After dealing with Zhao Qinghui's affairs, Huan Xuan rode his horse back to the city with Guan Liu and several other guards.
It was almost dawn. The shadows of the mountains were heavy under the blue-gray sky. Huan Xuan rode his horse through the mountains, as if he was walking in a maze with no exit.
He didn't say a word after coming out of the underground torture chamber. The guards didn't dare to speak either. They just followed quietly behind him. Only the sound of horse hooves could be heard on the mountain road.
Guan Liulang followed the King of Qi from the moment he left the palace to build his residence, and later followed him to the northwest. No one knew Huan Xuan's feelings for Ruan Sanniang better than him. But as a palace guard, he had little chance to interact with the daughter of the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion. He only knew that she was extremely beautiful and one of the most talented women in the capital. He expected that the woman the King of Qi held in his heart must be flawless and extraordinary.
It was not until the attack during the autumn hunt that he realized that the Concubine Dowager was not what he expected. And when the Prince of Qi tried to test her, the woman was even more chilling - she not only acquiesced and even instigated Zhao Qinghui to attack Lu Suisui, but also reluctantly asked people to eliminate her own cousin when he might pose a threat to her.
Guan Liulang had been with the King of Qi through thick and thin, and had seen countless brutal enemies and cruel situations, but none of them were as frightening as the Crown Princess. She didn't even think she had done anything wrong.
The Prince of Qi has always been good at judging people, otherwise he would not have been able to lead the Divine Wing Army at such a young age. He grew up with Ruan Sanniang in the Empress Dowager's palace, so how could he be completely ignorant of her character
Maybe he had known it all along, but just didn't want to admit it.
So after he learned that the person who harmed Lu Niang was Zhao Qinghui, he immediately thought that the Dowager Concubine might also know about it, and decisively designed a test - if he believed that she was of high character, why would he need to test her
As he was thinking, Huan Xuan slowed down his horse and turned around: "How is the matter I asked you to investigate going?"
Guan Liulang's heart skipped a beat, and he calmed down and said, "Reporting to Your Highness, I have sent people to Qinzhou to check Lu Niang's household registration and family situation. A reply should be delivered within ten days."
He paused and said, "We are also checking the carriages and horses from Zhaoying County to various roads that day. It's just that it's been a long time. It will take at least another month to retrieve the records of the city gates from the counties along the way."
Huan Xuan nodded slightly: "Okay."
Guan Liulang's thick eyebrows were twisted into knots. He hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "Your Highness, Lu Niang may really be..."
Although they followed the orders of King Qi and tried their best to investigate, no one believed that Lu Niang was still alive. After all, the two corpses carried out of the fire were clear evidence, and what Zhao Qinghui said was also true. How could two weak women escape from more than thirty bandits
Huan Xuan interrupted him coldly: "Impossible, keep investigating."
He paused and said, "You don't need to say such things anymore."
After saying this, he kicked the horse's belly and galloped forward without looking back.
Guan Liulang lowered his head: "I obey your command."
He looked at the dust raised by the horses' hooves and sighed deeply, wondering how long he would continue to deceive himself.
It was already bright when he returned to Shanchiyuan. Huan Xuan went to the small courtyard where Lu Suisui had lived before as usual.
The maple forest has been dyed with the spirit of autumn, and in half a month it will be as red as fire. However, there will never be anyone at the end of the maple forest who will gently push open the wooden door and greet you with a smile.
The yard is empty, and my heart is even emptier.
What Zhao Qinghui said was indeed right. Wasn't he the one who had deceived himself and others and mistook fish eyes for pearls for so many years
Wasn’t he the one who killed Lu Suisui
Zhao Qinghui attacked Lu Suisui without any scruples, not only because he relied on the Wu'an Mansion to feel fearless, but also because he knew that Lu Suisui was just a substitute for Ruan Yuewei.
Ruan Yuewei condoned and even instigated Zhao Qinghui because Lu Suisui was just her substitute.
Who would take a stand-in seriously
As long as he shows some importance to Lu Suisui, we will have to think twice before taking action.
Do you dare to attack other people around you
They dared to attack her because they despised her, and they despised her because he despised her.
is the root of everything.
Huan Xuan's heart tightened little by little, turning into a bloody mess.
Sitting among the crabapple blossoms in the room, every glance was like a torture.
He wanted to burn everything with fire countless times, but every item in the house had been touched by her. What would be left after it was burned
He created this hell for himself.
…
The news of the disappearance of Duke Wu'an Shixu quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys of Chang'an City and became the topic of conversation among the scholars and common people after dinner.
Most people did not know Zhao Shixuan's privacy, but everyone witnessed his arrogance when he traveled, so many people were gloating over his misfortune. Some said that he was bewitched by mountain monsters, some said that he was kidnapped by bandits, and some who knew a little about the inside story said that it was the wronged ghost of the Jinshi who came to seek revenge.
When his only son was lost, Duke Wu'an rushed back from the barracks overnight and sent his Tiger Guards to search everywhere. Jingzhao Prefecture and Jinwu Guards also dispatched a large number of troops and almost turned Nanshan upside down, but there was no clue at all.
The last place Zhao Shizhen appeared was the Lotus Temple. When he asked people to investigate, he found that the monks had their hands and feet tied and their mouths gagged and were locked in the Buddhist hall. When he asked them who did it, they stammered and could not give a clear answer.
When they followed Zhao Qinghui to the Lotus Temple, the followers were knocked unconscious, tied up and stuffed into the woodshed. Only Zhao Changbai was missing.
In a blink of an eye, ten days passed, and the hope of Zhao Qinghui's survival became increasingly slim. Lady Wu'an cried every day, and finally she couldn't help but go to the East Palace to ask for an audience with the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess seemed to be worried as well. She had lost a lot of weight in the past few days, and her face was still slightly blue even after applying powder.
