In the Hall of Cultivation of the Heart, the emperor looked at the eunuch in charge kneeling there and sneered: "You can't even look down on a little eunuch. You are really more capable than the other!"
The eunuch in charge was complaining in his heart.
Who would have expected that little thing to run away?
At first, didn't even His Majesty think that the other party was going to secretly meet someone or do something?
"..." Li Ji, who felt that he had been taken in, said softly: "Your Majesty, please calm down... There are people guarding all the exits in the palace now. I'm not afraid that he can escape. As long as he is in the palace, he will be found."
Gotta come back.”
The eunuch in charge immediately answered: "Yes, your Majesty, don't worry, I will capture the person as soon as possible and hand him over to your Majesty for disposal!"
Emperor Qingming glanced at him coldly: "In that case, why don't you get out of here!"
"Yes, yes, I resign..." The eunuch in charge exited the inner hall and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. This little eunuch is still young, or he is hiding to avoid temporary punishment, or..." Li Ji said this, paused slightly, and then said: "But people
It is absolutely impossible to escape from the palace."
Things like that to Qiao Bing are destined to never happen again.
In the final analysis, he is just a little eunuch. Even if he is found, it is impossible to make a big splash.
It was just that under the pretext of "I made a mistake and escaped punishment, so I disappeared", I drew a portrait and handed it over to various places.
Taking advantage of the reason for searching for assassins a few days ago, I 'incidentally' searched everywhere.
I don’t know if it was because he was so well hidden, but even after six or seven days, no clues could be found about his whereabouts.
On this day, the Yulin army guarding Yukun Palace was withdrawn.
It doesn't matter if we keep guarding for a few days, it can indeed be explained that it is for the safety of the queen, and if we really continue to guard like this for ten days and a half, especially since there has never been any trace of the assassin in the palace - then it will be
It's easy to make people speculate.
At least for now, the emperor has no plans to confront the Wu family head-on.
After the Yulin troops withdrew, the palace residents in the Jade Kun Palace even felt that the central hall of the palace had become a lot brighter. These days, whenever you look up, you can see a group of people with swords on their waists brushing against the ground.
He stood there expressionlessly, as if he was blocking out all the sunlight.
Compared with these palace people, the queen's mood was not relaxed at all——
Until Grandma Jiang came back from outside.
"How is it? Is there any news about Xiaochenzi?" the queen asked in a low voice.
It has been eight days since I last saw Xiao Chenzi.
During the past eight days, she had made many guesses, such as whether Xiao Chenzi was hiding secretly, or whether he was caught and imprisoned by the emperor's people, and was only told that he was missing.
But if I think about it more rationally, I feel that the possibility of the latter is extremely small——
Xiao Chenzi was just a little eunuch. Even if the emperor wanted to arrest him for interrogation out of suspicion, he didn't have to bother to put on a show like this. A little eunuch would just be "lost" if he was "lost". How could it be worth it for the emperor to send so many people to look for him and to search for him so hard?
How many days?
If the emperor did this deliberately and wanted to use the news of Xiaochenzi's disappearance to lead her to expose her flaws, it would be even more unreasonable - according to common sense, how could she possibly expose herself for a mere eunuch? The more so.
, she is afraid that she will be more cautious and defensive.
Because none of these speculations could convince her, and there had been no progress recently, she became increasingly worried.
Xiaochenzi has gradually taken on a special meaning to her.
She had been immersed in the turbid water in the palace for these years, and she had seen mostly turbulent people and turbulent things around her. Suddenly, such a pure child appeared beside her, trusting her wholeheartedly and grateful to her——
In fact, ever since Xiaochenzi entered the Yangxin Hall, she had already regretted it.
When she said she wanted to send someone out of the palace that day, it was not just a talk.
She felt from the bottom of her heart that this child should not stay in this place forever. She wanted to send him out. Firstly, she really couldn't bear it. Secondly, it was like she wanted to send out the ray of light in her heart to help her.
To find a little bit of freedom.
"Your Majesty..." Aunt Jiang rarely hesitated to speak.
The queen's eyes changed slightly: "But there is news?"
"Yes..." Mother Jiang whispered: "The person has been found..."
Found it!
The queen did not dare to relax: "Where are you now? Could it be that you have been taken back to Yangxin Hall for disposal?"
"Back to you, Madam, the man was found in the lotus pond behind Shuchun Garden..." Aunt Jiang tried to keep her voice as soft as possible.
But the weight of these words in the Queen's ears did not diminish at all.
