If you want to take a shortcut from the Imperial Study Room to Cining Palace, you have to go through the Imperial Garden.
On weekdays, it would be fine, but now it was raining and dark, and even with a lantern in hand, they couldn't see their feet clearly, so the two simply walked around and walked around the garden along the promenade.
There is a chamberlain leading the way, and the light of a faint lantern is bright or dark in the wind.
Xu Jian also raised a lamp and shone it on the floor tiles in front of the two of them.
The corridor is not all flat, there are several steps.
Xu Jian reminded Lin Yunyan to "be careful where you step", but she only responded gently.
His heart sank.
There was a lot of news tonight. Even though the two of them were analyzing and thinking about it with the Holy Master in the Imperial Study Room, they were all holding it in front of them. They wanted both an answer and progress. In fact, there was no real progress.
It's time to calm down and sort out things from the past.
Especially Lin Yunyan, she is not just a "bystander", she is the victim's daughter.
Her pressure and burden are far heavier than Xu Jian's.
It was so heavy that after leaving the Imperial Study Room, my head felt completely empty.
It's not that I don't want to comb it, it's just like a wheel stuck by a foreign object and can't turn.
Xu Jian was willing to let her relax and think about nothing. She could sit still all day, but she couldn't just "walk".
If you sprain your foot, it's not worth it.
After being reminded again, Xu Jian simply changed the side of the lantern held between the two of them, and took Lin Yunyan's hand.
Suddenly a warm body temperature came from the empty palm. Lin Yunyan was slightly startled and turned to look at Xu Jian.
The lantern only illuminated a little of the road ahead, and most of the facial features of the people around him were hidden in the night, and only their outlines could be seen.
Fortunately, Lin Yunyan was also used to the light and was very familiar with Xu Jian. She could distinguish his facial features, but it was naturally impossible to clearly see the emotions in the other person's eyes.
She just looked at Xu Jian, thought of something, and smiled with her eyes bent.
Xu Jian heard her low laughter and asked her: "What are you laughing at?"
"Some things from the past." Lin Yunyan said.
Xu Jian understood that she was referring to "the past" and wanted to know the specific content, but now was really not a good time to talk about that.
Raising her eyes to look at the escort who was leading the way not far away, Xu Jian leaned slightly and whispered: "It's hard to tell on the way. Can you tell me when we get to the side hall?"
Lin Yunyan responded "Okay".
With such an interruption, the emotions accumulated in my heart dispersed a lot.
The night wind blew on my body, bringing some water vapor, which touched my face with a chill.
Not long after, they arrived outside Cining Palace.
I saw that the two of them had entered the palace late, and they were definitely going to stay in the palace. Eunuch Cao had already sent someone to deliver the message, so the door of Cining Palace was left open for them.
Younger father-in-law came out after hearing the news.
It was far away and dark, so I couldn't see any clues at first, but when I got closer and the light fell on their faces, I could see their appearance clearly.
It's not clean and tidy after being exposed to rain.
"What's going on?" he asked quickly, "There is hot water in the small kitchen. I will send the little one to the side hall. The princess and the prince quickly washed themselves and changed into fresh clothes. The little one will be prepared again.
A bowl of ginger soup will go away the cold."
"Eunuch Cao was prepared. He drank a bowl before coming out of the royal study," Lin Yunyan said, looking at the side of the bedroom where the lights were still on, "The Queen Mother hasn't rested yet?"
"I know that the Princess and the Duke are coming, and the Empress is waiting for you," Eunuch Yu finished, and then added, "You'd better freshen up first. Don't waste this time. If you go to see the Empress Dowager like this, she will feel distressed.
"
Lin Yunyan naturally agreed.
Everything in the side hall was the same as usual, but Wan Yue did not follow him into the palace, so he lacked someone to serve him closely.
Although there was no shortage of people in Cining Palace, and some had taken care of her in the past few years, Lin Yunyan still didn't call anyone, and only asked her mother-in-law to prepare hot water in the ear room.
She took off her coat, sat in front of the dressing table, took off her earrings and hairpins.
Her long hair was hanging down. She had been caught in the rain at Qianfu. She simply pressed it with a handkerchief on the carriage. The outer layer was dry, but the inner layer was damp, making her very uncomfortable.
As soon as Lin Yunyan picked up the comb, the tall figure moved behind her.
Xu Jian took the comb from her hand and gently combed it open for her: "Is it inconvenient if Wan Yue is not here?"
"It's not like I have never been self-reliant," Lin Yunyan laughed at herself and said with a smile, "When I was down and out, I didn't even have a bucket of bath water. I was so dirty that I even despised it. In the past two years, I have been living a precious life. You are worried that I will leave.
It won’t work without manpower.”
Xu Jian lowered his eyes with a smile: "It is difficult to go from luxury to frugality."
This is quite true.
