Chapter 62 Chapter 62 Don’t cry, be good
The spring rain was drizzling, and the water of the Imperial River in the palace was surging.
Inside the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the girl's tears fell in strings, creating transparent splashes of water on the white marble palace bricks.
Emperor Hengshun, seated at the head of the table, twisted the note, his thick brows furrowed as he read it over and over again. "Jiang's intention is that Zhaohua went to visit Minister Zhou's residence on the night of the ninth day of the first lunar month and never returned?"
Jiang Hexue choked up and nodded, "When my sister-in-law woke up, she saw the note Your Highness left. It said that if Eleventh didn't return early in the morning, she would come to the palace to beg you..."
"Your Majesty." When Emperor Hengshun was anxious, the guards in black suddenly appeared and saluted.
"how?"
"Everyone in the Zhou residence insists that the princess hasn't seen His Royal Highness Prince Heng'an since the wedding banquet," the guard reported. "But I've inquired at several shops near the Zhou residence, and most of them report seeing a young man in white entering Minister Zhou's residence on the night of the ninth day of the first lunar month."
"Also, I found this at the back door of Zhou's mansion." He held a black cloth bundle in both hands, which was opened by the eunuch beside Emperor Hengshun.
"Ouch! Isn't this..." The eunuch couldn't help but scream and turned his eyes away reluctantly.
Emperor Hengshun raised his hand and picked it up.
Jiang Hexue looked up quietly and his breath caught.
In his hand was a blood-stained arrow, but the dark red blood was only on the shaft of the arrow, not on the tip.
Is it... Shen Qingchen's blood?
"This is the arrow I gave Zhaohua when he came of age." Emperor Hengshun stroked the engravings on the shaft. "It matches Zhaohua's dragon-tongue bow."
Jiang Hexue hung her head and sobbed.
"Your Majesty, I found this on the road from Zhou Mansion to Duke Ling's Mansion." At this moment, another guard in black clothes came forward holding a blood-stained feather arrow.
In just a quarter of an hour, countless black-robed guards came and went, each holding a snow-stained arrow in their hands.
No more, no less, just one arrow "1".
Shen Qingchen usually only carries a quiver of arrows when he goes out.
Emperor Hengshun identified and counted them and became furious.
"Go to the Jinwu Guards and announce my order," he instructed the eunuch standing beside him. "Thoroughly investigate the residences of Duke Ling and Minister Zhou. Make sure Zhaohua is found!"
-
Jiang Hexue walked all the way to Yuehua Palace with tears in her eyes.
Xuemei closed the doors for her one by one, then brought her a basin of water. "I will help you wash your face. Onions are indeed irritating to the eyes."
Jiang Hexue nodded and wiped the corners of her eyes with the cold silk handkerchief. Finally, she felt the burning sensation in her eyes eased and she stopped crying.
But my heart felt like it was being weighed down by a huge rock.
"Do you think... His Highness might have really had an accident?" She clutched the quilt on the couch with her hands and spoke in a very soft voice.
Yuehua Palace was the bedroom where Shen Qingchen lived before she left the palace and set up her own residence. The brocade quilt was a plain moon white, with only silver thread locking the edge. Jiang Hexue nervously traced the silver thread, always feeling that his right eyelid was trembling and about to jump.
"Don't worry, Princess." It was Xue Lan who answered. "Your Highness is always cautious and skilled in divination. If you consult your divination before taking any action, you will surely escape unscathed."
Jiang Hexue nodded absentmindedly: "Did he say anything else? Can I just wait for news in the palace?"
She knew it without Xue Lan nodding.
Shen Qingchen will definitely make the plan foolproof, so she must not act rashly. If she becomes a burden to him, she will probably fail.
"Let me light some soothing incense for the princess." Xuemei saw her melancholy and offered comfort. "You've been so worried about Your Highness that you haven't even slept a wink. Go get some rest."
"Maybe when I wake up, His Highness will be back."
Jiang Hexue had no choice but to let her go and slowly buried himself in the quilt.