"...Lotus pond?" The queen's expression was a little dazed: "How can it be there?"
Shuchunyuan is next to the Qingyang Palace where Concubine Chen lived during her lifetime. After Concubine Chen left, the Qingyang Palace became empty. Shuchunyuan hanged a Zhaoyi two years ago. Since then, strange things have often happened.
, some people say it is haunted——
As time went by, few people set foot in that area.
"That lotus pond has not been taken care of for a long time. Although the flowers have faded, the lotus leaves have not withered yet. They are crowded all over the pond... People are floating among the lotus leaves, half-covered and half-covered, so they are not conspicuous.
It wasn't until today that I was found by chance..." Aunt Jiang simplified the information she got. It is said that the palace man found the body after smelling the stench of the corpse first.
She didn't mean to elaborate, but the queen immediately asked: "Have you asked someone to check the body? Is it really... that it's Xiao Chenzi?"
"It is not convenient for our people to approach, but my servant asked someone to inquire carefully... It is said that he soaked in the water for too long, and the weather has been hot in recent days, and the person has been in a state of disgrace... The body floated to the corner of the lotus pond, and no one knew
Was some of the skin gnawed away by something in the water or by wild cats and dogs..."
Aunt Jiang whispered: "But I have asked the young eunuch who is familiar with Xiao Chenzi to identify him, and it is indeed Xiao Chenzi... all the belongings and badges on his body are still there."
"Since it is already said to be in disgrace, maybe the little eunuch was too frightened to take a closer look? What can a dead thing like a waist card prove?" The queen still didn't believe it, or she said she didn't want to believe it.
"Your Majesty, the emperor has concluded that he committed suicide by drowning to avoid punishment, and the search has been stopped everywhere..."
The queen frowned, with mixed thoughts in her mind: "In the eyes of the emperor, such a little eunuch is not worthy of someone taking so much trouble to fake the body. Since Xiaochenzi has been suspected, it is useless to keep him. Of course, it is better to silence him than to silence him.
It would be cleaner to feign death... For him, such a little eunuch is dead as soon as he is dead, and it is possible that he has not asked anyone to check the body carefully..."
He added: "Moreover, this child has always been smart and cautious about his life. Even if he was suspected by the emperor, how could he just secretly throw himself into the river? No, in my opinion, this is not something that Xiao Chenzi can do.
What happened..."
Grandma Jiang sighed in her heart.
Your Majesty, do you not believe that Xiao Chenzi is really dead?
But... besides the empress, who else in this palace would help Xiao Chenzi fake his death?
Where did they find the body as a substitute?
This is not a simple matter. No matter how clever Xiaochenzi is, it is impossible for one person to do this, let alone escape the search for seven or eight days.
These ideas may sound reasonable at first, but after thinking about it for a moment, you will realize that they are completely unrealistic...
Just when Aunt Jiang was about to say something, a palace maid came from the outer hall and called out through the screen: "Your Majesty——"
"Come in." Aunt Jiang turned around and said after hearing the voice of one of her own.
The palace maid then walked in, bowed, and said softly: "This is Xiaochenzi's letter. Please read it."
The queen's eyes lit up when she heard this - Xiaochenzi managed to deliver the letter? She knew that this was not a child who would do stupid things!
However, when his eyes fell on the folded letter paper held in the hands of the palace maid, his eyes suddenly froze.
The letter paper was stained with bits of dirt that could not be wiped clean, and there were traces of slight wrinkles after being wet. It was obviously not written recently...
"When the maid came back from Shoukang Palace, she used to go to the rockery where she usually exchanged letters with Xiao Chenzi to check, and she saw this letter pressed under the stone." The palace maid had just returned from Shoukang Palace, and she didn't know Xiao Chen yet.
When he received the news that his son had been in trouble, he simply said: "I guess it must have been there for a while."
Looking at the wet marks on the letter, it was probably caused by the rain three days ago.
Recently, there has been an "assassin" incident in the palace, and they have not gone out to walk around. If the empress had not sent her to deliver Buddhist scriptures to the Queen Mother's palace today, I am afraid this letter would not have been found.
The queen took the letter.
If Xiaochenzi really had other plans to fake her death, then this letter must have been used to inform her of this plan, and vice versa...
The letter paper was unfolded, and unsightly and even crooked handwriting appeared in front of my eyes.
An internal eunuch of Xiao Chenzi's status has no chance to practice calligraphy. In order to better convey messages to her, he has secretly learned some in recent years.