Lin Yunyan experienced great wealth and wealth, and once fell into the clouds. After she died, she opened her eyes and became her princess again. She experienced all the ups and downs. When I really recall, she was forced to adapt to the hard life as soon as possible when she was in trouble, and
When she woke up in Cining Palace, she felt wealthy almost immediately.
Sure enough, the difficulty is different.
Looking at the bronze mirror in front of her, Lin Yunyan saw Xu Jian in the mirror again.
Xu Jian is different from her. He has passed through more years, and there are many chaos and fragments. The clouds and mud have turned countless times, and the ups and downs are intertwined...
He is not crazy, he is determined.
It's so persevering that it hurts.
"You should change your wet clothes first." Lin Yunyan said softly.
"I'll change it after you go freshen up," Xu Jian said, "Don't keep the Queen Mother waiting."
After combing her long hair, Lin Yunyan got up and went to the ear room. Not wanting to keep the empress waiting for a long time, she only wiped her body without washing her hair. After tidying up, she went to the Empress Dowager's palace with her hair loose.
Xu Jian did not go there and stayed alone in the side hall.
Regarding the deceased mother-in-law, the young princess and the empress dowager would have a lot of personal things to say, and he was sitting aside, getting in the way.
In that room, the Queen Mother saw Lin Yunyan and could not hide her worried look.
"Why did you rush into the palace so late? What happened?" She asked Lin Yunyan to sit down next to her, "I had a message from the imperial study room earlier, saying that you were following Li Shao back to the palace. I don't know what happened next.
The Ai family is not at ease, you whispered, but Li Shao is acting stupid again?"
Lin Yunyan shook her head: "It's not that Your Highness is being stupid. It is indeed sudden, but it is also very important. Please relax and I will tell you slowly."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After hearing this, the Queen Mother's tense heart relaxed a little.
What she is most worried about is that Li Shao is guilty.
In recent days, it seems that things are still calm, there is no problem in Guanzheng, and the relationship with Xu Jian seems to be peaceful.
But after all, he has a criminal record. In the Empress Dowager's place, there is a fear that the two parties will get into trouble again, and it will be Yun Yan and his wife who will suffer in the end.
Unexpectedly, the relaxation only relaxed for a short while. When she heard that the roof of Qianfu was struck by lightning, the Empress Dowager couldn't help but look solemn.
"How could something like this happen?" said the Empress Dowager. "We cannot hide this matter. I don't know how many theories will be raised tomorrow."
"When we entered the palace, we told the outside world that we were reporting something to the Qianfu." Lin Yunyan paused, "There is also an inside story. The Holy Father told us to be careful. Except for him, His Highness, Eunuch Cao, and myself and the Duke.
, he only asked me to tell you and my father, and not to spread a single word outside."
The Queen Mother breathed heavily.
Is there anything more discreet and discreet tonight than being struck by lightning in a dormitory?
"Because of the overturned oil lamp, His Highness remembered what happened that night at Dingguo Temple," Lin Yunyan bit her lower lip, "He said that a monkey-faced eunuch asked him to hold a hot oil lamp, but he couldn't.
He failed to stop him. The eunuch hugged him and covered his mouth to prevent him from calling out..."
The Empress Dowager's face turned pale.
She didn't speak, only listened to Lin Yunyan's story. Her hands clenched the mat under her body tightly, and her fingernails turned white.
In her life, her only grandson died young and her son died young. Although she had doubts, she had to accept the reality. It was not until more than a year ago that she learned the truth.
And A Yun, who she raised as her own daughter, is also a beauty but has a poor life. The Holy Sage said that he would continue to investigate, and the Queen Mother also believed that he would not give up, but she actually didn't have much hope. In this kind of thing, the greater the expectation, the more disappointment.
Also bigger.
Unexpectedly, she still waited for the answer.
Thinking of the white-haired person sending the black-haired person to cry, the Empress Dowager became emotionally unstable.
But looking at the young Yun Yan in front of her, she felt that she should cheer up and not worry Yun Yan. At this moment, Yun Yan also needed her.
"The Ai family hates me," the Empress Dowager said word by word. "The Ai family is the Queen, the Empress Dowager, the most precious woman in the world, but the Ai family has also lost too much.
But this hatred must be justified. The Ai family cannot blame the Holy Master, nor can they blame Li Shao.
The Aijia must find out the real murderer, and they must hate the person they hate."
She will not get into trouble herself, she is only worried that Yun Yan will be irrational for a while.
"Don't worry," Lin Yunyan said, "I can tell the difference clearly and won't be confused. In the imperial study room, we and the Holy Master also analyzed a lot..."
While stroking the Queen Mother's back, she spoke about her conjectures and judgments.
Hearing that Eunuch Cai and his mother-in-law in the east room were probably drugged, and hearing that the late empress had probably lit sleeping incense in the east room, the empress dowager was filled with sighs.
