Chapter 9 9. Autumn Dew and Frost
Soon Yongji, one of the great eunuchs beside the empress, also came over. The eunuchs, maids, imperial guards, and royal troops crowded the Yongchun Hall, almost shoulder to shoulder.Li Shubai was so annoyed that he ordered all the idlers to go out, only Wang Yun brought more than ten people to search for all traces in the inner hall.
Li Shubai and Huang Zixia walked to the entrance of the hall and carefully looked at the surrounding environment.
The quiet Yongchun Palace has been restored, and it is no different from an ordinary palace in the night. Because of the solemn shape, the seven outer halls and seven inner halls, which are a bit rigid, are connected by left and right corridors, forming a standard mouth shape.In order to break this flat state, craftsmen laid a green brick road in the atrium, with rockery on the left and right.But the rockery is not high, only one or two rocks are higher than a human head, and the rest are just small and medium stones arranged in a random order, so standing in the front hall, you can clearly look at the back hall.
"We were standing under the eaves of the outer hall, near the veranda, watching Wang Ruo walk along the blue brick road to the inner hall. Because she lived in the left pavilion, we walked around a quarter of the way, but we can still Standing in the outer hall, we saw her figure. We really watched her walk into the left pavilion and never come out again."
Li Shubai nodded to confirm.
"Then, after entering the palace gate, Xianyun immediately took the food box and went to the dining room. Afterwards, Ran Yun came out with the lantern to look for the leaf vein dew hairpin."
"There is a question that needs to be asked. Why did Xian Yun and Ran Yun come out together when the situation was so turbulent? Why didn't they think of leaving someone by Wang Ruo's side?"
Huang Zixia said, walked to the table and sat down, habitually raised her hand to pull out the hairpin on her head to mark it, but when she stretched out her hand, she touched the eunuch's gauze crown on her head, and she stopped unconsciously, Then he grabbed the leaf-vein dew hairpin on the table and drew the front hall and layout of Yongchun Hall on the table.
Seeing her painting casually, Li Shubai frowned slightly.
Huang Zixia didn't look up at him, and still calmly recounted everything at that time: "Then I asked aloud, and she told me about looking for the Yemai hairpin. I found the hairpin after I walked to the rockery, and brought it to them. Here comes the Walnut Crisp."
She drew a line from the inner hall to the kitchen at the corner door in the shallow and almost invisible traces on the table: "The small dining room of Yongchun Hall is in the southwest corner, close to the wall, and the cooks and others have been waiting early for safety. He was sent away. It is the first time for Xianyun to come to the palace, but he was able to quickly find snacks in such a fast time in an unmanned dining room. I don't know if it is good luck, or a special sensitivity to food?"
Li Shubai looked at the hairpin she unconsciously drew on the table in her hand, and asked calmly: "I think there should be other things in your speculation?"
"Also, the inner hall is composed of three parts, from left to right are the left pavilion, the main hall, and the right pavilion. In fact, it is a seven-room hall. The two rooms on the left and the two on the right are attics, and the three rooms in the middle are used as the main hall. The left pavilion is in the shape of a warm pavilion, with thick walls around it, and only one door and one window. The door is in the main hall, and the windows are on the same side as the main hall gate, facing the atrium and the outer hall. Therefore, if you want to enter and exit the left pavilion, the only The main path is the main hall. When I, Xian Yun, and Ran Yun were all standing at the entrance of the main hall, the only way for her to leave was to climb out of the window other than passing through the wall."
Li Shubai said: "But there are not only two people staring at the window all the time, but there are also people watching from the other side of the verandah under the veranda of the outer hall all the time. Moreover, I am standing under the veranda of the outer hall. If this window is opened, I and other people will be the first Time will see."
"There is another possibility, and that is that there are secret passages in the hall." Huang Zixia threw away the hairpin, and returned to the left pavilion with Li Shubai, looking at this small pavilion with only one door and one window, there is no place for hiding people at all.
"Authentic? It's possible." Li Shubai sat down in front of the short table, poured a cup of tea and drank it by himself.
Seeing that it was impossible for this old man to help her, Huang Zixia had no choice but to resign herself to knocking on the wall inch by inch, even removing the wardrobe, and knocking on the wall behind for a long time.
Li Shubai took a good rest, drinking tea, watching her, as if he was watching a play that had nothing to do with him.Huang Zixia felt that her fingers were swollen, and when she was about to rub it, Li Shubai threw something for her.
She took it over and saw that it was half an ingot of silver, square and thick, about ten taels in weight, as if a silver ingot had been cut in half.
She lay on the ground, tapped the floor tiles with this piece of silver, and listened intently to the sound below, but found nothing.Even the blue bricks under the carpet, she turned over the carpet and knocked one by one.
Li Shubai was still indifferent, she fell to his feet, and he took the teacup and sat down on the opposite brocade mat, turning a blind eye.
Tired enough, Huang Zixia still got nothing, so she had no choice but to stand up, sit down in front of Li Shubai, put the half silver ingot back on the table, and asked: "Why does the prince still take the silver ingot with him when he goes out, it's still half a silver ingot."
"Of course I won't bring it." Li Shubai said casually, pointing to the three teacups that were still upside down on the table, "It's placed on the low table and covered by the teacups. When I drink tea, I pick it up, just right Found."
"Strange, who would put such a half silver ingot on the table?" She turned the silver ingot over and over to look at it.On the back of the silver ingot, according to the custom, there are words such as "Deputy envoy Liang Weidong... Zhang Junyi, envoy of the inner treasury, casting silver two" and so on.
Li Shubai took the silver ingot and faced her with the name of the caster: "In order to avoid cutting corners and making the amount of silver insufficient, one envoy and three deputy envoys should engrave their names on the silver ingot when casting according to the rule, so that there will be more It can be checked."
"I know, so the lower half that was cut off should be engraved with the names of the other two deputy envoys and the word 'Ten Taels'. It seems that this should be a twenty taels of silver ingot cast by an internal treasury." Huang Zixia Weighing the weight of the silver ingot, said.
Li Shubai pointed at the names of those two people, and said: "However, the names of these two people are not the ones that Ouchi is responsible for forging and casting gold and silver ingots."
"There are so many people in charge of casting the inner treasury in this dynasty, do you know all of them?"
"Coincidentally, there was a corruption case in the internal treasury before. I was ordered to bring dozens of accountants from the household department into the palace to check the accounts of Ouchi over the years. As for the information on copper coins, I remember the lists of all the minters, and even the directors of the local treasury.”
She had a deep understanding of this person's terrifying photographic memory, so she held the half silver ingot and looked at it, thinking to herself: "Is this still a privately cast silver ingot?"
But then, she shook her head and overturned this guess: "If it is cast privately, it will definitely be cast with the name of the owner, and will not pretend to be an envoy from the inner treasury—unless it is a fake silver ingot filled with lead in the market. "
"No, this silver ingot is cut from the middle, and the fracture is undoubtedly pure silver. Judging from the weight, there is no deviation." Li Shubai looked at her pensive expression, and raised four fingers, "It seems that this is the fourth ingot. A place that needs attention--half a silver ingot of unknown origin."