He has a good understanding and learns quickly. Although he is not a serious teacher, he often makes typos in his writing and occasionally fails to convey the meaning of his words, but he is still understandable enough.
For example, what is written on this piece of paper is full of details. Although the expression is biased towards vernacular, the meaning is already very clear...
He said in the letter——
Madam, I know that something has happened to Xiao Jiezi. The Emperor has not asked anyone to interrogate me. He may be using me to find out the truth. In the past two days, I have always felt that I am being watched all the time.
But don’t worry, the empress, when Xiao Jiezi was used to handle this matter, I had already anticipated it, so I was not completely unprepared. I secretly revealed to Xiao Jiezi that night that this was Xia Shoufu’s explanation. If you didn’t guess,
Wrong, Xiaojiezi must have confessed that he was ordered by Xia Shoufu. Before I leave, I will try to find out more about this matter.
That night when the emperor had a secret meeting with Dr. Qiao, Xia Shoufu was also there, so the servant made this choice. And Xia Shoufu was the emperor's biggest adviser. If he separated from the emperor, it would be beneficial to the empress.
If you discuss this matter with your Majesty, your Majesty will definitely not agree, so I can only make my own opinion. I don’t know much and I really can’t think of a better way, so please don’t blame me.
I just want your empress to be safe. There are many dangers in the palace, and your empress is the one who wants to do big things, so you must take care of yourself. Take care of yourself.
By the way, I secretly made an agreement with Tianfu that when I reincarnate in my next life, I will come back to my empress to repay my kindness. Don’t worry, I hope Tianfu will recognize me.
…
The queen held the letter and her eyes were full of tears.
I see……
It turns out that Xiao Chenzi wanted to throw her away!
She said, how could this child do something stupid so easily?
She just said something casually to help him solve a problem, and it couldn't even be called a real life-saving kindness... Just such a word, how could he even risk his own life?
If you don’t want it, don’t want it?
How old is he?
Only fourteen years old.
He doesn't even know what she is going to do, what is a big deal? In the end, she is just doing it for her own personal affairs. How is it worth this child to risk his life for her?
The queen took the letter and sat back in the comb-backed chair behind her.
Aunt Jiang had just glanced at what was written in the letter, and now she knew what was written in her mind. She raised her hand to signal the maid to leave first, leaving the queen a moment of peace.
Until lunch was prepared outside, a palace maid came to invite her through the curtain.
The Queen seemed not to have heard anything, so Aunt Jiang said from the side: "My Lady, it's time for lunch."
"Leave it for now... I want to sit here for a while." The queen's voice was soft and somewhat mute.
Aunt Jiang could not bear to see Xiao Chenzi, but her duty was to always remind the empress not to be careless: "Xiao Chenzi's body was just found today. Although the emperor may not notice the empress, he is not afraid.
Even if it’s ten thousand, I’m afraid of the worst. If I don’t even use the prepared lunch, I’m afraid I’ll look strange... Wouldn’t this be a waste of Xiao Chenzi’s hard work?”
The Queen's eyes turned even redder when she heard this, and she lowered her eyes and looked at the letter in her hand.
Aunt Jiang whispered again: "This is Xiao Chenzi's choice. I believe that when a person does what he really wants to do, his heart will be peaceful when he leaves... The old man often said that if a person has peace of mind when he leaves,
And if you have peace and good intentions, you will be able to live in a peaceful and good family in the next life."
"Is it really possible?" The queen's voice was low.
Aunt Jiang nodded: "Definitely."
Although this sentence was made up by her, the old man in it is just herself.
But she believed that Xiao Chenzi would be blessed in the next life.
And she rarely sees the empress like this anymore, but this just proves that her girl is still her girl, and her heart is still alive and has never become numb.
"Your Majesty, please eat less..." Aunt Jiang stepped forward and lifted one of the Queen's arms.
The queen stood up, folded the letter neatly, and put it into the secret box with her own hands.
On the other side, Han Yan, the commander of the Police Guards, had just left the Yangxin Hall.
The emperor summoned him to the palace and ordered him to secretly keep an eye on every move of Xia Shoufu and the people around him, and strictly investigate all people and things related to Xia Shoufu, and there should be no mistakes or omissions——
With such a large scope, there may be trouble in the court...
But the reason was not something he should ask about.
After Han Yan left, Emperor Qingming stood up from the Arhat bed and said, "Go to Yukun Palace."
The Duke of Zhen will enter Beijing in three days at most.
There is something that has been planned for a long time, and it still needs the Queen's help...
