066

The eunuch turned against them so quickly that no one was prepared.

The arrogant smile on Xu Luo's face froze.

Zhan Lin's men grabbed him.

"Tell me everything you know!"

The eunuch tremblingly picked out some of the pearls that Xu Luo had ordered to be purchased from the Zhaiyue Tower. He soaked them in poison liquid for three days and three nights, allowing the poison to adhere to the surface.

This poison is protected by the powder on the surface of the pearl and will not easily harm human life, but if it comes into contact with the skin for a long time, it will penetrate into the skin.

That young lady died of poisoning in this way.

Zhan Lin looked at Xu Luo with a sharp gaze, "Fifth Prince, do you still want to make excuses?"

Xu Luo regained his composure, crossed his arms, and sneered, "Am I such a fool?"

It's a shame that person could come up with such an obvious plan.

Zhan Lin grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist, "What does the Fifth Prince mean?"

Xu Luochong raised his chin towards the butler.

The housekeeper understood and soon brought someone over.

Judging from his clothes, he seems to be a businessman.

"This is..."

Xu Luo's body swayed, his feet felt a little uncomfortable after standing for a long time, "The person you are looking for bribed people in my palace to frame me, and I found out, so I am waiting for you to come and hand him over."

When the merchant saw them, he trembled with fear and crawled on his knees to grab the tail of Zhan Lin's sword.

"Sir, I was blinded by greed and made a terrible mistake. Please spare my life!"

"Spare her life?" Zhan Lin kicked him in the heart. "Then did the young lady you killed deserve to die? She was about to become a wife and start a new life. You killed a life for your own selfish interests. It's not too much to kill you!"

"I know I was wrong. Sir, please spare my life! Sir, please spare my life!"

"Take him away!"

Xu Luo looked at them leisurely.

"Now that Minister Zhan has caught the culprit, can he leave this palace?"

It's a blatant chase.

Zhan Lin closed his eyes and waved his hand to let everyone retreat. "I am sorry for disturbing His Highness the Fifth Prince today. I will come to apologize someday."

Xu Luo stared at them coldly as they retreated. "No need for that. I don't want to be forced into my room a second time. Show up!"

A large group of people retreated in a hurry, and the messy footprints disrupted the tranquility on the snow.

Song Jin left with the crowd, paying no attention to Xu Luo's reaction.

I was caught off guard and looked into his smiling eyes.

There was malice in his eyes, as if he were a criminal who had successfully escaped and was looking at them triumphantly.

Song Jin retracted his gaze and followed Zhan Lin out of the Fifth Prince's Mansion.

"Minister Zhan believes what the Fifth Prince said?"

Zhan Lin shook his head: "We couldn't find anything after investigating this matter to the end. The evidence we were able to find was left behind intentionally by these princes."

In the end, it was just a secret competition among several princes.

They are just like a tool to convey information.

Tell the other party that my plan was successful.

Song Jin was silent, and it was just as she had guessed.

"Okay, County Lord, please stop here. Manager Qin will be released in a few days. I'm leaving now."

Song Jin bowed, stared at his figure for a moment, and then turned around and went back to the Marquis' Mansion.

Song Jin reviewed the entire incident in his mind.

On the day when the incident happened at the Moon Picking Tower, she rushed there, and then met the Fifth Prince, and had some vague conversations with him. Afterwards, Cui Huaiji ordered someone to bring the Ninth Prince over, and she was led to the Pearl Farm, where she discovered the secrets of the Pearl Farm. She was intercepted by Yang Chaoxue halfway, giving her the opportunity to assassinate Shi An and the other two. Afterwards, after getting the evidence, she and Zhan Lin went to see the Fifth Prince together, and all kinds of reversals happened...

No!

How did Yang Chaoxue know that she was going to meet Shi An?

It was obvious that Xu Luo's reaction at the time was that he did not expect to be bitten back. Even the businessman who was finally pulled out as a scapegoat was his second choice.

Song Jin felt like he had overlooked something.

"You ignored the Seventh Prince."

Cui Huaiji's cold voice penetrated into his ears.

Song Jin came back to his senses and suddenly realized, "Yes! I overlooked the Seventh Prince. I'm afraid he must have been behind this!"

Yang Chaoxue was devoted to Xu Nanheng's work, and must have received news from him before she was stopped, giving the killer time to assassinate Shi An.

The person who took the initiative to identify Xu Luo must be Xu Nanheng's man.

Cui Huaiji caressed Yu Nu nonchalantly, "Miemei, a conspirator should look at the overall situation. You only see the present and ignore the hidden factors in the situation. The incident in Zhaiyue Tower is related to the secret struggle of the princes. You shouldn't have picked them all out."

Thinking carefully, it seems that everyone who appeared was a member of the royal family.

The appearance of the Ninth Prince was Cui Huaiji's hint to her.

Song Jin was upset: "How could I forget this!"

"Okay," Cui Huaiji put down the jade slave and let it jump onto Song Jin, "This matter ends here. You should rest well these days and try to have less contact with the royal family."

Song Jin does not speak.

It's not her decision to have less contact.

"My Lord, my lady, the Third Princess is here."

Butler Zhao stood under the eaves and reminded softly.

"The third princess said she wanted to see the Lord of Junning County."

*

Xu Muqi was teasing Heiyao in the yard.

She often came to the Marquis's Mansion and Hei Yao was familiar with her and would not resist her touch.

This was probably the only comforting thing for her after coming to the Marquis' Mansion so many times.

At least the prince was not liked by Hei Yao, and all the fox slaves resisted him. Whenever Cui Huaiji wanted to discuss important matters, he had to go to the East Palace.

"The third princess."

Xu Muxi stood up and pounded her legs which were numb from squatting. "Song Jin, what were you talking about with my uncle? This princess has been waiting for you for a long time."

