"Ah~ah~" Seeing the 'stump' in the grass, no matter how brave the two ladies were, they couldn't deal with it indifferently. They didn't care about their manners at all. They exclaimed and ran back, "Someone is dead! There is a dead person!"
"
Ah Qiu arrived just in time with the palace maids, and glared at a few people: "Didn't I tell you not to wander around the palace garden? You are still yelling, disturbing the little master's rest, and you will suffer the consequences!"
The two people were horrified and stammered: "Aunt Qiu, over there... in the flowers over there... there are... dead people!"
"Ahem." Ah Qiu lowered his face and walked a few steps to where they were pointing. He kicked some dirt with his feet, covered the 'stump', turned around and said calmly, "What's the matter?
The two young ladies saw the dead man in a moment of blindness."
When several people saw that Aunt Qiu was so familiar with her movements, and it was obviously not the first time she had done this kind of thing, they felt a chill in their hearts - could they be silenced?
"Misses, please follow me to the banquet hall. The palace banquet is about to begin." Aqiu said with a smile.
When several people saw Aqiu's smile, they felt a chill on their backs. Their legs were so frightened that they walked very slowly.
Several people exchanged glances with each other. Sun Zhilan, the legitimate daughter of the Sun family, quickened her pace and walked side by side with A Qiu: "Aunt Qiu."
Ah Qiu felt someone tugging on his sleeve, and reflexively wanted to throw him over his shoulder. A heavy purse instantly rolled into Ah Qiu's sleeve pocket.
For the sake of her purse, Aqiu secretly clenched her fists and didn't do anything to her: "What's the matter?"
"Aunt Qiu, who is the beautiful woman who lives in that palace?" Sun Zhilan asked in a low voice.
The ladies who were traveling with me all pricked up their ears and listened carefully, fearing that they would miss even a few words.
"Huh?" Ah Qiu was silent for a moment before saying, "In the harem, except for the Queen, there is no other master. Don't you know? Maybe she is the same as you. Which girl is she from..."
"Oh." Sun Zhilan was very sure that the woman was not an official's family member who came to the palace for the banquet.
Her appearance was so outstanding, and she was wearing a dazzling silver palace dress. If she had been with them before, she would definitely have noticed it. Besides, Aunt Qiu was afraid that they would disturb the 'little master' just now. This time
Turn around and say there is no such person in the palace...
Sun Zhilan just felt that the water in this harem was very deep and she did not dare to ask any more questions.
"Go straight along this corridor and you'll find the banquet hall. Please invite the ladies first. I have to go back to Changle Palace to work on errands." Aqiu pointed out the way to a few people and took the accompanying maids in the direction of the 'accident'.
Go...
It wasn't until Aqiu's back was out of sight that a few people started talking in low voices——
"Isn't Changle Palace over there? Isn't Aunt Qiu going in the wrong direction?"
"I'm sure I saw it right. That thing in the flowers is definitely an arm."
"Well, I can see it clearly too."
"I'm afraid Aunt Qiu... took someone to collect the body!"
At this time, when he saw the noble girl with a furry tail, his voice trembled: "That woman... is a fox demon that eats human flesh and blood... I saw her tail!"
Everyone was just speculating at first, but when she said this, they all took a breath.
"Stop talking." Sun Zhilan looked around cautiously, fearing that the fox demon woman would suddenly appear.
The young lady also quickly covered her mouth, looking frightened.
Several people returned to the Imperial Garden and went to the Jiuhua Palace to have a banquet with the official family members visiting the garden. On the way, some people who were not strict in talking about the encounter with the fox demon in the deep palace told their elders or close sisters.
The listeners were all shocked, and they made up their own minds - the emperor used to be a prince, and even if he didn't marry a concubine, he should have had concubines. Now the harem is so empty...those concubines... Could it be that they were all eaten by the fox demon?
Ah Qiu, who had gone around in circles and hid in the dark, saw that all the officials and their family members had serious expressions on their faces, and suddenly felt funny. Although the Queen's method was a bit bizarre, the effect was immediate.
"Aqiu, why are you squatting here if you are not serving the queen?" Zicao patted Aqiu who was hiding behind a bush.
Ah Qiu stood up quickly, and the 'stump' wrapped in his arms fell to the ground with a clang.
"Ah~" Zicao exclaimed.
After taking a closer look, he immediately fell silent. I had seen this 'stump' Lithospermum yesterday. It was carved from wood on Chu Qi. It was also covered with some kind of skin and painted with blood stains...
Even though I know it's fake, this half of the 'arm' looks just like the real thing, and it's still scary: "What are you doing with this thing?"
"This arm is so exquisitely made. Maybe it will be useful in the future. Take it back and keep it properly." Aqiu picked up the 'stump' and carefully stroked the dust on it.
Zicao was filled with admiration. Ah Qiu was really brave: "There are so many people today, so why don't you take this half of your arm as a messenger?"
"That's right." Ah Qiu wrapped the 'stump' in a sweat towel, put it back among the flowers, and covered it with flower branches, "Hide it here first, and I'll come back to get it in the evening."
"Okay." Zicao nodded.
Ah Qiu hid the half of the 'arm' and pulled Zicao towards Jiuhua Palace, "Let's find the Queen."
Not long after Aqiu and Zicao left, a lady who lost her jade pendant returned to the Imperial Garden. Since the jade pendant was a family heirloom, she carefully searched the place where she had just walked.
When she found the 'stump' in the flowers, she tightly covered her mouth that was about to scream. She was still sneering when she heard about the 'fox monster eating people' just now. She thought that those ladies had deliberately made it up. This strange story scared off other noble ladies who planned to enter the harem. I never thought that there was really a man-eating monster in the harem, and leftover body parts could be seen everywhere...
The lady couldn't help but shiver, she stopped looking for the jade pendant, and hurriedly walked to a crowded place. She was thinking carefully, and she had to keep a close eye on her daughter, so that she wouldn't be caught by the fox monster!
The emperor and empress walked into Jiuhua Hall hand in hand, and the officials and family members in the hall kowtowed together. Si Haochen raised his hand slightly, and Eunuch Ke sang loudly: "Ping Shen~"
Everyone thanked him and waited for the emperor and empress to walk up to the high platform and take their seats before returning to their seats. At the palace banquet, the previous royal families of the four countries came to congratulate him and show their submission.
Jiang Yan, the Marquis of Zhenbei, who was temporarily in charge of Beichi's general affairs, was the first to come out: "I will come to see Your Majesty, the Queen. This time, I brought Lieutenant Li Yi to the capital to present sixty-six boxes of agate and jade of various colors, one hundred and eight boxes of snow-capped mountain medicinal materials, and five thousand war horses." Pi, congratulations to our emperor for being crowned the great treasure!"
"The Marquis of Zhenbei and Lieutenant Li are interested in offering a seat." His Majesty Yun Huang said that he would be offered a seat, and the two of them were placed very close to the emperor and the empress.
Mingruo asked softly: "Can Military Advisor Jiang still withstand the severe cold in Beichi?"
"The Queen has a wonderful hand and a kind heart. My brother is very strong now, so it will be fine if he stays in Beichi." Jiang Yan's voice was like a bell, and everyone in the palace heard her reply.
