Died in fire

After completely passing through the wall, Yuanli finally saw clearly that the table where Xiao Yan'an knelt held Su Jiahe's tablet. The table was filled with a dazzling array of fruits and pastries, with everything you could imagine. The Dushan jade incense burner in front of the tablet held more incense and candles than the one in her Broom Star God Temple.

I guess what the head steward meant by him entering the main hall on time every night was to recite Buddhist scriptures for her.

This main hall is indeed more magnificent than other places. The decoration of the entire inner hall looks elegant, but in fact every item is priceless and hard-earned.

The footstool in front of the bed was a whole piece of carved Hetian jade, and the craftsmanship of the curtains was even better than the one in her room. The bed was covered with an ivory mat①, with a dragon-patterned pillow, and the quilt cover was embroidered with floral scenes in gold thread. From a distance, the entire pattern looked like a map of Western Xinjiang②.

There was a pile of memorials on the table in the study in the main hall. Yuanli immediately went forward to look through them, trying to find the secret letter to Grand Tutor Luan Ming or other useful information.

After searching for a while without any results, Yuanli heard hurried footsteps coming from the hall and hurried over to check.

The eunuch who served Xiao Yan'an knelt behind him and said, "Your Majesty, there's been a fire at the residence of Qi Heng, the Minister of Justice. Due to the dry weather, half the house has been burned down, resulting in numerous casualties. The Minister of Justice remains unconscious, and Miss Chi Li has passed away."

"Well, Qi Heng's father is indeed more reliable than him. Is this the only trivial thing you are so anxious to talk about?"

"No, no, no, the Juyue Taoist priest sent back the news."

"Get out."

After taking the note, Xiao Yan'an unfolded it and saw that it said: The method of resurrection has been found, and I will return to the capital to see the emperor within three days.

"Jia He, I've found a way to revive you. Wait a little longer, wait a little longer for me. I've found so many so-called beautiful bodies, but I don't think they're half as good as you. Luckily, I've found a body that looks about 80% like you. When you come back, you'll definitely like it."

After muttering to himself in front of Su Jiahe's tablet, Xiao Yan'an seemed to remember something. The smile on his face gradually froze and disappeared. He muttered to himself, "Then he can't stay..."

Yuanli didn't know who he was talking about, and wanted to continue to monitor for some other useful information, but Xiao Yan'an didn't say a word, closed his eyes and continued to recite Buddhist scriptures, so Yuanli had no choice but to go back to the room and sleep.

The next morning, Xiaobai rushed back and brought back the news.

Last night, he had just arrived at Qi's house and had just climbed up Qi Heng's wall when he heard the sound of something breaking inside. When he entered the house, he saw Qi Heng lying on the table, unconscious.

Not long after, several maids and servants hurried into the room. The maids squatted on the ground and carefully cleaned up the traces of tea leaves in the tea bowl. The servants also carefully lifted Qi Heng and helped him sit down in front of the desk. They also picked up a book and opened it and put it in his hand, making it seem like Qi Heng fell asleep while reading.

During the whole process, the servants were only concerned about not hurting Qi Heng, but they didn't pay any attention to the noise they made. Qi Heng didn't seem to wake up when he was being moved around. He must have been drugged, but no one wanted to kill him.

After doing all this, the maid who led the group dismissed everyone and quickly headed towards the backyard.

After Xiaobai followed, he found that Qi Heng's father and a group of servants had been waiting there for a long time. After the maid reported what had just happened, he rushed to the side yard closest to Qi Heng's yard and lit the first fire himself.

Next, thick smoke would rise from every few meters throughout the backyard, until the fire, fanned by the night wind, spread and burned towards the front yard.

When the fire spread too big and became difficult to control, the servants in Qi's mansion shouted desperately that there was a fire. A group of people hurriedly carried wooden buckets and basins to put out the water, which was obviously a show.

When the fire was being put out, the fire had not yet reached Qi Heng's room, but Qi Heng's father saw it, opened Qi Heng's door in front of the servants, and threw a fire in himself.

The servants pretended not to see anything until flames came out from the gap in the door. The old man who had been following Qi Heng's father reminded them tremblingly that if they didn't order people to go in and rescue people, Qi Heng might really get into an accident. Only then did he nod and order people to rescue people.

The moment Qi Heng was carried out, Qi Heng's father immediately changed into a fatherly and concerned look and shouted for a doctor.

Because the fire was so big, the people from Qi Mansion rode their horses to the best clinic in the imperial capital that night, knocked on the door, woke up the doctor, and brought him back to Qi Mansion to treat Qi Heng.

It was a farce directed and performed by themselves, and many merchants and wealthy people along the streets of the Imperial Capital were woken up by the noise. Word spread from person to person, and as a result, within the early morning, almost everyone in the Imperial Capital knew about it.

However, just last night, shortly after the fire in Qi Mansion was extinguished, three servants in Taifu Luan Mansion delivered three letters one after another.

This morning in the court, Qi Heng's father Qi Zheng knelt down and took off his official hat to apologize to Xiao Yan'an, saying that Chi Li was a guest at his house, but died in the fire last night. He failed to protect Chi Li and let down the emperor's grant of marriage. He, Qi Zheng, could not escape the blame, so he was willing to resign from his official position.

Some civil servants suggested that the fire in Qi Mansion was too strange and burned almost half of the house. Although it was the hottest summer season, there were so many people serving in Qi Mansion, but the fire was not put out in time, which made people question the truth of the matter.

