Gu Jiangli sighed silently.

The people who want to kill her now are either concubines in the harem who can't stand her pregnancy and are vying for the emperor's favor, or Prince An from the previous dynasty.

Aside from these two possibilities, Gu Jiangli couldn't think of anyone else who would be so eager to kill her.

Of the two possibilities, she leaned more towards Prince An.

The concubines in the harem rarely left their quarters. The only two who harbored deep resentment towards her, Consort Rou and Consort Rong, had just been punished. Even if they wanted to kill her, they wouldn't dare to do so openly. At most, they would resort to some underhanded methods.

But what Prince An said was uncertain.

Gu Jiangli suddenly asked Qi Jin, "Qi Jin, look, are they eunuchs?"

Qi Jin was taken aback, then understood and immediately began to check.

After a short while, he said, "Your Majesty, they are indeed all eunuchs... They are people from the palace, how dare they!"

If it were outsiders, it would be fine, but if they were all palace eunuchs, things would become much more complicated.

This proves that there are already quite a few people in this palace who are the enemy's subordinates.

Gu Jiangli's fists clenched tighter; the enemy was more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.

It will take a lot of effort again.

"Qi Jin, you handle these corpses." Then she turned around and faced Du Shuo.

The garment beside Du Shuo had fallen to the ground along with its hanger, and upon closer inspection, it appeared that even more gold threads had broken off.

She asked, "Du Shuo, are you alright?"

Du Shuo followed her gaze to the clothes, and trembled with fear, almost bursting into tears: "Your Majesty, please forgive me, this servant was impulsive and failed to protect His Majesty's clothes..."

"It's alright, you can still take the clothes back to Yongning Palace. Be careful, it's best not to touch that dress."

Gu Jiangli's tone was very calm, showing no sign of blame.

Du Shuo and the others breathed a sigh of relief and hoisted the clothes back onto their backs. "Your Majesty, rest assured, even if we lose our lives this time, there will be no more mishaps!"

Gu Jiangli gave him a reassuring look.

Whether the garment is torn or not is actually not that important anymore.

Anyway, there's something wrong with this outfit, so the emperor would never wear it again.

More importantly, she needed to find out how Prince An harmed people, as well as the evidence.

Gu Jiangli then instructed them, "Alright, you can go back now."

Qi Jin frowned. "Your Majesty, aren't you going back?"

Gu Jiangli looked into the distance, her gaze firm and unwavering. "I'm going to Jing'an Palace. I must see His Majesty today."

After saying that, she led Lotus in another direction.

From a corner, a figure observing in the shadows said to the other side, "It's confirmed, Consort Yun only has one bodyguard."

————

When Gu Jiangli arrived at Jing'an Palace, she found that the emperor was not there; he had not returned.

She subconsciously thought of Ma Guang's words. Could it be that he really met with the court officials in Changxin Hall?

Did Ma Guang plan to take action against her because he knew the emperor had other important matters to attend to and could not return soon?

Without further thought, Gu Jiangli immediately set off towards Changxin Palace.

Regardless, she insisted on seeing the emperor before she could feel at ease.

Prince An had long harbored ill intentions, and she had reason to suspect that the emperor's drastic change in temperament was related to Prince An.

The reason he's so eager to take action against himself is simply because he's pregnant, and he's worried that the child in his womb will threaten his future ascension to the throne.

However, the only thing Gu Jiangli couldn't understand was that if he really wanted to harm himself, why would he choose such an extreme method?

He has many people in the palace; if he wanted to make a move on her, he could have found a much safer way.

His impulsive killing now only exposes his ambition.

Was he really that confident that the emperor and she wouldn't suspect him?

The emperor has been acting mad for several years. If this matter is indeed related to Prince An, it proves that Prince An has harbored ill intentions towards the emperor for many years.

With such a patient and restrained nature, would someone really be unable to resist doing something so impulsive?

Gu Jiangli's mind was in turmoil; she had a vague feeling that Prince An was not as simple as he seemed.

Before long, she was already standing outside Changxin Palace.

The gates of Changxin Hall were tightly closed, and only Eunuch Ming was standing outside.

He was an old hand who served the emperor, and his presence outside meant that the emperor must be inside.

Ming Gonggong was slightly hunched over, his head bowed, gripping his arm tightly, looking somewhat nervous and worried.

But his expression clearly indicated that something had happened.

Despite her pregnancy, Gu Jiangli rushed forward, "Eunuch Ming, is His Majesty inside? Has something happened?"

When Eunuch Ming saw her, he was so startled he almost jumped up: "Your Highness, what are you doing here?"

"Never mind that, where is His Majesty? Is he inside? I need to see him."

Gu Jiangli lifted her foot to walk forward, but Eunuch Ming stopped her in front of her.

"Your Majesty is inside, but he is meeting with his ministers and has ordered that no one is allowed to enter. You can talk to him later. Why don't you go back to Jing'an Palace and wait for a while?"

Gu Jiangli frowned. Today, she had heard from a second person that the emperor was meeting with his ministers.

It wasn't that she didn't want to believe it, but rather that Eunuch Ming's expression clearly indicated he was lying.

"Alright, Eunuch Ming, you say His Majesty is meeting with ministers, then tell me, who is he meeting with?"

"His Majesty... is seeing Lord Ning Song. It is really inconvenient for you to go in. You should go back first."

"Ning Song?"

This person's name had also appeared in Gu Jiangli's memory.

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