely carved onto the jade; blood blisters had formed on her fingers, but she didn't care at all, holding the jade before her eyes to examine it carefully—it was her first time doing this, and although it was a bit ugly, fortunately, it was usable.

Having not done manual labor for many years, her craftsmanship had regressed.

She stood up and took out an old willow stump she had bought from Lao Wutou; this stump was hollow, just right for placing the jade inside, and then she submerged it in the well water.

Baohua had not yet returned, but she was not worried; the Cheng Family had just had a murder case, so there must be government officials guarding it, and it would take some time to get something.

She had exhausted her energy carving the Rune, and by now, she was already extremely sleepy and fell over to sleep.

Seeing that the Eldest Miss was asleep, Mulan and the others softened their footsteps as they walked.

Jinxiang sat in the courtyard, sewing clothes for the Eldest Miss, while Zhao Mama sat to the side making shoes to keep her company; the embroidered shoes in her hands were made very exquisitely, with a bright pearl studded on the toe, which looked truly beautiful under the sunlight.

When Baohua returned, it was just noon; as soon as she entered, she wanted to go to the bedroom, but Mulan grabbed her and whispered, "The Eldest Miss is resting. Did you finish the errand the Eldest Miss gave you?"

Baohua's little wooden head nodded, and then she pointed at her own stomach.

Mulan smiled, "Hungry? I'll go get you some food, but your rations are almost gone; you have to be frugal with your eating."

Baohua pretended not to hear and ran to Jinxiang's side, plopping down on a small stool; seeing her sitting there so obediently, Jinxiang couldn't help but say, "If it's gone, just go buy more. I'll supplement Baohua with my monthly allowance; we can't let it go hungry."

Baohua lifted her little feet.

Hearing this, Mulan laughed, "With that little allowance of yours, it wouldn't even be enough for one day of her food, so you'd better keep it for yourself. Spending money is nothing, but the main thing is that the Demon Bone the Eldest Miss mentioned is hard to come by, and Grandpa Liang doesn't have any stock either, so we'll just have to wait."

Zhao Mama nailed the pearl onto the toe of the shoe and said with a smile, "Zhao Kang has been waiting; as soon as there is stock over there, he can send it to our Baohua."

Baohua tilted her head at Zhao Mama, and Zhao Mama was even happier, sighing as she said, "If only our Baohua could talk."

When the Eldest Miss first brought Baohua out, it had given them quite a scare; a little person made of wood could actually jump and hop, and was even obedient, doing whatever it was told.

Was this wood? Wasn't this a Demon?

Nowadays, Demons run rampant, and when the Tongtian Division catches Demons, they sometimes go to watch; those Demons are nowhere near as cute as Baohua.

Besides, the Eldest Miss said Baohua is not a Demon, but rather Kemurenchenzhishu, a type of art.

Anyway, they, as people without talent, didn't understand these things, but the Eldest Miss said that Baohua could be raised; if raised well, not only could it gain wisdom, but perhaps with a great opportunity, it might even be able to talk.

So, when they had nothing to do, they would talk to it; at first it was wooden and dull, but now it could understand a lot of words.

When Cheng Xi woke up from her sleep, it was already dark; another day had passed.

She received the item Baohua had brought back for her; it was a handkerchief, dirty and grimy, and she didn't know which corner she had found it in.

But it was indeed something Cheng Laotaitai had used while she was alive; just looking at this handkerchief, one knew that her days before death had not been easy.

Before Cheng Zhouxing was dismissed from office, she had lived a life of luxury, served by slaves and maids; after the dismissal, most of the servants in the house were dismissed, leaving only a few loyal ones.

Furthermore, Cheng Zhouxing's dismissal had a great deal to do with Li Shi, and neither Cheng Laotaitai nor Li Shi were kind people, so the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law naturally grew deeper and deeper.

She put the handkerchief away, and after eating dinner, she sat under the tree to enjoy the cool air.

She thought about what Li Zhi'an had said to her: the Demon Suppression Pavilion was targeting her under the orders of the Empress Dowager, so what was the purpose?

Suppression was unlikely; there was no enmity between them, and on the contrary, she even had some sentiment of support for the Empress Dowager.

Then it must be to win her over, but how to win her over was also a science.

Clearly, the Empress Dowager did not want to be at a disadvantage and let Cheng Xi use that bit of sentiment to make a point; having occupied the position of a superior for a long time, she wanted to use both kindness and power, wanting to manufacture a favor for Cheng Xi, so she used the Cheng Family matter to make a move against her.

That way, it all made sense.

Back then, Cheng Xi had used the Empress Dowager's hand to ruin Cheng Zhouxing's future, and now the Empress Dowager wanted to use the Cheng Family matter to trip her up; the Empress Dowager really played the art of power and intrigue to perfection.

One matter could allow her to profit from both sides.

Cheng Xi sneered; there was no such cheap thing in this world.

From the Empress Dowager's methods, she even suspected that the incident with the Demons in the capital a few days ago might also be a setup.

Otherwise, how could the Empress Dowager have established the Demon Suppression Pavilion to stand in opposition to the Tongtian Division?

Cheng Xi didn't care about these people playing the art of power, but if they played it on her, then she wouldn't be happy.

Baohua sensed that Cheng Xi was in a bad mood; she jumped onto the chair, sat on the armrest, and raised her head to look at her.

Cheng Xi looked down at Baohua and reached out to tap her on the head, "When you grow up, you will be able to share my worries."

Baohua nodded vigorously.

Cheng Xi chuckled and was just about to prepare to go to sleep when she suddenly heard a series of knocks on the door coming from the front courtyard.

Baohua swooshed off the chair and hid on the crossbar behind the chair.

Zhao Mama and Jinxiang were sleeping soundly, and Mulan was sitting under the eaves making shoes; seeing the Eldest Miss suddenly stand up, she hurriedly put down her things and chased after her, "Eldest Miss, where are you going?"

Cheng Xi waved her hand at her, "You go about your business; I'll go to the front courtyard to take a look."

"Oh, alright."

Cheng Xi passed through the hanging flower gate and went around the screen wall; the knocking sound continued, and she did not see Zhao Kang, but Cheng Xi faintly heard his snoring.

In this silent night, the *dang-dang-dang* sound was eerie yet clear, each sound like it was knocking on one's heart.