After the case of Prince Rong was solved, and the news circulated for a few days, few people inside or outside the palace mentioned it again.

Su Tiyue is also deliberately avoiding anything related to Xiao Heye.

As for the condition proposed by Xiao Heye, Su Tiyue was naturally unwilling to agree, but she couldn't think of a way to refuse, so she kept putting it off and didn't give a reply.

Until that day, a letter from home arrived from outside the palace.

The letter mentioned that her father had been taken away by the Ministry of Justice.

Although it was just a matter of taking her away for questioning, Su Tiyue still felt a vague unease in her heart.

Why would the Ministry of Justice arrest someone for no reason? Her father was an upright man all his life, how could he have suffered such a calamity?

Everyone in Yong'an City knows that Su Tiyue's father is Su Sui, the Minister of Revenue, a man of integrity and unwavering loyalty.

Su Tiyue was of noble birth. Her father was a high-ranking official in the court, and her mother, Yang Xianzhi, was a descendant of the Yang family of Suzhou. Her maternal grandmother was from the same family as the current Empress Dowager. Although she was not favored in the harem, her reputation as a daughter of a noble family and the Empress Dowager's favor allowed her to live comfortably in the Jinxiu Palace.

She has two older brothers. Her eldest brother, Su Lin, is a renowned general who guards the frontier, but he is stationed far away and can only be seen a few times a year.

What about the second brother, Su Lang? He's not young anymore, but he's still unmarried and childless. He's neither good at literature nor martial arts; he's intelligent but doesn't use his intelligence for good. He's a true playboy, indulging in all sorts of vices, from eating and drinking to gambling and whoring.

Now that her father is in trouble, the Su family has lost its pillar. In order to get her father out of the Ministry of Justice prison as soon as possible, Su Tiyue went to Cining Palace in the morning, intending to ask the Empress Dowager for help. Unfortunately, the Empress Dowager had caught a cold due to the snow in the past few days and was bedridden. Therefore, Su Tiyue did not get to see her.

Su Tiyue even went so far as to shamelessly visit the Hall of Longevity, hoping to plead with the Emperor on her behalf. Unfortunately, she didn't even get to see the Emperor; she was stopped at the door by a eunuch.

Why is she out of favor? The people working in the palace are all snobbish. If you are favored, everyone will fawn over you. On the contrary, someone like Su Tiyue probably won't even get to see the emperor.

Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. The emperor has three thousand concubines in his harem. If every one of them had a family emergency and came to him crying and wailing, he would have a headache dealing with all these trivial matters. Where would the emperor find the time to indulge in pleasure?

After being turned down twice by Cining Palace and Changsheng Palace, Su Tiyue finally lost heart.

Unexpectedly, on the way back, he ran into Xiao Heye by the Taiye Pond.

The two bumped into each other head-on. Su Tiyue had no chance to dodge and had no choice but to bite the bullet and quicken her pace.

"Your Majesty, please wait. This servant has something to say."

Xiao Heye called out to her, glancing slightly at Liu Wan beside her.

Su Tiyue understood his meaning, so she let Liu Wan return to Jinxiu Palace first.

"I wonder what Master Xiao wants to say?" Su Tiyue looked at him, her tone gentle.

Su Tiyue was beautiful, with a lovely face and a supple waist. Even though she was completely wrapped in this white fox fur coat, it was not difficult to see that she had an outstanding figure.

With lightly drawn eyebrows and a touch of powder, her bright eyes and white teeth are even more striking, making her as charming as a celestial fairy.

Xiao Heye strode up to her, bent down, and offered his arm: "This servant would like to ask, how are Your Highness's injuries?"

Su Tiyue hesitated for a moment, then gently placed her hand on his arm.

Speaking of this, Su Tiyue has to mention that the medicine Xiao Heye gave her was truly miraculous; in just a few days, her injuries had almost completely healed.

Logically speaking, given the severity of Su Tiyue's back injury, the ointments from Jinxiu Palace would certainly not be effective. Moreover, because of the Rong Prince case, it was impossible for Su Tiyue to obtain medicine for her injury from the Imperial Hospital.

"Thanks to Master Xiao's ointment, my injuries have basically healed."

“Wounds heal easily, but scars are difficult to remove. Your Highness is of noble birth; it would be undesirable for you to have scars on your body.”

As he spoke, Xiao Heye took out a delicate pink and white box from his pocket and gave it to her: "This is a scar-reducing cream. After Your Majesty's wound heals, apply it every night. Although it will take a while to show results, Your Majesty should be able to see results if you persevere."

"This, I didn't expect that Master Xiao would even have this?" Su Tiyue smiled and accepted it: "Then thank you very much, Master Xiao."

Xiao Heye just smiled and didn't say anything.

He helped Su Tiyue up the stone bridge.

Taiye Pond divides the entire palace into two parts. The northern part, which mainly houses palaces and residences, was the emperor's main activity area and was known as the Northern Garden.

The southern part was densely wooded and sparsely populated with palaces, making it relatively quiet; this was known as the Southern Garden. Of course, most of the residents here were eunuchs, all of whom were Xiao Heye's men.

"I heard that Her Majesty just went to Cining Palace?"

Sure enough, nothing escaped the notice of his spies.

Su Tiyue nodded, her voice low: "The Empress Dowager has been unwell these past few days. I was thinking of going to see her, but unfortunately I didn't get to see her."

"The Empress Dowager is getting on in years and her health is not as robust as before. Consort Shu is very kind."

Xiao Heye was the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and he had a firm grasp on all matters concerning the inner palace and the court. Not to mention the Empress Dowager's illness, he also knew about Su Sui being taken away by the Ministry of Justice.

He was also aware of Su Tiyue's thoughts, but since Su Tiyue didn't mention them, he didn't expose them either.

After crossing the small stone bridge and taking a few steps, Su Tiyue suddenly stopped. For some reason... through the bare, snow-covered tree trunks, she immediately saw the incense hall.

Perhaps it was because Xiao Heye was right beside her that seeing the incense hall always reminded her of what happened that night.

Blood was everywhere, and there was the gruesome sight of Prince Rong before his death.

Su Tiyue was shivering; despite the cold weather, her palms were sweating profusely.

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