Chapter 57

The sky brightened.

The news of the eighth princess' disappearance suddenly spread.

The emperor was furious and ordered the Ministry of Justice to investigate the matter thoroughly.

The people watched with sighs.

At this moment, the eldest princess is being questioned by the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice.

Xu Li'er appeared in front of everyone with sleepy eyes.

Zhan Lin, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, briefly searched the princess's mansion.

"I have met the eldest princess. I heard from people in the palace that you met the eighth princess the day before yesterday?"

Xu Li'er nodded: "Yes, when I was offering incense, I saw from a distance that Eighth Sister went to the back mountain, but I don't know what happened after that."

She finally came to her senses and drank a sip of hot tea brought by the palace maid before she was completely sober.

"Why, Eighth Sister is missing?"

Zhan Lin's scrutinizing eyes never moved. "Last night, the palace maid said that the Eighth Princess had not returned to the palace for a long time, so she went to see His Majesty anxiously, and His Majesty ordered us to investigate."

Xu Li'er thought thoughtfully, "Then you have to look for Minister Zhan carefully. I still have things to attend to, so I can't stay for long."

Zhan Lin immediately bowed and left the princess's mansion.

The Eighth Princess had only been missing for one night, and His Majesty sent the Ministry of Justice to investigate. What a loving attitude he showed.

Xu Li'er had a mocking look on her face, and turned her head to order the palace maid to prepare the carriage and drive out of the city.

Before leaving the house, he unexpectedly saw Wang Anlin who was also leaving.

They looked at each other in silence.

Wang Anlin trembled with his lips, as if he was thinking about something, but Xu Li'er lowered her eyes, as if she didn't want to listen to him.

"...When will the princess come back tonight?"

Wang Anlin thought that if he and the princess wanted to live a good life, some misunderstandings must be clarified.

He had never planned to take a concubine, and he didn't know why she had the idea of ​​taking a concubine for him.

Unexpectedly, Xu Li'er got on the carriage without any hesitation.

Wang Anlin sighed and it seemed that he was still angry.

It's almost time for duty.

Wang Anlin shook his head, preparing to come back later to coax people.

At the same time, Qing Wu woke up from the smoke and found that his wife was missing. He immediately realized that it was the eldest princess's doing.

He turned around and ran towards the Marquis's Mansion.

*

In a ruined temple outside the city.

The shadows of the trees swayed and the cold wind blew on my face.

Song Jin shivered from the cold.

After the effects of the smoke dissipated, she opened her eyes in a daze and saw Xu Huaini tied to a pillar.

Her body was covered with whip marks, and her pink dress was stained with blood.

Song Jin sat up with difficulty and looked around.

The house was filled with stinging dust and spider webs were tangled in the beams. The golden Buddha statue beside him was already broken and much of the gold paint had fallen off.

The light was so dim that it felt like it was pitch black at night.

Song Jin didn't know much about Sheng'an's geography, and for a moment he couldn't determine where he was.

Now that he has come to his senses, he can't help but curse.

Counting on her fingers, how many troubles has she encountered since she came to Sheng'an?

It's either assassination or kidnapping. Does she look so easy to bully?

Can just one person tie her up?!

Song Jin was furious, especially since the one who tied him up was the eldest princess.

She didn't understand why Xu Li'er tied her up.

Why should she be involved in the grudge between her and Xu Huaini?

Song Jin simply has no energy to complain.

Or maybe her identity doesn't have any intimidation.

Rustle, rustle.

Someone is coming.

Song Jin immediately became alert.

It’s Xu Li’er!

Xu Lian'er was not surprised at all that she woke up, walked straight to Xu Huai Ni, and pinched her chin with her fingertips.

"Eighth sister, open your eyes when you wake up. You can't fool me."

Xu Huai Ni opened his eyes suddenly, gritted his teeth and glared at her: "Xu Lian'er! Father will never let you go!"