"I'm sorry for keeping the Third Princess waiting for so long. It's Song Jin's fault..."

"Forget it, forget it!" Xu Muqing ran over and held her arm. "I came here today on the orders of my mother. Please follow me into the palace!"

Song Jin was surprised: "The Queen wants to see me?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Without waiting for her to ask, Xu Muqing pushed the person into the carriage.

Song Jin sat up straight, "Does the Third Princess really not know why the Empress wants to see me?"

Xu Muqing said nothing, his eyes fell directly on the piece of warm jade on her waist.

Among the few memories, I found those related to Nuan Yu.

She immediately winked at Song Jin in an ambiguous way, "Come to think of it, you have also lived in my uncle's house for several months. Do you really have no feelings for him at all?"

Song Jin was confused by her unrelated questions.

"The third princess..."

"You probably don't know that in the first few years after my uncle was conferred the title of Marquis, the matchmaker who proposed to him almost broke down the threshold of the Marquis's mansion. If it weren't for the Queen Mother's intervention, I don't know when this matter would have ended."

Xu Muqing shook her head and recalled the past. "This princess can see that your uncle treats you differently. Song Jin, what do you think?"

Song Jin was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you think the Third Princess and I are a good match?"

Xu Muqing's eyes widened: "They are a match made in heaven!"

She had specially sent people to Qingzhou to investigate. Song Jin's reputation was well-known far and wide. Not only was she beautiful, she was also proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and her business was also praised by everyone.

Song Jin didn't expect her to be so decisive.

Almost subconsciously, she avoided answering the question again.

Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of the question, Xu Muqing was not disappointed. After all, it wasn't the first time that he was unable to get any answers.

After a while, the carriage slowly stopped.

Xu Muqing was the first to get off the carriage.

After showing the token, he walked in front with his chest held high and his feet puffed out with dignity.

After entering Chaowu Palace, Xu Muqing's princess temperament instantly disappeared, and she jumped into Cui Yuhuai's arms again.

Cui Yuying was used to her coquettish behavior. "You are getting more and more beautiful. It's time to find a prince consort to take care of you."

Xu Muqing quickly hugged her arms and shook them, "Mother, can you bear to leave me~"

Cui Yuyao couldn't bear to watch it, so she laughed and scolded her a few times and sent her out.

The maids serving in the palace retreated tactfully.

"Master Junning, please sit down. I have something to ask you."

Song Jin bowed and sat in the armchair on the side.

"I heard that you have been living in Fu Ji's house. Why don't you think of buying a house in Sheng'an to live in?"

The first question was so sharp and straightforward.

Song Jin was stunned and hesitated about what he said.

"You two may fool others with your little tricks, but you can't fool me. Since you both have feelings for each other, just say it out loud. If you keep it in your heart, you will regret it one day."

Song Jin wanted to make an excuse, "My lady, I didn't..."

Cui Yuying knew that the young lady was shy, so she said in accordance with her wishes: "Yes, Fu Ji is interested in you. This boy is always like this. He is very stubborn. Once he opens his mouth, the flowers will be cold."

Song Jin pursed his lips and simply stopped talking.

As she listened to Cui Yuhuai chattering about the past, she learned that the emperor and empress, who appeared to be so loving in public, also had a secret dispute.

The emperor and Cui Yuhuai were fifteen years apart in age. When they first joined the Eastern Palace to save the Cui family, they were unfamiliar with each other and spent a year together in awkward circumstances. The emperor and Cui Huaiji were very similar, both of them stubborn. At that time, Cui Yuhuai could not figure out the emperor's thoughts and was afraid of angering him and implicating Cui Huaiji, whose whereabouts were unknown.

It was precisely because the emperor was so stubborn that the misunderstanding between the two became deeper and deeper.

Cui Yuying thought that he despised her young age and married her because he owed a favor to Cui's father. However, she didn't know that the emperor had voluntarily married her as the Crown Princess from the beginning.

The emperor took her young age into consideration and feared that his love would scare her, so he always reminded himself to keep a distance from her.

Cui Yuying was worried about her brother and saddened by the emperor's unclear attitude. She once thought of taking a concubine for him.

"It's not my fault. Your Majesty always likes to hide things, so I can't guess what he's thinking. That day was the most difficult time for the relationship between me and Your Majesty. Fortunately, Your Majesty finally knew what was going on and came to explain to me, otherwise he wouldn't have a queen now."

Cui Yuying was at a loss whether to laugh or cry as she recalled the past.

In fact, she didn't say that she even wanted to divorce the emperor at that time, and it was the emperor who tried his best to win her heart back.

"Let's get back to the point," Cui Yuyao looked up at her, "If you two really like each other, you should have said it this morning."

"The New Year is coming to an end, and it's time for you to set off back to Qingzhou. Make plans early."

Song Jin lowered his eyes and responded.

The answer appeared vaguely in my heart.

Cui Yuyao smiled and shook her head, and talked to her about many interesting things in Cui Huaiji's childhood, and only let her go when she felt tired.

Xu Muqing was waiting outside the hall, and when he saw her come out, he came up to greet her.

"Isn't your mother giving you any trouble?"

Song Jin shook his head and left Chaowu Palace with her.

She had another purpose for entering the palace this time.

"You want to see Eighth Sister?"

Xu Muqing was surprised and was about to say something when the Fifth Princess came over on a sedan chair.

Song Jin nodded in greeting.

Xu Zhaoran's dark eyes swept over her, and then he smiled and said to Xu Muqing: "Third sister, I have something else to do, so I won't stop to talk to you."

"Nothing."

Xu Muqing nodded coldly.

After she walked away, he murmured softly.

"This direction...why does it seem to be heading to Eighth Sister's Palace?"