The furnishings in the house are neat and orderly, mostly bookcases, and piles of books are posted on the wall, extending towards the partition door.
The partition door is wide open, and outside the door is the inner hall of Wende Palace, which looks slightly cold and empty.
Xia Zhaoyi opened the door to the queen's bedroom. The bedding on the bed was yellow and old, but it exuded a pleasant fragrance.
The clothes in the wardrobe are neat and clean, folded without any wrinkles.
The sun shines through the thin window paper and falls on the ground inside the palace, making everything in the dormitory quiet and peaceful.
Xia Zhaoyi went back to the study.
The pens, inks, paper and inkstones on the desk were in order, with scattered insect corpses scattered on them. She put on her light silk gloves with thin cicada wings and looked through the desk to the bookcases, searching one by one, but did not find any notes or letters.
Finally, Xia Zhaoyi went to the corpse.
The corpse was swollen and enlarged, beyond recognition, and its limbs were extremely thick, especially the legs.
There was a lot of putrid liquid on the ground, and the white silk wrapped tightly around the neck was stained by the liquid seeping out of the corpse.
Xia Zhaoyi untied the body and laid it flat next to the stool. He did not leave any notes or letters on the inside or outside of the clothes, including the sleeves.
She looked at the face of the corpse and said softly: "You have been dead for many days. It turns out that Queen Nangong was not in Wende Palace for a long time."
"You have been trapped in the palace with her for many years. You have no ability to move her away quietly."
"There are not many people who can be so sincere and sincere to Queen Nangong."
"There are not many people who have the ability to do it."
"Even if you have the ability to do it, you would never dare not make second-hand preparations."
"In the past twenty days, Li Qian didn't even save people from natural disasters, but he made two big moves."
"The first was Guan Ning's march to raid Changyang, and the second was Yu Shiling's recruitment order to open the altar."
"It can be seen from the government's attitude towards Guan Ning's march to raid Changyang that this was not Li Ju's order."
"Guan Ning Xingjun and Queen Nangong have never interacted with each other, and they do not buy into the favor of the court officials."
"The only one who can persuade Guan Ning to march to Changyang and sacrifice his fortune for Queen Nangong is the Bi family."
"These are just my speculations." Xia Zhaoyi raised his eyes and looked out the door, raised his hand to pick up the small copper frying pot on the desk, and suddenly threw it out the door.
The copper pot body hit the solid brick floor of the main hall, and the echo reverberated in the main hall.
The two guards outside the palace in front were asking each other if they smelled anything strange. When they heard this voice, they suddenly froze and ran over with frowns.
After calling several times outside, no one answered. A guard pushed open the dusty palace door. The stench became stronger and stronger, making people want to vomit.
After entering the door, a guard glanced out of the corner of his eye, turned his head and looked towards the study room, and was so frightened that he almost collapsed to the ground.
An old man in a chamberlain uniform sat on a drum stool with his hands crossed, looking at them coldly.
Seeing what was at the old man's feet, the guard raised his spear, came in and shouted: "Did you kill her?"
Xia Zhaoyi's eyebrows were solemn and she said nothing, just looking at him without saying a word.
The two guards looked at each other and realized how ridiculous their words were. Apparently, the corpse had been decomposing for several days.
Xia Zhaoyi said pitifully: "If our family had come a few days later, all the hair and nails on the corpse would have fallen off, and the internal organs would have turned into flowing water. It would be rotten to the core."
A guard said: "You, who are you?"
Xia Zhaoyi stood up, his back stooped, and walked slowly, looking at the body on the ground: "Mrs. Bi asked me to come over and take a look."
After saying that, she looked at the guard, and the expressions on their faces really changed.
One person lowered his voice and said: "It turns out that my father-in-law was sent by my wife. Yesterday, the emperor did not send anyone here."
Another person said: "We have been waiting all day today and there is still no news."
Xia Zhaoyi took a deep breath and said, "Have you been staying outside these days?"
"Well, unless we change shifts, we haven't left at all."
Xia Zhaoyi smiled coldly: "Nianhe has been dead for so many days, and no one among you knows about it."
The two guards looked back at the stinking female corpse on the ground.
It was so terrifying and tragic that they glanced at it and quickly looked away.
When Queen Nangong was still in the palace, Nianhe would come in and out from time to time to take care of her.
Once Queen Nangong left, they really didn't care if Nianhe couldn't get in or get out.
He died just like that. Judging from his appearance, he had been dead for several days.
Looking at their expressions, Xia Zhaoyi suddenly felt a very faint sadness in her heart.
Not to mention Nianhe, even if they are still here, sooner or later the truth will be discovered, and they will inevitably die.
Before death, there will be unbearable capital punishment.
Not caring about one's own life can be called heroic.
But being so indifferent to the lives of our companions is callous.
While the two guards were discussing whether to collect Nianhe's body and what to do next, Xia Zhaoyi quietly left the study and dug out the Wende Palace.
The palace was busy, some were walking slowly, some were walking quickly, and some were running.
Xia Zhaoyi walked here and there, and finally arrived at Yanguang Hall.
There is no gate in the courtyard wall of Yanguang Hall, so you can see the broad and boundless view all the way forward, pass through the nine steps, and go up to the empty platform, which is the main hall of Yanguang Hall.
In addition to the ten-step and one-stop sentry, there are also very dense patrols and formations of forbidden troops here. Compared with other places where you can see palace maids and eunuchs walking around from time to time, there is absolutely no "idle" people here.
At this time, a father-in-law came in from outside with a third-rank official from the political hall and two minor officials.
The guard immediately stepped forward to stop him.
Whether it was their father-in-law, whom they were very familiar with, or the third-rank official of the Political Hall, or the two petty officials at the back, all four of them were searched from beginning to end and then released.
Xia Zhaoyi recognized the third-grade official through his official uniform. Even the third-grade official was not treated politely and was even scrutinized in his trousers. Xia Zhaoyi shook his head gently.
Da Qian, there is no more high-spirited minister.
Zi Lu was wearing his clothes, while Li Chen was taking off his clothes.
Xia Zhaoyi stayed in the palace until dark, and the lights of Yanguang Palace were bright, but the generals of the Twelve Capital Masters still did not come out.
However, she saw Li Hao.
The third prince, who was supposed to be canonized as the crown prince yesterday, has been inactive these days, and now Xu can't help it anymore.
Also coming with him were the Fourth Prince Li Ze and the Minister of Rites Di Zian.
The two princes were not treated differently. They were also searched. When he heard that his pants were to be checked, Li Ze said in a deep voice: "What a shame."
The guard was fearless and said coldly: "Fourth Prince, this is your Majesty's order."
Li Ze said in disgust: "Get out of here."
Li Hao frowned: "That's all, he only obeys the orders of his father. The emperor's words are the holy words. We will follow them."
Li Ze rolled his sleeves and turned to leave.
"Hey, Fourth Prince!" Di Zian shouted.
Li Hao chased after him.
Xia Zhaoyi watched them leave and looked back at the Yanguang Hall above.
It seems that this is a new rule. Otherwise, given their identities, Li Hao and Li Ze would not have known about the need to check their private parts now.
The night was getting darker and darker, and the generals of the Jingzhao Guards finally came out.
Under the bright palace lanterns, everyone was tired, and even the old friends who were close to each other didn't want to talk.
When they passed by in twos and threes, Xia Zhaoyi suddenly bowed her waist and folded her hands, and walked up.
