After such an incident at the flower-viewing banquet, the Empress dared not let anyone stay in the palace any longer and could only instruct the palace servants to carefully escort the female members of the household out of the palace.
Among the women who fell into the water, there were no members of the second wife's family. Lu Qiqi didn't know that they hadn't been involved or that they had simply hidden themselves.
However, none of these things were enough to distract her.
Walking on the cobblestone path outside the palace, she glanced at the people around her, her mind racing.
She had finally managed to get into the palace; if she were Wuqi, she would never have let such a good opportunity slip by.
The maid Wuqi had instructed to do the task never returned, even after the Hundred Flowers Banquet ended, and no one knew what task Wuqi had assigned her.
As she was about to leave the palace, Lu Qiqi's suspicions grew stronger.
Never mind, she'll deal with whatever comes her way. She refused to believe that Wuqi could cause any trouble under the walls of the capital!
After leaving the palace, Lu Qiqi still rode in the same carriage as Xuan Wenying.
As soon as the two boarded the carriage, Xuan Wenying gripped Lu Qiqi's hand tightly and asked, "Qiqi, are you hurt?"
Lu Qiqi shook her head and chuckled softly, "Aunt, I didn't fall into the water today, so how can you say I'm injured?"
Xuan Wenying sighed, "I know you're a capable girl."
Before you entered the palace today, your uncle instructed me to take good care of you.
Unexpectedly, the incident of falling into the water still occurred.
Having said all that, both understood what the other meant, and for a moment the carriage fell silent.
After a long pause, Xuan Wenying said, "When Princess Wuqi spoke with me today, I guessed that she must be trying to trip me up."
Who would have thought you'd actually run into trouble? Thankfully, you managed to leave the palace unharmed.
Upon hearing that Wu Qi had spoken to Xuan Wenying, Lu Qiqi's upturned lips instantly straightened, and her brows furrowed slightly.
She asked, "What did Wuqi ask her aunt about?"
Xuan Wenying thought carefully and shook her head, "We only talked about the customs and culture of the Great Jin Dynasty, and didn't say much else."
Your eldest uncle told me that the people who raided the Marquis of Lin'an's residence at night were Tatars, so I paid more attention to what they said to her.
As the daughter of a military general, Xuan Wenying was always cautious about the princess of the enemy country, regardless of whether Chen Zirong gave her instructions or not, and would never let the other side find out any information.
Lu Qiqi had no doubt about this.
However, she couldn't figure out what Wuqi's intentions were.
As she was deep in thought, she inadvertently noticed the pattern on Xuan Wenying's sleeve.
Lu Qiqi said, "Aunt, this dress doesn't look like the one you wore when you entered the palace?"
Xuan Wenying nodded, "When I was having tea in the Empress's palace, a palace maid spilled tea all over me."
The Empress kindly allowed me to change into a different dress in her bedchamber, but I never expected that this dress would be so similar to the one I wore when I entered the palace.
She noticed that Lu Qiqi's gaze was fixed on her clothes, and instantly realized that something was wrong.
"Seven Seven..."
Before Xuan Wenying could finish speaking, Lu Qiqi interrupted, "Aunt, there's not enough time, so I can't explain things to you in detail."
"Quickly take off your coat and give it to me, then get into your second aunt's carriage."
After saying that, Lu Qiqi began to take off her outer clothes and exchange them with Xuan Wenying.
After exchanging their outer garments, Lu Qiqi called out to the outside of the carriage, "Nineteen, stop the carriage."
As Xuan Wenying alighted from the carriage, she gripped Lu Qiqi's hand tightly, saying, "Be careful, your aunt is waiting for you at the mansion!"
The two looked at each other in the carriage. Lu Qiqi saw that her eyes were slightly red and nodded vigorously to comfort her, "Don't worry, Aunt, I will definitely stand in front of you alive and kicking."
Fearing that it would delay things, Xuan Wenying quickly got off the carriage and climbed into the second wife's carriage that had been stopped.
Lu Qiqi then instructed Nineteen, "Turn around and take a detour."
Upon hearing this, Nineteen immediately realized that he had been given a job!
He smiled, revealing eight teeth, and with a flick of his whip, steered the carriage onto another street.
Sitting in the carriage, Lu Qiqi raised her hand and smelled the cuff of her sleeve; there was a faint fragrance.
The clothes of the wealthy and noble are often scented after washing according to their preferences, and this garment is no exception.
There was nothing wrong with that in itself, but the aroma was a big problem.
The Empress's palace is filled with agarwood. Today, when Lin Xue was taking her pulse, she passed by the Empress and smelled the scent of agarwood.
The unusual fragrance emanating from this garment clearly did not originate from the Empress's palace.
Lu Qiqi approached the carriage door and whispered to the person outside, "Nineteen, do you know of any fragrance in the world that can help someone track your movements?"
Nineteen thought for a moment and actually came up with an idea: "There is a fragrance in the Western Regions called Thousand Miles of Fragrance."
Legend has it that this is a method used by women from the Western Regions to find their lovers.
The wife grinds the male Gu into powder and makes it into a sachet, which she wears on her husband who is traveling far away. If the wife wants to find her husband and activate the female Gu, she can find him even if they are thousands of miles apart.
But this "Thousand-Mile Incense Chasing" technique has been lost for many years. Why did the county princess suddenly remember it?
Lu Qiqi had made up her mind. She said, "Nineteen, drive to a secluded alley."
Upon hearing this, Nineteen's expression suddenly sharpened, and his right hand gripping the reins tightened. "Giddy up!"
After explaining to Nineteen, Lu Qiqi returned to her seat.
She had heard of the phrase "chasing fragrance for a thousand miles" before, but she thought it was just a joke from Doctor Luo. She never expected that such a thing actually existed.
Since Wu Qi is using tricks on the people around her, why can't she turn the tables on them?
Before long, Nineteen drove the carriage into a small alley.
Before leaving the palace, the sun had set in the west, and the sky was already dark.
The alley was quiet. Nineteen sat outside the carriage with a large sword beside him, looking ready to fight at any moment.
The roof tiles fell to the ground with a crisp sound and shattered into pieces.
Hearing the noise from inside the carriage, Lu Qiqi smiled slightly, "They've finally arrived."
Before long, the alley exit was surrounded by men in black.
A masked man in black stepped forward and shouted, "Princess Kang Le, you have quite the nerve, knowing full well that we are here to take your life."
He dared to travel without guards, swaggering through the streets with only a blond-haired brat.
As Lu Qiqi sat in the carriage, listening to the Tatars speak the official language of the Great Jin Dynasty, the smile on her lips grew even wider.
"Princess Wuqi has ordered you to assassinate me. I wonder if you will be able to return alive to report back."
Looking at the tightly closed carriage door, the leader of the men in black treated Lu Qiqi as if she were about to die, and spoke to her without any restraint.
“Kang Le County Princess knows that the princess has sent us to take your life, so there is no need to delay. At this time, no one can find this secluded alley.”
"Your death here today is not in vain. In your Great Jin language, it all boils down to your excessive arrogance!"
Lu Qiqi raised her voice and said, "You try and see if you can take my life and go back to report!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Lu Qiqi heard the sound of swords being drawn coming from outside the carriage!
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