Everyone knew that the minister's doubts were valid, but when he said this, no one agreed.

Until the Imperial Censor spoke up, "Your Majesty, I also think this fire is too strange, as if... someone is looking for revenge or murder. The Dali Temple's Chief Justice is swift in handling cases, often solving many major cases, so it's normal for him to offend people. This fire happened to burn the courtyard of Dali Temple Chief Justice Qi Heng. If it hadn't been for timely treatment, I'm sure more than just Miss Chi Li and the servants would have been killed. Your Majesty had just granted the marriage, and this fire broke out, which makes people suspect that the culprit behind this was targeting the Qi family. The Qi family has been loyal to Western Xinjiang for generations. If I resign because of this, I'm afraid it will hurt the hearts of loyal ministers. I implore Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate this matter and give me justice."

The passionate and tearful words of the censor, who knelt on the ground and pleaded, changed the atmosphere in the court. Everyone agreed to thoroughly investigate the real culprit of the arson case, and the Qi family became the victim of the storm.

After listening, Yuanli asked, "Where is Chi Xun?"

"Chi Xun is still in Qi Heng's mansion. Your, no, the fake Chi Li's body has been burned black, and its original appearance can no longer be seen. Xiao Yan'an sent the eunuch with the Imperial Guards to comfort Chi Xun for the loss of his sister. In fact, they persuaded Chi Xun to take the fake Chi Li's body and coffin back to Jiwang Valley for burial, saying that the dead are the most important and should be buried in peace. But Chi Xun refused to accept this and found a chair to sit at the gate of Qi Mansion and demand an explanation. The people were watching, so these officials naturally couldn't do anything about him. They had to negotiate with the Imperial Guards to escort the fake Chi Li's body and coffin back to Jiwang Valley for burial, and let Chi Xun continue to live in Qi Heng's mansion until he was given the truth. By now, the Imperial Guards' escort team should have set off."

"So, what about Qi Heng? What did he say?"

"Qi Heng is still in a coma. This was all a show Qi Zheng put on for the entire Imperial Capital to see. Naturally, he wouldn't really harm his precious son, so don't worry. Although the doctor claimed that Qi Heng inhaled too much smoke or something, he's actually fine. It's probably just that the effect of the medicine his father gave him hasn't worn off yet."

Hearing that Qi Heng was fine, Yuan Li finally felt relieved. "Use the identity of the young knight you used to deal with Chi Huai's matter and go to Qi Heng's mansion to find Chi Xun. Tell him about my situation in the palace and tell him to keep it a secret. The news that I'm still alive cannot be told to anyone, including my father and mother. Next, tell him to find an opportunity to make the Qi Mansion pay compensation. The compensation is the betrothal gift that Qi Heng gave. Tell him that the marriage between the two families is over. No matter what happens in the future, no one should get entangled. Remember?"

"Remember, I'll go right away."

"Wait, after you finish this, follow Xiao Yan'an and keep an eye on his communication with a Taoist priest named Ju Yue. He will return to the capital to see Xiao Yan'an within three days. Report back to me promptly about all the correspondence between them, as well as their interactions."

"clear."

Not long after Xiaobai left, the eunuch beside Xiao Yan'an arrived with the imperial edict.

"By the providence of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: Luan Jia, daughter of the Luan clan, is virtuous and intelligent, worthy of the title of Imperial Noble Consort. She possesses a gentle and virtuous disposition, and is prudent and prudent. She performs her duties with utmost respect and prudence, is careful and respectful to her superiors, and governs her subjects with kindness and peace. She maintains a virtuous and refined manner of conduct in the imperial court, making her a model for the other six palaces, and truly capable of assisting in internal affairs. She is hereby appointed as the First Rank Imperial Noble Consort, the head of the six palaces, and is granted the Golden Seal and Book of Rites. This is my decree."

Yuanli didn't care about the strange name Xiao Yan'an Qiang'an gave her or the content of the imperial edict. All she could think about was how to escape. She was distracted for a moment and didn't notice that the eunuch had already read the imperial edict.

Beside her, the steward bowed his head and softly reminded her, "Miss, quickly accept the order."

"I, your humble servant Luan Jia, accept your decree and bow to thank you for your grace. Long live the emperor."

"This old servant congratulates the Imperial Noble Consort. You will have many blessings in the future. His Majesty has instructed me to tell the Empress that I will come to her place tonight to have dinner with her."

Yuanli casually grabbed a handful of the gold melon seeds Xiao Yan'an had given her from her purse and stuffed them into the eunuch's hand. "Well, please tell His Majesty that he's so busy with all sorts of affairs that he doesn't need to come and dine with me. Someone, send the eunuch away."

"Thank you, Her Majesty, for your gift. I dare to say that Your Majesty cares about you. This favor is unique in the palace. I am afraid that saying so would hurt Your Majesty's feelings."

Seeing the eunuch who was taking advantage of the situation and acting like a good boy, Yuanli was too lazy to deal with him anymore and said coldly, "I want to give you this favor. Come on, send the eunuch away."

After saying that, Yuanli casually took the imperial edict in her hand and walked into the hall.

But even though she asked the eunuch to pass on such a disappointing message, Xiao Yan'an still came to dinner and accompanied her for dinner just like he did yesterday.

Before she could say anything harsh to drive Xiao Yan'an away, he took the initiative to say, "You don't have to rack your brains to think of ways to drive me away. I won't let you sleep with me before the enthronement ceremony. However, if you want to sleep with me beforehand, that's fine."