"Why is it half a piece?" Huang Zixia said to himself, feeling that the possibility of a breakthrough in this area is still relatively slim, so he first put the silver ingot next to the leaf vein golden hairpin, and then looked up at him, "Next , what are you going to do?"
"Speaking of this, I do have something to prepare. Tomorrow, a group of envoys from Tubo will come to Beijing, and I will help them receive them from the Ministry of Rites." He stood up and flicked the hem of his clothes lightly, "I said it at the beginning, this matter It's all up to you, and now you have come to the worst step that you expected in advance, you need to be responsible for properly solving this matter—at least, you must also know how people disappear."
Huang Zixia followed him and stood up: "Am I alone?"
"The inner court and Dali Temple will definitely intervene. I will tell them when the time comes, and let you participate at all times—by the way, if you find a corpse or something, go find Zhou Ziqin."
The corner of Huang Zixia's mouth couldn't help twitching slightly—the prospective princess, who was going to marry him in a few days, disappeared in front of him in an instant, and he actually cared about the corpse first, who is this!
What was spread out in front of him seemed to be a clueless mess, with thread ends everywhere, and it looked like a piece of iron, with no way to start. Huang Zixia returned to Yongchun Palace, searched all the corners, and imagined countless ways to get out through the window or the gate of the palace, and thought about the ins and outs several times, but still found nothing. The queen's clan sister, Princess Zhunkui mysteriously disappeared in the palace, and the inner court was helpless. Under the instruction of Queen Wang, the imperial court not only searched thoroughly in Yongchun Palace, but also in Daming Palace, but the result of finding nothing seems to be doomed.It is naturally impossible to demolish the Yongchun Hall, but after all the furniture and decorations inside have been removed, they have been inspected like a comb, but nothing is found.Soon, Cui Chunzhan, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, also brought a group of people into the Daming Palace and began a thorough review. According to Li Shubai's instructions, Huang Zixia went to see Cui Chunzhan, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple. She also met Cui Chunzhan before during the "Four Plans". He was only in his thirties. The Boling Cui family, a descendant of an aristocratic family, was successful at a young age, and he had a high-spirited demeanor.As soon as Huang Zixia saw him, Wang Yun's shadow appeared in front of him unconsciously, and felt that the two seemed alike. Because she is from the Kui Palace, and because she has solved outstanding cases before, Cui Chunzhan was very polite to her, asked her to sit down in front of her, and said with a smile: "Although my father-in-law is young, his ability to solve cases and reasoning is really convincing. King Kui asked the father-in-law to participate in this case, and hope that the father-in-law can help him with all his strength." Huang Zixia hurriedly said: "If there is something I can use, I will definitely do my best." Dali Temple went through the process again as usual, and Suqi, Xianyun, Ranyun and other people in the palace were all summoned and interrogated carefully again.But they all said the same, there was no difference, it was nothing more than the fact that the concubine went to Yongchun Hall, Prince Kui came to visit, Wang Ruo stayed in the East Pavilion alone, and the others left within a short time, and she disappeared without a trace in the pavilion. At that time, Wang Ruo, Li Shubai and the 30 people in the courtyard didn't realize when Wang Ruo left the inner hall, and even the eunuchs in the right pavilion, who were only separated by a hall, didn't notice anything strange about the left pavilion. At that time, the two guards who were guarding outside the window of the East Pavilion faithfully performed their duties and confirmed that they were always staring at the window, which was only opened once by Huang Zixia afterwards. "It was Captain Wang who ordered us to keep our eyes on the window, so our eyes never moved from there!" The guards vowed. "Sure enough, Wang Yun's thoughtful thinking-it's a pity to take precautions, after all, something happened to the princess." Cui Chunzhan sighed, he was at a loss, and looked at Huang Zixia with a embarrassed expression, "It's really weird... I don't know what my father-in-law has. Find?" Huang Zixia shook his head and said, "Before Cui Shaoqing came, King Kui and I had checked many times, but it was all in vain and we found nothing." By the time the group of people had finished their inquiries, it was already getting late.After a long search, nothing was found, only a soldier who searched the small dining room in the apse presented a piece of charred wood, which he said was found in the stove. Cui Chunzhan took a look and shook his head helplessly: "Idiot! What's the point of burning some scraps of wood in the dining room? It's worth bringing over to show me!" Huang Zixia took it and looked at it carefully.It was a piece of wood that had been burnt thoroughly, scorched black, but the shape and outline were basically preserved, vaguely in the shape of a horseshoe, with a slanted surface in front and a semi-circular arc in the back. She was still watching, and Cui Chunzhan said beside him: "Occasionally, there are some scraps from the woodworking department in the dining room of the palace, which are used as firewood. I think this thing is probably some kind of leftover wood, and it is not unusual." Huang Zixia nodded, and then handed it to the people in Dali Temple, saying: "Let's save it first, just in case." "Well, Eunuch Yang is right, let's keep it first." Cui Chunzhan ordered casually, then ordered someone to sort out the files, saying that this is the end of today. When Huang Zixia bid farewell to Cui Chunzhan, Cui Chunzhan said with a smile: "It's rare to see each other today, and we will probably work together in the future. I must treat you to dinner." Huang Zixia is now a person sent by the palace to participate in the case, so naturally he can only agree.But when he arrived at Zhuijin Building in Xishi, he saw the people already sitting in the cubicle, and felt a little helpless. Sitting next to him with a pipa in his arms is an acquaintance, and there is Zhou Ziqin, who is wearing a blue brocade jacket with carmine piping and a light yellow belt. Regardless of how others feel when they look at the chicken, duck and fish on the table. Another person who stood up to greet Cui Chunzhan and Huang Zixia with a smile, graceful and elegant, like a spring breeze, was Wang Yun. "Chonggu!" Upon seeing Huang Zixia, Zhou Ziqin forgot his subject excitedly, and quickly waved at her, "I heard that Eunuch Yang from the Kui Palace was helping Brother Cui with the case, so I thought it must be you. You guessed it right!" Huang Zixia ignored the empty seat next to Wang Yun, preferring to sit next to Zhou Ziqin who was dressed in blue and red scary clothes, and said, "I didn't expect you to be here." Cui Chunzhan said with a smile: "Ziqin has a thorough understanding of the scene of the crime, especially in the study of the remains, so Dali Temple often asks him. It is a pity that Ziqin will soon go to Shu with Zhou Shilang. There are very few opportunities for us in Beijing to meet each other, so let's have a few more drinks today." Zhou Ziqin looked at him with contempt: "We drink every time. You rely on the tigress at home, and you always finish with one or two cups. Who else can you be the number one in Beijing!" Cui Chunzhan laughed, obviously he didn't mind, he just asked his father Zhou Xiang when he was going to leave, and the time of the banquet. After the eight hot dishes were set and everyone drank their cups, Wang Yun asked, "I don't know if there is any clue about my sister's disappearance?" Cui Chunzhan shook his head and said, "It seems that it will take some time." Wang Yun had a slightly worried expression on his face, but he seemed worried about putting pressure on Cui Chunzhan, and he didn't show too much. Zhou