Chapter 297 Send You On Your Way

After five full days of investigation into the assassination of Xiao Jingheng on the ship, there was still no clue.

The nanny who was responsible for dressing Qu Yanran that night was tortured in the cell, but she insisted that Qu Yanran was clean when she left her place and it was absolutely impossible for her to have hidden a dagger.

In the end, he was tortured to death, but he never changed his confession.

As for the one who selected Qu Yanran, it was the county magistrate of Tonglu County in Lin'an.

On the night of the incident, the county magistrate's house was flooded.

All thirteen members of the family were burned to death, and there was no evidence to investigate.

Because of this matter, Xiao Jingheng's thunderous power did not diminish.

He dismissed the governor of Lin'an and asked the admiral to take over the case, ordering him to capture Qu Yanran at all costs.

After more than ten days had passed since the incident, Xiao Jingheng finally calmed down from his shock.

That day, Concubine Yao went to his room early in the morning to serve him with writing materials.

She stopped eating mutton, and the acne on her face showed signs of improvement in the past two days, and it didn't look so scary anymore.

Moreover, because she had made great contributions in protecting the emperor, Xiao Jingheng's attitude towards her also became much softer.

But she still couldn't compare to having a beauty like Song Zhao by her side, who could make people happy.

Just as Xiao Jingheng was thinking about Song Zhao, Jiang Deshun came to report.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Yi has made some cakes and sent them over. They are waiting in the warm room now."

Xiao Jingheng immediately put down his writing and said with a smile, "I'm a little hungry too, let Concubine Yi come in quickly."

When Song Zhao came, Xiao Jingheng exempted her from the formalities of greeting and sent Concubine Yao to the hall, asking her to make room for Song Zhao.

Although Concubine Yao was unhappy, she appeared to be extremely respectful and even saluted Song Zhaofu.

"I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Concubine Yi."

Song Zhao smiled, "Sister, why are you so polite to me? It's been hot these past two days, and I made some mung bean cakes to cool you down. Would you like to try some, sister?"

Concubine Yao declined Song Zhao's kindness and could only stand in the hall, watching Xiao Jingheng and Song Zhao being affectionate.

Xiao Jingheng used two mung bean cakes and praised Song Zhao's improved craftsmanship. He also mentioned the divination of the donor that day.

"Zhao'er, do you still remember the 'magician' in Suzhou?"

"Your Majesty is talking about Tan Yuezhi?"

"That's right. He said that day that I would encounter bloody disasters during my southern tour, but with the help of a noble person, I can turn danger into safety."

Xiao Jingheng took out the dragon-patterned jade pendant he was wearing and said, "If you hadn't given me this jade that day, the thief's knife would have pierced my heart. I'm really scared just thinking about it."

Song Zhao did not take credit for it, but only said: "How can it be my credit? Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, blessed by all the gods and Buddhas, how could those villains harm your body?"

As they were talking, Xiao Yinzi came in to report,

"Your Majesty, the Director of the Imperial Observatory wishes to see you for something."

The Imperial Astronomical Observatory's divination based on astronomical phenomena is somewhat similar to Tan Yuezhi's Xiantian Bagua.

Xiao Jingheng didn't believe these things at first, but ever since the assassination incident, he couldn't help but feel a little shaken.

"Send him in to answer the call."

After the Supervisor entered, he first greeted the masters, and then said:

"Your Majesty, I observed the stars at night and used the tortoise shell to tell divination. I calculated that Your Majesty was able to turn misfortune into fortune this time. It was really because of the help of a noble person."

This statement coincides with what the donor said in the past, but saying it now seems a bit hindsight.

Xiao Jingheng said lightly: "You go ahead and talk."

The Supervisor said: "The Emperor's five elements are water, and the day he was assassinated was a day of great yang fire, so the Emperor fell into danger. But there was a nobleman whose five elements were wood, who stopped the Yin fire and protected the Emperor from the disaster."

Xiao Jingheng asked, "The five elements belong to wood? Is there anyone in the harem whose five elements belong to wood? But Concubine Yi?"

