Seeing that none of the men in the room even glanced at her, the palace maid's tone grew impatient, and she continued:
"Her Majesty the Empress invites Miss Jiang to have a chat. Tea has been prepared at Phoenix Palace for her."
"My young lady just returned from Jiangnan City today, and she must be exhausted from the journey. Thank you for the invitation, Your Majesty." Granny Jiang glanced at the arrogant palace maid in front of her and replied.
The palace maid frowned upon hearing this: "Does Miss Jiang not take my mistress seriously?"
"His Majesty only allowed me to rest in this side hall, and did not say that I should move to other places. If I leave rashly, His Majesty will need to summon me, and I will not be here. If he blames me, I believe even Your Majesty the Empress cannot bear the consequences." Jiang Hua glanced at her, smiled brightly, and put down her teacup.
"But, my lady..." The palace maid was about to say something when Zhou Ye, who happened to be walking towards the side hall, overheard her.
"What does the Empress want with Jiang Hua?" Zhou Ye's icy gaze was fixed on the palace maid, who turned to face him and immediately knelt down.
"This servant greets Your Majesty." The palace maid hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty has heard that the eldest daughter of the meritorious official Jiang family has a daughter still alive. You feel sorry for Miss Jiang, who has lost her mother since childhood."
"I heard today that Miss Jiang has entered the palace, so I would like to invite Miss Jiang to come and admire the flowers together."
"To admire the flowers? Go and tell the Empress that Miss Jiang is tired from her journey and will not be going. The Empress is very kind." Zhou Ye sneered inwardly upon hearing this.
I just brought the person back, and now the Empress wants to take them away. What is she planning?
Upon hearing this, the palace maid quickly bowed, stood up, and left the side hall. Zhou Ye gave a wink to the eunuch behind him, who immediately went out, closed the door, and waited at the entrance.
"Jiang Hua, I have heard from A Yi that you were the one who saved Jiangnan City from this plague. On behalf of the people of Jiangnan City, I would like to thank you."
"Your Majesty, there's no need for you to be so polite. It's what I should do," Jiang Hua quickly stood up and replied.
"I have also heard about the Jiang family's secret guard camp. I never expected that the Su family and the Duke of Anguo's mansion would do such a thing. Back then, the reason why the Great Sheng Kingdom was able to stand firm was because your grandfather led the Jiang family army and the secret guard camp to fight to the death on the battlefield. Now that such a thing has happened, it is because I overlooked it."
“Do whatever you want, I’ll cover for you,” Zhou Ye said bluntly.
"Since Your Majesty is so straightforward, then Jiang Hua will not beat around the bush with you. I suspect that the Jiang family army was wiped out on the battlefield back then because there was a traitor among our soldiers who had informed the enemy of our whereabouts long ago." Jiang Hua did not beat around the bush and directly stated her suspicions.
"This..." Zhou Ye looked at Jiang Xingzhou beside him in shock after hearing Jiang Hua's words.
“This matter is indeed strange. I was only skeptical at first, but my people found out that after Zhou Yingxuan returned, the Su family had two correspondences with the Wuxun Kingdom on the border.”
"Your Majesty, the secret that the Jiang family has kept hidden for generations has been discovered by the Su family and several other powerful families."
As for the secret, it was that the first emperor of the Dasheng Kingdom had a treasure map. Whoever found the treasure inside would become incredibly wealthy. Back then, there was a saying that whoever obtained the treasure would rule the world. Everyone was curious about what kind of treasure it was.
However, after the death of the first emperor of the Dasheng Kingdom, the treasure map disappeared without a trace. Until now, someone spread the rumor that the treasure map was in the hands of the Jiang family, which led to the extermination of the entire Jiang family. Even the secret guards did not spare them, and they were secretly captured and tortured in order to find out the whereabouts of the treasure map.
"A treasure map!" Zhou Ye slammed his hand heavily on the table after hearing Jiang Xun's description, as if he had remembered something, and then sighed heavily.
"He who finds the treasure will rule the world." Zhou Ye repeated this sentence with a cold laugh: "It seems that everyone has forgotten that none of the people that the late emperor sent out to find the treasure survived. Apart from the late emperor, every emperor has sent people out to search for this treasure."
"This treasure map is not only in the palace of the Dasheng Kingdom, but also in the Wuxun Kingdom. However, both countries only have half a map. In other words, only by cooperating with each other can we have a chance to find this treasure."
"Have you tried this before?" Jiang Hua asked.
"Of course we've tried it. The reason the Dasheng Kingdom and the Wuxun Kingdom went to war so hastily was because of this. Back then, on the way to find the treasure, the people of the Wuxun Kingdom suddenly changed their minds and wanted to seize the other half of the map from the Dasheng Kingdom," Zhou Ye continued.
"If it weren't for the Jiang family's secret guards taking action, the map would have fallen into the hands of the Wuxun Kingdom. As soon as the Jiang family's secret guards got the map, they returned it immediately."
"So, that's why they attacked the Jiang family?" Jiang Hua glanced at Jiang Xun and saw that his eyes were already red and his fists were clenched tightly.
"The Zhou family has wronged the Jiang family in this matter, and I will give the Jiang family an explanation." Zhou Ye stared at the table with a gloomy look in his eyes.
"Since everyone's after the treasure map, let's spread the word that the Great Sheng Kingdom is preparing to send people to search for that treasure, which may or may not exist. The most capable will rise to the top, and at that time, someone will surely be unable to resist."
“Then let’s do as His Majesty says.” Jiang Hua understood the meaning behind Zhou Ye’s words. Although Prince Jiang Jingyi had returned, his mother was no longer alive. Many people valued Zhou Yingxuan, the eldest prince of Dasheng Kingdom, who was the son of Empress Su who had been lost and found.
Killing Zhou Yingxuan at this time wouldn't be a good opportunity, as everyone would turn their suspicions to A Yi and Jiang Xingzhou. Moreover, there's the Duke of Anguo's mansion and the Su family; they need to find a way to deal with them. This time, how could they possibly let go of the treasure hunt?
Three days after returning from the palace, Jiang Hua heard from Bai Heng that the emperor had said in court that he had decided to send capable people to find the treasure, and whoever found the treasure would receive one-tenth of it.
"Has anyone volunteered to go?" Jiang Hua asked slowly as she poured the tea the waiter had just prepared.
"Of course there are. The first to be mentioned are the Su family and the An family, as well as the First Prince, who claims to be sharing the Emperor's burdens." Bai Heng answered every question and told him everything he knew.
"You two have come to my Bright Moon Pavilion for a secret rendezvous?"
Suddenly, Shen Qingchuan swaggered in, fanning himself with a folding fan, and sat down without any ceremony, pouring himself a cup of tea.
"Is that so? Young Master Shen is free today?" Jiang Hua glanced at him; this was the first time she had seen this guy since arriving in the capital.
"Such a big thing has happened in the capital, we have to get it done sooner or later." Shen Qingchuan folded his fan and complained irritably.
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