The emperor hates fratricide the most. Xu Li'er's current actions will definitely make the emperor disgusted.

Xu Li'er didn't care at all. "Don't you know how he treats me? When you hurt me in the past, did you ever think about this?"

"You are crazy!"

Xu Huaini had assassinated her before, but never thought of harming her. It was not because she was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to hurt her, but because she was concerned about the emperor.

She said bitterly, "I should have just left you in the snow to die!"

Xu Li'er remained silent.

That was when she was sixteen.

The blizzard covered their way and they got separated from the crowd. She was blind due to the heavy snow and could not see the road clearly. Xu Huai helped her out.

Xu Huaini was only eight years old at that time.

"You saved me, but you hurt me."

Xu Lian'er has always been clear about gratitude and resentment, and she remembers who is good to her. Because of this, she was shocked that the person who assassinated her in the past would be the little girl who rescued her from the snow.

"You are increasingly different from the Nian'er in my memory..."

Xu Huai tilted his head, tears glistening in his eyes.

She knew what Xu Liner was talking about.

Yes, she is very different from before, but it is not her fault. If she does not become bad, others will kill her. She just wants to survive.

Xu Li'er let go of her hand, "I don't want to talk about the past anymore. After tonight, you and I owe each other nothing."

“…”

Xu Huaini was tortured to a terrible extent by her.

Song Jin sat quietly aside, watching her walk towards him. His face showed no expression, but alarm bells were quietly ringing in his heart.

The expected torture did not happen.

Xu Lier untied her.

Under Song Jin's surprised eyes, she curled her lips and smiled softly: "Does the county lord think I will hurt you?"

She threw away the hemp rope, turned around and looked at the paint-peeling Buddha statue, with a moment's trance in her eyes.

As if she had calculated that Song Jin would not run away, she turned her back to Song Jin and quietly recounted her past.

"According to the time, they should be here soon..." Xu Li'er straightened the incense burner under the Buddha statue, "I think the county lord is also bored, so I will talk to him about the past."

She lit the incense candle and inserted it, ignoring Xu Huai's resentful eyes, and recalled the past.

*

This dilapidated temple was very popular a few years ago, and people from nearby would come here to burn incense, worship Buddha and pray for peace in the coming year.

Every year the emperor would take his descendants to the mountains to worship their ancestors.

Xu Lier walked at the end of the crowd, looked at the heartwarming scene of loving father and filial son, and turned her face away silently.

At that time, the Qing Dynasty was in the process of exterminating the remnants of King Suli.

The emperor was worried that they would be ambushed during this ancestor worship trip, so he specially dispatched heavy troops to surround them.

On the way back to the palace, he was surrounded and killed by the remnants of the bandits disguised as bandits.

The carriage was startled. The princes and princesses on board were still young. Xu Li'er was the oldest, so she naturally stood up to comfort them.

At that time, she still had good thoughts about her sister.

But I don’t know that human hearts are hard to predict.

Someone pushed me from behind.

She fell from the startled carriage, her body scraping over sharp rocks, dead branches, and finally coming to a stop when she hit a tree.

The panic gradually faded away.

When Xu Li'er opened her eyes again, there was a cold wind blowing in the forest and dark shadows looming.

She was frightened and frightened, and she walked all the way to the small temple.

There were three corpses lying inside, and all the offerings to the Buddha statue were knocked over, with the hot blood of the corpses still flowing on the ground.

The young Xu Li'er was so scared that she screamed and hid. She was afraid that her voice would attract the enemies around her, so she covered her mouth and sobbed silently.

She prayed in her heart that her father would come and save her quickly.

But what she waited for were the remnants of King Suli.

They recognized Xu Li'er's identity and extended their cruel claws to her.

When she was dying, she waited for the emperor's rescue.

After seeing her, the emperor only ordered the imperial physician to come and treat her, and said nothing else. He even never visited her again afterwards.

