Chapter 52

Although Xue Jin'an felt that the intelligent voice assistant had been skewed a bit by big data, to the point that even his anti-fraud center software was starting to get restless, the emperor himself obviously didn't think there was a problem.

He felt that Teacher X's analysis was very accurate; he was indeed an ESFP with an overly strong sense of boundaries, a habit of pleasing others, and a Capricorn rising sign! And he was very assertive.

The emperor gave all the test questions he had done a five-star rating and rewarded him with jewelry. Later, he regarded Teacher Xiao X's tarot card divination as the ultimate standard, and rewarded him with the luminous pearl along with Li Hechun's purse.

—Yes, that's right. Xue Jin'an had previously stated that he would not accept pawns and would only accept circulating currency. However, the intelligent voice assistant, Teacher Xiao X, exploited a loophole in his settings and said that tips were an exception. As a result, these things appeared on Xue Jin'an's bed with a jingling sound.

Xue Jin'an remained silent. He didn't understand, but he knew that humanity was diverse, and therefore he respected it.

Xue Jin'an got out of bed and had just finished dressing when Lingzhi, who had been waiting at the door for a while, knocked on the door. Shouquan and Lingzhi entered with all the toiletries. Shouquan stayed to help his master wash up, while Lingzhi went inside to make the bed.

When Lingzhi saw the bed full of jewels, she paused. She was knowledgeable and had a sharp eye, and she immediately recognized several familiar items.

For example, the gold-carved flowers were from Yongchun Palace. Consort Min loved flowers, and the palace was filled with them. The gold and silver used to reward people were also usually carved into flower patterns.

The small gold-inlaid jade pendant was from the Fushou Palace. Consort Shu was refined and loved writing poetry and painting. Compared to the vulgar pure gold and silver, she preferred gold-inlaid jade, and the pendants were all made very small and exquisite.

That luminous pearl came from the East Sea. It was small but extremely valuable, and it was undoubtedly a gift from the emperor.

...The only thing that seemed out of place was the fifty copper coins, which the maids had probably accidentally dropped while serving them.

In short, this set of items truly gathered all the masters of the palace. Rather than saying it was plundered from the six palaces, it seemed more like it was robbed from Li Hechun—after all, among all the people in the palace, only Li Hechun, who served the emperor, could have collected such a collection of rewards.

It must be said that Lingzhi was quite knowledgeable; she quickly realized the truth. These things did indeed belong to Li Hechun, but unfortunately, she didn't guess that they came from the emperor.

Lingzhi wondered what the Seventh Prince had done to Li Hechun. Now that she thought about it, it was no wonder that the Seventh Prince had such a fearsome reputation in the palace and was known as the most untouchable prince in the palace. That's why Li Hechun remained silent even when he was robbed.

Lingzhi's expression turned strange for a moment. Although she was indeed very curious about the Seventh Prince's methods, considering that she was still a newcomer and did not yet understand his temperament, and that they had not yet established trust, she ultimately did not ask.

After Xue Jin'an finished tidying up, he first went to the main hall of Zhaoyang Palace to offer three sticks of incense to Zhou Yuting's memorial tablet before returning to the courtyard to prepare for his routine morning exercise. As a result, he saw Xia Zi, who had a bruised and swollen face, walking heavily and struggling to fill the water vat with water. He was sweating profusely and his face was flushed, looking like an ordinary person without martial arts skills.

And floating in that large water vat was a twin lotus bud, about to bloom.

"They were delivered from the greenhouse this morning." When Shou Quan saw Xue Jin'an looking in that direction, he thought he was looking at the twin lotus flowers, so he quickly explained and sighed, "I didn't expect that even though it's almost winter, I can still see lotus flowers. It's just a pity that there's no greenhouse, so I'm afraid these flowers will wither before they can bloom."

When Lingzhi came out after tidying up the house, she heard this and said with a smile, "I do have a method. There is a hot spring in Weiyang Palace. The water in the pool is fresh water drawn from the hot spring palace. It emits heat all year round. If you use that hot spring water to nourish yourself, you will definitely be able to live for three to five more days."

Shouquan was overjoyed at the words, but then hesitated. He looked at her face and said, "Sister Lingzhi's idea is good, but it is really troublesome to go and get it every day. Besides, Weiyang Palace is sealed off. What if someone sees us by accident?"

Lingzhi knew exactly what he was up to and said, "It took a lot of effort to bring that spring water down from Tangshan, and it was barely enough for one pool. How easy would it be to bring it to Zhaoyang Palace?"