The viciousness of the criminals and some coincidences resulted in such an unexpected result.
"Tomorrow, the Duke will first go through the old files in the Ministry of Rites," Lin Yunyan comforted the Queen Mother, "We will start with the eunuch with the monkey face, hoping to follow the clues and find the real murderer. Is there such a eunuch in your memory?
"
The Queen Mother thought for a while: "I really can't remember it for a moment. It has been more than ten years. Even if I have seen it, it is blurry. The Ai family needs to think more about it."
"There's no rush," Lin Yunyan said, "You can rest first later. Once you sleep comfortably, your thoughts may be broadened."
Where can the Queen Mother sleep?
I just thought that Lin Yunyan would be exhausted after working hard all night, so I didn't talk about myself and just wanted Yunyan to rest quickly.
Seeing her getting up and walking out, the Empress Dowager suddenly remembered that she often had nightmares when she was young. She was keeping it in mind when something happened tonight, just in case she had a dream that night...
"Yun Yan." She couldn't help but call out.
Lin Yunyan just walked to the curtain and stopped when she heard the sound.
The Empress Dowager wanted to say, "Do you want to sleep with the Ai family?", but she swallowed the words again.
Yes.
Yun Yan is getting married, and her husband is also in the side hall tonight, and even Jingmeng is being coaxed and protected.
The Empress Dowager sighed with emotion, chuckled and shook her head: "Have a good sleep. The Ai family is not in a hurry, and you should not be in a hurry either."
Lin Yunyan smiled back.
Back at the side hall, Xu Jian had already cleaned up.
Seeing her coming back, he said, "The water is a little cold. I'll ask someone to change it so you can wash your hair."
"It's so late..." Lin Yunyan subconsciously refused.
"After all, you can't sleep, it's the same in the morning and in the evening. You'll have a headache if you don't wash off the rain." Xu Jian said, got up and called someone outside.
The nuns worked quickly and soon changed the water and adjusted the water temperature.
Lin Yunyan saw this and did not refuse again.
It's hard to dry long hair at night. There's no sun, and it's not easy to leave it open in front of the window like during the day. I can only wipe it slowly with a handkerchief.
Lin Yunyan came out of the ear room after wiping herself half dry. Xu Jian took another dry handkerchief and wiped it for her patiently.
"Your eyes were red when you came back," Xu Jian asked, "Did the Queen Mother cry?"
"No," Lin Yunyan said softly, "Mother endured it. I was afraid of making her cry, and she was even more afraid of making me cry. In the end, no one cried."
Xu Jian smiled softly.
If I didn't cry, it would be better to cry.
The look on the little princess's face showed that she was clearly cheering up.
"We were in the garden earlier," Xu Jian simply asked her to talk, "What made you laugh in the past?"
Lin Yunyan blinked and remembered after hearing his question.
"It just reminds me of the time when we were walking at night," Lin Yunyan said slowly. "At that time, you were holding the lantern to light the way. I was pushing the wheelchair. When I lowered my head, I could see the top of your head and shoulders. Now you are still holding the lantern. I
I have to turn around to see you."
As she spoke, Lin Yunyan couldn't help but laugh again.
She did not move, tilted her head back, and raised her eyes to look at Xu Jian: "You have to raise your head to see half of her face."
The four eyes faced each other and their eyes intertwined.
Lin Yunyan looked into Xu Jian's eyes, which were dark and bottomless.
The next moment, she felt her vision darken.
Xu Jian bent over and leaned down, blocking the oil lamp beside him.
"Ayan." He whispered, his voice drowned in the intertwined kisses.
This posture is really tiring.
Xu Jian didn't feel tired, but was afraid that Lin Yunyan wouldn't be able to bear it anymore, so he kept holding the back of her neck with his hand. After a while, he first moved away, then straightened her neck while protecting her, and then used his fingertips to press a few times to relax her.
.
After such a fuss, the mood naturally relaxed a lot.
When her hair was almost dry, Lin Yunyan no longer looked so bored.
It’s better if it’s not boring.
Being depressed will make you depressed, and being depressed is not conducive to thinking.
Xu Jian put down the veil, sat down next to her, and straightened her expression: "I was thinking about a question just now. Did the monkey-faced eunuch really want Li Shao's life when he set the fire?"
Lin Yunyan pursed her lips and was stunned for a moment.
"He grabbed Li Shao and prevented him from shouting. He even caused Li Shao to faint. But Li Shao was carried out of the hall by his mother-in-law with his head and tail intact." Xu Jian paused and lowered his voice.
"If the eunuch left on his own initiative, why didn't he let Li Shao get into the fire? If he heard the news that his mother-in-law was coming, he would have suddenly thrown Li Shao into the fire. Even if Li Shao cried loudly, he would