Ziqin looked at the newly arrived fish, said "huh", and asked, "Why isn't Aunt Li, who cooks the live fish in the back kitchen, not here today?" The waiter who was serving the food asked in surprise, "Master Zhou, how did you know that Mrs. Li's family has something to do today, and someone else cooked this fish?" Zhou Ziqin grimaced, and said: "It looks like it was made by a novice. My favorite fish belly is incomplete. Look at the crooked tangent line. The fat and epidermis on the belly have been destroyed. The belly of the fish is broken. The unique mellow and delicious meat will be destroyed! Also, you see, even the black thread in the anus has not been pulled clean, how can Aunt Li use the knife and fall with ease!" The people at the table looked at each other and smiled wryly. Wang Yun changed the subject and asked, "Eunuch Yang and Ziqin knew each other before?" Sitting next to Zhou Ziqin, Huang Zixia watched helplessly as Zhou Ziqin put a large piece of picked fish in his bowl, and said, "We met once." Cui Chunzhan said with a smile: "Ziqin can hit it off with anyone, we are used to it." Zhou Ziqin sternly retorted: "I have a fateful friendship with Chonggu, which is different from ordinary people!" Didn't they just dig up the corpse together?When did it become a deadly friendship?With a bitter face, Huang Zixia began to eat the fish in the bowl. Zhou Ziqin was still showing off to her: "I'm not boasting, I'm definitely the number one person in Beijing, Datang, and even the world in picking fishbone! When I was locked up at home by my father, and I was not allowed to go out with my uncle, I just Can study the chicken, duck and fish made in the kitchen - cattle have 108 bones, chickens have 164 bones, and the difference between fish is quite large. The distribution of fishbone is regular, I will teach you a method, it is my unique technique, a secret that cannot be passed down, that is, the meat on the back of crucian carp can be uncovered in layers, of course this method is very important..." Everyone listened to his nonsense, drank and joked, and the atmosphere of the banquet was lively. It didn't take long to forget about discussing the disappearance of the princess, and it turned into a lively dinner. Huang Zixia saw that Wang Yun's face was quite helpless, but considering everyone, he still forced a smile, and couldn't help admiring his self-cultivation. Someone suddenly mentioned: "By the way, have you ever heard of the rumors in the capital today?" "What rumors?" Everyone asked hurriedly. "It's the rumor about Princess Qile. It is said that after Princess Kui disappeared, she happily went to the temple to fulfill her vow today. Although she didn't say what she wished, everyone in Beijing knows it well..." As for Princess Qi Le, who has always regarded herself as the future Queen Kui, but failed to fulfill her wish in the end, everyone naturally knew about it. Everyone at the table smiled ambiguously and said "oh". Jin Nu smiled and said, "Oh, what a coincidence. Speaking of which, when I went to play the pipa for the concubine yesterday, I happened to meet Princess Qi Le in the palace." "It turns out that Princess Qi Le was also in the palace when the princess disappeared?" Cui Chunzhan asked. "That's right, she came to copy the scriptures for the concubine—I heard that she got this job because she promised the palace servants who were close to the queen dowager, because Prince Kui was going to the palace on the tenth day Say hello to the concubine once, and then you can talk to King Kui." Everyone sighed: "It's really infatuation." "And I heard that she also made it clear to the concubine that she belonged to King Kui, and the concubine also intended to fulfill it. Unfortunately, in the end, it was fate, and Princess Kui never fell on her head. After the marriage between King Kui and the concubine was settled, she He said he was sick and hadn’t been to the palace for a while, who would have thought that when he went there yesterday, the concubine disappeared. After the incident, I heard that she went to see it in person outside Yongchun Hall..." Jinnu said , covered his mouth with a pipa plectrum and smiled, "I heard the sisters joke that Princess Qi Le really had an expression of relief and dreams come true at that time." "Yes, when the rumor that Princess Kui will disappear before marriage spreads in Beijing, she is probably the person most willing to hear it." Except for Wang Yun, a group of men were all smiling, and even Wang Yun's presence couldn't hide their sympathy. Have fun talking and laughing. Cui Chunzhan still retained a bit of reason, and said: "This is not easy to handle. The Dali Temple summoned the princess. There is no such precedent in this dynasty." "Let the inner court inquire tomorrow." Dali Temple Chancellor said secondly. Huang Zixia looked at the group of men helplessly, and secretly went through the Princess Qile again in her heart, first paying attention to it, and then her eyes fell on Jin Nu. But seeing her happy expression, and thinking that when Wang Ruo disappeared, she had already left the palace, and he was a little hesitant to interrogate her based on the few fragmentary sentences he heard. She decided to go back and discuss with Li Shubai before seeing how to deal with Jin Nu. Looking back, he saw Wang Yun staring at himself amidst the noise in the hall.Under the light, his skin is like jade, his black hair is like black ink, his correct eyebrows and eyes and pristine appearance are all the more outstanding among this group of outrageous men. Unassuming temperament. She only felt her eyelashes twitch, as if someone had stabbed her eyelashes with a needle, causing her to avoid the other person's eyes in a guilty conscience, and turned her head to pretend that nothing had happened, and studied the structure of fish bones with Zhou Ziqin next to her. . Seeing that the wine and food are full, it is already the beginning of the year.Xiao Er came over to add candles, and Jin Nu picked up the pipa again, tuned the strings and played the last piece. "Oh, this annoying weather," she said helplessly after trying a few notes, "it rained all day, the strings of the pipa became loose again, and the sound was even worse due to the damp." Huang Zixia turned around and asked, "Then what can I do?" "Just wipe it with rosin." She took out a very delicate box from her arms, twisted a pinch of rosin powder with three fingers, and carefully applied it on the pipa peg, and said, "This rosin powder is the most important thing today." It was just given by the palace, you see, even the box is so beautiful, I just took it and put it in my arms." Huang Zixia couldn't understand her showing off, so she could only look at the pipa and said, "This 'Autumn Dew in Frost' is really beautiful." "Yes, it was given to me by my master. I only play it in this life, and I am not used to other pipas, because only it is suitable for my gestures and movements." She smiled and picked up the rosin powder After wiping for a long time, the tip of his eyebrows frowned slightly, but then he smiled again, holding the pipa in his arms, and hooking the strings of the pipa with the jade plectrum in his hand, the cheerful and lively music immediately flowed out. After finishing the song, Cui Chunzhan raised his glass and made a concluding speech: "The emperor's kindness is mighty, and we bear a heavy burden. Everyone here, we must concentrate all our efforts to solve this mysterious case, and live up to the great trust of the emperor, queen and King Kui. I hope everyone can actively contribute ideas and suggestions. , close the case as soon as possible to repay the grace of God!" The eating and drinking in the name of research cases came to an end. The people from Dali Temple went to pay the bill and sent away the two dignitaries Cui Chunzhan and Wang Yun. Only Zhou Ziqin, Huang Zixia and Jin Nu who was cleaning up the pipa were left at the banquet. Zhou Ziqin looked at the few untouched dishes on the table, and called Xiaoer over: "So what, do you have lotus leaves? Wrap this roasted chicken, grilled fish, and this trotter for me." Jin Nu chuckled next to him and said, "So the rumors in the capital are true, Mr. Zhou really didn't waste it." "Chicken, duck, and