"PS: Thank you to the book friend "Mu Mu You Tu Guangjun" for the 10,000-coin reward. Thank you very much~ This book friend is a good person. After the event, he rewarded the author. This is considerate. Wow, I am so touched."
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"Yulong, what's wrong?"
On the way back to Ningxiang Palace, Zhao Hongrun strangely found that Princess Yulong was a little distracted, so he stepped forward curiously to ask.
"Chen Shuai..." Princess Yulong, who has become more and more cheerful in recent years, frowned in a rare way.
"What happened to Chen Shuai?"
"No, it's nothing..."
Princess Yulong hurriedly ended the topic, ran to Concubine Shen Shu, took the place of the palace maid Xiuxiang, and supported Concubine Shen Shu.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun thought for a moment and called out: "Xiu Xiang, come here."
The women in front stopped when they heard this, and even Concubine Shen Shu turned her head and looked at Zhao Hongrun doubtfully.
"Mom, you, Yulong or Xiaotao will go back to Ningxiang Palace first, and I will ask Xiuxiang a few questions."
Concubine Shen Shu thought for a while and understood what her eldest son meant. She nodded and said, "Run'er, then you are not allowed to bully this child."
Presumably Concubine Shen Shu also felt that the matter of Xiuxiang must be clarified. If a mistake was made, it would certainly not be tolerated, but if it was really a misunderstanding, one should not unjustly accuse someone.
"How dare I disobey my mother's words?" Zhao Hongrun responded with a smile.
Seeing this, Concubine Shen Shu took Princess Yulong and Xiao Tao and left with peace of mind.
But as soon as she left, the palace maid Xiuxiang inevitably became a little flustered, not because she was afraid that the lie would be exposed, but because she was simply afraid of Concubine Shen Shu's eldest son, His Highness Su Wang Hongrun.
After all, when His Highness smashed the front hall of Youzhi Palace, Xiuxiang was among the maids. Thinking back on it now, she was still trembling with fear.
"Xiuxiang, come here." Zhao Hongrun waved.
Shaking her lips, Xiuxiang walked up to Zhao Hongrun with a fearful look on her face, and called out in a trembling tone: "Su... His Highness Prince Su."
Zhao Hongrun looked up and down the Xiuxiang for a few times, raised the jade pendant in his hand, and asked in a deep voice: "I will only ask this once, have you ever lied about this jade pendant?"
Xiuxiang shook her head repeatedly.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun asked in a deep voice: "Okay, Xiu Xiang, the Lang Wei who gave you the jade pendant, which palace is he?"
Hearing this, Xiuxiang was so frightened that his face turned pale. He thought that Zhao Hongrun was going to investigate the matter, so he quickly knelt down on the ground, trembling and crying: "Your Highness, Prince Su, this slave... I have not had an affair with that Lang Wei."
Tong, we have only met a few times..."
Zhao Hongrun also didn't expect that he only asked one question and frightened the other party to the ground. He stretched out his right hand to pull Xiuxiang halfway up from the ground, frowned and said: "Get up... You and Na Lang Wei like each other."
Maybe I don’t like it, I don’t have the energy to ask, I just want to know where is the abandoned palace where Lang Wei is stationed?”
After hearing this, Xiuxiang breathed a sigh of relief. After secretly taking a look at Zhao Hongrun's expression, he asked timidly: "His Royal Highness, King Su, is saying that you won't kill that Lang Wei?"
"Why did I kill him so well?" Zhao Hongrun asked in a rather funny tone.
In fact, although according to palace regulations, having an affair with a eunuch or a guard is a much more serious crime than stealing, in Zhao Hongrun's eyes, it is not a big deal.
"Seriously?" Xiodexiang asked timidly.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun smiled and said: "Otherwise, you can find the location of the abandoned palace for me, and I will transfer the Lang Wei outside Ningxiang Palace, so that you can see each other often and relieve your lovesickness.
bitter……"
Xiuxiang blushed and waved her hands repeatedly to explain: "Your Highness has misunderstood. Brother Lang Wei just gave the slave a jade pendant. The slave has no... any personal relationship with him..."
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun smiled. In fact, for him, whether the palace maid named Xiuxiang had any personal relationship with Lang Wei was simply a trivial matter.
Seeing the smile on Zhao Hongrun's face, Xiuxiang mistakenly thought that His Highness Prince Su did not trust her, and quickly added an explanation: "Your Highness Prince Su, what I said is true. If it weren't for this jade pendant, I would not accept it.
.”
Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this, and then he realized a problem: the palace maid named Xiuxiang in front of him had obviously stayed in Youzhi Palace for five years, would she not know that Bai Zhi represents Youzhi Palace?
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun asked with some surprise: "You mean... you recognized that this jade pendant belongs to Youzhi Palace, so you accepted it?"
"Yes!" Xiuxiang nodded and explained: "When Brother Lang Wei took out this jade pendant, I didn't want to accept it, but when I saw the carvings on the jade pendant, I thought, this is my Youzhi
How could a palace thing be left outside? So the slave wanted to take it back to Youzhi Palace. But after returning to Youzhi Palace, the slave searched for a long time and didn’t see any pendants falling off the curtains in the palace, so the slave wanted to take it back to Youzhi Palace.
Didn’t take it out…”
"Pendant?"
Zhao Hongrun was stunned for a moment, then carefully looked at the jade pendant in his hand, and then realized that the style of the jade pendant was not like the kind of jade pendant worn on the body, but the kind of decorative jade used as an ornament.
At this time, Xiuxiang was still explaining the matter.
"...Today, Concubine Shu came back. She somehow found out about this and questioned me. Brother Lang Wei had taken care of me several times in the past. I didn't want to implicate him, so..." At the end,
Xiuxiang lowered her head with a bit of shyness and sadness.