Shen Qingchen was not there, but her nose was filled with the crisp cedar scent of him. She sniffed her nose hard, and her mood gradually calmed down.
You should just take a rest. Even if you want to fake cry, you need to have the energy to do it.
-
But Jiang Hexue did not sleep well this time.
In the dream, two blood-stained feather arrows appeared repeatedly, and black and red blood dripped from the arrow tips, landing at her feet and spreading into a pool of blood.
And Shen Qingchen's face was as pale as paper, and the hand he held with her was so cold that it made her heart palpitate.
"Qiong Qiong, I'm sorry," he said weakly. "I made a mistake."
Then, his hand slowly dropped to the edge of the couch.
"Zhaohua!" Jiang Hexue suddenly woke up, sat up, and gasped for breath.
"Aunt, you're awake." The hand was held by another soft white hand, and the girl's sweet voice sounded.
"Rongchang?" Jiang Hexue stared at her, stunned for a moment before coming to his senses. "Why are you here? What time is it now?"
"It's getting dark." Chen Chuning let her go. "Rongchang heard that the emperor's uncle was missing, so he wanted to come and keep the emperor's aunt company first."
"Is there any news about him?" Jiang Hexue asked.
"Aye is outside, I'll go ask." Shen Chuning patted her soothingly. "Don't panic, aunt Huang, change your clothes first."
Only a quarter of an hour later, she brought Jiang Heye into the main hall.
"We've searched both the Duke Ling's residence and Minister Zhou's residence," Jiang Heye said, leaning against the edge of the table. "I heard they found a secret room in the Duke Ling's residence, filled with government silver, a Beixuan purple-toothed black stone, and other items. They've all been sent for appraisal."
"Minister Zhou's residence has two accounts from the Ministry of Revenue. The difference in the entries almost matches the official silver from the Duke Ling's residence."
"Right now, the Jinwu Guards are following the emperor's orders and confiscating the two mansions. The family members have all been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, awaiting conviction for corruption."
Jiang Hexue was stunned.
The downfall of the Zhou and Su families caught her off guard.
"So, where's Zhaohua?" she asked, slowly raising her eyelashes. "Did you find him?"
But Jiang Heye avoided her expectant gaze.
"I understand." After a while, Jiang Hexue whispered. "Any other news? The collar..."
Jiang Heye took out a string from his sleeve pocket and placed it in front of her.
The shape and material are very similar to her purple-toothed black collar.
"This necklace is a fake..." But Jiang Hexue took a closer look in the candlelight and then lowered his eyes in disappointment. "It's amethyst."
"But this is what I got back from the Shangbao Bureau." Jiang Heye scratched his head in confusion.
Jiang Hexue couldn't help but frown: "The necklace from the Shangbao Bureau should be the real one on Su Min'er's neck... Besides, it's just a necklace, why would they need to make a replica?"
The three of them stared at each other for a while, and Jiang Heye was the first to sigh: "The enemy is in the dark, and I am in the light, don't even think about it."
"I mean, this necklace does look familiar." Since it was a fake, he casually toyed with it in his hands. "The more I look at it, the more familiar it looks. It seems like I've seen it many years ago. Did you show it to me?"
Jiang Hexue nodded. The wife of the Marquis of Zhenbei had only given her this necklace for one day, and she had never shown it to many people, only Jiang Heye, Ruan Yueyi, and Fu Wang... It was Fu Wang!
Jiang Hexue's frown suddenly relaxed.
She couldn't imagine that anyone else would be able to take this purple-toothed black necklace away from Liangzhou.
But then, her eyebrows, which had relaxed a little, were slightly furrowed again.
She couldn't figure out why Fu Wang acted like this.
Now she doesn't know anything about this childhood sweetheart.
"Isn't this the corner mark pattern on your embroidered cloth?" Shen Chuning looked at the collar and said suddenly.
Jiang Heye looked at her head and said, "Little princess, you have good eyesight."
"What embroidery cloth?" Jiang Hexue came back to his senses from his tangled thoughts and asked.