fish have their own dignity. Who would be willing to turn into slop?" Zhou Ziqin didn't mind, and said with a smile, "The one in front of you, yes, is the plate of cherries. Please wrap it for me." "Do cherries have dignity too?" Jinnu looked at his snow-white fingers, reluctantly held the cherries on the lotus leaf, wrapped them up and handed them to him, then frowned and said, "Oh, this damn cherry stalk is so hard, it hurts me. Itchy hands." "I know you have delicate hands, but who knows that you can't even prick cherries. Thank you." Zhou Ziqin said casually, tied the things roughly with a thread, and went out with them. Huang Zixia intentionally stayed behind, and asked Jinnu who was still rubbing her hands: "Miss Jinnu, when is it convenient for me to visit you?" "Oh, Eunuch Yang, are you also interested in pipa?" Even though he knew she was an eunuch, Jin Nu still habitually gave her a flirtatious glance, light and soft. Huang Zixia said: "I just have some things to ask." "What about my master?" she asked. Huang Zixia was not interested in her master at all, and only smiled: "Of course it's about... your former sisters, those who admired Prince Kui." "Okay, let Prince Kui ask himself, I will definitely point out to him which sister admires him," Jin Nu blew on his hand, and then smiled, "Okay, I'll go first. " "Miss Jinnu," Huang Zixia had to stop her, and asked in a low voice, "That day in Penglai Palace, you once said something that made me very concerned..." "What?" Jin Nu looked at her innocently and innocently. "You said, the princess shouldn't be...she." Huang Zixia whispered in her ear, her voice was extremely low, but she paused every word very clearly. Jin Nu's face froze for a moment. She stared at Huang Zixia in front of her with wide eyes. After a long time, she lowered her eyes and said, "Don't say it. I'll offend you. Actually, I just... just feel that Qi Princess Le is more like a princess, so I just talked about it casually." Huang Zixia wanted to ask again, but Jin Nu hurriedly bypassed her, got into a carriage next to her, and said to the driver: "If you don't go back, there will be a curfew, hurry up!" Huang Zixia watched her carriage go away helplessly, thinking anxiously in her heart, if Li Shubai ordered Dali Temple to arrest her, how could this delicate girl who is too thorny for cherry stems stand the interrogation? The Zhou family's carriage was waiting at the door, Zhou Ziqin stood at the door and asked her: "Chonggu, how do you go?" Huang Zixia said casually, "Hire a car and go back to Prince Kui's mansion." "I'll take you along the way." He motioned her to get in the car. Huang Zixia asked amusedly: "Where is the right way? Kui Wang's Mansion is much farther than your home." "Because I'm not going home now!" He said, gesturing her to get on the carriage, the coachman started skillfully without waiting for his order, and the carriage headed north to Xingqing Palace. There is a curfew in Chang'an City, the night is thick, and the moon rises and people are quiet at the beginning of the night. Outside the walls of the Xingqing Palace, on top of the rocks in the river, several beggars were still sitting or lying on the fire, their skinny bones. The carriage stopped, Zhou Ziqin jumped out of the car, put the few packages of food in his hand on the stone slab by the river, untied a package of roast chicken, and then returned to the car. The coachman drove to King Kui's mansion as instructed. Huang Zixia raised the curtain of the car and looked behind. The few beggars who were attracted by the aroma sat around the stone table and chewed excitedly, all of them excited and joyful. The corner of Huang Zixia's lips could not help showing a smile, and said, "I can't see that you would do such things besides studying corpses." "Hey, it's just a matter of raising your hands." He waved his hands indifferently. Lanterns are hung on the walls of the neighborhood courtyards in Chang'an City at night, illuminating the quiet streets.The carriage passed through the long street, occasionally a line or two of lights shone faintly through the curtains inside the carriage.Under the flickering light, Zhou Ziqin's heartless smile appeared gentle and innocent, with a kind of youthful and ignorant clarity. This smile made Huang Zixia involuntarily feel a touch of sadness in his heart. In front of her eyes, the shadow of another person appeared.There was always such a gentle and pure smile on that person's face. He always smiled and said, it's just a matter of little effort. Since I was a child, I have encountered too many cruel methods and sinister intentions, but now my heart can still retain some softness. Is it related to meeting that person?
It was nearly two o'clock when we returned to King Kui's Mansion.Huang Zixia boiled water and took a shower, washed the clothes and hung them out, and it was already after the third watch when she went to sleep peacefully. The other eunuchs shared two or three rooms, but fortunately she had Li Shubai say that one room was shared, so she didn't need to worry about anything, so she slept very peacefully.Unexpectedly, just after dawn, someone knocked on the door vigorously: "Yang Chonggu! Get up!" Huang Zixia's mind was blank, and she forced herself to sit up halfway: "Who is it? What's the matter?" "My lord has an order, ordering you to hurry to the gate of Daming Palace." She stroked her forehead and lamented, suffering beyond words: "The prince should be at the court meeting, right?" "The emperor is not feeling well today, and the morning court was cancelled, so the prince told you to go over and wait immediately. Hey, what are you doing, a little eunuch, in charge of the prince? Why don't you just run away?" "Yes Yes Yes……"
Washed hastily, hurried to Daming Palace, the sun had already risen high. Li Shubai was talking to a Huihe man at the gate of the palace, and the two of them were talking happily in Huihe dialect that no one could understand. Huang Zixia stood beside her, the Huihe man looked at her and murmured something, Li Shubai actually smiled, and then he seemed to say goodbye to him, saying goodbye to the man, and motioned Huang Zixia to follow him into the carriage. Sitting in the car, Huang Zixia watched him close his eyes and rest, with a faint smile on his lips, and couldn't help but ask, "What did you just say?" Li Shubai opened his eyes and looked at her, and said, "You don't want to know." Huang Zixia felt that this sentence, coupled with his half-smile expression, simply meant "beg me quickly, ask me quickly", and in order to satisfy the prince, she could only ask again: "What did you say?" "He said, this little eunuch is not bad, he is full of vigor and vigor, and he has not lost his true qualities of a man." "Sure enough, I shouldn't have asked..." Huang Zixia turned her head to look outside speechlessly, "Where are we going?" "Didn't it mean that there is no clue in this case? I picked out a thread for you." Huang Zixia's eyes lit up: "E Palace?" Li Shubai nodded slightly, and said, "It's probably inconvenient for you to be alone, so I'll take you there." "Well, I heard that Prince E took in Chen Nianniang. I think all the clues can only fall on the dead Feng Yiniang first. Maybe there will be no clues from Chen Nianniang." When she said this, she remembered something again, and hurriedly told the story of Jinnu from the beginning, and asked: "Is it necessary for the Dali Temple to interrogate Jinnu?" Li Shubai nodded and said, "The sooner the better." Before the words were finished, the carriage that had been traveling at a constant speed suddenly paused and stopped. A guard outside tapped on the wall of the car: "My lord, Princess Qi Le stopped the car, it seems..." Li Shubai frowned slightly, lifted the curtain to look outside, and saw Princess Qile's carriage was parked in front, and now she had jumped off the carriage and walked towards him quickly. Huang Zixia followed Li Shubai out of the carriage with the mentality of watching a good show. The Princess Qi Le, who habitually raised her chin to look at people, burst into tears when she saw Li Shubai, and saluted him: "I have seen His Royal Highness King Kui..." Li Shubai returned the salute to her, saying: "Why does the princess