"When the irrigation ditches are dug and the water is channeled, it won't be a secret anymore." Lingzhi didn't explicitly state the consequences, but simply smiled and pointed at him with her finger, saying meaningfully, "How long do you intend to stay in Zhaoyang Palace?"

Shouquan wasn't embarrassed at all when his thoughts were exposed; he just grinned sheepishly.

Upon seeing the twin lotus blossoms, Xue Jin'an immediately thought of the young eunuch from the Imperial Stables. Shortly after delivering the flowers, news of his death arrived. Xue Jin'an hadn't taken the matter to heart, but unexpectedly, the flowers had actually appeared today.

Xue Jin'an examined the flowers closely. Lotus flowers bloom in summer and love sunshine. Now that the weather has turned cold, they look a bit wilted and not very pretty.

Xue Jin'an nodded slightly in affirmation, "They look very alike."

His half-dead appearance was exactly the same as the little eunuch's face.

Shouquan and Lingzhi exchanged a bewildered glance.

After emptying the last bucket of water, Xia Zi finally filled the water vat. He immediately threw the bucket down, put his hands on his hips, and panted heavily. He looked up at the people who had been standing there for who knows how long, and said in a resentful tone, "Have you all stared enough?"

"Huh, it's you!" Shouquan looked at him for a while before recognizing him, and exclaimed in surprise, "What happened to your face? Did Xuan Shiyi hit you?"

"It was this woman who hit me!" Xiaxia pointed at the sky and started complaining.

Following his pointing finger, everyone looked at the tree above his head, which had lost most of its leaves, and then they discovered that there was a person sitting on the branch. It was Fuling, one of the two henchmen left behind by Granny Su.

It's quite peculiar, actually. Poria cocos didn't deliberately try to hide her figure. She just sat there quietly, yet she achieved the effect of a dead leaf butterfly, successfully blending into the tree and making people subconsciously ignore her.

Even Lingzhi was startled, never expecting that she was sitting right there.

Although Lingzhi and Fuling were left behind together and had been trained and instructed by Lu Bingzhu before, they were not actually very familiar with each other. The only thing they knew about each other was that she was good at hidden weapons and had received a few parts of Lu Bingzhu's true teachings. She was not in the same direction as Lingzhi, who was good at internal energy cultivation.

The two are still in the adjustment period and have not interfered much in each other's actions.

Only Xue Jin'an remained calm about Fu Ling's appearance. His high-definition camera had already located her, and the camera's facial recognition successfully framed her face in the first instant.

Xue Jin'an simply ignored her, as she wasn't the one he wanted to see.

After Fuling was discovered, she prepared to climb down the tree to pay her respects, but Xue Jin'an waved her hand and refused. Without thinking, she simply sat back down.

It's fortunate that Xue Jin'an himself is only half-baked when it comes to etiquette and doesn't care much about rules and formalities, so he naturally wouldn't get angry or unhappy over such a trivial matter.

Shouquan had been by Xue Jin'an's side for quite some time and had long since gotten used to Xue Jin'an's personality, so he didn't think it was a big deal.

Lingzhi, who was worried about Fuling's recklessness, seemed puzzled and observed everyone without making a sound.

Then Shouquan immediately and without hesitation placed all the blame on Xiaxiazi: "There must be a reason why she hit you, it must be your fault."

Although Shouquan and Lingzhi Fuling had only spent a little over a day together and hadn't established any emotional foundation, Shouquan's feelings for Xiazi, this ill-intentioned spy, were already negative.

Xiaxiazi's act of complaining was truly self-humiliating.

However, Shouquan's words were not wrong; Xiaxiazi did not deserve the beating.

He was knocked unconscious by Xuan Shiyi yesterday. When he woke up, he found himself in an unfamiliar place, and the ropes binding him had been untied. He listened carefully, looked around and observed carefully, but did not sense that anyone was watching him.

Xia Zi was overjoyed. Of course, he had considered that this might be a trap, but now that things had come to this, he couldn't care less about anything else.

He was locked up in this place, starving and cold, and most importantly, he sensed that Xuan Shiyi, who was guarding him, was not right.

At first, Xia Zi only felt that Xuan Shiyi did not seem like a eunuch. He never wore a sachet and never had a foul smell. However, she did not have any suspicions and thought that he was in cahoots with the bodyguard who replaced the Seventh Prince.

Xia Zi discovered the clues on the night his stand-in hadn't returned for a long time. After being hungry for a long time, he finally got to eat a meal, but he didn't expect that the food would make him dizzy. Although he didn't remember anything after waking up, he still intuitively realized that the food had been drugged.