The supervisor calculated carefully and said:

"The birth date of Concubine Yi is not in the Wood element. As for the concubines whose birth date is in the Wood element, except for Concubine Gui, whose birth date is unknown by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, the remaining concubines are only Concubine Yun and Ru Changzai whose birth dates are in the Wood element."

"Are Concubine Yun and Ruchang here?" Xiao Jingheng asked in confusion, "They are both in the palace now. How can they be the 'noble ladies' who saved me from disaster?"

"This..." The Supervisor was a little embarrassed, and after stroking his beard for a while, he said, "If the name contains the character 'wood', it's fine. But the names of the concubines are not known to outsiders, and I can't figure out who is the emperor's noble lady."

When Song Zhao heard this, he immediately looked at Concubine Yao with eager eyes.

"My sister's maiden name is Chunying. The character ying (ying) is composed of the character for wood, so doesn't that mean it has the character for wood?"

Yaopin looked bewildered, but the supervisor said quickly: "If that's the case, then it's correct. It was indeed Lady Yaopin who saved the emperor that day."

Xiao Jingheng was fully convinced that the noble person who could help him turn danger into safety must be Song Zhaocai.

When he heard that it was Concubine Yao, he was somewhat disappointed, but he did not show it on his face. Instead, he smiled and said to Concubine Yao:

"It turns out that this auspicious person is Concubine Yao."

Yaopin was still confused and said, "This... At that time, I only thought about not letting the thieves hurt the emperor in the slightest, and I didn't think about other things so much..."

Song Zhao smiled and said, "Sister Yaopin has done a great job in protecting the emperor. Even though the situation was so dangerous that day, Sister Yaopin rushed over without a second thought. She really was thinking about the emperor."

Xiao Jingheng said, "Yaopin has been serving me for a long time and has always been well behaved. Now that she has made great contributions, she will be promoted to the position of concubine."

Concubine Yao was so overjoyed that she stood there with her eyes wide open, and even forgot to thank the emperor.

Song Zhao smiled and breathed in her ear, "Congratulations, Sister Yao Fei."

After she reminded her, Concubine Yao finally came to her senses and kowtowed to Xiao Jingheng to express her gratitude.

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace!"

Song Zhao snuggled in Xiao Jingheng's arms and said softly, "Sister Yao Fei is truly the emperor's lucky star."

Jamel Xiao patted his thin shoulders lightly and laughed loudly,

"So does Zhao'er."

At the same time, the news of Xiao Jingheng's assassination had also spread back to the palace.

Although the Queen and Xiao Jingheng had many disagreements, they still had a long-standing relationship as husband and wife.

She sent Shuang Ruo out to find out what was going on.

But Shuangruo didn't come back for the whole day.

At night, the huge Kunning Palace was unusually quiet. When the time came, there was not even a palace servant to help with washing.

The Queen felt something strange, so she called out to the door:

"Where are the people? Where did they go?"

'Squeak'

The door of the main hall was pushed open, but the person who came in was Concubine Hui.

She came in the moonlight, with a faint smile on her lips.

That smile was indescribably strange and made people feel uneasy.

"Huipin? Why are you here?"

Huipin smiled without saying a word. She turned around and closed the palace door. Then, in front of the Queen, she abruptly took off her outer gauze dress.

The queen didn't understand at first, but after Huipin took off her outer clothes, she saw that she was wearing a white linen dress with black gauze on her sleeves...

The queen was shocked and angry, and shouted:

"Huipin! Are you crazy? The emperor is in good health. Who are you cursing by wearing mourning clothes like this?!"

Huipin's bright and innocent eyes stared straight at the queen.

The sinister smile at the corner of his lips became more and more creepy.

When she reached the center of the hall, she suddenly stopped, raised her eyebrows slightly at the queen, and then laughed a few times as clear as silver bells.

The laughter sounded even more bizarre in the silent night, making people's hair stand on end.

"Hehe~ Your Majesty, I am here to see you off~"