need to be so polite?" "His Royal Highness Kui, I heard that... the rumors about Concubine Kui in the capital have been rampant recently, and they all come from me. I hope that the prince has not been troubled too much, otherwise, I really can't feel at ease..." Princess Qi Le looked like a pair of almonds. Her big eyes were sparkling, and she looked at Li Shubai for a moment, and her plump cheeks had also lost a lot of weight. It was obvious that after Li Shubai became a concubine, she had not been comfortable. Li Shubai only looked at her gently, and his voice was calm and unwavering: "The Princess has nothing to worry about. If Wang Ruo disappears in the palace, although this matter is strange, it does not necessarily mean that there is no chance of finding her. Then the Princess will definitely be able to find her." Wash away the grievances of today." "But...but I heard that this matter is..." She swallowed the words "ghost haunting" forcefully, looked up at Li Shubai in front of her sadly and pitifully, and said in a low voice, "I heard people in the capital say, The strangeness of this matter is unpredictable, Wang Ruo may, may not be alive anymore." Huang Zixia quietly looked at this woman who was trying her best to put on a pitiful expression, but couldn't hide her sense of luck, and thought to herself, after all, she is a proud girl of heaven, she will never know how to be considerate of others, how to judge the situation, and her heart is so magnanimous. People can see through the internal organs at a glance. Is this the hateful thing about her, or the cute thing? Li Shubai didn't seem to realize it, he just spoke warmly, the expression on his face was like the distant mountains and near water rendered by ink and wash, he only felt peaceful and gentle in the mist. He comforted Princess Qile, but Princess Qile took advantage of the topic, and there were more tears of grievance in his eyes, and he watched the tears roll down. Huang Zixia saw that Li Shubai's expression was a little helpless, but he finally raised his hand to wipe away her tears. Huang Zixia dutifully reminded behind him: "My lord, Jing Yu has already gone to the Prince E's Mansion to report, I am afraid that the Prince E is already waiting, look..." Li Shubai nodded slightly when he heard the words, and said to Princess Qile: "I will go ahead, Princess, please rest assured, I will handle everything myself." Princess Qile stood on the street and watched him get into the carriage. It was not until his carriage had gone for a long time that he returned to the carriage under the persuasion of the maids. Huang Zixia looked at the two carriages running in opposite directions from the gap in the curtain, and couldn't help looking at Li Shubai. Li Shubai asked lightly: "Do you think I shouldn't give her too much hope, and should be more ruthless to make her give up?" Huang Zixia didn't speak, but the expression on his face was very obvious. "In the past, when the first emperor passed away, only she held my hand to comfort me." He leaned on the brocade mat behind his back, with a calm expression, just like ink and wash just now, "She is a nice woman, Just not very smart." "So you have delayed a good woman, and now she is notorious in Beijing." He glanced at her and was silent all the way.In the glass bottle hanging on the wall of the car, the clear water swayed slightly with the bumps of the carriage, but the little red fish inside seemed to have gotten used to this situation, lying quietly at the bottom of the bottle, calm and calm. After a long time, she heard Li Shubai's voice and asked, "Do you know that she is born with a deficiency and won't live to be twenty years old?" Huang Zixia looked at him in astonishment, but he only looked at the little red fish, and said: "Although King Yi was a distant ancestor of the royal family, Emperor Wenzong had no sons, and he was called back to the court to become the king in preparation for his enthronement. If not In court battles, King Yi should already be the lord of the world. Therefore, as the former heir to the throne, this line should be cut off. Now that King Yi is dead, Qi Le's brothers are all dead, and she is left alone — Otherwise, why do you think she dared to shake my hand when my father passed away?" Huang Zixia was speechless, thinking of this bad-natured girl who became a joke in Beijing, thinking of her apple-blossom-like cheeks and apricot-like eyes.After a long time, she asked softly, "Does Princess Qi Le know?" "I think she should know that her situation is not good, but she doesn't know it will be so soon," Li Shubai slowly closed her eyes, and said, "Let her fantasize arrogantly and capriciously for a few more days, even if she wants to bother me in the future, she will not No chance."
What was spread out in front of him seemed to be a clueless mess, with thread ends everywhere, and it looked like a piece of iron, with no way to start. Huang Zixia returned to Yongchun Palace, searched all the corners, and imagined countless ways to get out through the window or the gate of the palace, and thought about the ins and outs several times, but still found nothing. The queen's clan sister, Princess Zhunkui mysteriously disappeared in the palace, and the inner court was helpless. Under the instruction of Queen Wang, the imperial court not only searched thoroughly in Yongchun Palace, but also in Daming Palace, but the result of finding nothing seems to be doomed.It is naturally impossible to demolish the Yongchun Hall, but after all the furniture and decorations inside have been removed, they have been inspected like a comb, but nothing is found.Soon, Cui Chunzhan, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, also brought a group of people into the Daming Palace and began a thorough review. According to Li Shubai's instructions, Huang Zixia went to see Cui Chunzhan, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple. She also met Cui Chunzhan before during the "Four Plans". He was only in his thirties. The Boling Cui family, a descendant of an aristocratic family, was successful at a young age, and he had a high-spirited demeanor.As soon as Huang Zixia saw him, Wang Yun's shadow appeared in front of him unconsciously, and felt that the two seemed alike. Because she is from the Kui Palace, and because she has solved outstanding cases before, Cui Chunzhan was very polite to her, asked her to sit down in front of her, and said with a smile: "Although my father-in-law is young, his ability to solve cases and reasoning is really convincing. King Kui asked the father-in-law to participate in this case, and hope that the father-in-law can help him with all his strength." Huang Zixia hurriedly said: "If there is something I can use, I will definitely do my best." Dali Temple went through the process again as usual, and Suqi, Xianyun, Ranyun and other people in the palace were all summoned and interrogated carefully again.But they all said the same, there was no difference, it was nothing more than the fact that the concubine went to Yongchun Hall, Prince Kui came to visit, Wang Ruo stayed in the East Pavilion alone, and the others left within a short time, and she disappeared without a trace in the pavilion. At that time, Wang Ruo, Li Shubai and the 30 people in the courtyard didn't realize when Wang Ruo left the inner hall, and even the eunuchs in the right pavilion, who were only separated by a hall, didn't notice anything strange about the left pavilion. At that time, the two guards who were guarding outside the window of the East Pavilion faithfully performed their duties and confirmed that they were always staring at the window, which was only opened once by Huang Zixia afterwards. "It was Captain Wang who ordered us to keep our eyes on the window, so our eyes never moved from there!" The guards vowed. "Sure enough, Wang Yun's thoughtful thinking-it's a pity to take precautions, after all, something happened to the princess." Cui Chunzhan sighed, he was at a loss, and looked at Huang Zixia with a embarrassed expression, "It's really weird... I don't know what my father-in-law has. Find?" Huang Zixia shook his head and said, "Before Cui Shaoqing came, King Kui and I had checked many times, but it was all in vain and we