Lady Wu'an's eyes were almost blinded by crying, and her eyelids were swollen and translucent. When she saw her niece, she knelt on the ground and said, "Please, my queen, save my son Hui'er. If I can't find him, I can't live as a mother anymore..."
Ruan Yue frowned slightly, with sadness and pity in her eyes: "Aunt, please get up quickly and don't be too anxious. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has sent the East Palace guards to look for her."
As he spoke, he went to help her.
Madam Ruan grabbed her hand, like a drowning person grabbing a piece of driftwood: "Madam, please tell your aunt the truth. Did Hui'er say anything to you before he got lost?"
Ruan Yuewei was horrified, her face suddenly turned pale: "Why did my aunt say that? My niece has been in the East Palace and has never seen my cousin. I don't have much contact with him. How could she tell me if she had something to say?"
Madam Ruan took out a folded piece of letter paper from her bosom and asked, "Madam, do you recognize this one?"
Ruan Yuewei took it and looked at it, she was shocked, the letter was clearly written in her handwriting, even the broken crabapple branch at the end of the paper was clearly her handwriting.
She shook her head hurriedly: "I didn't write that letter. Aunt, you must believe me. There are records of everyone coming in and out of the East Palace. You will know if I sent anyone out of the palace during those days by just checking."
Madam Ruan said, "I am not doubting Your Majesty, but the calligraphy and painting on the letter all seem to be Your Majesty's handwriting, and Hui'er went to the Lotus Temple because of the letter. Everything is linked together, and someone must have secretly planned it. Since those thieves are impersonating Your Majesty, Your Majesty may have some clues or guesses?"
Ruan Yuewei was afraid of being implicated in this matter, so she denied it flatly. However, she felt uneasy and cold sweat broke out on her palms.
She quickly pulled her hand away, held her temples, calmed her mind, and said with a cold expression: "I know that my aunt is extremely worried about my cousin's disappearance, and I won't make a fuss with her, but she dragged the Eastern Palace into it with just a letter written in your name... Your Highness has been very concerned about my cousin's affairs, and has repeatedly sent people to Jingzhao Prefecture to inquire, and even asked the Saint to dispatch the Yulin Guards. If he knew that my aunt suspected the Eastern Palace, he would inevitably be chilled."
Mrs. Ruan saw that her niece was acting like a Crown Princess. Although she still had some doubts in her heart, she did not dare to hold on to it anymore. She apologized hurriedly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I didn't mean to do that. I was just too concerned and tried all kinds of methods. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Ruan Yuewei's expression eased a little, and she comforted her aunt with kind words. Then she said she was not feeling well and asked Shuzhu to see the guest off.
After beating her aunt away, Ruan Yuewei calmed down and found that her underwear was soaked with cold sweat.
She called the palace maid to help her take a bath, changed into pajamas and lay down on the bed.
She had not had a good night's sleep since the chrysanthemum viewing banquet on August 15th. As soon as she closed her eyes, Zhao Qinghui's dark eyes would appear in front of her, staring at her.
She had nightmares almost every night. Sometimes she dreamed of Zhao Qinghui as a child, holding her canary in his hand. The canary fluttered and struggled in his hand, and her throat seemed to be tightly strangled by a pair of hands, making it difficult for her to breathe. Sometimes she dreamed that Zhao Qinghui turned into a fierce ghost and came to her to take her life. Even more terrifying was that in the nightmare, Zhao Qinghui was not dead, but appeared alive in front of her and wanted to make her secret public.
It was better when she slept with the Dowager, but if the Dowager went to the courtyard with the two concubines and other maids, she would always wake up from nightmares in the middle of the night and dare not go back to sleep, and would not close her eyes until dawn.
She was already weak, and with such a heavy burden on her mind, she couldn't sleep or eat, and she became weaker day by day.
When proposing marriage, the prince promised that he would let her give birth to his eldest son, but since their marriage, there has been no heir, and even the court officials have begun to complain. Not long ago, the prince finally couldn't help but ordered the two concubines to stop taking the contraceptive soup.
Ruan Yuewei took a bowl of tranquilizing medicine and lay on the bed in a daze. She felt that the road ahead was uncertain and the more she regretted it, the more she regretted it.
She missed Huan Xuan, and her heart calmed down a little, and she slowly closed her eyes.
When I woke up, the sunlight shining into the bedroom was already slanted.
It was a rare sleep without those chaotic dreams. She sat up and was about to call the palace servants to serve her when Shuzhu walked in holding a box and said, "My mother, the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts sent by various mansions have been put into the warehouse, but one of them doesn't match the gift list. I don't know who sent it."
He paused and said, "The lid of the box is sealed with wax, and on the signature is written "Opened by the Crown Princess herself."
The most important thing was that the box was inlaid with gold and silver broken-branch crabapple flowers, which were exactly the kind that Ruan Yuewei often painted.
Ruan Yuewei's eyes flickered and her cheeks flushed. Could it be that he...
"Put it on the table and leave now." Ruan Yuewei said to Shu Zhu.
She dismissed all the palace maids and eunuchs into the hall, then she picked up a golden hairpin, used the end of the hairpin to pick away the wax sealing, and carefully opened the lid.
To her surprise, the box was filled with white powder that looked like salt.
A spicy smell wafted out from inside.
Who would send a box of wax in such an expensive box? Is this a joke
Wondering, she poured the salt from the box out, and something fell onto the table along with the salt.
Ruan Yuewei took a closer look, screamed, and collapsed to the ground with her hands covering her mouth.
It turned out to be a human hand.