Zhao Hongrun looked Xiuxiang up and down a few times, then continued to look at the jade pendant in his hand, and asked casually: "Have you offended anyone in Youzhi Palace recently?"
The sadness in Xiodexiang's eyes became stronger, but she forced a smile, shook her head and said: "No, the sisters in the palace are all very close..."
"Heh." Zhao Hongrun snorted lightly without commenting.
He could guess that Xiuxiang must have offended some palace maids in Youzhi Palace. Otherwise, Chen Shuai was demoted to Pingyang Palace for more than a year and just came back today. She would know that Xiuxiang secretly hid a
The jade pendant from Youzhi Palace?
Someone must have deliberately leaked the secret and framed Xiuxiang.
This kind of intrigue is commonplace in the palace. Concubines, eunuchs, maids, female officials, guards, everything is going on at every corner, because this is the palace.
Shaking his head secretly, Zhao Hongrun changed the topic: "Okay, let's take this king to find that Lang Wei first."
Maybe Xiuxiang was still a little worried, so she said timidly: "Well... His Highness Prince Su, if Your Highness wants to go to that abandoned palace, I can take His Highness Prince Su there. I know the way..."
Of course, Zhao Hongrun could guess what Xiuxiang was worried about, and didn't care. He smiled and said, "That's better. It saves me more time. You can lead the way."
"Yeah!" Seeing Zhao Hongrun say this, Xiuxiang finally believed that His Highness Prince Su really wanted to go to the abandoned palace. She felt relieved, so she guided Zhao Hongrun to the northwest of the palace according to her memory.
go.
During this period, she couldn't help but asked curiously: "Your Highness, why do you want to go to that abandoned palace? As far as I know, those palaces are in disrepair and are very dirty inside..."
"Have you ever been in?" Zhao Hongrun asked curiously.
Hearing this, Xiuxiang shook her head and said truthfully: "This slave has never been in... After Empress Shu'ai was demoted, although the chamberlain asked the slaves to clean other palaces many times, they were just some vacant palaces and pavilions, such as
The Wenzhao Pavilion where His Royal Highness Prince Su once lived, the Yafeng Pavilion where His Royal Highness Prince Rui once lived, the Songfeng Pavilion where His Royal Highness Prince Huan once lived..."
When Zhao Hongrun and the Zongwei heard this, they couldn't help feeling a little emotional and nostalgic.
Talking about walking, Xiuxiang led Zhao Hongrun and others through gardens and corridors. Along the way, they met groups of guards and palace maids from time to time. These people all looked at Xiuxiang with surprised eyes.
After all, there was a time when palace maids and princes were so close to each other, and this was punishable. Of course, now that Zhao Hongrun has left the cabinet and has his own palace, this rule no longer applies.
Therefore, it was inevitable that the palace ladies looked at Xiuxiang with a bit of envy and jealousy.
I don't know how long it took, Xiuxiang took Zhao Hongrun and his party outside a round gate. Outside the round gate, a team of Lang guards were guarding solemnly. Zhao Hongrun had some doubts in his heart: Wasn't the palace abandoned? Why was it so?
Are there so many guards guarding you?
"Is this here?" Zhao Hongrun asked Xiuxiang with a frown.
"Yes, Your Highness." She lowered her head and did not look at the guards, probably because she was afraid of exposing the guard who gave her the jade pendant.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun nodded, told Xiuxiang to follow him, and then walked towards the round door.
But at this time, the team of Lang Guards reacted. One of them came over and stopped him: "What do you want to do for me?"
"How presumptuous!" Zongwei Chief Wei Jiao scolded: "Are you waiting for An Ran to stop my Royal Highness Prince Su?"
"Su...His Royal Highness King Su?"
All the guards looked at each other and hurriedly kowtowed to the ground to apologize.
Zhao Hongrun waved his hand casually and didn't mind at all. After all, even in the palace, not everyone would recognize him. After all, there were thousands of people in this palace.
"Get up, I just want to go in and have a look."
"Go in and take a look..." All the guards looked at each other, and then one of them cautiously tried to dissuade him: "His Royal Highness, Prince Su, the eunuch ordered us to stay here and not allow anyone to enter..."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hongrun knew that there must be something wrong with this ruined palace. His face immediately darkened, and he squinted his eyes and said coldly: "Are you going to stop me?"
"I don't dare to be humbled by my humble position!" That Lang Wei immediately kowtowed and said.
"Hmph!" Zhao Hongrun stroked his sleeves and walked past the Lang Weis, followed closely by Xiu Xiang and the Zong Weis.
All the guards, you look at me, I look at you, I'm quite at a loss.
After all, although they had not had the opportunity to see His Highness Prince Su with their own eyes before, they had heard too much about His Highness Prince Su's great achievements, whether they were in the palace or later outside the palace.
Who dares to stop it?
At this time, Zhao Hongrun had already stepped into the garden. After passing through a seemingly abandoned garden, he saw a palace in front of him.
What puzzled him was that although the palace seemed dilapidated, Zhao Hongrun always felt that someone came to repair it from time to time.
Pushing open the ajar door, Zhao Hongrun stepped in. He was surprised to see that this abandoned palace was fully equipped with everything, such as tables, mattresses, gauze curtains, furniture, etc.
These things seem to have been around for some time and are quite old items, but it can be seen that these items are of very high standard, with fine texture and exquisite carvings. They are obviously from the Palace Building Bureau.
"Huh?" Xiuxiang looked at the things around him in surprise, and said in surprise: "This... these are all things from my Youzhi Palace, why are they here?"
Zhao Hongrun looked around, thoughtfully.
Yes, most of the objects here have the Angelica dahurica carvings that represent Youzhi Palace.