"The headmaster gave it to me when I first arrived at Kurong Manor. He said it was related to my family background," Jiang Heye explained. "But he only gave me half a piece. Every time I completed a mission, he gave me another fragment. He said that if I could collect the whole piece, I could reunite with my family."
"When you ran into me at Renshu Temple earlier, it was because of the last two fragments," he continued. "The head of the manor told me that my family background could..."
He glanced at Shen Chuning, whose snowy cheeks were tinged with pink, and then looked away. He spread his hands meaninglessly, but the smile in his eyes dimmed: "My skills were inferior to others, so I failed."
Jiang Hexue's eyelashes trembled slightly: "Can I take a look?"
Jiang Heye now trusted her very much. Without hesitation, he untied his purse and handed her the embroidery cloth that was only missing a corner.
The stitches are fine, depicting vast and undulating mountains, flags fluttering in the wind, and the majestic appearance of soldiers on the watchtower, making it look like a magnificent frontier picture.
But there is obviously one missing on the left side.
"The little princess and I guessed that the poem on the far left was missing." Jiang Heye observed her expression, puzzled. "But if only the poem was missing, it wouldn't affect reuniting with family... I wonder what the head master is up to."
"It's not a poem." Jiang Hexue put down the embroidery cloth and closed her eyes wearily. "Don't risk your life for him again. I can tell you everything."
Jiang Heye raised his eyebrows in surprise: "How do you know?"
"The piece you're missing is with me," Jiang Hexue replied softly, but left the rest of the sentence unfinished. "In exchange, tell me what your last mission was."
"The princess's words are as good as gold." Jiang Heye asked back.
"I swear to my late mother," Jiang Hexue said solemnly. "But the embroidered cloth is in the palace. I'll give it to you when Your Highness returns."
"Track down on the owner of Qimengxuan," Jiang Heye said. "I've seen you and His Highness there before. The Huaixu we rescued then was also a killer from Kurongzhuang."
"Her skills are no less than mine, yet she was severely injured."
Jiang Hexue suddenly remembered what Shen Qingchen said to her that day.
"Qimengxuan's owner is someone else. There's no need to alert the enemy and bring trouble upon yourself. This has nothing to do with you."
She thought again of He Fu and He Xin who were redeemed there.
Shen Qingchen must know something.
Unfortunately, there was no news from him. She could do nothing but wait for him.
-
On the fourteenth night of the Chen month, the spring rain finally stopped.
This was the fourth day that Jiang Hexue stayed overnight in the palace.
She wandered around Shen Qingchen's bedroom without any sleepiness.
Although he said he was just strolling around, he felt uneasy in his heart and was always worried about Chen Qingchen.
I didn't pay attention to anything until I was tired of walking around, so I sat down at the desk to rest. I didn't know when I became drowsy or when I fell asleep.
While he was half conscious, he heard a very slight sound from the window, and the still cold spring night wind poured in through the enlarged window gap.
The air was filled with the fragrance of soil after rain, and a very faint smell of blood.
Jiang Hexue was awakened by the shock and looked in the direction of the sound.
“…Zhaohua?”
The young man in black clothes supported himself on the window frame, turned over and jumped down, and with a hook of his long fingers, the black scarf covering his face fluttered and fell onto the table.
Revealing the face that Jiang Hexue was familiar with.
Shen Qingchen moved his lips, but before he could say anything, he was suddenly stopped by her kiss.
The salty taste of tears melted between his teeth. He was stunned until she tasted it lightly and stepped back. Only then did he come to his senses and hand over the wooden box in his arms.
Jiang Hexue opened it and saw her purple-toothed black collar.
The young man in front of him slightly bent his eyes and said softly: "Found it."
"Don't cry, dear."
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The author has something to say: "1" a quiver of arrows, usually 20 pieces
Looking at the outline, I want to write about the two of them being really d, it's so tiring to follow the plot [melted][holding my chin] Thinking about the next brother being the prince, I feel like it's 1.4 [burst into tears]
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