He began to consciously observe this person. Something big must have happened in the palace. The substitute had not returned for several days, and the two eunuchs, Fulu and Shouquan, were somewhat anxious. Xuan Shiyi was inevitably affected by this environment. He unconsciously tensed up and unconsciously revealed some of the habits of a spy from the Imperial Clothing Department when he walked, sat, or lay down.

For example, he always tiptoed and moved silently along the wall; for example, one arm would always hang unconsciously at his side with his hand tucked into his sleeve, as if he were about to pull out a hidden weapon to kill someone at any moment... and so on. There were many other details that made Xiaxia realize that he was a spy from the Fengyi Bureau.

Xia Zi pretended to be delirious and listless after drinking the medicine. She was also listless while eating, and let Xuan Shiyi knock her unconscious while she was thinking about how to escape.

He didn't expect the opportunity to come so quickly.

As the saying goes, opportunity knocks but once, and having finally escaped, Xia Xiazi immediately prepared to run away.

He even hesitated for a moment about whether to go find that body double, since even if he ran away now, he would have to hide and couldn't leave the palace. He might be caught at any time. If he really wanted to escape, he would have to ask that mastermind behind the scenes for help.

Having endured so much hardship, yet ultimately unable to even contact a single person, Xiazi was ultimately unwilling to accept it, and was also caught up in the sunk costs.

However, unlike before, Xia Zi ultimately gave up. That double bodyguard was simply too strange; he figured he should escape first and then think of another way to make contact. —That's what he thought.

Xiazi had a very good plan, but he didn't expect that not only had the place changed, but the people had changed too. As soon as he climbed onto the wall, he was slapped down and then pinned to the ground and beaten. After that, his pressure points were sealed, and he couldn't use any internal energy.

And so it turned out like this.

Xia Zi naturally wouldn't recount these events in their entirety. Instead, he tried to make false accusations: "Your Highness, I told her I was your person, but she pretended not to hear and continued to attack me mercilessly. She clearly looks down on you! It doesn't matter if I get injured, but your dignity cannot be violated!"

Xue Jin'an listened patiently to him finish speaking, then suddenly asked, "Are you surrendering to me now?"

Xia Zi immediately nodded and bowed, "After these days, this servant has figured it out. From now on, this servant is Your Highness's dog. If Your Highness tells this servant to go east, this servant will never go west. If Your Highness tells this servant to bark like a dog, this servant will never bark like a cat."

Xue Jin'an tilted his head, looking at him with some incomprehension. First there was the emperor who was happily deceived by AI, and then there was Xia Zi who wanted to be a dog. He felt that the humans he had met today were a bit too diverse.

It doesn't matter, there are such people in novels. Xue Jin'an doesn't understand them, but he respects them.

So he said, "You have to leash your dog when you walk it. Let's put a leash around his neck."

Xiaoxiazi: "???"

Xiaoxiazi: "!!!"

Oh no, it's about being a dog, not a dog! Your Highness, please listen to me!

The Seventh Prince didn't want to hear what he had to say. Although he respected human desires, it didn't mean he wanted to see them.

Xue Jin'an turned around and prepared to find a place where he couldn't see Xia Xiazi while exercising.

To be honest, Xue Jin'an originally thought that Xuan Shiyi would disappear with Xia Zi, just like the spy who was sent by Li Hechun with him.

However, Xuan Shiyi stayed behind and brought Xia Xiazi with him, which shows that the emperor intended for Xuan Shiyi to remain in hiding for a long time.

Just as Xue Jin'an was thinking this, he heard Lingzhi whisper, "Your Highness, you must be careful of Xuan Shiyi."

“Xuan Shiyi wasn’t in his room yesterday, which is why Xiaxia escaped,” Lingzhi explained.

Xue Jin'an was not surprised that Lingzhi realized that Xiazi was a prisoner who needed to be guarded. After all, the excuse of being excited and fainting was too hasty and sounded suspicious.

Xuan Shiyi's identity was exposed far too quickly. Xue Jin'an even felt that Lingzhi had noticed something was wrong with Xuan Shiyi long ago and had paid extra attention to make sure there were no mistakes before reporting to him.

Xue Jin'an nodded. "Understood."

Xue Jin'an opened the fitness app, but his morning workout was destined to be a bust.

Suddenly, Fu Lu burst out from nowhere, beaming with joy. His face and clothes were covered in dust. Before he even arrived, his voice pierced through the air, "Your Highness, a bonfire has been set up in front of Xuanwu Gate. They're preparing to grind Consort Zhen's bones to ashes!"

Lingzhi looked surprised, but she was not surprised by the news itself, but by the source of Fulu's information.