*

"It sounds incredible, right?" Xu Li'er said as she spoke of her experience, her heart surprisingly calm. "I also wondered why my father was so cold-blooded towards me, but then I figured it out. He hated me, so why would he care whether I lived or died?"

"I don't expect his fatherly love. Every day in the palace is torture."

Xu Lian'er turned to look at Xu Huai Ni, "Xu Huai Ni has admitted all the things I have encountered in the past. People always have to pay the price for what they do."

Song Jin was silent. What does this have to do with kidnapping her?

Xu Li'er seemed to guess what she was thinking, and chuckled, "You are wondering why I kidnapped you? My father doesn't care about me, and I can't even seek justice for myself. You have a close relationship with Qu Linghou, and kidnapping you will alarm him, and then I can complete my plan."

"Is it worth it to sacrifice yourself just to seek justice?"

Xu Li'er closed her eyes and said, "No one cares about me, just do as I please."

She deliberately left clues on the road, waiting for Cui Huaiji to bring people from the Ministry of Justice to track them down.

Calculating the time, it should be time.

Xu Li'er opened the shabby wooden door, and the cold wind rushed in, lifting the hair on her cheeks.

She smiled: "My Lord, I know you are here."

As the voice fell, he walked out from under the shadow of the tree.

The faint moonlight shone in the courtyard, and the sharp sword flashed by.

Xu Li'er ignored Zhan Lin and the others behind him, "I have heard of your great name, Lord Hou. I wonder if you can fulfill my wish tonight?"

Cui Huaiji looked around the temple and saw that she had no injuries, which made him feel relieved.

"What does the princess want to do?"

Xu Li'er looked up to enjoy the breeze and laughed, "I'm not doing anything. I just want you to help me get that person out of the palace."

She was aware of her position and knew that man would never leave the palace for her.

Cui Huaiji remained silent.

Zhan Lin had the emperor's mandate and couldn't help but stand up and ask about Xu Huai Ni's situation.

Xu Li'er's eyes flashed with an unknown light, "She is my eighth sister, how could I hurt her?"

Song Jin silently glanced at the man with disheveled hair.

When the eldest princess goes crazy, anyone dares to hurt her.

[Everyone in the royal family is really crazy. I was also affected for no reason this time. ]

[Looking at the state of the eldest princess at the moment, I hope the Marquis will not say anything to provoke her.]

[It would be best to find the Prince Consort, after all, the misunderstanding started with these three people.]

Cui Huaiji's eyebrows twitched slightly.

He and Song Jin agree on this point.

He has asked Shi An to bring Wang Anlin over.

Xu Li'er only has eyes for the man in the palace, and no matter what they say, she ignores everything else.

Wang Anlin has learned the whole story from Shi An.

She must have misunderstood.

He sighed silently and walked out of the crowd: "Princess, can I talk to you alone?"

The moment Xu Lier saw him coming out, she almost couldn't control her cold emotions.

After a moment, he turned and walked into the ruined temple, tacitly agreeing to his proposal.

"Princess, can you tell me why you did this today?"

Wang Anlin still looks gentle and kind.

As excited as Xu Lier was in the past, she is now as disgusted!

"What do you want to say?"

Wang Anlin tried to get close to her, but she dodged him.

He gave up helplessly: "Princess, did you mention taking a concubine because of the matter between me and the Eighth Princess? Did the princess forget that your birthday is in three days?"

"birthday……"

Xu Li'er was stunned, as if... it was her birthday.

On her birthdays in previous years, she always sat alone in the palace and didn't even get a bowl of longevity noodles.

Wang Anlin: "I have asked many people. Apart from the Third Princess, the Eighth Princess is the only one who is close to you. Our friendship is still shallow. I don't know the princess's preferences. I am afraid of annoying her, so I thought about asking the Eighth Princess. It was only later that I realized that the Eighth Princess was not as simple as the legend said..."