found nothing." By the time the group of people had finished their inquiries, it was already getting late.After a long search, nothing was found, only a soldier who searched the small dining room in the apse presented a piece of charred wood, which he said was found in the stove. Cui Chunzhan took a look and shook his head helplessly: "Idiot! What's the point of burning some scraps of wood in the dining room? It's worth bringing over to show me!" Huang Zixia took it and looked at it carefully.It was a piece of wood that had been burnt thoroughly, scorched black, but the shape and outline were basically preserved, vaguely in the shape of a horseshoe, with a slanted surface in front and a semi-circular arc in the back. She was still watching, and Cui Chunzhan said beside him: "Occasionally, there are some scraps from the woodworking department in the dining room of the palace, which are used as firewood. I think this thing is probably some kind of leftover wood, and it is not unusual." Huang Zixia nodded, and then handed it to the people in Dali Temple, saying: "Let's save it first, just in case." "Well, Eunuch Yang is right, let's keep it first." Cui Chunzhan ordered casually, then ordered someone to sort out the files, saying that this is the end of today. When Huang Zixia bid farewell to Cui Chunzhan, Cui Chunzhan said with a smile: "It's rare to see each other today, and we will probably work together in the future. I must treat you to dinner." Huang Zixia is now a person sent by the palace to participate in the case, so naturally he can only agree.But when he arrived at Zhuijin Building in Xishi, he saw the people already sitting in the cubicle, and felt a little helpless. Sitting next to him with a pipa in his arms is an acquaintance, and there is Zhou Ziqin, who is wearing a blue brocade jacket with carmine piping and a light yellow belt. Regardless of how others feel when they look at the chicken, duck and fish on the table. Another person who stood up to greet Cui Chunzhan and Huang Zixia with a smile, graceful and elegant, like a spring breeze, was Wang Yun. "Chonggu!" Upon seeing Huang Zixia, Zhou Ziqin forgot his subject excitedly, and quickly waved at her, "I heard that Eunuch Yang from the Kui Palace was helping Brother Cui with the case, so I thought it must be you. You guessed it right!" Huang Zixia ignored the empty seat next to Wang Yun, preferring to sit next to Zhou Ziqin who was dressed in blue and red scary clothes, and said, "I didn't expect you to be here." Cui Chunzhan said with a smile: "Ziqin has a thorough understanding of the scene of the crime, especially in the study of the remains, so Dali Temple often asks him. It is a pity that Ziqin will soon go to Shu with Zhou Shilang. There are very few opportunities for us in Beijing to meet each other, so let's have a few more drinks today." Zhou Ziqin looked at him with contempt: "We drink every time. You rely on the tigress at home, and you always finish with one or two cups. Who else can you be the number one in Beijing!" Cui Chunzhan laughed, obviously he didn't mind, he just asked his father Zhou Xiang when he was going to leave, and the time of the banquet. After the eight hot dishes were set and everyone drank their cups, Wang Yun asked, "I don't know if there is any clue about my sister's disappearance?" Cui Chunzhan shook his head and said, "It seems that it will take some time." Wang Yun had a slightly worried expression on his face, but he seemed worried about putting pressure on Cui Chunzhan, and he didn't show too much. Zhou Ziqin looked at the newly arrived fish, said "huh", and asked, "Why isn't Aunt Li, who cooks the live fish in the back kitchen, not here today?" The waiter who was serving the food asked in surprise, "Master Zhou, how did you know that Mrs. Li's family has something to do today, and someone else cooked this fish?" Zhou Ziqin grimaced, and said: "It looks like it was made by a novice. My favorite fish belly is incomplete. Look at the crooked tangent line. The fat and epidermis on the belly have been destroyed. The belly of the fish is broken. The unique mellow and delicious meat will be destroyed! Also, you see, even the black thread in the anus has not been pulled clean, how can Aunt Li use the knife and fall with ease!" The people at the table looked at each other and smiled wryly. Wang Yun changed the subject and asked, "Eunuch Yang and Ziqin knew each other before?" Sitting next to Zhou Ziqin, Huang Zixia watched helplessly as Zhou Ziqin put a large piece of picked fish in his bowl, and said, "We met once." Cui Chunzhan said with a smile: "Ziqin can hit it off with anyone, we are used to it." Zhou Ziqin sternly retorted: "I have a fateful friendship with Chonggu, which is different from ordinary people!" Didn't they just dig up the corpse together?When did it become a deadly friendship?With a bitter face, Huang Zixia began to eat the fish in the bowl. Zhou Ziqin was still showing off to her: "I'm not boasting, I'm definitely the number one person in Beijing, Datang, and even the world in picking fishbone! When I was locked up at home by my father, and I was not allowed to go out with my uncle, I just Can study the chicken, duck and fish made in the kitchen - cattle have 108 bones, chickens have 164 bones, and the difference between fish is quite large. The distribution of fishbone is regular, I will teach you a method, it is my unique technique, a secret that cannot be passed down, that is, the meat on the back of crucian carp can be uncovered in layers, of course this method is very important..." Everyone listened to his nonsense, drank and joked, and the atmosphere of the banquet was lively. It didn't take long to forget about discussing the disappearance of the princess, and it turned into a lively dinner. Huang Zixia saw that Wang Yun's face was quite helpless, but considering everyone, he still forced a smile, and couldn't help admiring his self-cultivation. Someone suddenly mentioned: "By the way, have you ever heard of the rumors in the capital today?" "What rumors?" Everyone asked hurriedly. "It's the rumor about Princess Qile. It is said that after Princess Kui disappeared, she happily went to the temple to fulfill her vow today. Although she didn't say what she wished, everyone in Beijing knows it well..." As for Princess Qi Le, who has always regarded herself as the future Queen Kui, but failed to fulfill her wish in the end, everyone naturally knew about it. Everyone at the table smiled ambiguously and said "oh". Jin Nu smiled and said, "Oh, what a coincidence. Speaking of which, when I went to play the pipa for the concubine yesterday, I happened to meet Princess Qi Le in the palace." "It turns out that Princess Qi Le was also in the palace when the princess disappeared?" Cui Chunzhan asked. "That's right, she came to copy the scriptures for the concubine—I heard that she got this job because she promised the palace servants who were close to the queen dowager, because Prince Kui was going to the palace on the tenth day Say hello to the concubine once, and then you can talk to King Kui." Everyone sighed: "It's really infatuation." "And I heard that she also made it clear to the concubine that she belonged to King Kui, and the concubine also intended to fulfill it. Unfortunately, in the end, it was fate, and Princess Kui never fell on her head. After the marriage between King Kui and the concubine was settled, she He said he was sick and hadn’t been to the palace for a while, who would have thought that when he went there yesterday, the concubine disappeared. After the incident, I heard that she went to see it in person outside Yongchun Hall..." Jinnu said , covered his mouth with a pipa plectrum and smiled, "I heard the sisters joke that Princess Qi Le really had an expression of relief and dreams come true at that time." "Yes, when the rumor that Princess Kui will disappear before marriage spreads in Beijing, she is probably the person most willing to hear it." Except for Wang Yun, a group of men were all smiling, and even Wang Yun's presence couldn't hide their sympathy. Have fun talking and laughing. Cui Chunzhan still retained a bit of reason, and said: "This is not easy to handle. The Dali Temple summoned the princess. There is no such