Although the Empress Dowager had given him special favors, Xue Jin'an's life under house arrest was far more comfortable than when he was in Qifeng Courtyard. But house arrest was still house arrest, and it was a fact that he could not leave Zhaoyang Palace.

In fact, not only him, but also Fu Lu Shou Quan Xuan Shiyi from Qi Feng Yuan could not leave. Only Ling Zhi and Fu Ling, who were nominally still under the Empress Dowager's control, could come and go freely. Therefore, the two of them were the ones handling matters that needed to be handled externally.

Fortunately, both of them were skilled in martial arts, so doing these odd jobs wasn't too tiring.

That's why Lingzhi was surprised by the source of Fulu's message.

Fu Lu has no martial arts skills, so it's impossible for him to slip away under the noses of the Imperial Guards. Therefore, someone must have delivered the message directly, and such a fast, first-hand message at that.

This Fu Lu does have some skills. Lingzhi finally started to take the people from Qifengyuan seriously.

Fu Lu was so excited that he didn't notice Ling Zhi's subtle scrutiny. He was overjoyed and felt extremely pleased.

He didn't listen to the rumors circulating outside; he only believed his master. Since his master had killed Consort Zhen, then Consort Zhen certainly deserved to die; she was guilty and deserved it.

Fu Lu only regretted that he could not attend the ceremony in person, "otherwise, when I offered incense and burned paper money for the Empress, I could have explained the matter to her properly and made her happy."

Fu Lu's eyes reddened as he spoke, and he couldn't help but wipe his eyes.

Xue Jin'an thought for a moment and asked him, "Do you really want to attend the ceremony?"

"Yes." Fu Lu nodded emphatically.

"Okay, close your eyes and take a nap now, then you'll be able to see it." Xue Jin'an turned on Bluetooth sharing, preparing to play the live video for him online.

The reason for letting him sleep is that when a person is sleeping or unconscious, their consciousness is most relaxed, and the situation where the signal is poor and Bluetooth is cut off due to excitement, like the last time the Fourth Prince did, will not happen again.

Fulu didn't know what he was going to do, but without any objection, he immediately closed his eyes, relaxed his mind, and lay down on the stone table to try to fall asleep.

In a hazy state of consciousness, the gray mist before my eyes dissipated, slowly revealing many small squares. Each square was moving, and inside each square was a replica of Xuanwu Gate, only the angle and perspective were slightly different...

The area in front of Xuanwu Gate was bustling with activity. All the imperial concubines had arrived, and behind Consort Min was a group of ladies dressed in imperial robes. The ladies were accompanied by their maids and servants... With so many people, there were bound to be many with impure intentions. Suddenly, a bunch of live-stream videos of Xuanwu Gate from different perspectives appeared on the homepage.

Xue Jin'an simply played the video simultaneously and then used the data to construct the most complete perspective, that is, a God's-eye view overlooking the entire scene, and transmitted it into Fu Lu's mind.

From this vantage point, one could even see whether Consort Zhen was burning completely. However, it takes a considerable amount of time for a corpse to be burned to ashes, so Xue Jin'an took this opportunity to observe the expressions of the others present.

Only Old Master Chu and Zhou Yushu came from the Chu family. Old Master Chu was dressed in a count's robe and was leaning on a cane, looking unsteady. His back was hunched, and he looked ten years older in just one night.

He was unsteady on his feet, and Zhou Yushu instinctively reached out to help him, but he refused. Old Master Chu kept his eyes fixed on the firelight, his heartache unbearable.

The concubines were still in a daze, their expressions unreadable, but the ladies of high rank looked pale and some couldn't hold back and rushed out to vomit. After vomiting, they were invited back to continue watching the ceremony.

The firelight illuminated half the sky. Without special treatment, the corpses naturally wouldn't produce relics when burned. The ladies no longer cared; they were all anxious to go home.

The matter was not over yet, but Consort Min still had to play the villain, and she took out the Empress Dowager's edict and read it aloud.

Consort Zhen was demoted to a criminal, stripped of her title, barred from entering the imperial mausoleum, and forbidden from having a stele erected or offering sacrifices. The fourth prince was then adopted by a deceased concubine, which can be seen as a direct denial of the mother-son relationship between Consort Zhen and the fourth prince.

Although the Empress Dowager favored Xue Jin'an, she did not neglect the other children.

The fourth prince's face suddenly turned deathly pale.

The Fifth Prince whispered sarcastically from the side, "What are you going to do, Fourth Brother? You can't even protect the bond between you and your mother now. You're useless."