Mrs. Xiao looked at her son. No one knows a son better than his mother. She knew that her son was not naive to ask this question.
"You don't believe me?"
"Mother, I believe in you, so I am here with you." Gu Yanze lowered his head and fiddled with his clothes. "But what about you? Does your son have any place in your heart?"
"You are my son, you are my life, Ze'er, you are killing me by saying this!" Xiao pointed at Hua Zhi, "Do you really believe her just because she provoked you?"
"As long as Grandpa shows up, all problems will be solved, right? If Grandpa is really innocent, what is there to be afraid of?"
Xiao was speechless and didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Gu Yanze raised his head, smiled and asked softly, "Even though you knew that your son was facing a dead end, did you hesitate?"
"Zer, I never thought of sacrificing you!"
"Just because you don't sacrifice me doesn't mean others won't! If someone else wants my life, can you really save it?"
"Of course, who would dare to do that?" Xiao knew she was wrong as soon as she said that. She looked at her son in disbelief, "You actually helped others to trick me?"
Gu Yanze's smile was uglier than crying, "So you are really a member of the Chaoli tribe."
Xiao didn't reply, she turned around and looked at Hua Zhi, "Master Taifu has a good way."
Hua Zhi nodded with a smile, "You are so flattering. There is no reason in this world that you can plot and trick us but we must be fair and square. Compared with what Madam Xiao has done over the years, what I have done is nothing."
"Even if we know now, what can we do? It's too late." Xiao sneered and took a few steps forward. "Father has made all the arrangements, but you can't even find anyone. Daqing is doomed!"
"Do you think I don't know where they are?" Hua Zhi raised her chin slightly, "The most dangerous place is the safest place. They are in this palace."
A trace of astonishment flashed across Xiao's eyes, although it was only fleeting. Hua Zhi, who had been staring at her, saw it clearly. She was just trying to trick her, but she was actually in the palace!
Having gotten what she wanted, Hua Zhi didn't waste time here and walked out without saying anything more.
At this moment, Xiao suddenly pounced on Hua Zhi who had her back to her. Seeing that she was about to succeed, an excited smile appeared on Xiao's face. Her father had sent so many people but none of them could succeed. She didn't expect that they would fail in her hands in the end!
But she didn't know that Hua Zhi was never a careless person, especially when she was facing the person who had caused Yan Xi and Shaoyao to suffer great losses, she was always on her guard. She remembered Yan Xi saying that Xiao's family ran a martial arts school and she knew martial arts.
When she felt something strange behind her, she gestured to the dark, took out a dagger in her hand, and waited until Xiao's moves were exhausted before she dodged. At the same time, the dagger stabbed at her fiercely. It was too late for Xiao to dodge, and she rolled on the ground after taking the blow, but she could not avoid it. Hua Zhi was used to using this trick. As a woman, she guessed that Xiao would do the same, so she took the opportunity to chase after her and stabbed her thigh with the dagger again. Xiao screamed in pain and retreated awkwardly with her injured leg.
Hua Zhi followed closely and cut her other leg with the dagger again before stopping. Although she wanted to kill this person very much, she couldn't really kill Prince Ling's woman in the palace. She could let her suffer a little first, so she didn't let the secret guards come forward. The secret guards could easily subdue her, but due to their status, they couldn't hurt her, which was too easy for her.
The door was suddenly pushed open, and the prince walked in quickly. He looked at the tutor calmly, and after confirming that he was not injured, he ordered in a deep voice, "Capture him."
Gu Yanze stood up with the help of the armrest and knelt down towards the prince, but wisely said nothing. His position had already been made clear just now, and it would be superfluous to say anything more at this moment.
Hua Zhi endured the pain in her shoulder and looked at the person on the ground. She was born with a clever mind, but it was a pity that it grew crooked, otherwise His Highness would have had another arm.
The prince stepped forward and helped the man, who was more than a head shorter than him, up. "This matter has nothing to do with you. Your cousin should rest in the palace first, Lai Fu."
"The old slave is here."
"Arrange a palace for my cousin and assign some capable people to serve him."
"yes."
This is equivalent to putting the person under his nose, and he does it openly, so even if everyone knows that he is on guard, they can't say anything.
Gu Yanze was also tactful and left with the help of Lai Fu.
Tai Zixu supported the arm of the Grand Tutor and walked out. "Since he is in the palace, it will be easy. We will find him even if we have to dig three feet underground."
The group left one after another, as if they didn't notice Prince Ling who seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. Hua Zhi did take a look at him, and felt happy in her heart. It was you who forgot the promise of a hundred poems and disregarded the relationship between husband and wife first, and then hurt Yan Xi Shaoyao. Such a small blow was nothing. What would really make him unable to sleep or eat was the regret that would gnaw at his heart for decades to come.
"Your Highness, please go to the side hall."
The prince understood, and the group went to the sand table.
After flattening the previously created terrain, Hua Zhi picked up a long pole and began to draw the topography of the capital city around it. At this moment, she couldn't help but feel fortunate that it was her left hand that was injured.
After a moment she handed the long pole to the prince, "Please come down to the palace."
The prince did not refuse, as he was the only one who could paint in the palace. If anyone else painted, they would be charged with spying on the monarch.
Hua Zhi looked at the palaces, wondering where the wise man might be at this moment.
The Grand Master frowned, "Can we start from the fact that he entered the palace but never left? The wise man is so important to the Chaoli Clan, he would not come into the palace alone."
"We can check, but I don't think it will be useful. If they want to take this step, they must have planned it in advance and won't let us catch them."
The Grand Master was originally a member of the royal family and served as an assistant minister. He had many opportunities to meet the Queen Mother and was familiar with the affairs of the palace. He said, "Since the death of the previous emperor, the ladies in the harem have been detained in the palaces at the back by the Queen Mother and ordered not to move around, let alone come to the front. In other words, there should be many empty palaces in the palace at this time."
The prince nodded slightly, pointed his long pole at several palaces, and said, "Come here."
"The servant is here."
"Order Fu Gang to lead the Imperial Guards to conduct a thorough inspection of all vacant palaces."
"yes."
After the people left, the prince said again: "An Yi."
An Yi appeared silently and knelt on the ground.
"Fu Gang is attracting the enemy's attention in the open. Send a team to investigate secretly."
An Yi nodded and left.
Hua Zhi nodded in appreciation. That was great. The prince would not become a puppet as she worried. He had his own ideas and was becoming more independent. It was like this now and would only get worse in the future. No one could lead him by the nose. That was very good.
"Your Highness, Nanny Yuxiang requests to see you."
The prince glanced at the clepsydra. At this point in time...
"Come in."
Yuxiang looked so panicked that she stumbled as she stepped over the threshold. She even forgot about etiquette and shouted at the top of her voice, "Your Highness, the queen has fainted!"
PS: I will only update once today. I will take a break because there are too many things to write and I feel a bit rushed. Girls can guess the subsequent plot in the book review section.