Chapter 487 Burned

Three days later, the imperial guards escorting the imperial concubine back to Jiangzhou left the capital in great fanfare.

Many people gathered near the city gate, vying to catch a glimpse of the imperial concubine who was said to have an unparalleled beauty.

Near noon, the guards stopped on a plain about thirty miles away from the capital.

Qin Yuwei called Xiao Yuan, who was leading the team.

Xiao Yuan's two handsome sword-like eyebrows were tightly knitted together, and his whole body showed a bit of anxiety and worry.

Qin Yuwei, who was sitting in the carriage, lifted the gauze curtain and whispered a few words to him.

Xiao Yuan raised his head, looked at her solemnly and gratefully, clasped his fists and said:

"Thank you... Your Majesty."

After saying this, he turned his horse around and galloped towards Longyou.

The deputy commander of the imperial guards looked at Xiao Yuan's sudden departure, somewhat puzzled. He rode his horse to Qin Yuwei's carriage and asked carefully:

"Your Highness, Lord Xiao..."

Qin Yuwei's faint voice came from the carriage:

"I have some personal matters to ask Commander Xiao to handle. It is not your place to ask about other matters."

A slender hand stretched out from behind the curtain, and a white pearl fell into the deputy commander's palm.

“You follow Commander Xiao and you rarely have a chance to stand out.

Commander Xiao is not here these days, so my safety all the way back to Jiangzhou is left to you.

If you perform well, I will speak well of you in front of His Majesty when we return to the palace."

The deputy commander was overjoyed, "Thank you for your appreciation, Your Majesty. I will do my best to protect you!"

"Well, let's go."

…

On the official road from the capital to Longyou, a man was riding a horse at full speed.

It was Xiao Yuan who had changed into common people's clothes.

After he left the team under the cover of Qin Yuwei, he traveled day and night without stopping to rush to Longyou.

The people sent by the Li family should have arrived in Longyou. If they find any evidence that is unfavorable to themselves and Xin'er, everything will be over!

Xiao Yuan squeezed the horse's belly with his legs, and a determined murderous intent flashed in his handsome eyes.

For the sake of Xin'er and the child, he would not hesitate even if it meant sacrificing his own life and dying together with the people sent by the Li family!

After returning to Longyou, Xiao Yuan did not disturb anyone, but went straight to a musical instrument house.

The owner of the Qinshe is a blind man and has some friendship with Xiao Yuan.

Before Xiao Yuan left Longyou, he left a guqin here, asking him to keep it well and not let anyone else touch it.

What was sealed in the guqin were the letters and tokens of his past friendship and love with Dong Lanxin.

The owner of the zither house was a man who kept his promises and valued trust. When he heard that Xiao Yuan was coming to pick up the zither, he went to the attic in person, took out the dusty zither and handed it to him.

After thanking him, Xiao Yuan left the zither house, found a secluded and deserted place, and split the zither in half.

“Crash——”

The guqin broke into two pieces and the contents scattered out.

Xiao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, all the things were there and no one had discovered them.

All the evidence of his love for Dong Lanxin is here. He couldn't bear to give it up, so he hid it in the piano.

But the situation is critical now. For the safety of both mother and son, no hidden dangers can be left.

Xiao Yuan collected the letters and keepsakes, caressing and kissing them one by one.

Finally, he fetched the torch, along with the zither.

Burn it.

After doing this, he thought about it and felt that there should be no more loopholes, so he planned to leave Longyou quietly.

However, just as he was about to leave the city, he ran into someone head-on under the city wall. It was his younger brother Xiao Qian.

"Brother!" As soon as Xiao Qian saw him, he immediately broke into an extremely brilliant smile, showing his two fangs, and was about to pounce on him.

Xiao Yuan covered his mouth, pulled him aside, frowned and whispered:

"How old are you? Why are you still so unstable?"

Xiao Qian laughed and asked him why he came back.

Xiao Yuan just said that he came back to do some things, and told Xiao Qian not to tell anyone else that he had returned to Longyou.

Xiao Qian nodded, stretched out his finger and swore to the sky: "Don't worry, brother, I'm the most strict!"

Xiao Yuan knew his brother. Although he sometimes acted impulsively, he was definitely not a person who could not distinguish the important from the unimportant. So he felt relieved.

"Ah Qian, let me ask you something." Xiao Yuan looked at him seriously, "Have any strange people come to the Dong family recently to ask about...some old things before I came to Beijing?"

"Yes." Xiao Qian nodded.

"Just a few days ago, that person said he was sent by the Queen to visit his family, and he brought a lot of things with him.

The master and his wife naturally entertained him well, and during the time they talked about some things that happened when the queen was at home..."

"What did you say?" Xiao Yuan asked immediately with his heart in his throat.

"Master and Madam didn't say much, just some trivial family matters..." Xiao Qian said as he recalled.

Xiao Yuan just felt relieved, but was hit by Xiao Qian's next words, and his whole body froze.

"Oh, right, when that person left the capital, he also took someone with him. She was the maid who served the Empress personally but did not come to the capital as a dowry. I think her name was Tongyun."

"Brother, what's wrong?" Xiao Qian asked with concern when she saw that he looked very bad.

"How long have they been gone?" Xiao Yuan asked.

"I think he's been gone for seven or eight days... maybe we just passed each other on the way here."

Can't catch up.

Xiao Yuan's heart sank into an icy cave in an instant.

…

Ten days and months later, the rumors in the harem finally reached Yan Xiuyun's ears.

The emperor was furious and immediately issued an order to thoroughly investigate all the palace servants who had spread the rumors. On the grounds of fabricating royal scandals, they were all punished by having their tongues cut off and being enslaved.

The punishment seemed cruel, but everyone knew that it was a mercy from His Majesty to spare their lives despite such a crime.

The Imperial Concubine, who had originally said she wanted to go back to Jiangzhou for a short stay, only stayed in Jiangzhou for a few days for some unknown reason, and then returned to the palace on the grounds of feeling unwell.

Yan Xiuyun was reviewing memorials in Ziyun Hall in a distracted state, and the rumor could not be shaken off his mind.

At this time, Chief Steward Zhao tiptoed into the hall and reported:

"Your Majesty, Concubine Rong said there is a major incident to report. Please go with all the concubines in the harem."

Yan Xiuyun frowned, "What is she making a fuss about?"

Manager Zhao lowered his eyes and answered carefully:

"I don't know. Concubine Rong only said that this matter...is related to the Empress."