precedent in this dynasty." "Let the inner court inquire tomorrow." Dali Temple Chancellor said secondly. Huang Zixia looked at the group of men helplessly, and secretly went through the Princess Qile again in her heart, first paying attention to it, and then her eyes fell on Jin Nu. But seeing her happy expression, and thinking that when Wang Ruo disappeared, she had already left the palace, and he was a little hesitant to interrogate her based on the few fragmentary sentences he heard. She decided to go back and discuss with Li Shubai before seeing how to deal with Jin Nu. Looking back, he saw Wang Yun staring at himself amidst the noise in the hall.Under the light, his skin is like jade, his black hair is like black ink, his correct eyebrows and eyes and pristine appearance are all the more outstanding among this group of outrageous men. Unassuming temperament. She only felt her eyelashes twitch, as if someone had stabbed her eyelashes with a needle, causing her to avoid the other person's eyes in a guilty conscience, and turned her head to pretend that nothing had happened, and studied the structure of fish bones with Zhou Ziqin next to her. . Seeing that the wine and food are full, it is already the beginning of the year.Xiao Er came over to add candles, and Jin Nu picked up the pipa again, tuned the strings and played the last piece. "Oh, this annoying weather," she said helplessly after trying a few notes, "it rained all day, the strings of the pipa became loose again, and the sound was even worse due to the damp." Huang Zixia turned around and asked, "Then what can I do?" "Just wipe it with rosin." She took out a very delicate box from her arms, twisted a pinch of rosin powder with three fingers, and carefully applied it on the pipa peg, and said, "This rosin powder is the most important thing today." It was just given by the palace, you see, even the box is so beautiful, I just took it and put it in my arms." Huang Zixia couldn't understand her showing off, so she could only look at the pipa and said, "This 'Autumn Dew in Frost' is really beautiful." "Yes, it was given to me by my master. I only play it in this life, and I am not used to other pipas, because only it is suitable for my gestures and movements." She smiled and picked up the rosin powder After wiping for a long time, the tip of his eyebrows frowned slightly, but then he smiled again, holding the pipa in his arms, and hooking the strings of the pipa with the jade plectrum in his hand, the cheerful and lively music immediately flowed out. After finishing the song, Cui Chunzhan raised his glass and made a concluding speech: "The emperor's kindness is mighty, and we bear a heavy burden. Everyone here, we must concentrate all our efforts to solve this mysterious case, and live up to the great trust of the emperor, queen and King Kui. I hope everyone can actively contribute ideas and suggestions. , close the case as soon as possible to repay the grace of God!" The eating and drinking in the name of research cases came to an end. The people from Dali Temple went to pay the bill and sent away the two dignitaries Cui Chunzhan and Wang Yun. Only Zhou Ziqin, Huang Zixia and Jin Nu who was cleaning up the pipa were left at the banquet. Zhou Ziqin looked at the few untouched dishes on the table, and called Xiaoer over: "So what, do you have lotus leaves? Wrap this roasted chicken, grilled fish, and this trotter for me." Jin Nu chuckled next to him and said, "So the rumors in the capital are true, Mr. Zhou really didn't waste it." "Chicken, duck, and fish have their own dignity. Who would be willing to turn into slop?" Zhou Ziqin didn't mind, and said with a smile, "The one in front of you, yes, is the plate of cherries. Please wrap it for me." "Do cherries have dignity too?" Jinnu looked at his snow-white fingers, reluctantly held the cherries on the lotus leaf, wrapped them up and handed them to him, then frowned and said, "Oh, this damn cherry stalk is so hard, it hurts me. Itchy hands." "I know you have delicate hands, but who knows that you can't even prick cherries. Thank you." Zhou Ziqin said casually, tied the things roughly with a thread, and went out with them. Huang Zixia intentionally stayed behind, and asked Jinnu who was still rubbing her hands: "Miss Jinnu, when is it convenient for me to visit you?" "Oh, Eunuch Yang, are you also interested in pipa?" Even though he knew she was an eunuch, Jin Nu still habitually gave her a flirtatious glance, light and soft. Huang Zixia said: "I just have some things to ask." "What about my master?" she asked. Huang Zixia was not interested in her master at all, and only smiled: "Of course it's about... your former sisters, those who admired Prince Kui." "Okay, let Prince Kui ask himself, I will definitely point out to him which sister admires him," Jin Nu blew on his hand, and then smiled, "Okay, I'll go first. " "Miss Jinnu," Huang Zixia had to stop her, and asked in a low voice, "That day in Penglai Palace, you once said something that made me very concerned..." "What?" Jin Nu looked at her innocently and innocently. "You said, the princess shouldn't be...she." Huang Zixia whispered in her ear, her voice was extremely low, but she paused every word very clearly. Jin Nu's face froze for a moment. She stared at Huang Zixia in front of her with wide eyes. After a long time, she lowered her eyes and said, "Don't say it. I'll offend you. Actually, I just... just feel that Qi Princess Le is more like a princess, so I just talked about it casually." Huang Zixia wanted to ask again, but Jin Nu hurriedly bypassed her, got into a carriage next to her, and said to the driver: "If you don't go back, there will be a curfew, hurry up!" Huang Zixia watched her carriage go away helplessly, thinking anxiously in her heart, if Li Shubai ordered Dali Temple to arrest her, how could this delicate girl who is too thorny for cherry stems stand the interrogation? The Zhou family's carriage was waiting at the door, Zhou Ziqin stood at the door and asked her: "Chonggu, how do you go?" Huang Zixia said casually, "Hire a car and go back to Prince Kui's mansion." "I'll take you along the way." He motioned her to get in the car. Huang Zixia asked amusedly: "Where is the right way? Kui Wang's Mansion is much farther than your home." "Because I'm not going home now!" He said, gesturing her to get on the carriage, the coachman started skillfully without waiting for his order, and the carriage headed north to Xingqing Palace. There is a curfew in Chang'an City, the night is thick, and the moon rises and people are quiet at the beginning of the night. Outside the walls of the Xingqing Palace, on top of the rocks in the river, several beggars were still sitting or lying on the fire, their skinny bones. The carriage stopped, Zhou Ziqin jumped out of the car, put the few packages of food in his hand on the stone slab by the river, untied a package of roast chicken, and then returned to the car. The coachman drove to King Kui's mansion as instructed. Huang Zixia raised the curtain of the car and looked behind. The few beggars who were attracted by the aroma sat around the stone table and chewed excitedly, all of them excited and joyful. The corner of Huang Zixia's lips could not help showing a smile, and said, "I can't see that you would do such things besides studying corpses." "Hey, it's just a matter of raising your hands." He waved his hands indifferently. Lanterns are hung on the walls of the neighborhood courtyards in Chang'an City at night, illuminating the quiet streets.The carriage passed through the long street, occasionally a line or two of lights shone faintly through the curtains inside the carriage.Under the flickering light, Zhou Ziqin's heartless smile appeared gentle and innocent, with a kind of youthful and ignorant clarity. This smile made Huang Zixia involuntarily feel a touch of sadness in his heart. In front of her eyes, the shadow of another person appeared.There was always such a gentle and pure smile on that person's face. He always smiled and said, it's just a matter of little effort. Since I was a child, I have encountered too many cruel methods and sinister intentions, but now my heart can still retain some softness. Is it related to meeting that person?
It was nearly two o'clock when we returned to King Kui's Mansion.Huang Zixia boiled water and took a shower, washed the clothes and hung them out, and it was already after the third watch when she went to sleep peacefully. The other eunuchs shared two or three rooms, but fortunately she had Li Shubai say that one room was shared, so she didn't need to worry about anything, so she slept very peacefully.Unexpectedly, just after dawn, someone knocked on the door vigorously: "Yang Chonggu! Get up!" Huang Zixia's mind was blank, and she forced herself to sit up halfway: "Who is it? What's the matter?" "My lord has an order, ordering you to hurry to the gate of Daming Palace." She stroked her forehead and lamented, suffering beyond words: "The prince should be at the court meeting, right?" "The emperor is not feeling well today, and the morning court was cancelled, so the prince told you to go over and wait immediately. Hey, what are you doing, a little eunuch, in charge of the prince? Why don't you just run away?" "Yes Yes Yes……"
Washed hastily, hurried to Daming Palace, the sun had already risen high. Li Shubai was talking to a Huihe man at the gate of the palace, and the two of them were talking happily in Huihe dialect that no one could understand. Huang Zixia stood beside her, the Huihe man looked at her and murmured something, Li Shubai actually smiled, and then he seemed to say goodbye to him, saying goodbye to the man, and motioned Huang Zixia to follow him into the carriage. Sitting in the car, Huang Zixia watched him close his eyes and rest, with a faint smile on his lips, and couldn't help but ask, "What did you just say?" Li Shubai opened his eyes and looked at her, and said, "You don't want to know." Huang Zixia felt that this sentence, coupled with his half-smile expression, simply meant "beg me quickly, ask me quickly", and in order to satisfy the prince, she could only ask again: "What did you say?" "He said, this little eunuch is not bad, he is full of vigor and vigor, and he has not lost his true qualities of a man." "Sure enough, I shouldn't have asked..." Huang Zixia turned her head to look outside speechlessly, "Where are we going?" "Didn't it mean that there is no clue in this case? I picked out a thread for you." Huang Zixia's eyes lit up: "E Palace?" Li Shubai nodded slightly, and said, "It's probably inconvenient for you to be alone, so I'll take you there." "Well, I heard that Prince E took in Chen Nianniang. I think all the clues can only fall on the dead Feng Yiniang first. Maybe there will be no clues from Chen Nianniang." When she said this, she remembered something again, and hurriedly told the story of Jinnu from the beginning, and asked: "Is it necessary for the Dali Temple to interrogate Jinnu?" Li Shubai nodded and said, "The sooner the better." Before the words were finished, the carriage that had been traveling at a constant speed suddenly paused and stopped. A guard outside tapped on the wall of the car: "My lord, Princess Qi Le stopped the car, it seems..." Li Shubai frowned slightly, lifted the curtain to look outside, and saw Princess Qile's carriage was parked in front, and now she had jumped off the carriage and walked towards him quickly. Huang Zixia followed Li Shubai out of the carriage with the mentality of watching a good show. The Princess Qi Le, who habitually raised her chin to look at people, burst into tears when she saw Li Shubai, and saluted him: "I have seen His Royal Highness King Kui..." Li Shubai returned the salute to her, saying: "Why does the princess need to be so polite?" "His Royal Highness Kui, I heard that... the rumors about Concubine Kui in the capital have been rampant recently, and they all come from me. I hope that the prince has not been troubled too much, otherwise, I really can't feel at ease..." Princess Qi Le looked like a pair of almonds. Her big eyes were sparkling, and she looked at Li Shubai for a moment, and her plump cheeks had also lost a lot of weight. It was obvious that after Li Shubai became a concubine, she had not been comfortable. Li Shubai only looked at her gently, and his voice was calm and unwavering: "The Princess has nothing to worry about. If Wang Ruo disappears in the palace, although this matter is strange, it does not necessarily mean that there is no chance of finding her. Then the Princess will definitely be able to find her." Wash away the grievances of today." "But...but I heard that this matter is..." She swallowed the words "ghost haunting" forcefully, looked up at Li Shubai in front of her sadly and pitifully, and said in a low voice, "I heard people in the capital say, The strangeness of this matter is unpredictable, Wang Ruo may, may not be alive anymore." Huang Zixia quietly looked at this woman who was trying her best to put on a pitiful expression, but couldn't hide her sense of luck, and thought to herself, after all, she is a proud girl of heaven, she will never know how to be considerate of others, how to judge the situation, and her heart is so magnanimous. People can see through the internal organs at a glance. Is this the hateful thing about her, or the cute thing? Li Shubai didn't seem to realize it, he just spoke warmly, the expression on his face was like the distant mountains and near water rendered by ink and wash, he only felt peaceful and gentle in the mist. He comforted Princess Qile, but Princess Qile took advantage of the topic, and there were more tears of grievance in his eyes, and he watched the tears roll down. Huang Zixia saw that Li Shubai's expression was a little helpless, but he finally raised his hand to wipe away her tears. Huang Zixia dutifully reminded behind him: "My lord, Jing Yu has already gone to the Prince E's Mansion to report, I am afraid that the Prince E is already waiting, look..." Li Shubai nodded slightly when he heard the words, and said to Princess Qile: "I will go ahead, Princess, please rest assured, I will handle everything myself." Princess Qile stood on the street and watched him get into the carriage. It was not until his carriage had gone for a long time that he returned to the carriage under the persuasion of the maids. Huang Zixia looked at the two carriages running in opposite directions from the gap in the curtain, and couldn't help looking at Li Shubai. Li Shubai asked lightly: "Do you think I shouldn't give her too much hope, and should be more ruthless to make her give up?" Huang Zixia didn't speak, but the expression on his face was very obvious. "In the past, when the first emperor passed away, only she held my hand to comfort me." He leaned on the brocade mat behind his back, with a calm expression, just like ink and wash just now, "She is a nice woman, Just not very smart." "So you have delayed a good woman, and now she is notorious in Beijing." He glanced at her and was silent all the way.In the glass bottle hanging on the wall of the car, the clear water swayed slightly with the bumps of the carriage, but the little red fish inside seemed to have gotten used to this situation, lying quietly at the bottom of the bottle, calm and calm. After a long time, she heard Li Shubai's voice and asked, "Do you know that she is born with a deficiency and won't live to be twenty years old?" Huang Zixia looked at him in astonishment, but he only looked at the little red fish, and said: "Although King Yi was a distant ancestor of the royal family, Emperor Wenzong had no sons, and he was called back to the court to become the king in preparation for his enthronement. If not In court battles, King Yi should already be the lord of the world. Therefore, as the former heir to the throne, this line should be cut off. Now that King Yi is dead, Qi Le's brothers are all dead, and she is left alone — Otherwise, why do you think she dared to shake my hand when my father passed away?" Huang Zixia was speechless, thinking of this bad-natured girl who became a joke in Beijing, thinking of her apple-blossom-like cheeks and apricot-like eyes.After a long time, she asked softly, "Does Princess Qi Le know?" "I think she should know that her situation is not good, but she doesn't know it will be so soon," Li Shubai slowly closed her eyes, and said, "Let her fantasize arrogantly and capriciously for a few more days, even if she wants to bother me in the future, she will not No chance."